Teach Preschool » Cognitive Development

Fun with colorful bubble science in kindergarten

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:47:44 +0000

As I have mentioned many times before, I love all the ideas you can find on other blogs but there are times that I will read an idea but not really give it a chance. Sometimes, it isn’t that the children aren’t ready to try something new or different – the problem is that we as teachers aren’t always ready to try something new or different.

I can’t tell you how many times I have read about using vinegar and baking soda for simple science fun in preschool but I simply didn’t give it any thought. And then I came across this post by The Mother Huddle, and suddenly I can’t wait to give it a try!

Perhaps it was the way she set it up or explained it or added color that made it more appealing to me. Or perhaps I am growing as a teacher and realizing that I need to branch out of my comfort zone a little more. Or perhaps I knew that this was a perfect idea for this particular group of children. In any case – I just couldn’t wait to give it a try. It is so fun to be excited about what you are planning!

I didn’t do this exactly as described by Mother Huddle because I had too many children and not enough time but we did pretty close to the same way. I started by gathering clear plastic cups, spoons, vinegar, baking soda, food color, and water. I filled one cup with just a little bit of water and the rest of the cups I filled with just about 1/2 cup or less of vinegar. Next, I set out the spoons and put a few drops of food color in each one then covered them all with the baking soda. You can get more specific directions from Mother Huddle.

Then I demonstrated for the children what we were going to do. I asked the children to make a hypothesis about what they think will happen when I put the spoon into the cup. We talked about what the word “hypothesis” means – one of our Kinders already knew the answer to all my questions!

The children were surprised to see that the water turned blue! I let the children smell the water and they noticed it really had no odor. Then I gave each of the children a cup of vinegar instead of water and asked them to smell their liquid. “Did it smell the same?” I asked. “No – they yelled – it’s gross!”

Each child took a spoon and mixed it in their liquid. Before they took their turn, they made a hypothesis about what they thought would happen to their powder and what color they thought it would be. They began to see that if they looked carefully, some of the color showed through on the spoons and they could use this as a clue for their hypothesis.

When the children stirred their spoons in their liquid, the bubbles were produced! OH BOY – did they love this!! They didn’t know that was going to happen. We noticed that water did not have the same effect as the vinegar on the powder mixture.

Once everyone had a turn, we let them continue to add more baking soda “powder” to their colorful cups of vinegar and watch it bubble up again.

We continued until everyone had several turns and spoonfuls of powder to mix in – then I ran out of powder! I used up one full box of baking soda and 2 jars of vinegar…

Once we were out of baking soda – we talked about the cause and effect of the mixture. We had only one spill over because I put too many cups in one container and one of the cups spilled over the edge of the cup and the container – oops!

We also passed around the vinegar bottle to smell it.

It was a super fun day and experience for me and the children! Yes – this is a keeper to share again with another group of children soon!

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Ice play in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:00:20 +0000

Today, we enjoyed a little ice play.

Sometimes the simplest of ideas can be the most enjoyable for young children. The teacher in this class set out a bowl of ice with some cups, smaller bowls, and spoons…

The children scooped the ice from one container to the other…

And some children used their hands to pick up ice cubes….

What makes an activity like this so successful is that it is truly all about discovery, exploring, and play…

We won’t be able to hang this up on a wall when we are finished but we can talk about our experience…

And during the process of our ice play we discovered the ice was cold and when it melts, water runs all over the table and down on the floor!

And when the teacher isn’t looking, we can place an ice cube on the handle end of our spoon and it suddenly becomes a Popsicle!

Can you see all the learning (and fun) going on just from some simple ice play?

I am linking this post up to The Play Academy!

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Making AB patterns in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 11:00:25 +0000

As we continue to explore the letter K this week, the children worked on practicing their skills for identifying and making AB patterns…

Introducing patterns first begins with a hands-on type of activity followed by the activity page.

The activity pages we use are usually something I have created on my own computer. They are specifically designed to complement a theme, skill, or process we have been focusing on over time.

Not every child was able to complete this activity page – or at least complete the page as directed – but that was okay. We want to introduce the idea of making patterns in many different ways.

Before having the children attempt to try the activity page. We like to begin by having the children make an AB pattern with something more concrete. For this, we used construction paper bows and a “kite string” piece of yarn.

I missed the photo opportunity of the concrete part of the process so I just took photos of the materials to give you the idea…

Having the children physically manipulate the materials to make their AB patterns is an important step in the process.

The activity page is a nice tool to reinforce the concrete process but it should not be used as the actual tool for teaching the AB pattern concept in preschool. Some preschoolers who can physically place the bows in an AB pattern will struggle when it comes to using a crayon to color or reproduce the pattern.

If you would like to give this a try, I am including my Kite pattern in this post but don’t forget to cut out some construction paper bows and yarn too! Remember…

If you want me to discover.. then give me materials

If you want me to explore.. then give me opportunity

If you want me to learn.. then give me materials and opportunity

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How to facilitate the creative art process in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Allowing children to make decisions is an important aspect of their art experience. When children are constantly told where to place each piece of paper or where to put their hand print, they lose confidence in their own ability to make good choices.

When we talk about Process over Product, there are many reasons why this concept is emphasized. Part of the process is giving children choices in how they would like to create or design or draw and so on.

I can always tell, when observing children, whether or not they are confident or have been in control of the process. Children who feel confident take the materials they are given and start right away making decisions about how they want to use the materials. Children who are overly guided through the process tend look up and seek approval for their decisions along the way.

In this classroom, the teacher set out a large assortment of shapes for the children to create their own shape monsters. The teacher didn’t specify what a shape monster should look like because these children were certainly old enough to use their own imaginations as part of the creative process.

The more children are able to make their own decisions in the creative process, the more engaged they will be in the creative process. Encouraging children along the way by telling them you love their ideas is a good thing but children are very sensitive to your approval so also look for ways to help them to be personally satisfied with their work. Give your students space to make their own decisions and provide encouragement as needed along the way.

The role of the teacher when it comes to the process is to facilitate confidence, decision making, and reassurance. Children need to believe that their ideas and efforts are valued. When I have a child tell me that they can’t do something – I help them with the thinking process rather than take over or tell them what to do. I want to facilitate their confidence and ability to problem solve or make decisions.

Children will surprise you at what they can do if you give them the space to make their own decisions. I would have never thought of making a monster like the one above and yet it was one of the most innovative monsters of the day. The child brought into his creative experience a little symmetry - now that is cool!

One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of teaching is when young children demonstrate who they are, how they think, what they know, and what they are learning. Giving children control over the process helps to produce confident decision makers and problem solvers. The next time you plan an activity – visualize the process. Ask yourself, what will the children actually do and how will this enhance their skills and promote their confidence?

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We made doggies in preschool

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:00:35 +0000

This doggy project was more about using our listening ears and organizing our materials than it was a project for creative art although there was some creativity involved as well.

Each of the children were given precut pieces of construction paper to put together their own dog for the Letter of the Week – The letter D.

The teacher had made a dog ahead of time so the children could visualize how all these pieces could be put together to make the shape of a dog. Then she handed out all the construction paper pieces and some glue for the children to make their own dogs.

For some in early childhood education, this type of activity would not be considered “creative art” because the outcome is a part of the focus. However, as I watched the children engage in the process of organizing their pieces, glue them together, keep track of their materials, and make decisions about where to glue their pieces – I found this type of process to add value to the learning process. As I observed the children, my first thought was that there were too many pieces for the children to keep them all organized but the children most definitely proved me wrong.

I think it is a good idea for children to explore all kinds of processes but I also think that it is important for the teacher to understand what the process offers. Creative art processes should offer opportunity for exploration, self-expression, and sensory. A creative process like this is more focused on instruction, organization, and listening. Providing a balance of both kinds of processes can lead to a well rounded experience.

When these doggies are all complete, they will look similar because they are similar but each child worked to organized their materials, make decisions as to what order to create their dog, observe each others work, listen to the teacher’s suggestions, create something they were quite proud of, and they enjoyed playing with their doggies.

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