Lego Geometry

I made up Lego Geometry to get my nephew excited about area and perimeter. Kids can create big areas by putting legos side by side, or find the area of single bricks. Tell kids not to stress if bricks don't fit perfectly on the grid paper. They can round up. Have them color the area of each of their legos on their grid paper. (Note: For younger kids, you can have them count the lego studs / dots on top to find area and perimeter).

Make a Rainbow

Andy Brain made a rainbow by using a coffee pot, flashlight, and a dark room! Click here to see how he did it! For more rainbow science click here! You can make a rainbow with a garden hose, compact disc, or a drinking glass. The easiest way to make a rainbow is with a prism, if you have one.

Crystallized Rainbow

Sweet and Simple Things made a pipe cleaner rainbow and crystallized it in borax solution! Click here to see how they did it!

You can crystallize any shape or color in borax solution! You just need pipe cleaners. Borax does the rest, creating polymer crystals! Click here to see original post.

Measure the Rainbow

Kids learn the color components of the rainbow, and practice their measuring skills! Visit Free Kids Crafts for the full tutorial!

Alliterations and Tongue Twisters

Fun in First Grade had kids use alliteration to write crazy tongue twisters, using their names. Click here to see the full activity!

Yertle the Turtle Stacking Game

photo credit: education.com

Read Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. Then, play Yeartle the Turtle Stacking Game! "In the story, greedy Yertle makes a stack of turtles for a throne, but in the end he stacks too many and they all come toppling down. Visit Education.com for instructions on how to make and play the game!

Click here to find out how to crack a walnut shell in half, for your turtle, without damaging it!

The Butter Battle

butter making photos via chica and joe

After reading The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss, shake up your own butter with a bit of science! Kids will have fun watching a liquid change into a tasty solid!

Pour 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream in a clean jar. (Make sure the jar is no more than halfway full, so that the cream has plenty of room.) Then shake, shake, shake! Note: 1/4 cup of cream = about 1 Tbsp of butter. 

Chica and Joe: "As you shake, you’ll notice the cream go through several fascinating stages. Feel free to open the jar and take a peek whenever you notice a new texture." Check out their butter photos above! Click here to see the various stages that Chica and Joe encountered. 

After you make your butter, ask kids, "Do you prefer your toast butter-side up or butter-side down?" ;)

Celebrate Seuss!

1. Click here for The Lorax Activities!

2. Make a wocket in a pocket - Place Called Kindergarten!

3. Create pipe cleaner finger puppets: The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. - Craft Jr.

4. Whip your own gooey oobleck for Bartholomew and the Oobleck!

5. Make your own pet fish for One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. via Wild about Kindergarten

Or mixup a healthy Pink Yink Ink Drink:

ingredients: ½ pint fresh or ½ cup frozen blackberries or blueberries, 1 cup milk or vanilla soy milk, 6 fresh strawberries (green tops removed) or ½ cup frozen strawberries, thawed, 1 tsp honey or agave nectar

directions: Put the blackberries in a blender and puree them. Pour into a large glass. Put the milk, strawberries and honey in a blender and blend. Pour the strawberry mixture carefully on top of the blackberry mixture and swirl with a spoon. via Kids' Cooking Shop

6. Oh, the Places You'll Go! Write and draw a picture of a place you’d like to go. Encourage kids to be super creative! (ex: outer space, inside of a volcano, etc.)

7. Make a color feelings book for your "many colored days!"

8. Balance apples on your head! Can you get 10 Apples Up On Top!? If not, take a photo of yourself and put however many apples you'd like on your head! via Fun Handprint Art. Balancing Apples via Gail Pomare

Habitat Board Game: Jumanji

After reading the book Jumanji, have kids invent their own magical board game, constructed out of paint chips or construction paper. Divide children into groups or work on a game board as a class. Encourage them to design a game that revolves around a different habitat other than the jungle / rainforest (such as a desert or ocean theme). Once they decide on their theme, they'll decorate their board to go along with it. Also, have them come up with a creative name for their game that goes along with their theme. 

Along with their game, have each group collaborate on instructions. Together, they'll write specific rules that players must follow, just like Jumanji's instructions in the book. Now, roll the dice and play! Let your imaginations run wild!

The Lorax Activities

Inspiring Activities via Web Teaching:

1. Throughout the story Dr. Seuss only lets us see parts of the Once-ler (his eyes and hands). Draw a full body picture of what you think this greedy guy looks like. 

2. Dr. Seuss loved to make up his own words. Write your own definitions for the following words from the story: moof, gruvvulous, slupps, snergelly, rippulous, snargled, cruffulous, smogulous, biggering

3. Imagine you were the Lorax and were chosen to speak for the trees. What would you say to persuade the Once-lers to stop cutting down the trees?

4. Make a Lorax mustache!

5. Write instructions for how to plant a tree. 

6. Design a seed packet for truffula seeds.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

First, read the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems.

Then, do these fun activities from Pigeon Presents:
1. Write a persuasive letter to the bus driver, explaining why the pigeon should or should not be allowed to drive the bus.

2. Ask your students: What do you do when your parents say no? Write about a time you tried to talk your parents into letting you do something. Did your argument work?

3. Children can write and illustrate new cautionary sentences, starting with, “Don’t let the pigeon . . .”  Do what?!

4. Have kids finish the sentence: “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus because . . .” 

For even more pigeon fun and activities that go along with Mo Willems' books, visit Pigeon Presents!

Catch a Spider Web

via the magnifying glass

Catch a real spider web on paper! Kids can study spider silk and patterns up close! Visit The Magnifying Glass for the full tutorial!

Molting Experiment

photo credit: lizard-fle-pics, snake-dkimages.com

Cool Bug Stuff conducted an experiment to demonstrate how snakes, lizards, and bugs shed their skin / exoskeleton, when they grow and molt. Spread glue on one of your hands and let dry. "Slowly peel dried glue off and discuss the different insects and reptiles that shed or molt." For more bug experiments, activities, teaching ideas, and even recipes, visit Cool Bug Stuff 

Scrabble Spelling

Kids Count 1234 did an awesome activity for kids to practice their spelling and addition skills: Scrabble! Kids started out forming two letter words. Then, worked up to four letter words. Visit Kids Count 1234 for free printables for this activity, as well as for more innovative math activities!

Rainbow Sponge Painting

Paint a rainbow in one swipe of a sponge! Visit Kiboomu for the tutorial!

Sight Word Spies

Transform into sight word spies! I made this activity up, so kids in my class could have fun with high frequency words.

One child needs a recording sheet. The other needs a list of sight words. The child with the list gives his partner sight words to write down (through the walkie talkie). The other child records them on his sheet. 

Next, they check in with each other. The child with the sight word list corrects his partner's spelling if needed. Then, they switch off for the next round. 

No, ____________ !

F is for First Grade had kids act out correct and incorrect ways to do things in the classroom. Then, created a class book. Click the link for free printables and to see how she incorporated the class book in her classroom! 

Cookie Fractions

F is for First Grade taught her students fractions in a creative and delicious way! What fraction of a cookie do you think was most popular among her students? Click here to view the full activity! 

photo credit: f is for first grade

Bean Necklace

Sprout a bean close to your heart with this green fashion statement! Visit Shivaya Naturals for instructions!

Balloon Green House

Will radishes grow inside of a balloon?! Teach kids about green houses by making a balloon green house! Visit Our Treasured Home for the full tutorial! Then visit Education.com for experiment ideas!

Birds

Grab your binoculars and head outside for a bird watching expedition! Build a recreational center for birds right in your own backyard! Kids can view birds up close and personal, seeing the various species that reside in their environment.

binocular pic via squidoo

1. Milk Jug Feeder - With an x-acto knife, cut large "windows" in a milk jug. Next, tape off the edges, where you cut, with duct tape. The tape will prevent birds from getting hurt on any sharp edges. Then, punch holes with your blade underneath the "windows" you created. Find long, sturdy sticks in your backyard. They will serve as perches for the birds to rest on while they eat. Insert the sticks through the holes, so they criss cross inside. Then, punch holes in the top of your jug to hang your feeder. Thread heavy twine through the top holes. Now, pour bird seed into your jug and hang it outside. You'll see a wide variety of birds visiting for a snack! We did this in my class to celebrate Earth Day!

2. Bird Bath - Create a place for birds to cool off! Visit  Vicki O'Dell for the tutorial!

3. Nest Collector - Help birds make a nest by providing them with material! Visit Fiber Farm for the full tutorial!

4. Conduct an experiment to see what color seed birds are most attracted to. Visit Science Bob for the full tutorial!

Plant Photo Diary

photo via rubber road adventures

As a class, create a plant photo diary, documenting the growth of a vegetable. Have each child plant a seed (green beans, corn, or peas work best) in a plastic cup, wrapped with a wet paper towel. As the plant grows, take a photo of it. Have the kids draw a picture of the changes occurring in their science notebook, labeling the parts. Underneath their drawing, have them write a reflection of what they see, describing the changes in the plant. Visit Rubber Road Adventures to find out how to make a paper bag book!

Area / Perimeter Mondrian

Combine art and math in this area / perimeter lesson: Piet Mondrian style. Have kids lay out their artwork on grid paper. Next, have them figure out the area and perimeter of each "block," using their black grid lines as their guide. Then, have them recreate their design using construction paper. 

AREA - The measurement of space inside a flat shape is called area. Count the squares inside each of the rectangles you've drawn (multiply height times width). 

PERIMETER - Count distance along each of the four sides of your blocks and add them up. 

Nature Exchange

The Magnifying Glass set up different regions to exchange items in nature. Although the activity is over, it doesn't mean you still can't do it!

For a geography lesson, have your class team up with another school from a far away state. Collect different items you find in the environment where you live. With the items you collect, include a list of the name of each item. Then, mail the box to who you're corresponding with. In return, they will mail one back to you. Kids will get to see nature from different geographical locations.

Examples of items to send: bird feathers, pine cones, seed pods, pressed flowers, sea shells (if you live by the beach). Anything you find in nature! Check out the awesome box made by Mama Scouts below! Visit her blog to see how their nature box exchange turned out!

nature box example via mama scouts

Wake Up the Yeast!

Over at Mama Scout, they conducted an experiment to see which foods would cause the most activity when paired with yeast. Have kids make a hypothesis and prediction: What variable will create the most bubbles / activity? Record yeast activity in a notebook. What was your conclusion?

materials:

freezer bags

warm water

measuring spoons / cups

yeast

variables (such as: water, grape juice, lemon juice, maple syrup, sugar, and candy)

how to:

Combine 1/4 cup of water, 1 tsp of yeast, and 1 tbsp of the variable in each bag. Now, watch the bubbles go!

H2O Band

Let children explore with sound and water, combining science with music.



Get creative with your materials, listen to changes in pitch and tone. Explore rhythm, pattern, and tempo. For the science behind this, as well as a list of materials in the video, visit Child's Play Music

Hold the Sauce: Pasta Art!

Experiment with different types of pasta and paint. Try using cooked and dry for a variety of textures and shapes. Check out the prints made by MPM School Supplies.

photo via mpm school supplies

The Steel Straw Trick

Kid Spirograph

Myrtle and Eunice became a human spirograph like Tony Orrico. Check out how and where they did it here!