ABC Handprints

Alligator - Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Bee - Activity Village

Cheetah - Splash

Duck - Fun Handprint Art

Elephant - Junk in their Trunk

Flamingo - 5 Minute Mom

Giraffe - Activity Village

Hippo - Jason and Lara Show

Ice cream - photoshopped

Jaguar - Fun Handprint Art

Koala - Getting Messy with Jessi

Lion - Moments of Mommyhood

Monkey - Fun Handprint Art

Necklace - photoshopped 

Octopus - Ramblings of a Crazy Woman: Jenwa

Penguin - Texas Granola Mom

Quilt - Edwards Villa Scene

Rabbit - Jill Dubien

Strawberry - Activity Village

Tiger - Splash

Umbrella - Crafts Keep Me Sane

Vehicle - photoshopped

Whale - Mommy Coddle

X-ray - Wordans

Yak - Activity Village

Zebra - Mom 2 Posh Divas

Forget Waldo, Where's_____?!

Where's the Teacher?! Super Awesome bulletin board idea from Bulletin Boards to Remember! 

Tall Painting: Pouring Art!

Math Games: Cards, Dice, and Dominos!

Below are links for game boards:
Odds and Evens printable
Cover Up printable
Domino Parking Lot printable

Math About Me!

Teach kids that math and numbers are all around us, by having them do math that revolves around them! Bishop's Blackboard created the fantastic Math About Me activity featured left. Other math about me ideas you could add to the project: how many teeth kids have lost, their phone number, or the number of pets they have. Oh the possibilities!

Diving Ketchup! Experiment

This experiment shows kids that gas can be compressed!

Note: If the ketchup packet won't float, add 3 tbsp of salt and shake bottle. Continue to add salt, until the ketchup just floats towards the top. "Adding salt with adjust the density of the water." -  Science Bob

Get Fancy: Extravagant Vocab and Bottle Tiaras!

Create a fancy tiara by upcycling a soda bottle! Teach kids that you can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary! Visit Paper, Plate, and Plane for a full tutorial. Once your tiara is bedazzled, get ready for a vocab game with Fancy Nancy!

Get kids inspired to update their vocabulary, when writing. Check out Fancy Nancy books, create a list of words she uses. Compare and contrast her "fancy" words with "usual" words. This activity will push kids to think outside of the box when writing.

Miss Nelson is Missing! Activities

1. Make a missing persons poster, including: illustration, physical description/ clothes, why she disappeared, and a reward for finding her.

2. Respond to the ideas the characters in the book speculated about her disappearance. For example, could she really be carried by butterflies?! Have the children fold a piece of paper in half, separating fact from fiction. Which outcomes are likely?

3. Create a matching game, matching the qualities to the right character: Miss Nelson vs. Miss Swamp.

4. The author provides many clues about Miss Swamp's identity. Have kids make a pretend magnifying glass (foil circle attached to popsicle stick). When you read the story aloud, children raise their magnifying glass if they spot a clue. List all of the clues on the board.

5. Finally, have the students write a letter to Detective McSmogg, telling him about the clues. via Pro Teacher

Kid Book Club

Have a mini book club in your classroom via The First Grade Parade! At the beginning of each week, Mrs. Carroll reads a book to her class. 

Next, she has them fill out information about the book that helps get their discussion going during the book club session (e.g. favorite character, alternate endings, and how they can relate themselves to the story). Then, they tack their info on a brown lunch bag. When Friday comes around, the bags are filled with popcorn and the book club begins! Kids are separated into small groups, encouraged to chat it up!

Color Changing Milk and Glue!

Variation: Conduct the experiment using whole milk, low fat milk, and water in separate dishes. What worked the best?

Explanation: "You will see that the color doesn't react like it does with the whole milk. Water will get no reaction. The fat and protein molecules in the milk are changed by the soap, causing them to roll around. Once the soap molecules are mixed evenly with the fat and protein, the motion will stop." - Steve Spangler

photo via School at St. George Place

The School at St. George Place Creation Station put a spin on the color changing milk experiment by replacing dairy with glue!

Newspaper Tree

Newspaper just like any other paper come from trees. Is it possible to "grow" a tree from a newspaper? Upcycle an old newspaper into a magical tree! Kids will be amazed, watching it instantly grow!

Erosion Science Lab

photo via National Resources Conservation Center

"How does rain shape the Earth?" Have kids examine natural soil with a magnifying glass. Ask them what they think the soil is made of- (weathered rock particles: sand, silt, clay, rock and decomposing leaves/ organisms). Is all dirt the same? 

This experiment will demonstrate runoff and how soil is affected by water - EROSION. Kids will also see how vegetation helps keep soil together. Examine the water you collected in your jars (or pans). Describe it, what collected in the water?
materials:
- 2 aluminum pans
- 2 jars (or 2 more pans)
- Natural soil (from a garden or your yard)
- Soil with grass growing on it
- Watering can
- Books or something that will create a slope

directions:
1. 2 Pans- Add soil in one and soil/grass in the other. 
2. Create your slopes and angle your pans.
3. Pour water over each pan. While pouring, have someone hold a jar to collect the water (or place empty pans underneath angled ones before you pour).

Flying Tea Bag Rocket

a

explanation: visit Steve Spangler

Pop Rocks and Soda: An Experiment on Matter

Try this fun science experiment on matter, dissolving pop rocks in a bottle of soda to create a gas to inflate a balloon! 

Experiment questions: 
1. Will a physical or chemical reaction occur if we dissolve pop rocks into soda? 
2. Can we produce a gas by dissolving a solid into a liquid?
3. Can we inflate a balloon with pop rocks and soda?
4. (The old myth) If a human consumes pop rocks and soda, will their stomach truly explode?!

Predict how big the balloon will get when the pop rocks mix with soda. Will it even blow up at all? Draw and label your solid, liquid, and gas.

directions:
1. Pour pop rocks into an empty 9 inch balloon
2. Open your soda (12-16 oz bottle) and attach the balloon (don't let the pop rocks fall in just yet) 
3. Lift up on the balloon and drop all of the pop rocks into the soda. What happened? 

Answer: The balloon doesn't inflate very much. Will you explode if you consume pop rocks and soda? From the results of this experiment- No! So, go on and munch on pop rocks and soda! 

"Mixing Pop Rocks with soda is a physical reaction - not a chemical reaction. Soda dissolves the candy. Most of the carbon dioxide in the balloon came from the soda. Dropping Pop Rocks into soda causes some of the carbon dioxide from the soda to escape. That's the real reason why the balloon inflates." via Steve Spangler

Balloon Lanterns

Visit Kleas for instructions!

Salt-Absorbing Art and Science

photo credit: Third Graders Dreaming Big

Integrate science and art with this awesome activity from Third Graders, Dreaming Big! Visit Third Graders, Dreaming Big to see this artful science experiment in action!

materials:
White or black construction paper
Elmer's glue 
Table salt 
Dropper 
Water 
Food Coloring 

instructions: 

1. Squirt glue in a cool design on construction paper. 

2. Pour salt over the top and shake excess off .

3.  Mix water with food coloring.

4. Use dropper and drop liquid color on the salt.

The salt will absorb the colored water and move along your design!

DIY Shrinky Dinks!

Check out these awesome shrinky dinks made by Futuristicky! Curbly instructs you on how to make your very own shrinky dinks with recycled plastic! Put them on a necklace, charm bracelet, or ring, whatever you please. You can also just play with them!

photo via Futuristicky

T-Rex Footprint and Mouth

Above is a T-Rex footprint graph and scary doorway my class created. Kids get to see their feet in comparison to the actual size of T-Rex's. See if your class can fill up his gigantic footprint!

McMath - Flip a burger and learn math!

Kids flip burgers, becoming mini cooks, while working on number skills!

Bun Top- Count the sesame seeds
Bun Bottom- Match the number
Burger- Numeral and word recognition
Cheese- Count the dots
Tomato- Fractions
Pickles- Count the lines

Kids put together a burger that has all matching components. (Example above: all 5's)

M and M Math

Make math fun with m and m's! Give each child a small ziploc bag of various color m and m's. Have them estimate, count, and graph their m and m's. Give kids markers for each color m and m. They will make their graph by putting a dot for each color they have (going vertical). 

Mystery Box

The mystery box is a fun guessing game that promotes creativity. One child takes home the box. He finds something unusual to put inside of it. Next, he writes three clues about the item that won't give it away.

Then, he brings the box back to school. He stands in front of the class and has them try to guess the item in the box through questions. The child with the box can only say yes or no to questions being asked. He only gives the class the three clues he came up with. The goal of the game is to stump the whole class.

Will they guess the mystery?

Lego Learning Games

1. Walnut Hills Homeschool created a story book with lego scenes kids create. Kids makeup a story line and build a scene for each page in their book. Not only are they the authors, they are the illustrators too! Their lego creations are the illustrations for their book.

2. Graph legos - Happy to be Homeschooling my Children.

3. Lego Addition: Make math fun by having kids add legos! - Sixkents

4. Have kids construct sentences and words with legos. They get to write and build at the same time! - Chalk Talk and Happy to be Homeschooling my Children

5. Make patterns with legos: AB, ABB, and ABC! - Keen on Kindergarten

Precipitation, Evaporation, Transpiration, Condensation

Precipitation - Make it Rain!

Raining Rainbows (shaving cream and food coloring) -  A Bit of This and a Bit of That!

Rain in a Jar - Guest Hollow

Transpiration - Collect Plant Sweat!

Learn about transpiration through this hands on experiment from Weird Science Kids. By tying a large baggie around a plant's leaves on a super hot, sunny day, you will demonstrate how transpiration is part of the water cycle. Pour the water from the plant into a measuring cup. Kids use their measuring skills to figure out how much water the plant produced. Click here for full instructions! Save your water for the puddle experiment below!
Also, check out Parents.com to see how to conduct this experiment with a patch of grass and a jar!

Evaporation - Watch a Puddle!

Science With Me conducted a puddle experiment to teach kids about evaporation! Pour water on the pavement in a sunny spot. Then, draw a line around it with sidewalk chalk. Let it sit, then check up on it later. What happened? The water evaporated! 

Condensation - Create a cloud! 

Handprint Calendar

Snow Flake, Heart - Share and Remember 
4 Leaf Clover - Meet the Dubiens
Earth - Busy Hands Art
Butterfly - Michelle's Journal Corner
Fish - Bobo Gallery
Flag
Sun
Crayons - Mrs Kilburn Kiddos
Pumpkin - Dana Hinders
Turkey
Lights - Tip Junkie
Tree - Mom 2 Posh Diva

Growing Gummy Bears

Check out the gummy bear below that Science Matters grew! Who knew gummies could expand so much when submerged in water?! 

Experiment - Keep gummy bears submerged in water at least overnight. The longer you leave them in the water, the more dramatic the results! Measure, weigh, and feel the gummy bears. Compare them to a "regular" gummy bear. What differences do you see? Did the gummy bears undergo a physical or chemical change?

photo via science matters

A Survival Guide to Middle School took this experiment further. They put a gummy bear in tap water and one in salt water. Check out their red gummy bears featured left! Visit A Survival Guide to Middle School for lab questions and worksheets to go along with the activity. 

"My Place in the World"

Kid-made flip book that helps them understand geography, where they live, and how their community fits into our wide, wide world from Kid World Citizen. To take the activity further, add my street (with address) after my city. Then, a picture of themselves after my house (ME).

Stars in a Jar

photo via Intimate Weddings

Create your own jar full of stars! Splatter glow paint inside of mason jars. Visit Intimate Weddings for a photo tutorial!

Note: You can also use glow in the dark paint.

Glimmering Pennies Experiment

Make dingy, old pennies look brand new! 

materials:
5 pennies
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp salt
non-metal bowl
paper towels

how to:
1. Mix salt and vinegar.
2. Put all of your pennies in the vinegar. "count to 10 slowly."
3. Remove your coins and rinse in water. Voila- shiny and new!

Hold up, don't throw away your vinegar solution! Visit Science Bob for more science tricks that you can do, using your solution!

Invisible Ink: Ghost Writer!

Kids can transform into mini detectives, writing secret messages and codes with lemon juice!

1. Squeeze the juice of a lemon.

2. Dip a q-tip in the lemon juice and write on white paper.

3. To reveal the secret message, hold the paper up to a heat source (lightbulb, hairdryer, or candle)