Periscope

Periscope - (def.) "tubular optical instrument that contains reflecting elements, such as mirrors and prisms, to permit observation from a position displaced from a direct line of sight." 

1. Create a periscope out of PVC Pipe! Dive under water and check out what's happening above the water line using your viewer. You can also hide behind the couch in your living room and investigate!

2. Construct a simple periscope out of a milk carton for detective work.

3. Check out Make It Awesome's cardboard periscope tutorial here for super spy vision!

Beginner's Division

Division doesn't have to be so complicated! Have kids practice equal division by dividing snacks, crayons, and even friends into groups. 

Calendar Magic 9

Impress your friends with this math multiplication magic trick from Murderous Maths! Kids tell a friend to put a square around 9 numbers on a calendar (3 x 3 box). Then, they say they can find the sum of the 9 numbers within the square in a flash! Abracadabra and alakazam! All they do is multiply the number in the center of the square by 9 and presto! They magically have the answer! 

Note: For larger numbers that may be hard to do the multiplication in your head, multiply the middle number by 10 and then subtract by the middle number. For example, 11 is in the middle, 11 x 10 = 110, 110 - 11 = 99! You can do this trick on any number grid!

Also, try Calendar Magic 20 trick, click here for the magic secret and other mysterious math tricks!

Electricity with Kids

1. Create an Art Bot that draws on it's own (featured above), as well as other cool projects for the tech-savvy teacher, parent, and kid! Check out Geek Dad's collection over at Wired. 

2. Make a fruity battery with Steve Spangler

3. Light up a bulb in your microwave or build your own with Spangler

4. Experiment with electricity using a light bulb, foil, and a battery with Scholastic

5. Make spuds SURGE with Zoom!

6. Make a simple circuit at Mini Science.

7. Can you get water to conduct electricity? Find out with Studio 3D!

8. Construct a BristleBot with the Evil Mad Scientist!

9. Make squishy circuits (explore insulators and conductors!)

10. Turn a pickle ELECTRIC with 4Volt and with Steve!

photo credit 4Volt

11. Create electricity with an apple! (video link) / (simple written instructions)

12. Construct a rideable hovercraft!

Citrus Reaction: Natural Soda

Pour 2/3 of a glass of orange juice. Add 1 tsp of baking soda. Orange juice will bubble and fizz right before your eyes! Try this experiment out on other juices. The acid in OJ creates a citrus reaction with baking soda, releasing CO2. Apparently this mixture is good for your skin too. ;) I tasted it and it had a very unique flavor, not as good as sugary Sunkist! Visit Sunkist for more orange experiments! Visit Zoom for instructions on how to make Lemon Juice Rockets!

Oreo Math

Math experimentation with oreos!

Trading Game

cinnamon - perfect brewing, cacao - raw cacao

Kids trade lunches, pokemon cards, and beyblades. To help kids understand voluntary trade, imports, and exports, play the Trading Game! Divide kids up into groups (4 kids per team). Each group represents a country. Kids work together and research their country. What natural resources does their country have? What products and natural resources does their country need?


Give each kid a paper lunch bag with a surprise inside! The item in their bag should be a natural resource or product that is abundant in their country. Kids trade the item in their bag to obtain a good that their country wants or needs. They begin trading "locally," with each other. Then, they trade items "world wide," with all of their classmates. In the end, each team should have 2 items their country needs and 2 items their country wants.


Click here for trading game instructions and extension activities.

For younger kids, play the rainbow trade game! Give each kid a bag of cut up squares of a single color. Kids go around the room trading one of their colored squares with their peers, until they have each color of the rainbow. This is a good activity for introducing trading.

Play-Doh Math and Science

Have fun with play-doh while learning math and science!

States of Matter
First, make a hypothesis and a prediction, will the volume or weight of play-doh change after it is played with? Ask kids what state of matter does play-doh belong to? Is it a solid, liquid, or gas? If play-doh is smushed, is that an example of a chemical or physical change in matter? Explanation - Changing the shape and form is an example of a physical change in matter. Play-doh can take on many forms and return back to its original form.

Geometry
1. Take play-doh out of the canister and keep it in its cylinder shape. Now, find the radius of your circular base. Then, measure the height of your cylinder.
2. Figure out the volume! 
3. Have fun with your play-doh, mush, smash, roll, and bend it for at least 10 minutes.
4. After playing with it, return it back to its original state by putting it back into its container.
5. Once it's a cylinder again, take its measurements and find the volume. What happened? Is the volume still the same?

Experiment with finding the volume of various 3D play-doh solids (cubes, rectangular prisms, etc.). Visit UEN or Science Buddies for instructions.

Weight for younger kids
Weigh play-doh before and after playing with it. Did the weight of the play-doh change? Weigh the play-doh in a variety of shapes and irregular forms. Does shape make a difference in weight? 

More Math Activities
1. Measure the length and width of play-doh straight out of the canister. Create play-doh shapes and sculptures and measure. Compare your measurements to the dough straight from the canister. See who can make the longest piece of play-doh using only one canister of dough. Combine your play-doh snake and measure!
2. Use play-doh on ten frames. Kids pinch off pieces and roll pieces into balls to represent numbers on a ten frame. 

More Play-Doh Science: 
1. Make an electrical circuit with play-doh, while learning about insulators and conductors! 
2. Visit Andy Brain for a play-doh buoyancy activity!

Moon Games

1. Awesome hands on activities from Lunar Prospector! First, construct a lunar habitat out of recycled materials in your classroom or home that meets your basic needs! Click here for details! While exploring your "habitat," collect moon rocks (assortment of candy or stones). Eack kid gets one rock. Then, have them write a fully detailed sentence that describes their rock (texture, color, etc.). Line the rocks up in a row. Can your classmates match the right description to each rock? 

2. Figure out how much you weigh on the moon, as well as each planet!

3. Disney Family Fun has an active night game that reinforces the number of days in a lunar cycle! Kids split up outside and try to capture the moon (a soccer ball), which is being guarded by an astronaut with a flashlight that is deadly! Light will take them out of the game. Click here for details! Younger kid version - to put a twist on the game, you could pass out flashlights to all of the kids and hide the soccer ball. Then, have kids hunt for it using their light. Whoever finds the moon first wins.

4. Make moon craters

Roll Bundle Win! - Place Value

Roll Bundle Win - 2 player place value game. Kids pull a two digit mystery number out of a bag. Next, they both build the number. For example, they pick 12. They show how many tens and ones are in 12 by using drinking straws (bendy part cut off) and rubber bands. So, they should have one bundle of ten drinking straws and two drinking straws set aside. Now, the competition begins! Kids roll one die and continue to build on to their number. If they roll two, they add two drinking straws to their number. So, starting with 12, now they have 14. Whoever makes the number the fastest scores a point. If they tie, they both get a point. The tricky part is the bundling. Say they have the number 14. They roll an 8. The kids have to make a bundle with their straws (count and rubber band them). They should have 2 bundles of straws and two out to equal 22 (2 tens and 2 ones). 

What Can You Do With A Slinky?

photo via yoyo.com

MATH

1. Estimate - How many coils does a slinky have? How long is a slinky when stretched? How many steps will a slinky walk down before stopping?
2. Count the number of coils on a slinky. Do all slinkies have the same number of coils? Also, count how many steps your slinky walked down. 
3. Measure - Have each student hold one end of the slinky and pull it outwards, stepping away from each other. Now, find the length of your slinky. Measure the length and width of a compact slinky. Now, find the diameter. Can you figure out the circumference?
4. Geometry / Physics - Test a slinky out on different angled inclined planes and record your data! Click here for the experiment!


SCIENCE
1. Physical Science - Energy transformation - Talk about potential and kinetic energy. When a slinky is at rest, it has potential energy. Once you get a slinky moving, its potential energy transforms into kinetic energy! Gravity - Next, hold a slinky with your arm extended out (at head level) and drop it straight down. How does a slinky fall? Does it's bottom or top crash to the floor first? Do the springs spring the slinky back up into the air? Find out the answer here!
2. Earth Science - Model earthquake waves by demonstrating a Seismic Slinky
3. Universe - Check out a slinky in space!

ART
1. Brush paint on a slinky's feet (the ends), cover an inclined plane with paper, and create walking slinky art!

2. Create circular prints by stamping a slinky. Try rolling, twisting, and turning a slinky's coils on paper to get a print.

3. Create a slinky pencil holder.
4. Hang a slinky from a string and create springing ceiling art!

Flip Ten

Fun addition card game from Guided Math! Kids line up cards in four rows of five. Then, they flip two cards over. If the sum of the two cards equals 10, they keep the cards and replace the cards with two more from the deck. The game ends when there are no more matches left. A match includes 6 and 4, 7 and 3, 8 and 2, 5 and 5. Whoever has the most cards wins the game!

Note: You can change the game and have kids flip ______. Give them a different sum each time they play. For example Flip 5, kids look for 0 and 5, 1 and 4, 2 and 3.

Popsicle Preservation

Can you keep a popsicle preserved from the sun's radiant energy? Kids test out a variety of insulators to see what type of material will preserve a popsicle the best, preventing the transformation of solar energy to thermal energy! Kids work in teams using aluminum foil, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, paper towels, newspaper, as well as a variety of other items to construct insulators. Then, they put their protected popsicles out in the sun. Along with the insulated popsicles, put one uninsulated, unwrapped popsicle outside as well. Who's popsicle can withstand the heat? As soon as the uninsulated popsicle melts, check your protected popsicles. Then, record your findings.

Catch a Raindrop!

raindrops via alamy

Are all raindrops the same size? NASA has an awesome hands on activity for a water cycle unit! On a rainy day, give kids a light colored piece of cardstock. Have them hold their cardstock out the window to collect a few drops. Then, tell them to trace around the drops with a colored pencil before their drops dry. Now, grab a ruler and measure your drops, take note of their shape. Are raindrops symmetrical? Are they all the same size? Compare your raindrop samples with your classmates. What was the smallest and largest measurement taken of a raindrop?

3D drops - Spread a thin layer of flour in a shallow pan and hold it outside for a few seconds to catch raindrop samples. The flour will create 3 dimensional drops. Carefully separate the lumps from the flour using a sieve. Have kids examine the shapes of the droplets.

Click here to download the raindrop unit from NASA!

Kung Fu Punctuation

Teach kids punctuation marks by using Kung Fu moves! Click here for a full list of hand gestures. Check out Kung Fu Punctuation in action here!

Let's Roll!

Roll a hula hoop down the pavement in a line. Mark the starting line and draw a line from the starting point to where it stopped. Now, use your measuring skills to figure out how many times the hula hoop rolled in a complete circle! Cut a piece of string the size of the hula hoop's circumference. Hold one side of the string and lay the other end around the hoop until it meets the side you are holding. The string represents the circumference. Use a ruler and measure the piece of string to find the circumference. Next, measure the line you drew on the pavement to figure out how far the hoop traveled. To figure out how many times it rolled divide the distance by the circumference. 

For smaller kids, you can simply use your circumference string and make marks on the line you drew. Count your marks. Your marks represent one full hoop. How many times did your hoop roll?

Can't find a hula hoop? Learn how to make one here!

Ruler Reaction

Who has the quickest reaction? Test out your reflex skills with this fun measuring experiment! Have a friend hold a ruler by their index, middle finger, and thumb. Tell them to hold it out, extended away from their body (at their head level). Now, you be prepared to catch it with your fingers! Hold your hand out underneath the ruler. Your friend will drop it unexpectedly, try to grasp it! Write down the measurement of where you caught the ruler. Now, try your other hand. Which hand had the quickest reaction? Try the experiment out on all of your friends. Who has the quickest reflexes?!


Compare your results with the rest of your classmates. Does gender or age play a factor in reaction?

Just Dance! Patterns

Mrs. T's First Grade Class became choreographers, creating a dance while learning math at the same time! Kids used their patterning skills to create their very own original dance! First they made a cube train pattern. Then, they created a movement to represent each color. For example, ABBC pattern: (red, blue, blue, green) spin, arm roll, arm roll, drop to the floor. Kids practice patterning and gain confidence in dance! Check it out here!

Ten Frame Dominoes

Oversized Ten Frame Dominoes, I made these so kids could improve their number sense, understand base ten, and have fun while doing so! Kids twist and turn dominoes, matching numerals to ten frames. 

Go Fish Parts of Speech

Write down different words for each part of speech on bright colored paper fish. Then, flip the fish over so the word isn't visible. Mix them up in a pile. Kids have to catch eight fish. They have to find words that represent each part of speech. For younger kids, you could simply do nouns, verbs, and adjectives. After they have found each part of speech, they use their words to write a sentence or two. 

Note: Mix up the colors. For example, don't write all the verbs on green. Otherwise, the game will be too simple and kids will look for colors instead of recognizing the parts of speech. 

How to: Cover your paper fish in contact paper. You can find the above fish template here. Next, attach a magnet to the fish on the same side as the word. You can buy magnet strip rolls at Staples. Find a stick outside, attach a long piece of string, and add a round magnet around the end of the string. Now, go fish!

Place Value Stix

Just like the game pickup sticks, but with place value! Grab a bunch of colored drinking straws, four different colored straws to represent the ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands. Cut the bendy part of the straw off. Hold the straws upright in a bundle and drop them to the floor. Kids take turns trying to carefully pull a "stick" out without moving any of the others. If they move any of the other sticks, they lose a turn. When all of the sticks have been pulled from the pile, figure out your number (example left). Whoever has the largest number wins! Visit Family TLC to see how to incorporate decimals!

Word Families: Shake and Race

Kids work in teams, shake a bag of word family endings, and race against the timer to create a list of words within a word family! Write various word family endings on notecards and toss them in a paper lunch bag. Teams take turns shaking the bag and pulling a card out. Each team works together against the clock and the rest of the teams, trying to come up with as many words as they can for a single word family, before the time runs out. Which team will come up with the most words?!


timer via alamy

Lego Multiplication: Groups of and Arrays

Make multiplication fun with legos! A lego brick represents one group. Kids count the studs to figure out the multiplication equation. For example 2 lego bricks with 4 studs (2 groups of 4) equals 2 x 4. Then, they solve it! (2 x 4 = 8) 

Kids can also find arrays on legos to help with their multiplication skills. When you look at the studs on top a lego, you see an array! Kids examine the rows to figure out the equation. For example, one lego brick with 8 studs (2 horizontal rows of 4 studs, 2 x 4 = 8)



More Lego Activities from E is for Explore
Place Value
Geometry - Area / Perimeter
Fractions
Basic Math
Counting / Creative Writing
Science - Weathering Process

Ten Frame Bowling / Addition with 3 Addends

Work on ten frames, addition with 3 addends, and hand / eye coordination all at the same time! Set up 10 plastic water or soda bottles like bowling pins at a math station. Grab a ball and the fun begins! Give kids three blank ten frames. They play 3 rounds. After each round, they color in the ten frame for the round to match the number of pins they knocked down. When they finish their game, they write an equation to figure out the total number of pins they knocked down. You can print out ten frames here, as well as other math printables.

Hot Wheels Math

Grab a ruler (yardstick), a bunch of hot wheels vehicles, and some sidewalk chalk for a measuring project! 

1. Set up a mini Nascar stadium with your vehicles! Kids draw lines on the blacktop, creating lanes to separate their cars - number the lanes. Once the lanes are setup, assign each student (or group) a numbered lane. Who's car is the fastest? After you race your cars, measure the distance they rolled from the starting line. Compare the distances and the vehicles.

2. City Project: Kids team up and are given specific measurements for a street. They work together to construct their street. Then, they work with their peers on designing a city. As a class, they decide the placement of each road. After they've completed their roadways, they can add skyscrapers, stores, and signage. They can even make a Fraction City on the pavement (click here for details)!

Note: You could do this activity indoors with masking tape to create roads.

Balloon Tennis

Balloon Tennis - Glue paper plates on popsicle sticks for a racquet. Kids hit balloons and play tennis!

Synonyms - Two player game - Kids are given a word. They hit the balloon back and forth. Before they hit the balloon they have to call out a synonym for the word. If they can't, their opponent gets a point. 

Sight Words - Write sight words on balloons. Kids whack the balloon and say the sight word. If they have the correct answer, they get a point!

Spelling - Spell out a word and hit the balloon for each letter. Kids can do this solo, with a buddy, or in a group. 

Fractions - Three player game - 2 people hit the balloon and one person keeps track of the score. Kids choose how many chances they get to hit the balloon. Limit kids to a certain number. Otherwise, they'll go on all day, and everyone needs a chance to play! If they miss, they get to continue, but they have to start off from where they stopped.  For example, if they plan to hit the balloon 20 times and they stopped at 6, they start counting at 7. The kid keeping track of the score tallies each time they hit the balloon. As soon as they reach the maximum number they stop (which is hard I know!). As a group, they figure out the fraction. For example, the balloon was kept in play (or smacked) 18/20 times.

Basic Addition - Two Players - Have kids count up their points!

Hue Finder

Live Strong has a fun outdoor color match game for kids. Stop at your local hardware store and snatch a bunch of paint chip strips to use on a color scavenger hunt. Kids go around on a color hunt, matching paint chips to items all around them. Find colors inside and outside. Use you color tool spring, summer, fall, and winter. Put color cards on a book ring for easy handling. Kids can take turns using it in the classroom and outside on the playground. Optional - Have kids use a hole puncher and punch holes in the colors they find.

nature photos via alamy

Character Inference

For a fun activity have kids make inferences about characters. For example, pirates, why do they wear a patch? Why do they have a parrot on their shoulder and so forth. Think of other kid-loved characters for inferencing: knights, princesses, wizards, etc. Bring in props or print out pictures of items different characters wear or carry. You could mix up items and have kids figure out what type of character the items belong to (don't give them any hints about the character). They might see a pirate earring and match it to a princess. Then, have them write down why they think the character needs that item. 


hat - halloween costumes
patch - birthday express
parrot - hoax-slayer
boot - costume store
skull - free stock
earring - birthday box
spy glass - ebay