Sweet Smiles Preschool: Floating vs. Flying in the Air...

On Wednesday our Mother Goose lesson was supposed to be about things that float in the air. Being that we celebrated B's birthday and had bike day, we were not able to get to the lesson for the day. We did however, complete our workbook activities and one page in our Nature Collection books.

I have found it most convienient to work on these books one-on-one with the children as they arrive in the morning. Becuase of this, we are concentrating more on the writing than the nature exploration behind it. I have enjoyed having conversations with the kids about what they already know and what they wonder or want to learn more about regarding each subject for the day. On Wednesday the kids worked on the page that was labeled with the word "stick."

"I can break a stick."

The kids cut apart these picture and letter cards and played Memory by matching up the beginning sounds.

The kids also worked on coloring matching pictures in their math workbook.

On Thursday our Mother Goose lesson was all about things that fly in the air.

The kids started the morning working on the page labeled with the word "dirt" in their Nature Collection book.

"Dirt can be mud."

The kids also completed a sentence/story in their literacy workbook.

"I went for a walk and heard a noise.

I looked up in the sky and...

saw a bird flying around a house."

The kids also worked on a connect-the-dot activity in their math workbook.

During circle time we discussed a lot of things that float versus things that fly. We looked at our theme poster and discussed the difference. The kids were a bit stumped when I asked them if a rainbow floats or flies. I explained that a rainbow is really a reflection a light so it does not float or fly.

We held hands and walked in a circle as we listened to the song, "Little Cloud is Floating By" on our Nature Detectives CD.

Mother Goose provided us with these feathers for the month of July. I asked the kids how long they think a feather can float in the air. We experimented with tossing 2 feathers at a time in the air. I held on to the one that stayed in the air the longest, and set the other one aside. We chose another feather and continued to use the process of elimination to find the one that floats the longest. A medium sized red feather was the one we discovered stayed the air the longest out of all of the feathers.

After our experiment the kids explored dropping the feathers at different heights with their friends.

What could be floating in the air that is dangerous? We discussed the zoo of germs that float in the air! We also discussed the importance of sneezing or coughing in the crook of our arm, our in a tissue.

I taught the kids to use the tissue like a blanket that spreads over their nose and mouth. So often the kids crumple up their tissue and I explained how little this helps when wiping away the germs.

Next I read the following book to the kids...

Mother Goose provided us with these supplies to make a hot air balloon craft. Being that I wanted to try to tackle as much of two lessons in one day, and these balloons needed a lot of detailed work, I decided to package each child's craft in a Ziploc baggie and let them take them home. Hopefully the kids will have fun working on this one at home with their mom and dad.

Next, we moved our discussion to things that fly. I asked the kids to pretend to flap their bird wings quickly, slowly, backwards, in a circle, etc... When I asked the kids "What flies" they only came up with a list of bugs or animals. They needed to be reminded that airplanes and helicopters can also fly.

We followed the movements to the song, "Flap Your Wings" on our Nature Detectives CD.

"Shake your tail feathers..."

Mother Goose provided us with this blue bird cutout. I had a few volunteers roll a die and then place the same amount of feathers on the bird.

For the other kids I had them roll the die two times and add the numbers together. I left these supplies out throughout the day to allow the kids to work on it during their free-play time.

What do you think wind is strong enough to move? The kids explored the classroom by trying to discover ways to move air (blowing, fanning with a book, moving arms quickly, etc.)

K discovered she could make our foam shapes move if she fanned them with a hardcover book...

G discovered he could move the balloon by fanning it with a block...

N was trying to keep the balloon up in the air with her breath...

The kids LOVED playing with the air that was shooting out of the dehumidifier. They could make the air blow away their feathers, tissues, and balloons!

Mother Goose provided us with these paper plates for each child to make a flying disc craft...

The kids colored one plate and then I stapled another plate to the bottom.

We took the flying discs outside and the kids explored tossing them around in the yard. We have tried this in the past with just one paper plate, but two stapled together works much better!