Creative Family Fun

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Learning Activities for Kids

Ice Play for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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How do you beat the heat (and learn a little at the same time)? Playing with ice, of course!

Yesterday, we set up a couple of ice play experiments to have some fun.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

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Ice Play Experiments

The first experiment we did was ongoing as we played with our other experiment. We put some ice cubes in a small glass bowl, set it aside and waited to see how long it took to melt.

We had to keep checking back to see the ice shrinking. It was completely fascinating (at least for the under 5 set)!

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

We took pictures to track out progress, the ice in the beginning, half-way through, and our bowl of melted ice. It was fun to try and guess how long it would take the ice to melt.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

Next, I set up a cookie sheet with a bowl of ice and two glasses of water.The goal was to count how many ice cubes it took to make the water flow over the top of the cup. I was inspired by a game in the book, Math Play!.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

We took our time with this ice play experiment.

We added ice, took away ice, played with ice and did whatever struck our fancy at the moment.We practiced our observation skills. What color is the ice? Is it hot or cold? Fuzzy or slippery?

And yes, we finally did get to the point where our water flowed over the top.

So, we took our ice out of the cup and started over again.

Beat the heat and have some fun with these simple ice play activities for toddlers and preschoolers. You'll learn some simple science and have some fun.

When we were done with our experiments, we had a little ice play time. We had a lot of fun with this simple activity and learned a little about ice in the process.

How are you beating the heat this summer?

You may also like one of these simple play ideas:

Colored Ice Fun

Go Outside: Shape Hopscotch

Go Outside: Counting Walk

Rock Collecting & A Rock Journal

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The girls and I went on a rock collecting adventure a couple of days ago. It was on our summer bucket list, so it was definitely something I was preparing to do. After running various ideas through my head about where to take them, I ended up with the most simple idea of all… walking through our own neighborhood. We had a lot of fun wandering around and enjoying each others company.

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We turned our trip into an art project. I made each of the girls an art journal and we took those along and a bag of crayons. I taught Lizzie to do rock rubbings and she was soon a girl on a mission, running around, finding rocks, then doing a rubbing.If you want to make your own rock journals, you can print out the cover here. It prints out on 8.5 x11 inch paper and then you fold in half for the front and back. I found it works best on card stock, but any paper would work, so don’t let that stop you! Then add as many interior pages as you want, I used two pieces of paper per journal, which was 4 pages. I didn’t want too many pages to make it overwhelming for my girls.

To hold the pages together I used embroidery thread. I used one continuous thread, sewing through the top, then through the bottom. I left the ends on the outside of the journal, so I could tie them together. (You could also staple!)

So head out and look for rocks! Use the journal to record observations, practice drawing rocks or make rubbings like we did. Turn your trip into a scavenger hunt and search for specific colors, sizes or shapes of rocks. Bring some home and create with them. Here are a few fun projects I’ve seen lately.

Make alphabet rocks like these from Momtastic.
How about some cute ladybug rocks? Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas shows you how.
Education.com shows you how to make a painted rock mosaic.

Go out, hunt rocks and have fun!

Math Play: Counting Blocks

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On Monday, I mentioned that we had been using the book Math Play! by Diane McGowan and Mark Schrooten lately to work on our numbers and have fun at the same time. I wanted to tell you a little more about it, because it truly is a great resource for toddlers and preschoolers. The book is designed for ages 2 to 6, making it perfect for my 4- and 2-year old. The activities are fun, easy to set up and require little if any special supplies. We’ve had the book for a couple of weeks now and have already done 8 activities with plans to do more.

 

One game we had a lot of fun with was Tower Counter. The supply list: blocks. Yep, that’s it. Easy-peasy. I started by asking her to build towers with a certain amount of blocks. She’s build it. Then I’d either ask her to add a certain amount or take away a certain amount. After she did that, she recounted the blocks in her tower. It was a great introduction to addition and subtraction for the preschool age. Lizzie had a blast and kept wanting to play well beyond the point where I thought she’d want to stop. What was AJ doing this whole time? She was building with us, just not using the math concepts. She was in the build and knock down mode.

If you’re looking for a great way to introduce or reinforce some math concept, take a peek at Math Play! It’s a great resource.

Make Learning a Game

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Motivation has been a huge problem with my 4-year-old lately, especially when it comes to learning writing skills. She has the tendency to use the words “I can’t” too much without even trying. After a few weeks of wanting to bash my head against a wall, I came up with a solution. Turn learning into a game! Two pieces of paper and a Sharpie later and I had the “Lizzie Learns her Numbers” game. Yep, it did the trick.

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I drew a board game form and started filling in the squares with the skills I wanted her to work on – writing her numbers. I also included fun games and activities designed to help her with her numbers. Most of the activities on the game were pulled from Math Play! by Diane McGowan and Mark Schrooten. (This is a wonderful resource for fun math activities for ages 2 to 6.) She has to complete a square to earn a sticker and move on to the next. Every 4 to 5 squares also has a special prize that she’ll earn. When she completes the entire board, she will earn a grand prize.

In order to make the flip up squares, I cut around 3 sides of one of the squares. I then glued an extra piece of paper to the back of the game, that way, when she flipped up the square, I had room to write underneath it. Simple!

I’m sure you’re wondering what sort of prizes she’s earning through this game. I’ve filled it with fun activities such as making cookies, a trip to the park and finger painting. I tried to come up with things that would be a treat, yet wouldn’t cost me money. The grand prize will be a trip to a nature center.

So far, the game is working to motivate her. Her “I can’t’s” are gone and she’s actually eager to learn to write. So, if you’re having a problem motivating your little one, turn it into a game!