Mixing Colors for Rainy Day Projects

 Rainy days can be fun too! Mixing two primary colors to make a secondary color helps young artists build vocabulary and skill creating designs. 

Materials:

  Plastic cloth, coffee filters, red, yellow, and blue food coloring, a small watercolor brush, clothespins (not the pinch kind) or thin wire, and a container of water, pipe cleaners (optional)

What to do:

  Cover the work area with the plastic cloth. Pick a color and paint on a coffee filter. Pick a second color and continue to paint on the coffee filter. Discuss what happens to the colors. Continue to experiment with a third color and discuss what happens. Take the opportunity to talk about “primary colors”(red, blue, yellow) and “secondary” (mixed colors). After painting on several coffee filters, let them air dry before proceeding.

  Once the filters are dry, choose one and scrunch the middle together and place it inside a clothespin or wire. Fan out the sides of the filter to make the wings of a butterfly.  Cut the pipe cleaner in half and wrap that around the knob of the clothespin for antennae. Use the other filters to make more butterflies.

Books to share:

 “Mouse Paint” by Ellen Stohl Walsh, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, “Charlie the Caterpillar” by Dom Deluise, and “Where Butterflies Grow” by Joanne Ryder.

Find more activities:

For more projects see the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” online information at 

http://www.grandparentsteachtoo.org/. Hear audio podcasts or our activities also online at WNMU Radio 90. 

Illustrations: Mark Nowicki

Weather Observation

Observing, investigating, and reporting the weather are good ways to nurture science thinking because weather affects play activities and clothing choices. By observing weather, many clothing arguments may be avoided.
What to do
Check out the weather every morning before breakfast to help plan for the day. Adults will be setting the stage for good breakfast conversation and building scientific vocabulary.
Check the temperature. Step outside or observe through a window. Will we need jackets, hats, and mittens today or can we dress for warm weather? Is it sunny or cloudy? Will we need to wear our sunglasses and hat?
Look at the sky. Is the sky really cloudy, partly cloudy, or clear? Are there clouds coming in? Observe the kinds of clouds. If the clouds are thick like a blanket and it’s rather gray, stratus clouds are holding lots of possible moisture.
If it’s a blue sky with some big white cotton ball cumulus clouds, it could be a nice day to play outside with proper clothing. If these puffy clouds are gray or black, we could have a storm.

If the sky is clear with just a few wispy cirrus clouds, we probably won’t have moisture.
Observe the trees. Is it really windy, a little breezy, or a calm day? By observing weather many clothing arguments are avoided.
What else can I do?
Children love to paint weather pictures to hang on the refrigerator. You can also draw clouds, sun, or raindrops on a calendar to report weather. Compare your observations and predictions with professional forecasters.
If children have questions, like how clouds block the sun or what causes wind, go to http://www.ask.com or Google®. Ask the librarian for help finding nonfiction (true) weather books with lots of colored pictures. Children also like Judi Barrett’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Tomie de Paola’s The Cloud Book. Some children’s museums have a TV weather studio to play weather reporter.
Find more activities to help young children learn go to Learning Through the Seasons at: http://www.grandparentsteachtoo.org/ webpages or listen to these activities on the WNMU Radio 90 podcasts at: http://www.wnmufm.org/learningthroughtheseasons 
Illustrations by Mark Nowicki

Winter Outdoor Activities: Make a Birdfeeder

 Adults can help young children develop a love of nature and a caring relationship with wildlife by making a simple peanut butter bird feeder. You will support wildlife and help children develop important language and motor skills.

Materials you will need:

 Wax paper, pine cones or large chunk of dry bread, peanut butter, birdseed, string or thin wire, and table knife

What to do?

   Talk with your child about how birds need to find food in the winter months.  Plan to make a bird feeder to help attract birds to your yard. You might draw the steps and check them off as they are completed.

  Find some pinecones or make pieces of stale bread or toast and lay them out on a piece of wax paper. 

  Tie a string or wire about 8 inches long around the cone or bread, leaving string at the top to attach the birdfeeder to a tree later.  Spread a generous amount of soft peanut butter all around the cone.  Next, sprinkle birdseed on the peanut butter. You may want to begin to freeze the cone or bread. It’s not as sticky to handle. Decide where to hang the birdfeeder and secure it so children can see it from an inside window.  Watch the birds enjoying their treat. When the feeder is eaten, just make another.

How will this help my Child?

  Children benefit from planning an activity and following the steps in the correct order to complete a project.  By using words like first, second, next, finally, or last you will be helping to develop a sense of order or sequence.  By talking together, answering questions, and observing wildlife, you are stimulating natural curiosity.  Spreading, rolling, patting, pouring, all help develop fine motor control and skill.

What other Activities Could We Do?

  Observe and count the different kinds of birds in your backyard. Keep a calendar with the number and kinds of birds and other animals at your feeder. When do birds visit? Is there a time when squirrels and other animals are not there?  Where are they?  Where do birds and squirrels go to keep warm in the winter? What animal tracks do you see around the feeder?

   Children sometimes like to draw a picture after doing a fun activity. You could print a sentence at the bottom of the picture for your young child to read and show.  Children can describe the steps you took to complete the feeder and help to explain the sequence to others.  Find some non-fiction or guidebooks at the library that show different kinds of birds or read fiction books like “Sadie and the Snowman”.

For more activities to prepare young children for success in school and reduce the stress of child care, see the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at book stores and Grandparents Teach, Too web site and listen to the WNMU Radio 90 Podcast for even more ideas. 

Illustration: Mark Nowicki

Indoor Activities for Cold Weather Days

Stuck in the house again during these cold weather spells? Here are some great ideas to inspire activities for children without causing chaos in the house. Get kids moving, counting, and having fun with simple materials you have around the house. Young children need daily exercise, especially during long stretches of dreary days.  Daily exercise helps develop the large muscles in their arms, legs, and trunk and sets the stage for a healthy lifestyle.

Materials you will need: a beach ball, large pail, wrapping paper tubes, large storage container, paper plates, marker

What you do:  

  Catching a ball with young children begins on the floor rolling a small slightly soft beach ball back and forth with your legs shaped like a V to enclose the ball. The  soft beach ball helps children grip the ball and won’t damage the house. Start close together and move farther and farther apart keeping the experience successful. Stay on the floor and gently throw and catch guiding the ball into their arms. Show children how to place arms and hands to catch. Children can also sit on the couch so the ball lands in easy reach when they miss.  Next stand very close together and ease the ball into your children’s arms.  Gradually move farther apart. Some children will be ready to learn and learn quickly. Others may not be ready. Children learn at different rates. When your child has mastered catching like this, count or say the ABC’S, as you catch.

 Other indoor sports:

  Throw a beach ball into a laundry basket to play basketball. Tap a ball back and forth for volleyball. Kickball is a good way to start running bases. Make numbered bases out of paper plates taped to the floor. Practice running around the bases together.  Tap each one and say its number. Soccer can also be played indoors. For an indoor soccer net, turn a large plastic storage container on its side. 

  Bowling is easy with a few plastic containers and an old ball that has lost some of its air. To play indoor hockey, or golf, hit a ball with a wrapping paper tube. Reinforce with tape when needed. Some other active games include Twister. Call out colors to jump on. There are many variations of freeze tag, if you have room. When tagged call out a number, color, letter, geography feature, or story character when tagged. Close the curtains and play flashlight tag.

What Else Can I do?

Set up an obstacle course with cushions, pillows, chairs and blankets.  Children can crawl around and try to beat their best time. You can add a little math by making a chart of their times. These obstacle courses are fun, expend a lot of energy, and easy to pick up. Soon it’s time for a snack and a good book.

For more activities to prepare young children for success in school and reduce the stress of child care, see the authors’ book “Learning Through the Seasons” at book stores and Grandparents Teach, Too web site and listen to the WNMU Radio 90 Podcast for even more ideas. 

Illustration by Mark Nowicki