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Called an Anemometer
Materials needed: paper cups, cardboard, thumbtack, hot glue, scissors, tape & pencil

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When it comes to hands-on learning, kids of all ages absolutely love STEM activities, especially when they get to engineer and then use the item.

Spring is the perfect time to study weather, especially the wind.

Your child will have fun discovering how to make an anemometer with cardboard and paper cups.

Once you finish this diy anemometer, you can continue studying the weather with some other weather unit activities.

Study the types of clouds and learn how to make a cloud in a jar, or try out this super simple rain cloud activity.

How to Make an Anemometer
Affliate links have been provided below for your convenience.
Materials Needed:

To make your homemade wind gauge, begin by cutting your corrugated cardboard into 2 strips that are approximately 1.5 inches wide and 12 inches long (3.8 x 30.5 cm.

Use hot glue or a stapler to connect your 2 pieces of cardboard together so they form a cross. Try to center the pieces as much as possible so you have an equal amount of cardboard on each side.

Once that is finished, use your colorful tape to decorate one of your paper cups. You could also use a paper cup that is a different color but is still close in size to your other cups. (This is what we did.)

Then staple or hot glue each of the paper cups to the ends of the cardboard cross. Make sure the cups all face the same direction!

How to Make a Wind Gauge

To make the spinning portion of your homemade anemometer you have a couple choices. The first choice is what worked best for us.

Choice 1: Use an old pen and dowel rod.

Take apart an old pen and slide the hollow plastic portion over the end of a thin wood dowel, making sure there is enough room for the pen piece to spin around the dowel.

Use your thumbtack to fasten the center of the cardboard cross to the end of the pen casing.

Then stick the free end of the wood dowel into a lump of clay or playdough. (We left our playdough in the container.)

Choice 2: Use a new pencil and a plastic container with lid.

Check your recycling for a plastic container that is at least 2 1/2 - 3 inches (6.3 - 7.5 cm) tall with a lid. Use the tip of your scissors to make a hole in the center of the container's lid. The hole needs to be just a tiny bit larger than the width of your pencil.

Use your thumbtack to attach the center of your cardboard cross to the pencil's eraser.

Stick the free end of your pencil into the hole of your container's lid.

DIY Wind Meter

Once your homemade wind gauge is built, you can take it outside to check out the speed of the wind.

We set ours up on the picnic table.

To measure the wind speed, set a timer for 1 minute and count how many times your different colored cup goes around in a circle.

If your cup goes around 10 times in that 1 minute, the wind speed is approximately 1 mile an hour. If it goes around 20 times in a minute, the wind is 2 miles an hour, etc.

Learn more about weather by creating a tornado in a jar.

I hope your child has as much fun learning how to make a wind anemometer with cardboard and paper cups to measure the wind speed as we did.

You'll also like these posts:

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Originally published April 23, 2015.

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how to make an anemometer with cardboard

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How to Make an Anemometer | There's Just One Mommy

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When it comes to hands-on learning, kids of all ages absolutely love STEM activities, especially when they get to engineer and then use the item. Spring is the perfect time to study weather, especially the wind. Your child will have fun discovering how to make an anemometer with cardboard and paper cups.

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Materials needed: vinegar, baking soda, ziploc bag, food coloring, paper towel

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Here's a super cool science experiment for kids that requires only a few common materials. In this experiment you'll create a chemical reaction using baking soda and vinegar that will make a baggie explode!

With school out for summer we've been busy doing all kinds of outdoor learning activities! One of our favorites is this baking soda and vinegar experiment~ Exploding Baggies! Not only is it the experiment itself really exciting, but the process is perfect for encouraging all kinds of predictions and theories. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Check out even more science activities in the video below!

Materials for Exploding Baggies

Directions for Exploding Baggies

1. Tear a paper towel into a square shape. (We ripped off one piece of a select-a-size roll and then tore that piece in half to make a square. It doesn't have to be perfect!)

2. Place 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda onto the center of your paper towel square.

3. Fold your paper towel up so you've created a little packet of baking soda and set it aside.

4. Place 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup of vinegar into your baggie. (Add some food coloring if you'd like!)

5. Head outside and find a spot to explode your baggie. Carefully and quickly drop the packet of baking soda into the baggie and seal it shut completely. Give it a little shake, set it down, move away, and watch what happens!

The baggie begins to fill up...

.... and fills up with even more carbon dioxide.

After a few seconds your baggie should explode with a loud "POP"!

Our first baggie didn't explode so we had to hypothesize as to why it didn't work. We think we let too much of the carbon dioxide out before we go the bag sealed.

After quite a few successful explosions, Lucy used our extra materials to try out other ideas. She wondered what would happen in you didn't use a paper towel or if you changed the amounts of the different ingredients. She was busy for quite a while testing out all her ideas!

What's Going On?

The mixing of the baking soda and vinegar are creating a chemical reaction! The two ingredients are creating carbon dioxide gas. The gas fills the baggie and then runs out of room causing the explosion- POP!

Want to Go Even Further?
Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages.
1. Let your child experiment with baking soda and vinegar on his or her own (with supervision of course).

2. Try out another experiment that creates a chemical reaction with pennies.

3. Create a sand volcano!

Find more STEM activities in our ebook! Learn more about it here, or buy it now here!

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Baking Soda and Vinegar Science Experiment: Exploding Baggies - Buggy and Buddy

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Here's a super cool science experiment for kids that requires only a few common materials. In this experiment you'll create a chemical reaction using baking soda and vinegar that will make a baggie explode! With school out for summer we've been busy doing all kinds of outdoor learning activities!

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Materials needed: paper, leaves, mallet

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Support fine motor skills
Materials needed: paper, marker, scissors

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Do your kids need help cutting with scissors? Scissor skills are developmental and typically follow a sequence. When you follow the developmental sequence of scissor cutting skills your kids will be so much more successful cutting with scissors. With well developed fine motor skills your kids will be ready and able to cut like pros!

Keep reading to grab your free, printable scissor skills checklist!

Developmental Sequence of Cutting Skills

This is the order in which cutting skills should be introduced to young children.

Rip

Snip

Fringe

Straight lines

Zig zag lines

Curved lines (circles, waves, hearts)

Right angles (squares and rectangles)

Ripping Paper

Ripping sturdy paper such as construction paper is the perfect activity for young children to engage in before being introduced to scissors. Children exercise their tripod grasp- or their thumb and first two fingers as they grip the paper to rip it. Ripping also requires children to move their hands in opposite directions at the same time which helps develop bilateral coordination skills. Cut sturdy paper into strips and invite children to rip away! When they demonstrate they are ready, move to larger pieces of paper.

Snipping with Scissors

Snipping is the act of opening and closing the scissors one time only which results in successfully cutting something. Snipping will help children develop the muscles in their hands necessary to cut longer lines later so their hands won't become fatigued.

Use Scissors to Cut Fringe

Fringe is repetitive snipping without cutting the paper in half. Use a ruler to draw evenly spaced lines from the bottom of a square piece of green construction paper up two inches. Then, place stickers at the top of each line. Invite children to fringe the paper by cutting on the lines and stopping at the stickers.

How to Cut Straight Lines

Once children have mastered the first three, then they start working on cutting straight lines from point A to point B. This requires that they open and close the scissors multiple times per cut, which is much more difficult than snipping or fringing. Don't be surprised if they complain of fatigue in their hands. Fatigue indicates that they still need more practice with scissors to develop those fine motor skills.

Cutting Zig Zag Lines

Next up are zig zag lines. Zig zag lines are more difficult to cut because they require the child to turn the paper or their hand as they cut. This is a much more advanced cutting skill than snipping or cutting straight lines and can lead to hand fatigue quickly. Be sure your kids are really ready before introducing zig zag lines.

Cutting Curved Lines

Even more difficult than zig zag are curved lines. These lines can be very tricky for young children to cut, it's best to wait until they have developed the muscles in their hands to accomplish this challenging task. How do you know if your kids are ready for curved lines? Observe them ripping, snipping, fringing, and cutting on straight and zig zag lines. If they can do those things, then they may be ready to move on.

Cutting Right Angles

Cutting squares and rectangles can also be challenging for young children. Trying to turn the paper is always challenging and they instinctively try to turn their arms instead. You may need to practice cutting curved and right angles with your kids, demonstrating how to hold the paper and turn it as you cut. It will take lots of practice before your kids master cutting curved and right angles.

The Teaching Tribe

But teaching scissor skills in only one small part of a preschool teacher's job. The best place to discuss teaching best practices and get the support you need is in the Teaching Tribe. We have many printable lessons and on-demand video trainings to help you be the best teacher you can be! If you want to get on the waiting list for the Teaching Tribe, do it soon so you don't miss the next open enrollment period!

Free Printable Scissor Skills Checklist

Need a printable to help with scissor skills? Check out this freebie!

Don't Miss the Best of Pre-K Pages
Alphabet Sensory Play
What's in Your Dramatic Play Center?
More Tips for Teaching Scissor Cutting Skills

More Teaching Tips from Pre-K Pages

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How to Teach Kids to Cut with Scissors in Preschool

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Do your kids need help cutting with scissors? Scissor skills are developmental and typically follow a sequence. When you follow the developmental sequence of scissor cutting skills your kids will be so much more successful cutting with scissors. With well developed fine motor skills your kids will be ready and able to cut like pros!

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Materials needed: water, cups, bin

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Water Scooping and Dumping:

For some reason little Miss Aubrey is obsessed with pom poms or "fuzzballs" as Madelynn likes to call them. I thought it would be interesting to explore with them in the water. The girls liked to swim with them, squish them between their toes, squeeze out the water and sort them by color.

Water Balloons:
So my girls have never played with water balloons before because the choking factor freaks me out a little bit, but I decided to give it a try this week and keep a close eye on Miss Aubrey. I grabbed a pack of these Water Balloons from Target and goodness gracious the inventor of Bunch O' Balloons is a genius! It was seriously amazing being able to fill 20 balloons in 5 seconds. They squirted each other a bit, but mostly had fun smashing them on the ground while I quickly picked up all the pieces so Aubrey didn't try to eat them 😉

Water & Ice Kitchen:
Next, I used food coloring to make lots of colored water which I froze in different shaped ice cube molds. I threw all of the frozen shapes into our water filled bin with play dishes and the girls made all kinds of delicious concoctions for me to taste.

Icy Alphabet Soup:
For this activity I froze alphabet beads in ice cube trays and dumped them in our water bin. The girls scooped, mixed and watched as the letters slowly melted into their alphabet soup.

Ice Castles:
This was definitely the girls favorite activity of the week. If you have princess fans in your house they will LOVE pretending with these frozen ice castles. First I froze water in sand castle molds overnight. Then we added our small princess toys and the girls loved every minute of it!

Ice Painting:
After we were a little tired of playing with princesses, I added some liquid watercolors and paintbrushes to our bin and we painted the castles before they melted down too much.

Ice Painting:
For some more painting fun I made colored ice cubes with Jello! I didn't want to use liquid watercoloring because I knew the girls would be tempted to taste them. I mixed 1 cup water with 1 packet of Jello, then froze them in trays with popsicle sticks for handles. Then I taped a sheet of butcher paper on the ground and let the girls paint and taste away! Lots of sticky messy fun that smelled amazing!

Color Mixing:
For our color mixing activity, I set up cups with a rainbow of colored water. This activity didn't last long before all the water was brown, but the girls enjoyed the dumping and scooping the water even after all the pretty colors were gone.

Car Wash:
This was a close second for favorite activity of the week. We needed to clean up our sensory bin and patio from all the color play anyways so this made a perfect ending activity. I filled our bin with fresh water, sponges, scrub brushes, and soap. Then I turned out hose on low and the girls scrubbed and washed their Cozy Coupe Car until it was sparkling and new!

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10 Ways to Play with Water and Ice {Sensory Summer} - Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten

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I think my girls would live in their swimsuits all summer long if I let them. My little fishies sure do love water play so I was excited to plan a few activities to spice up our normal water play. Here are our 10 ways to play and keep cool with water and ice!

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Sing Along! Learn together to support early reading skills!

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Materials needed: q-tips, water, oil

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Like what you see? Tap the "Pin" button above to save this with a pinnable image on Pinterest.
Inside: Pre writing skills have never been so fun using this handwriting practice hack and free printable template. This shaving cream sensory bag is perfect for early childhood children to get ready to write their letters, name, and sight words.
I began teaching my toddler how to write her letters the more traditional route with pencil and letter tracing paper. She quickly became bored and frustrated with her developing skills. I realized I needed to re-evaluate to find a different way for her to practice letter formation or pre-writing skills. That is how I came up with these pre-writing activities for preschoolers.

As a former teacher and reading specialist, I want learning to be fun. This shaving cream sensory bag is sure to be just that.
This post contains affiliate links.
Pre Writing Skills Activity

For this activity, I isolated the lines that make up the letters of the alphabet in this free pre-writing practice printable. This makes it easy to build a foundation for the shapes needed to write the letters in the alphabet.

Here are the steps:

1. Print the free pre-writing practice printable and cut out the templates.

2. Next, fill a large Ziploc bag with a dollop of two paint colors and 1/4 full of shaving cream. Try to gently press out any remaining air before sealing the bag.

3. After that, seal the bag with tape. This is a must. Little hands are really good at breaking the seal otherwise.

4. Let your little one have some sensory fun by mixing the paint together with the shaving cream. By creating colored shaving cream, you will be able to see the letters better, through the bag.

5. Place a white piece of paper behind the bag and set on a flat surface.

6. Model how to trace each card from the pre-writing practice printable with a Q-tip and then mimic the line on the shaving cream bag.

To view the video tutorial, visit Play Learn Connect on Facebook where I share tons of fun kids activities.

Materials:

As your little one improves his or her pre-writing skills, you could also use this bag to practice the letters in the alphabet, numbers and even sight words, which are the words that are most common in reading.

Pre-writing practice printable

Scissors

Large Ziploc bag

Paint

Shaving cream

Q-tips

Clear tape

White paper (for behind the bag)

PS - If you enjoyed this, you may also like Over 100 Easy Kids Activities That are Surprisingly Fun.
How will you use this handwriting practice for kids hack?

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Amazing Pre Writing Hack to Try With Your Kid Right Now

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Like what you see? Tap the "Pin" button above to save this with a pinnable image on Pinterest. Inside: Pre writing skills have never been so fun using this handwriting practice hack and free printable template. This shaving cream sensory bag is perfect for early childhood children to get ready to write their letters, name, and sight words.

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Try it out!
Materials needed: outdoors!

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When you think of math activities for preschoolers your mind might automatically jump to math problems like 1+1 or counting to 10, but math is much more than that. Math, especially in the early years, is about abstract thinking, sorting, comparing, categorizing and learning basic math vocabulary. This outdoor, forest-school inspired math activity is a perfect way to introduce math concepts in a way that is developmentally appropriate.

The math activities for preschoolers in this post are inspired by the Swedish book Play and Learn Mathematics Outdoors, and revolve around collecting items in nature. Children are natural collectors and for this reason we often bring along a basket or tote bag on our walks in the woods. Bird feathers, fallen leaves, sticks, flowers, acorns and other tree nuts often end up in the bag, as well as the rare pine cone or a uniquely shaped rock. This innate desire to collect items in nature can be the starting point for many outdoor learning activities.

Sorting, comparing and categorizing - forest-school inspired math activities for preschoolers and kindergartners

Age: Preschool - Kindergarten

Time: 30 min - 2 hours
Materials:

Large white sheet

Tote bag or basket for collecting items

Natural items such as pine cones, leaves, rocks, tree nuts etc.

Place: Any natural area.
How to do it:
Take your child to a natural area, and bring along the sheet and basket/tote bag. Encourage him or her to pick a variety of things, since you'll need them for the math activity later. If this is your first time collecting items in nature, make sure to talk about which items are OK to pick, i.e. that you only take things that are already on the ground, so your child is not ripping leaves, branches or bark from the trees.

Once you have a wide range of items, pick a place to spread out the sheet and pour everything out of the bag. The white sheet makes it easier to see everything and also gives you something to sit on.

A good exercise to start with is basic sorting, and to initiate it you may ask questions like: "Are some of the items similar to each other?", "How are they similar?" and "Which ones do you think should be in the same pile?" My daughter caught on quickly and made four groups of items: Sticks, bark, nuts and leaves. Somehow a random bird feather ended up in the pile with leaves and when I quizzed her about it she was adamant that it stay. "Why?" I asked, puzzled, since she clearly knew it wasn't a leaf. "Because it will be lonely if it's by itself," she explained. Fair enough. The feather stayed.

Next, choose one of the piles, for example the sticks, and ask your child to sort the items by length. If some of them are really similar in length, you might want to show your child how to stand them up next to each other for a more accurate comparison. This is also a good opportunity to work on some math words: long, longer, longest, short, shorter, shortest, tall, taller, tallest, thick, thicker, thickest, thin, thinner, thinnest.

My daughter then counted the leaves and talked about which trees they came from, and what color they were. We also compared size: big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest.

We also took a closer look at the tree nuts, and I asked my daughter to divide them into subcategories for each different type of nut. We ended up with four piles: acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts and a third, unidentified type of nut. She counted each pile and we worked on more math words: many, more, most, few, fewer, fewest.

Variations: You can make these exercises more challenging depending on your child's age and developmental stage. For example, use a timer and let your child compete against the clock while sorting the sticks, or do it while using a blindfold. You can also use the items as counters and make math problems. The opportunities are virtually endless with this type of open-ended activity!

Check out the previous posts in this series for more fabulous outdoor learning ideas for preschool and beyond:
Counting to 10 with Nature Exploring Small Worlds
Outdoor Memory Game

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Outdoor Math Activities for Preschoolers - Sorting, Comparing and Categorizing

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When you think of math activities for preschoolers your mind might automatically jump to math problems like 1+1 or counting to 10, but math is much more than that. Math, especially in the early years, is about abstract thinking, sorting, comparing, categorizing and learning basic math vocabulary.

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A great video for parents! Preparing for kindergarten!

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Materials needed: paper, painters tape

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Our latest YouTube video is all about your left and your right! ✋🤚👣

Search for 🔎 "Boey Bear" on YouTube to watch for free.

Subscribe to our for learning videos that will keep your baby, toddler or preschooler happily entertained.

Total focus!

This is a hugely fun and addictive game for kids and adults alike.

Warning - it may get competitive!

First, learn your left from your right by playing along with our interactive learning video on YouTube:

A little preview here:

Hmmm... what happens when Boey runs back and forth? Left... right... left... right...

Put up your correct hand when Boey calls it out, then give it a wiggle! 👋

Put up your correct foot and give it a shake!

Search for 🔎 "Boey Bear" on Youtube to watch for free.

Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch all our entertaining learning videos for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

Sign up to the Member's page (for free) to access all our free printables. This allows you to log back in whenever you wish, to print off more printables or check back for new ones, uploaded weekly.

our free printable below to reinforce your child's learning, through play!

Cut out and stick onto the floor, in rows of three hands/feet. The aim is hop from row to row, matching the correct hands and feet!

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Our latest YouTube video is all about your left and your right! ✋🤚👣 Search for 🔎 "Boey Bear" on YouTube to watch for free. Subscribe to our for learning videos that will keep your baby, toddler or preschooler happily entertained. Total focus! This is a hugely fun and addictive game for kids and adults alike.

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Science Day! Magic Pepper and Soap Experiment!

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Science Day! Magic Pepper and Soap Experiment!

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Materials needed: water, pepper, food coloring, soap

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Materials needed: Jenga & Uno
Correspond blocks with numbers & play the memory matching game!

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Color matching and more!!

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I love playing games! Family game nights is one of my most favorite things to do. I thought it would be fun to use our UNO cards to create some games to practice our math so I'm sharing 5 math games to play with UNO cards today.

You most likely have a deck of UNO playing cards lying around. If I must confess, I have 6 different decks. I just can't pass them up when I see them at the thrift store, knowing that I could use them in the classroom somehow.

I came up with 5 different math games to play with your deck of UNO cards.

To Play

Separate out the all of the number cards, mix them up and put them in a stack. Using one card of each color, red, blue, green and yellow, start a pile that the child will match with. Have the child turn over a card and they will put it in the pile that the color matches with. You can have them say the color as they place it down as well. To take it one step further when they have sorted all of the colors, have them choose one pile and put all of the numbers in order, or there should be two of each of the numbers, you could have them match the color numbers, for example, the yellow 2 with the yellow 2.

To Play

Separate the number cards from the UNO deck. Find 8 or more sets of cards that match in color and number. Take those cards and mix them up. Place them all face down on the table. The child will turn over one card of their choice and then another trying to match the color and number on the card. If they do not match, turn them both back facedown. And try again. Keep going until all the cards have been matched.

To Play

Separate out numbers 0-9 in a certain color. Have the child our the numbers in the correct ascending order.

To Play

Separate out the number cards from the deck. Make two different piles of cards, one with numbers 5 and below, and the second pile can include all numbers 0-9. The pile of numbers 5 and below will be your cards for the "problem" and the pile that includes larger cards, will be the answer pile. Grab a small piece of paper or a post it note and a pen. Make an addition sign on one and an equal sign on the other. Have the child flip a card from the "problem" pile and place it down. Next place the addition sign and then choose another card from the "problem" pile and then place down the equal sign. Have the child figure out the addition problem and choose the correct answer from the answer pile of cards.

To Play

Separate out the number cards from the deck. Make two different piles of cards, one with numbers 9 and below, and the second pile can include all numbers 0-9. The pile of numbers 9 and below will be your cards for the "problem" that will be face down and the other will be the answer pile. Grab a small piece of paper or a post it note and a pen. Make a subtraction sign on one and an equal sign on the other. Have the child flip a card from the "problem" pile and place it down. Next place the subtraction sign and then choose another card from the "problem" pile and then place down the equal sign. Have the child figure out the subtraction problem and choose the correct answer from the answer pile of cards. On this game, you may have to guide the child for the first couple of problem, showing them that the highest number need o be on the left, or at least that the second card they flip over will have to be smaller than the first in order for the game to work. If they don't draw one that is smaller, have them just draw again.

I hope your kids enjoy these 5 math games to play with UNO cards. Do you have any other ideas of math games you could play with them?

See you next time!

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5 Math Games To Play with UNO Cards - Primary Playground

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I love playing games! Family game nights is one of my most favorite things to do. I thought it would be fun to use our UNO cards to create some games to practice our math so I'm sharing 5 math games to play with UNO cards today.

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A great activity on a rainy day!
Materials: yarn, glue (or flour), water, bowl, plastic wrap

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By · This content may contain affiliate links.

Hi, there! We're back with the next post in the Y is for Yarn theme. Now last week when I told you to cut up all that perfectly good yarn to create a yarn sensory bin, you may have wondered what in the world you'd do with all that yarn when you are done. Well, don't worry. I've got a few ideas for you. Today we're starting with a classic kids' craft that you may even remember from summer camp days as a kid. I know we made a few of these in Girl Scouts when I was younger, and there's a good reason. Yarn bowls are easy to create. They take only a couple of materials, and you can use them when you're finished-practical!

How to Make a Yarn Bowl

Materials for a Yarn Bowl

Strands of yarn

White school glue slightly thinned with water

A base to build your bowl on. We used a bowl turned upside down and covered with plastic wrap, but I've also seen people use a balloon

Making the Yarn Bowl

Now I should warn you that this project can be very messy. If a child does not enjoy messy play, then he or she may not like this process at all. It took my most mess-averse little ones a few minutes of observation before they decided to join in this craft. And for cleanup purposes I recommend either working outside or using a surface that you can remove and wipe clean like a vinyl tablecloth or large tray.

Lovey, however, was eager to dive right in. To get started she placed bits of yarn into the glue and let them soak up glue for a few seconds.

Then she gently squeezed out some of the excess glue and layered the yarn around the bowl. She added and added and added yarn.

She wanted to make sure the entire bowl was covered with yarn, so she kept adding and patting the yarn down.

It would have dried much faster if she had used less yarn, but we weren't in any rush and she was proud of her creation. It did take a couple of days to dry though.

And I'd say the results were well worth the wait. She loves her creation, and she uses it to keep small items in.

Have you every made a yarn bowl or other creations like one? Do you have any tips to share? I'd love to read about them in the comments.

This post has been shared at some of these fantastic link parties.

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Yarn Bowl Craft - Fantastic Fun & Learning

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By · This content may contain affiliate links. Hi, there! We're back with the next post in the Y is for Yarn theme. Now last week when I told you to cut up all that perfectly good yarn to create a yarn sensory bin, you may have wondered what in the world you'd do with all that yarn when you are done.

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Love LO Staff

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Materials needed: clear plastic container, measuring tool
Place container outside- see how much rain fills up!

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My bean sprouts grew 4 inches tall in one week in the dirt!

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Materials needed: vinegar, baking soda, boxed rice, food coloring

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· by ·

Make rice dance with this cool baking soda and vinegar science experiment for kids! You'll just need a few items from your kitchen to create this exciting science activity.

My kids always love science explorations involving baking soda and vinegar. The chemical reaction created by these two ingredients leads to all kinds of fun with carbon dioxide bubbles!

In this science activity children will explore what happens to rice that has been placed in water as a chemical reaction with baking soda and vinegar takes place. This post contains affiliate links.

Materials for Dancing Rice Science Experiment for Kids

Directions for Dancing Rice Science Experiment for Kids
Note: I encourage you to let children add the ingredients all on their own. It could get messy (so do this in a an area you can easily wipe up), but allowing the kids to do this activity independently will allow for all kinds of exploration and observations.
1. Pour one cup of water into your clear container.

2. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to the water and stir.

3. Sprinkle some rice into the mixture. What happens to the rice? Why do you think this happens? The rice sinks to the bottom because it is denser than the water. (If your rice doesn't sink, it might be less dense than the water. Try a different kind of rice, broken pieces of vermicelli, or raisins.)

4. Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the water. What happens? Why? The vinegar reacts with the baking soda in the water creating bubbles of carbon dioxide.

5. Observe what happens over the next few minutes. Eventually the rice will begin to "dance". As bubbles of carbon dioxide adhere to the rice, the rice is brought up to the surface. Once it reaches the surface, the gas is released, and the rice falls back down again.

Optional: Add a couple drops of food coloring and watch it slowly begin to mix into the solution.

Notes

- As the chemical reaction slows down, add a little more baking soda and watch what happens. Then try adding more vinegar. Can you make the rice continue to dance?

- If you are using a larger container, be sure to use larger amounts of baking soda and vinegar.

Want to go even further?
Even more activities to inspire creativity and critical thinking for various ages.

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Baking Soda and Vinegar Science: Dancing Rice - Buggy and Buddy

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Make rice dance with this cool baking soda and vinegar science experiment for kids! You'll just need a few items from your kitchen to create this exciting science activity. Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board! My kids always love science explorations involving baking soda and vinegar.

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Ask your child: How many pieces do you have? How tall is your tower?

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Let's start our kindergarten discussion! Here is a great story to introduce

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Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten w/ Music & EFX

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Use the science of early learning to help your child succeed and thrive with Vroom's fast and fun tips.

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Materials needed: Egg carton, scissors, markers (optional)

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Materials needed: 2 toilet paper tubes, stickers, yarn
Ask your child outside or near a window: What do you see? Where do they live? What do they eat?

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I added some seeds from a red pepper! Inspired by last Monday's activity, growing from kitchen scraps

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Predictions: How many inches will our sprouts grow?

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Ask your chid: Can you find any caterpillars outside? Where should we look? (trees, leaves, grass, etc)

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Story Time From Space | T2 Science & Math Education Consultants

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"best kids music" lullaby bedtime baby toddler preschool "we are the dinosaurs" "kids songs" "songs for kids" "family music" "wait a minute we're fish" "curl...

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Engaging and enriching music videos for kids - that parents love, too! From "The queen of kids' music" (People Magazine) NEW MUSIC VIDEOS RELEASED EVERY FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH! Welcome to my Official YouTube Channel! I'm Laurie Berkner and I write fun songs that preschoolers (and beyond!)

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Love LO Staff

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Ms. Shelby's friend Ms. Katie has her very own caterpillars at home! Ask your child: What will happen to the caterpillars next?

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Step 3 in the life cycle!

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Monarch Caterpillar Changing to Chrysalis

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Time to replant them in dirt so they can sprout taller!

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Support creative representation and sequencing! After the video, ask your child: What happens first? What happens last?

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Materials needed: noodles, glue, paper

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The Life Cycle of a Butterfly - Science for Kids

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Ms. Kristina & her son return to present flower art!

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Ms. Kristina & her son return to present flower art!

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Materials needed: toilet paper tube, paint, paper and crayons

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A Mothers Day Project

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Materials needed: paint brush, bowl and water!

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Support small and large motor skills!

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Love LO Staff

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Sophia had fun doing the color hunt!

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Materials needed: baking soda, vinegar, small container and food coloring

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Ask your child: What can you write?

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Growing from a potato! What will you use?

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Growing from a potato! What will you use?

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Make predictions! What will happen to Ms. Shelby's potato? What are three things plants need to grow?

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Materials needed: tray/plate, flour/salt

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Who's up for a super simple STEM activity you can do at home with the kids this week? (I see all you moms with kids home for winter break like mine waving their hands!)

The other day I walked into my mom friend's kitchen and found the top of a pineapple sitting in a jar of water. I thought it was odd so I immediately quizzed her about it and she politely told little-ol-woefully-uninformed-me that if you plant the top of a pineapple, it will sprout. What?!

I was still digesting this info. a few days later when my contributor Kaley (a wonderfully creative mom in her own right) emailed to ask if she could do her next post on growing stuff from food scraps. Clearly this was a thing - a very cool thing that kids are sure to love as it turns out. Read on for all the details.

Do you look at all of the food scraps going into the garbage or compost and wish you could do something with them? I always do.

And after reading that a lot of fruit and vegetable scraps will grow again, I went from throwing them in the compost to turning them into a mini science experiment in our kitchen. It is so easy, can be done with things that you already have (and were going to be thrown out anyway), and it's super fun for the kids.

I almost always have pineapples, green onions, and avocados on hand, so I started with those three. For containers, I used empty baby food jars, but you can use any little container you have in the kitchen. Even a small drinking glass would work fine.

To keep my daughter engaged and excited about the experiment, I made a little chart for her to record the changes of our plants. We fill in our chart every few days, using drawings and sometimes a few words. You can alter this depending on the age of your child.

They can dictate to you, and you can write, you could take quick pictures on your smart phone, or they can draw what they see. To download your own chart to use in your kitchen experiment, click here.

Directions (using the foods that we used):

For the pineapple: Make sure that the top leaves of your pineapple are nice and green, and don't look dried out. There are two ways to remove the top of your pineapple. You can hold the crown (leaves) in one hand and the pineapple in the other and twist until the crown pops off, or you can just bang the crown against the edge of the counter until it pops off.

You can imagine which method is more fun for the kids. Peel off the bottom leaves until you have a nub about an inch long, and place it in a jar or glass of water so that just the bottom nub is immersed in the water. Change the water every few days.

Within a month you will start to see roots, and the top will have grown into a nice full plant.

For the green onions: Trim off the bottom (root end) inch of your green onions and place them roots down in a small glass jar filled with water. Change the water every few days.

Within a few days they will start growing back into green onions again. Theses are so easy and quick to grow I can't believe I haven't been doing this forever.

For the avocado: Remove the pit and wash it with water. Insert 4 toothpicks into the sides of the pit, then place over a small glass or jar filled with water so that the pit is suspended in the water with the larger side of the pit down.

Change the water each day and keep the water level constant. These take a few weeks to start growing roots, so be patient with them.

The possibilities for this are endless. Use the vegetables and fruits that you use most. I think I am going to try carrots, ginger and potatoes next.

What do you do with your your fruit and vegetable scraps? Do you use any of them to grow plants right now? Or are you more of a compost it and forget it kind of family?

Want more ideas? You can find growing instructions for a ton of different fruits and vegetables in Don't Throw It, Grow It.

And for more STEM fun at home, be sure to check out our uber popular gift guid:

More Earth-Friendly Kid Activities from MPMK
Plantable Paper Earths How to Make an Up-cycled Inventors Box Veggie Garden Sensory Bin (with free vegetable marker printables) Natural Play Spaces: Children's Veggie Gardens Make Like a Montessori Mama Series: Part 2 - Plant Activities
*Post contains affiliate link

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Who's up for a super simple STEM activity you can do at home with the kids this week? (I see all you moms with kids home for winter break like mine waving their hands!) The other day I walked into my mom friend's kitchen and found the top of a pineapple sitting in a jar of water.

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Signs & logos are a great way to start your child's reading skills!
Ask your child: What does this say?

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Create puzzles together from food boxes!

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Ms. Shelby hosts earth day yoga!

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Create faces with your findings! Discuss emotions and body parts to support self awareness skills!

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Materials needed: paper towel, water, markers & small bin

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Try using two pieces of paper towel to reveal more art in the water!

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Materials needed: paper/plate, scissors, glue (optional) and nature!

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Read The Earth Book by Tood Parr

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Ms. Arianne teaches her puppy new tricks!

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Ms. Arianne teaches her puppy new tricks!

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Grow your knowledge about plant parts and plant needs!

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kids stories reading parents "read aloud" "read along" "read aloud books animated" "bedtime stories" storytime "picture books" "books for elementary school" ...

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Brightly Storytime brings you full-length picture books read out loud by our storyteller, Ms. Linda. Drop by for a new video every week! Brightly is a resource to help parents raise lifelong readers. Launched in partnership with Penguin Random House, Brightly features book recommendations for every age and stage, reading tips and insights, seasonal inspirations, author essays, contests, gift guides, and more.

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Mr. Eric tells creative stories based on kids 'what if?' questions

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a story podcast for kids

What If World is a storytelling podcast for kids. Each week, Mr. Eric takes a "what if?" question from a friend and spins it into a story just for you!

Each week, Mr. Eric takes a "What if?" question from a kid and spins it into a story for all of you! Not sure where to start listening? Check out our Curated Playlists!

What If World exists thanks to our Patrons. Get a better chance at having your question chosen, plus Ad-Free stories, a Shout-Out on the show, bonus audio, and more. Join our Patreon!

Subscribe to What If World on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen!

Named among the best podcasts for kids by

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What If World is a storytelling podcast for kids. Each week, Mr. Eric takes a "what if?" question from a friend and spins it into a story just for you!

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Materials needed: small hand towel/blanket & 5-8 items

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Ask your child: How many items are here? What went missing?

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Materials needed: baking soda, oil, food coloring, vinegar, cup, eye dropper and a flash light

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Ask your child: How are the bubbles formed? When they hit the bottom what happens?

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Bonus item: A guide with details on how adults can use these songs to support children's movement as well as executive function and self-regulation will be included in the download folder with this album.To order a physical copy of this CD, go to HighScope's online store at HighScope.org

Purchasable with gift card

about

Looking for fresh and fun music to share with young children? Big Beats for Young Peeps offers teachers and parents of children from ages 0-8 high-quality, age-appropriate instrumental selections that provide rich musical beats and rhythms for movement activities.

Produced by Chip Dixson, an accomplished music producer who's worked with P. Diddy (Sean Combs), Beyoncé, and Jay-Z, the 20 songs on this CD reflect a variety of musical genres, including hip-hop, jazz, reggae, Latin pop, and techno. The CD also includes a downloadable PDF with details on how adults can use these songs to support children's movement as well as executive function and self-regulation skills.

credits

released October 29, 2018

Produced, mixed, and mastered by Chip Dixson of Chipper Kreations, Inc., 4Runners Music Group (SESAC).

HighScope Early Childhood Consultant: Erica Hill

Artwork and design: Invisible Engines

©2018 HighScope Educational Research Foundation

license

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Big Beats for Young Peeps by HighScope, released 29 October 2018 1. Krump Battle 2. Celebratin' in the Streets 3. Play Those Keys 4. Double Agent 5. Island Shuffle 6. Grandaddy's Jam 7. Dance Party 8. African Hype 9. Cruisin' 10. Robot Re-charge 11. The Güiro Scratch 12. DJ Mixer 13.

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How to keep children engaged in active learning at home.

At HighScope, we view families as our valued partners and we strive to collaborate with them to promote optimal learning and development for their children outside of the classroom. During this uncertain time, we want to support educators and families, not overwhelm them. This is why we've curated our best "at-home" activities, strategies, and resources to give you a practical way to keep children engaged in active learning at home.

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HighScope At Home | How to continue early childhood education

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At HighScope, we view families as our valued partners and we strive to collaborate with them to promote optimal learning and development for their children outside of the classroom. During this uncertain time, we want to support educators and families, not overwhelm them.

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Materials needed: paper, marker, pencil & a speaker for music!
Create letters together and choose a letter to be your dancing partner!

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Name your moves! Ask your child: How will you dance with your letter? (song below!)

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This experiment took a whole week! It was fun waking up each morning to notice the changes!

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Materials needed: playdough, spaghetti noodles, beads/cereal

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Have fun with these open ended materials! Get creative!

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Design letters with your child to support letter recognition and writing!

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Good Morning To You!

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More activities for home!

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We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities, so let's share them!

This collection of activities/ideas is simply here to help parents and carers find fun things to do if they find themselves unexpectedly at home with younger children.

Most of the ideas have an educational slant but we believe that learning when you're little should be play based.

So much quality learning can come from activities like helping with the washing, doing some gardening, baking, watching films, colouring, playing board games, writing letters to friends and relatives, reading stories, talking and just spending time together!

I also wanted our bank of ideas to be simple enough for most people to do at home, with items they already have. I have tried to avoid using ideas that involve food and any that I have included, like playdough, are multi-use and can be made using produce that is out of date.

If you would like to contribute to this collection please email me your activity ideas to alistair@abcdoes.com

All you need to do is send the information and a photograph and I will do the rest.

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We are part of a wonderful, international community of Early Years practitioners who have a wealth of knowledge and a HUGE bank of ideas and activities, so let's share them! This collection of activities/ideas is simply here to help parents and carers find fun things to do if they find themselves unexpectedly at home with younger children.

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Materials needed: clear cup/jar, paper towel, beans/seeds, water

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Ask your child: What are three things plants need to grow?

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Ask your child: What kind of suit do you wear?

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What happened to bad seed? How was he feeling in the beginning? At the end?

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Ms. Kristina Reads Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes!

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Ms. Kristina Reads Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes!

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Ask your child: Can you count the cupcakes?

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Ms. Kristina Reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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Ms. Kristina Reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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Ask your child: What happens to the caterpillar in the beginning? Middle? End? How does the caterpillar become a butterfly?

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Sing along!

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If You're Happy | Kids Song | Super Simple Songs

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Get up and move around!

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Materials needed: 6 clear cups, paper towel, water, food coloring

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Materials needed: beads, muffin/cake tin, string, drill & oven/grill

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Support science! Ask you child: What will happen to the beads in the oven/grill?

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Support mathematics & fine motor! Ask you child: Which colors will you use? How many colors will you use?

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#DisneyMagicMoments lets you experience the magic of Disney wherever you may be. Enjoy Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic with stories, videos, and activities to inspire imagination and discovery among kids, fans, and families alike.

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Disney Magic Moments - #DisneyMagicMoments | Disney News

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DisneyMagicMoments lets you experience the magic of Disney wherever you may be. Enjoy Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic with stories, videos, and activities to inspire imagination and discovery among kids, fans, and families alike.

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Get up and march!

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The Muffin Man | Kids Songs | Super Simple Songs

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A fun site for Pete the Cat fans!

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PeteTheCatBooks.com - Pete the Cat Books, Songs, Videos

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Browse the full list of Pete the Cat books, hear the latest Pete the Cat song, and download free Pete the Cat activities.

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Limit rules and have fun!

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Ask you child: What do you think the colors will do? How does the paper towel help the water walk?

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Ask your child: What happens when you add water to oil? Does it mix together or stay apart?

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A free app for learning to write letters and numbers!

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✿★LetterSchool - Learn to write Letters and Numbers★✿ Numbers 1 to 10 Best app for kids

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1/4 cup oil 1/4 cup water
food coloring 1 bowl 1 eye dropper

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Send a picture of your child's work with playdough!
Ask your child: Tell me about your play dough creation?

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What is social distancing? An age appropriate story to share with your kiddos!
https://www.popsugar.com/family/time-to-come-in-bear-children-story-on-social-distancing-47339277?utm_campaign=desktop_share&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=moms&fbclid=IwAR0HrG_48SzZP43Raz3bA5YhbDosldJCCf5_vyiYAb6ogZzMCvwzWScxtBI