• Create a circle on the floor and divide it in half into two parts – A and B. Ten children are allowed to move freely within the circle to the beat of the music. When the music is turned off, check how many children are on the A side and how many are on the B side. That way you get two ten buddies!
• Ten children stand on the A side of the circle. The teacher gives a number between 0 and 10. The children move so that x children go to the B-side. The children then count how many children were left on the A side. The result is a pair of ten buddies.

Idea from Lumatikka’s material.

• Half of the pupils stand in a line in the yard or in the gymnasium and create a series of different body positions.
• The other half of the students continue the line by creating a new, similar series.
• The task can be made more difficult by asking about the length of the series or by asking participants to create a series that has a certain length.

Idea from Lumatikka’s material.

Are you keeping your balance?

Step 1: Stand with your side against the wall, with one shoulder and your foot close to the wall.

Step 2: Now try to lift the other foot, i.e. the one that is not close to the wall.

What happened?

It is impossible to lift the foot without falling. The foot that is close to the wall cannot have all the force and mass on it without changing position. You will notice this if you stand freely and lift one leg. Your centre of gravity changes. When you stand against the wall and try to shift your centre of gravity, the wall won’t let you do it. It is in the way of a change of centre of gravity that makes you stand a little crooked.

Your centre of gravity is determined by the shape of your body and by its mass. When standing upright, a person’s centre of gravity is somewhere in the middle of the stomach. You can maintain your balance with all your body parts as well as your arms and legs, by moving them. You need a support surface, such as your feet when standing upright (or on your hands if you are standing on your hands), to keep your balance. The vertical projection of the centre of gravity (i.e. the place above which the centre of gravity is located) should be inside the support surface in order to keep your balance (or somewhere between the support surfaces if there are several of them, e.g. when standing on two legs).

Idea from Heurekas Experimentfabrik

6 ways to complete an in-depth puddle investigation-

1. How deep is the puddle?

• March right in and measure with your feet/legs/boots
• Use a nature measuring stick (learn how to easily make your own)
• Use conventional measurement tools like rulers, metric sticks
• Record your results

2. How big is the puddle?

• Use a ruler, yard stick or metric stick to measure the length of your puddle
• Use a long string to form an outline of the puddle and then measure it to find the circumference of your puddle
• Record you results.
  It is fun to track the differences in the puddle stats over time so keep a record of daily or hourly changes.

3. What shape is the puddle?

• If your puddle is on a hard surface like a sidewalk or driveway you can draw around the puddle with chalk, but if your puddle is in dirt or mud, use a stick to draw around the shape of the puddle
• Look at your puddle from above, from beside and from inside the puddle
• Draw the shape of your puddle in your journal
• Use words to describe your puddle’s shape
  Keep checking & drawing your puddle shape. Does the shape change over time? What does it look like when water is gone? Will a puddle form here again?

4. Who uses the puddle?

• Predict what critters might use your puddle
• What would they use the puddle for? (drinking, bathing, splashing fun?)
• Keep an observation guide to record which critters were in or near the puddle and how they were using the puddle

5. Does the puddle have a current?
   Make a boat from bark, nuts & other natural materials, create a foil boat or make one from recycled plastic

• Sail your boat in the puddle
• Can you get it to sail from one side of the puddle to the other?
• Observe the natural boat movements (without humans touching the sailboat)
• What forces make the boat move?

6. Problem Solving: How can you get water out of the puddle?
   Let learners brainstorm and figure out a way to get the water out of the puddle-

• Have some materials handy in case learners need it for their plan (sponges, cups, pipettes & a variety of materials for exploration)
• Rubber boots and stomping is a really fun way to get the water out!

Nature-based Stick Rulers

1. Find a nice straight stick (a straight stick is best for measuring)
2. Line up your stick next to your ruler and use clippers to cut the stick 12 inches long
3. Add lines at each of the inch (and if you would like half inch) marks with a permanent marker or by carving notches into it using a ruler as a guide

Get your child excited about measuring!

Take your child on a hike with their new ruler stick and let them stop and measure things along the way (build those math skills!). Perhaps even add some literacy to their hike by bringing a notebook and recording all their measurements.

Idéa taken from Puddle Scientist — Learning withOutdoors

1a) Own numberrythms

• Divide into groups. Each group is assigned a different number (3, 4, 5 or 6).
• The groups are tasked with planning their own clapping series based on their numbers. The group’s number indicates how many claps the series should consist of, but the claps may hit the thigh, abdomen, head, etc. in any order. The only rule is that the last clapping should be a regular clapping with your hands.
• The members of each group practice clapping through their series smoothly one after the other. For example, the members of group 5 should clap like this: 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5, etc. Make sure that there is no break between fifth and first clap and that the clapping rhythm continues without interruption. Practice should be carried out until all groups know their clapping series by heart and can complete it without interruption.

1b) Ready-made rhythms (alternative arrangement)

• If the time reserved for the task is limited, you can simply skip the part where the groups come up with their own clapping series. Instead, ready-made series can be used.
• 3 pats: thigh – thigh – hands
• 5 pats: thigh – thigh – chest – ribcage – hands
• Students get to practice both series.
• The class is divided into two groups: one prepares to perform the series of three clapping, the other the series of five clapping.

2) Clap together

• Two groups are selected, for example groups 3 and 5. The groups must carry out their clapping series at the same time. Both groups should start clapping at the same time and stick to the same pace.
• What kind of rhythm is formed by the clapping of the groups? Does the last clapping of hands occur at the same time or at different times in different groups? It may be noted that the last clap often occur at different times, but sometimes they occur at the same time.
• After how many claps do the last claps with the hands occur again at the same time? The teacher can help and call out the first clapping (immediately after the first simultaneous clapping). Everyone counts together and concludes that the correct answer is 15, which is the lowest common multiple for the numbers 3 and 5.
• Try two other groups. What numbers do you come up with as the lowest common multiples for these two numbers? Which rhythm sounds the most fun? What happens if three or four groups clap at the same time?

3) Draw the rhythms

• Start by drawing 15 horizontal lines next to each other on the board. Ask group 3 to come up to the board and draw a tower above every third line. When they are finished, ask group 5 to draw a slightly taller tower above every fifth line.

• At which line do the towers first appear above the same line? (Group 5 can also draw their towers behind the towers of Group 3.)
• Try clapping the rhythms using the picture created on the board.
• Is it easier now?
• Draw out other rhythms in the same way.

 

The idea is taken from Lumatikka’s material.