A simple game in Battleship style which you can combine with discussing the the effect of pollution on sealiving creatures.

Game and rules: New-Save-the-Whale-Treasure-Hunt (PDF, 1262 kB)

Idea taken from littlebinsforlittlehands.com

Material

• Hourglass, timepiece or timer
• Clipboard

Goal

Hypothesising. Test and evaluate.

Preparation

Divide the children into groups of three. One performs, one takes time and one documents.

How do you do it?

Make hypotheses like; I have time to get to the tree, run a lap around and come back. Get the children to think and come up with their own hypotheses and then perform.

Take turns and switch roles.

Image by rawpixel.com

While winter still lasts – why not try making ice sculptures (this also works when it’s not snow – you make the ice in the freezer)

Do like this:

1. Fill deep plastic plates and bowls of different sizes with water.

2. Put the containers in the freezer. (For clearer ice, use boiled water that has cooled.)
3. Remove the ice cubes with hot water and place them on a high-edged surface or baking sheet, preferably out in the sun.
4. Sprinkle a little salt over the ice. Wait a minute and you’ll see how the salt makes cracks on the ice surface.
5. Pour a little more salt in different places so that cavities and tunnels form on the ice. This will require some time and patience.
6. Drip liquid watercolor mixed with water over the ice and into the formed cracks to create a nice color effect (if you do this outdoors in cold weather, use warm water).
7. Let the kids photograph ice artwork one and arrange an exhibition!

1. Put some damp cotton wool in plastic bags (4 of them) and pour some Crassus seeds on top.
2. Place on the window. When the plants have grown a little, start the experiment.
3. Water the plastic bags with different types of water: one with salt water, one with sugar water, one with vinegar or lemon water and one with plain water. The one dipped in plain water is the control. You can put a frame around the plastic pocket.
4. You can also compare how the cress reacts to boiled water, for example, or water with dishwashing liquid mixed in.
5. Document, compare and discuss.

Idea from Hands-On Science

This is what you need:

• Plastic bags
• Household paper
• Jars
• Flower sprayer
• Potting soil
• Documentation
• Pot
• Drawing material
• iPad
• Stop-motion (app)

Time to collect leftovers from summer flowers. These are called winter standers and are old inflorescences that have dried and are still standing filled with flower seeds. Put the winter stands in bags.

When you get to school/preschool, put the seeds on damp paper towels in different jars and keep the jars warm. For example, in a window with lots of sunlight. After a few days, some seeds will germinate. Then you will see the very first green leaves called heart leaves. Water with a flower sprayer. See how they grow day by day. After a few more days, carefully sprinkle some soil on the seedlings and plant them in a pot.

Continued

Option 1:

Rig a recording with an iPad and a stop-motion app that takes a picture of the plant once an hour for a couple of days, and you’ll get an absolutely stunning movie as a result!

Option 2:

What kind of flower will it be? Let the children imagine and draw the flower they think will grow from the seed. These can be beautiful, crazy and imaginative paintings that are perfect for an opening or theme party.

Option 3:

When the spring sun has warmed the ground and it is possible to dig in it. Plant your plants out in the wild again and mark the spot and follow the plant for a year. Document with analogue and digital tools.

How to play?

The worm in the box exercises the ability to divide numbers. The game starts with the teacher and the children investigating how many beads make up the worm’s body. Count the beads in different ways, both backwards and forwards. The teacher takes out the matchbox and tells them that this is the worm’s house. It is important to draw the children’s attention to the number on the house and link it to the number of beads on the worm.  The teacher explains and demonstrates that the worm crawls into the house and hides and then the house closes. Ask the children: how many beads of the worm’s body are inside the house? How do you know? How many are outside the house? Open the house and see how many there are.

What is the purpose of the game?

The purpose of the worm in the box is to practice the ability to divide numbers. It is a concrete and clear way to make addition and subtraction visible to the children. In order to understand the relationship between parts and whole, it is important that the whole is discernible. The worm in the box helps children to practise the ability to automate the division of numbers.

How to make the game?

I have used small matchboxes which I have lined with coloured paper with a number on it. This becomes the worm’s house. I made the worm itself by stringing beads on a thread and tying the ends of the thread. How many beads you need depends on the number you want to practice with the children. My suggestion is to make nine worms with corresponding houses, with numbers two to ten to practice different numbers.

The idea is taken from Mattelekar i förskolan

Take two sheets of newspaper, lay them out flat and start rolling it from one corner. The tighter the roll the more support you’ll have. My boys aren’t tight rolling masters yet but they did pretty well for their first time!

Secure the end with a small piece of tape. An ideal amount would be around 48 but it can be enough with less. Next, you’ll be making triangles with your newspaper rolls. Tape or staple the ends together to form a triangle.

Create as many triangles as you can with your newspaper rolls. Finally, you’ll secure each triangle to each other creating whatever size structure you want!

Your structure size will depend on how many triangles you made. Just make sure you have enough for the roof which will provide the final stability for your fort.  You can secure the “joints” with some extra staples or tape to be sure it doesn’t move around too much.

The rest is up to your imagination! The structure should even be sturdy enough for a blanket on top!

The idea is taken from https://modernparentsmessykids.com/play/

Tami’s Tower exists as an iPad app and an web application around constructing stable tower. You can get to think a whole lot around design a physics with this.

Lesson plan: Tami’sTower (PDF, 552 kB)

Go Fish!

Go Fish is a pair-seeking game.

Players each have their own hand of 5 cards.

• Players ask their opponents for a card that pairs with a card in their own hand.
• Basic play begins with making matched pairs.
  • For example, if you have a card with five dots you would ask you opponent for another card with five on it.
  • If your opponent has the card, they give it to you, and then you keep asking for cards until your opponent does not have the card you request and says, “Go Fish!”
  • You get to pick from the pile of face-down cards in the “fishpond.”
  • If you make a match you continue.
  • If not, it is the other player’s turn.
  • The game continues until all the cards are paired up.
  • Players count their pairs, and the player with the most pairs, wins the game.

Match ‘Em/Memory

Match ‘Em or Memory are similar pair-seeking games that allow you to adjust the memory challenge. In both games, cards are arranged in an orderly array on the floor or a table.

In Match ‘Em, the cards are face up; in Memory, the card are face down.

Players take turns finding pairs.

The game is over when all the pairs are matched.

Capture

Capture is a comparison game also known by the traditional name of “War.”

To play, deal the entire deck of cards among the players.

Players show their cards at the same time, and the person with the greatest number wins the round and takes the cards.

When the cards run out, the game is done, and players can count their cards to see who has the most cards.

Things to Consider

While all these games can be played with a standard deck of cards, you will want to give some thought to how you create a deck to match your child’s math skills. Some things to consider:

• Use quantity cards that show a pictorial representation of a number. This helps children develop their visual number sense as well as their computational fluency.
• Start with cards 0-5 for preschoolers; 0-10 for kindergarten
• The size of the deck (number of cards in play) should be appropriate for children’s age and experience. Small hands can only hold a small hand of cards!
• Use small arrays of cards to play Memory at the start such as a 3 x 4 array of 12 cards. Arrange cards face-up or face-down to vary the memory challenge based on children’s age, experience playing, and the math skill they are working on. If it is a new concept, even for older children, face-up may be the way to play the first few times.
• Fewer cards in the deck means faster games that keep children’s attention. When games are quick, they can be played again and again, which eases the disappointment of losing.