Weaving a Nest!

Hello!

While learning about birds and their nests in Pre Nursery, we came across one of the most interesting birds - the weaver bird. Interesting because of the way it weaves its nest. To integrate the topic with Art, my teacher partner and I decided to help students weave a nest. Considering the age levels, 3-4 years, the activity had to be interesting yet simple. While looking for ideas, we came across a simple way in which kids could weave a nest using wool. 

Let's look at the materials needed:

1. wool

2. dry leaves and twigs

3. flour dough or play dough to make the eggs

4. some cotton

We began by showing the kids a video of weaver bird weaving his nest. We discussed how carefully they do it to ensure it is safe and warm for the eggs to mature. Students were able to build a connect between humans and birds and understood that they provide similar love and protection to their young ones. 

The activity focused on helping children develop their fine-motor skills. We began by taking some wool and gently weaving it around our thumb and little finger in a criss-cross way. It took some while for the young ones to understand the technique; however, with some help they were mostly able to do it. 

Once the weaving was done and the nest looked warm enough for the eggs we carefully slipped it out of our fingers and placed it on our tables. Students covered their nests with some dry leaves, hair, twigs and cotton to keep them warm and strong. Once the nest was ready, we took some play dough and rolled them in an oval shape to make the eggs.  

Students then placed the eggs carefully in the nests and completed the activity. This lesson gave us a chance to learn about different types of birds and their nests and the materials they use to build them. 

Here are some of the pictures of the nests weaved by 4 year olds in my class.

P.S. Weaving activities are very good for developing the fine-motor skills of a 4 year old. If you are a parent then work on similar activities with your child at home to better develop the hand-eye coordination.

Thank you, John Venn!!

Hello!

Understanding the differences and similarities between physical and political maps can be slightly challenging for seven and half year olds. 

To simplify it, I decided to use a Venn diagram in my Social Studies class.

Before doing this activity, students should be familiarized with what are physical and political maps. 

Start with the differences since they are easier to identify. Have both the maps displayed and ask your class to brainstorm some of the differences between them. Write down on the board as they discuss. 

Next, move on to talking about the similarities. Have them written in the center on the board. 

Something like this:

Once the discussion is over, draw circles in a way that the similarities are in the overlapping part of the two circles and the differences  on the either sides.

Encourage your class to draw their own Venn diagrams and they could even illustrate, if they wish to. 

For example:

Google search image

Some other subjects/topics where Venn diagrams have helped me make learning fun are:

• Social Studies - Understanding the similarities and differences between maps and globes, latitudes and longitudes, comparing festivals, religions and so on. 
• Language Arts - a comic strip and a short story, poems and stories, singular and plural (the nouns which do not change can be in the centre; like - deer, moose, sheep)
• Science - plants and animals, stars and planets 

Although a Math concept, but Venn diagrams have proved to be very useful across subjects and concepts. I often try to integrate them in my class. I hope you like the idea and try them out.

Please feel free to suggest more concepts where I could apply Venn diagrams in my classroom.

Let's go on a Treasure Hunt!

Ahoy!

Would you like to go on a TREASURE HUNT with your class? First, let's begin by making a Treasure Map!

I did this activity with my grade 02 students while we were learning about Maps and Directions as part of Social Studies. It surely made my class exciting and fun filled.

You will need:

• an A4 sheet (you could also use a brown paper bag to make the map look more realistic)
• a pencil
• a ball-point pen
• paints
• a medium paint brush
• felt pens

Let's begin!

Ask the students to draw an outline of their treasure map using a pencil. They could start by deciding the spot for hiding their treasure and drawing the route to reach the point. 

A compass rose plays an important role hence that too should be shown clearly. Then, ask them to add a few more features like - mountains, trees, sharks in the water, pirate ships, snakes and so on. 

Now, ask them to trace over the pencil mark with the ball-point pen. This will ensure that the drawing is clearly visible while painting the map. A ball-point pen is important as it will prevent the ink from smudging.

It's time to add some colours!

Kids can use brown for the land area and blue for water. Remind them to use very little paint and enough water as making the map too dark could hide the details on the map. Once the paint is dry, trace over the map using felt pens. Students can highlight the treasure hiding spot by drawing a red cross.

We have now reached the most interesting part of this activity. Are you ready?

Tear the edges of the map with your hands. Be very careful while doing that.

Now crush it. Yes, you read it right! Crush your map to make a paper ball

Finally, open it and you are ready to go on a TREASURE HUNT with you class!

I hope you found the activity interesting. Looking forward for comments.

Beyond Our Imagination!

Hello!

Even sky is not the limit for the little ones and their imagination!

Through this post I want to share one such experience of mine with my batch of 7.5 year olds.

While learning about stars and constellations, we did an art activity as an integration with the topic. I was taken by surprise to see their creativity.  

This activity requires very simple preparation and it's easy to do.

You could give a name to the activity. I called it : Finding My Constellation

You will need:      

• Black kg card sheet/chart paper
• Silver acrylic paint 
• Paint brushes 
• Some water
• Pencil

Begin by diluting the paint with very little water. Add water only if it is required. The consistency should be on the thicker side. Once it's ready ask the kids to dip their paint brush and sprinkle on the black kg card. The silver dots will look like tiny stars.

Now comes the interesting part!

After the paint is dry, ask the kids to look at the stars carefully and try to find their own constellation. Once they have visualised, ask them to use a pencil to connect the dots/stars and draw them.

 

Believe me, you will be wonder struck by looking at their creation.

To highlight the constellation, you could ask the kids to make the dots/stars a little thicker. Finally, ask them to write a line or two describing their constellation and giving a name to it. 

They will simply love doing that!

Have a sharing time during which students show their constellation to everyone and talk about it. 

While my class was busy finding their own constellations, I found mine too! I called it The Shiny Seahorse! :)

Here are a few pictures of constellations created by my grade 02 students.

Say NO to Water Pollution

Hello!

Water pollution is a serious concern in our world and we all know the consequences. 

When discussed as a topic in class with 7 year olds, I encourage them to share their knowledge or experiences with everybody. It not just allows them to speak their minds out loud but also creates awareness among them. 

We actually did a 'water polluting' activity in class to watch and understand how water changes once polluted and what could happen if all the water on our planet is polluted!

I kept a tub of water and a few other things like - wrappers, banana peel, straws, oil, rocks, some mud, that could be used to pollute the water.

I called the kids closer to where the water was kept and asked them to dump all the other things into the water. At first, they looked at me like I was out of mind but then they too wanted to understand what actually happens if water is polluted. 

The wrappers and straws started floating on the surface and they discussed and wondered that how difficult it must be for water animals to come to the surface and breathe. Sometimes these wrappers look like some sea creatures and they are swallowed by other big animals. Also, how fishing nets get entangled around the necks of many sea animals and results in their death.

The rocks and some mud changed the colour of the water, leaving the water dirty. The kids made a connection between how they like to take a shower with clean water, keep their home clean and so, sea creatures too would want clean water for themselves. Students also related to immersion of idols in India and it's impact on our seas and rivers.

Finally, when I asked them to pour some oil in that water they were shocked to see what happened. The oil was floating on the water surface and we could not see the water anymore.

The discussions were never ending. It was enlightening to see students participate actively in discussions. They felt sympathetic for the sea creatures and realised the amount of damage that is done to our planet Earth because of human actions. 

The activity also helped the students think about ways to protect water from getting polluted and what could be their roles in order to stop people from polluting the water. 

Kids understand their responsibilities more than we think they do. The session left us thinking the whole day about our actions and ignited a sense of duty towards saving water and the life in water.

Eat Healthy, Learn Plenty!!

Hello!

When introducing types of teeth, I ensure to have some eating activity in class. This not just activates young taste buds but also makes the whole session enjoyable.

My focus for the activity remains on:

• discussing new words or actions/verbs involved while using our teeth to eat (for example - biting, chewing, tearing, grinding, etc).
• the position at which the food was place first inside the mouth (front, side, back of the mouth).
• introducing the names of different types of teeth (incisors, canines, pre molars, molars).

The items needed for the activity are:

 

1. sliced carrots  
2. sliced cucumbers
3. coconut slices
4. cake slices
5. sour punk (in little amounts)

The quantity of each depends on the strength of your class. Now, the idea is to have all the 5 items cut/sliced on a plate ready before the class. So, you might have to prepare a little in advance. Everybody should be able to eat each food item and make a note of the action involved and the position or teeth used to eat that particular food item.

Prepare a worksheet or a recording sheet for the same. Something like this:

Food item	Position (front, side, back)	Action (bite, chew, grind, tear)
carrot
cucumber
cake
coconut
sour punk

  

Before beginning the activity, you could brainstorm a few vocabulary by asking them how they eat their food and what actions they do to make the food smaller in their mouth.

As they eat one at a time ask the students to observe which part of the teeth did they use to eat and what action did they do. It's important that they record in the sheet at that moment and then move on to eating the next item.   

The response sheet may look like this:

Food item	Position (front, side, back)	Action (bite, chew, grind, tear)
carrot	side	bite
cucumber	front	bite
cake	front	chew
coconut	back	grind
sour punk	side	tear

The answers may vary and all the answers are okay. The activity is more about the experiences of students and hence there are no wrong answers.

Once the activity is over, you could draw their attention to the different types of teeth. The front as incisors, sides as canines and the ones at the back as pre molars and molars. Gradually their functions and structure could also be discussed.

Overall, I really enjoy doing this activity in class as it makes it very simple for the kids to understand the different types of teeth and at the same time we get to eat in class before lunch time!! 😋

Shifting Shadows!!

Hello!

I find this activity very useful when teaching about varied shadow lengths and their positions during different times of the day.
What I like best about this activity is that I can integrate Art skills with Science (Light and Shadow) and Math (Measurement and Time).

You will need:

• some tin-foil sheet
• 1/4th of a KG card sheet (any colour)
• glue
• colour pencils/felt pens
• a ruler
• a pair of scissors

You could begin by demonstrating the steps to make a tin foil puppet. Once it's made, stick it on the KG card sheet using some glue.

I find this YouTube video very useful for making the tin-foil figure. It demonstrates the steps very clearly.

https://youtu.be/eDOOqdm_9jc

Ask your class to make a tin-foil figure for themselves. You could do it with them in class or play the above video in your class and ask them to follow it step by step.

It is important that they stick their puppets in the centre of the KG card sheet. This will ensure they have enough space to outline the shadows.

Now, take them to the playground or any open area at three different times of the day: morning, noon and later in the afternoon.

Ask them to observe the shadows carefully and outline them using 3 different colour pencils, They should then measure the shadows using a ruler and write the measurements and time beside the respective outlines.

Students will see that the shadows formed due to sunlight have different lengths and positions.

I too did the activity at home. I hope you find the images useful.

                             

Shadow in the morning:

Time : 9:30 am. 
Length : 12 cm
Position of the shadow: in front of the figure

Shadow at noon:

Time : 12:30 pm. 
Length : 5.5 cm
Position of the shadow: under the figure

Shadow in the evening:

Time : 4:00 pm. 
Length : 14 cm
Position of the shadow: behind the figure

To sum up:

The shadows are longer in the morning and evening; whereas, they are shortest at noon as the sun is overhead. 

EggSperiment!

Hello!

Some of you must have conducted this experiment in your Science class while teaching about Teeth. It's an interesting experiment and gives a chance to the kids to put on their THINKING CAPS!. Also, what is relaxing is, it requires simple preparation.

You will need:

• a hard-boiled egg
• some cola
• a glass jar
• a worksheet with 3 main columns -  observation, hypothesis and conclusion. You may add extra columns for them to draw  as well. 

Tell your class that you will be conducting an experiment for them and they have to observe it very carefully. Discuss the keys words like -  observation, hypothesis and conclusion. After watching the experiment ask them to record their observation and write their hypothesis. They can hold on to writing the conclusion for the time.

Display all the materials needed for the experiment on a table. Ask your students to gather around it and observe the materials carefully. Help them build a connect between the egg and their teeth. Tell them that the outer shell of an egg is similar to our enamel. Also, discuss the ingredients used in a cola. This will help them come up with well-reasoned hypothesis. 

Alright, it's time to EggSperiment!

• Take the glass jar and place it in front of the class.
• Pour the cola in the jar.
• Dip the egg in cola.

                                                     Now, time to make the little ones wonder! 

Ask them, 'What will happen to the egg if it stays in cola for one day?' (Remind them to make their connections between the egg and their teeth and also keep in mind the ingredients that make cola). Their answers will take you by surprise!

The egg turns BROWN!!

The next day, bring the glass jar in front of the class and show it to them. The result may take a few by surprise and most of them won't like the look of the egg.
I got reactions like, 'Yuck!', 'Ew', 'Gross' and so on. 

Encourage them to write the conclusion and complete the recording. As an extension, you could also take a toothbrush and some paste and brush the egg shell. It starts decolouring and the importance of brushing everyday is visibly clear. 

Keep experimenting!

Am I Growing?

Am I Growing?

Hello!

Little ones are ever excited to find out if they are growing tall. It makes it even more fun for them if their teachers become a part of their journey!

I did the 'Am I Growing?' activity with my students as an integration of their Science and Math topics.

As young scientists, the activity helps them predict reasonably and as budding mathematicians it allows them to understand the concept of inch as a standard unit of measurement.

Before you start the activity you will have to keep the following resources ready:

1. A height chart which could be hung anywhere in the classroom (available on Amazon).
2. A worksheet with 3 main columns - date, time and prediction for the students to record their data.

Let's begin!

Gather your students around and ask them if they know their height. Believe me, you will be amazed to hear their responses! Make a note of how many used a standard unit of measurement while sharing the information with you. Once the discussion is over, show them the height chart and ask them if they know the reason for having it in the classroom? Their views will vary and they will have ideas of their own!

Speak to them about the activity and tell them that they will be recording their height (in inches) every month for the next one year. Every time they check their height they will have to go back to their place and record the data in the worksheet provided. You must ensure that they write the date, height and their prediction for next time. For the prediction, you could get responses like; 'I will not grow even a little by next month', 'I will grow by an inch', I will become shorter', 'I will grow 10 inches', etc. It will be a delight to watch them compare their prediction to the actual data. Some may show disappointment, a few will be happy, a group of them may even be startled. So, be prepared!

To be certain that they do not misplace their recording sheet you could stick it in their Science notebooks. It should stay safe unless, their dog eats their Science notebook!!

To add to the learning, you could ask the students to pair up and measure the height for each other. This will help them become better team players.

I hope you enjoy doing the activity and it is effective in your classrooms too!