Summer Bucket List, Week 3

We have a Summer Bucket List, thanks to Kelly over at Little Wonders' Days.  This is simply a list of fun things we want to do or accomplish this summer.  We just completed our third full week of summer.  To review our previous weeks go here and here.  This was a busy week for us.  I had two half days of work and two full days of training.  We had ball games four nights.  We had Farmers' Market Tuesday evening and this morning.  However we did manage to accomplish a few things on the list.  Here is a rundown of our week.


1.  Visit 10 parks to play and picnic:  I'm going to count the playground at my school.  Braedon and Colby have been helping me with a preschooler that I am providing some summer services to.  As part of the plans we are orienting him to various parts of the school that he will be utilizing in kindergarten next year.  That includes the big playground (preschool has a separate playground) and the cafeteria (preschool eats in our classrooms).  So Braedon and Colby got to play on the playground and eat breakfast at the school with H and I.  Much of the equipment was purchased with a grant last year so it was new to me.  My boys attend another school, so it was new to them too.  Fun for all of us.


21.  Homemade bubbles:  Sunday Brody helped me make some homemade bubbles and hunt for unusual bubble wands to bring to Grandma's for the wiener roast.  We took the following items for wands--slotted spoon, slotted spatula, plastic berry basket, bead, apple slicer, a canning ring, and a regular bubble wand.  The boys enjoyed it and especially liked the devices that made lots of bubbles hooked together (the apple slicer and the berry basket).


50.  Make and play with playdough:  We made kool-aid playdough and have been playing with it as part of our activities with H at the school.  It's been great for working on fine motor skills, imitation, turn taking, appropriate play, and language skills with H.  My boys just love to play with playdough and we don't do it very often at home.


Other items we did that were not on our original list:  
*Four baseball games--trying to squeeze those games in before tournaments next week.  Brody and Colby are going to miss playing with their buds that we see while Braedon plays ball.  
*Ate fresh strawberries out of the garden.
*As I type the boys and Ron are attending a local race at the Clarke County Speedway.  It's scout night so they should also be enjoying good company in the stands.  


This week looks a bit less busy (but still pretty full).  I'm sure we can get some activities in.  As I review the list I'm looking forward to it!

Bubbles!

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom."            ~Greek proverb

One of the best things about working with young children is the wonder they have about things that we barely give a second thought to as adults.  

The week before spring break I put bubble solution (water, dish soap, glycerin) in the water table with several bubble making items:  slotted spoon, canning ring, plastic berry basket, several small random toys that have openings to blow bubbles through, etc.  I thought to kids would enjoy exploring bubble making with these unique bubble wands.  However, they instead enjoyed stirring the mixture with the slotted spoon and spatula, creating a frothy lather that no one could blow bubbles with.  

At first I was disappointed and explained that if they made the froth (new vocabulary), they couldn't blow the bubbles.  Even as the words were coming out of my mouth I was regretting them.  I've been trying to do better following the children's lead, rather my own agenda.  However once I said them, I decided to see what happened on day two of water table bubbles.  Free play started out with some of the older children going to the water table to explore the bubbles.  A younger child came over and began the mixing and froth making.  One of the older girls got after her, telling her not to make the froth.  The younger child left.  I took that opportunity to explain to the group that there was more than one way to play with the bubbles, but if anyone wanted to blow bubbles they should come to the water table early, before someone else makes froth.

It turns out most of the kids needed the opportunity to explore the making of froth before working with the bubble-making toys.  So we made froth.  My student with autism enjoyed the sensory exploration of feeling the froth with his hands, arms, face, and hair.  He would have liked to have climbed into the table, I think.  He was playing at the table with two other children, which has been a challenge for him.  So bubble blowing was not a success (at least how I envisioned it), but froth making was a huge success!

After a week of spring break, we returned to find bubble blowing at the science table.  This was a simple activity with cups of bubble solution on trays and straws.  I stationed myself at the table for most of Monday and the beginning of Tuesday's free play time.  I had each child who came to the table demonstrate to me how to blow out with the straw.  (In the past I have had some children who could not do this and ended up sucking in a mouthful of soap, not a huge deal, and quite a learning experience, but  a bit of trauma that is avoidable with a bit of instruction.)  

Once the child can show me how to blow out (onto my hand), they were given a place to work and instructed to make lots of bubbles in their cups with their straw.  The look of delight and wonder in their eyes was priceless!  They made mounds of bubbles which spilled out over the cups onto their trays.  We talked about blowing hard and soft, making big and little bubbles, and other concepts.  One child pointed out that his bubbles had rainbows in them and showed other children this.  We noticed that bubbles popped when you touched them, unless your hands were wet.  We made lots of clean messes!  This area was the most popular area early in the week, but interest waned as the week went on.

I'm taking another week off of bubbles (so that it doesn't become too mundane) then I will re-introduce the bubble blowers that I tried out in the water table before spring break.  This time I plan to use a smaller tub at the science table, rather than the water table.  Hopefully it will be nice enough to take the bubbles outside too.

By the way, bubble blowing is a science activity.  Children explore change in matter, practice their observation skills, make inferences, learn new vocabulary, interact with materials in new or different ways.  As they interact with these materials, they will create memories that will become prior knowledge to build future learning upon.  This is physical science at its best.