Sindhu's cocoon: August 2020

I hope the Dino Land - Sensory play table activity is sure to enthrall kids of all ages!! Plus on a hot day playing with ice cubes is so refreshing!!! What if there is a surprise factor added to it!! Yeah, I decided to make some frozen dinosaurs to be released from icy eggs for the surprise twist!

Click the video, to experience the surprise factor!!

How to make the Dino eggs:

1. You will need miniature dinosaur figurines, a balloon for each figurine, water and glitter (adding glitter is optional, which I didn't add! )

2. Simply shove a dinosaur into a balloon, fill the balloon with water and tie it off. Pop the balloons into the freezer shelf and make sure not to squash its shape so that it retains its lovely egg shape.

3. Once they are frozen take out the eggs and immediately cut open the balloon and set them to play. Need not to say how fast the dino eggs would melt in the hot Indian climate. So we need to act really fast.

The main motto of the play is to release the infant dinosaurs from the frozen eggs, using small props like, droppers, syringes, fork whatever you can find!!(kids safe props)

We placed the eggs in a cup of water to make it melt fast.

And finally the tiny dinosaurs are out of the frozen eggs and ready to munch on some food!!!

I would say this is a good sensory activity, feeling the icy eggs, and learning how to use dropper and syringes. Understanding the nature of icy eggs and guessing what would take to make it melt are the basics of STEM learning. In each step of the setup, right from hoping the dino into the balloon and the next day releasing the dinos from the frozen eggs, the kids were actively involved, raised many questions and had great fun!!

Happy Parenting!!😊😊😊

Solar System - Always throws abundance opportunity to learn, explore, imagine and ast(r)onish too!! The darkness of space have constantly kindled man kind to explore, discover and achieve.

Kids at this generation are very eager to learn new things. Even before we think to introduce a new topic/concept they gain some insight about it through books, media, etc. My kids aren't any exception. Well before I plan for an idea, they would suggest on some new concept, to my surprise!! This activity is one of the kind. The sheer size and novelty of the Solar System may make it hard for the young minds to comprehend!! So I planned for an activity - "Learn through play"🌞.

Kids gave me few suggestions - Having the "lives" concept incorporated, which they borrowed from Jumanji movie and using the colorful balls to denote the planets. They were so co-operative with me during the setup! Helped me with the chalk work, collected all the balls and other necessary stuffs.

The Setup:

Draw the model of solar system using the sidewalk chalk. I named all the planets with different colors and drew the planets to scale, approximately! Later we used different colored balls of different sizes to model the planets. By then we discussed which is the Biggest planet, Blue planet, Red Planet, Coldest Planet, Dwarf Planet, Planet which has rings, Brightest planet etc.

It was completely an edutainment for us!! (To stop the balls from rolling during play, we placed the balls on small rings or any object and ensured they are still!) I also included ISS, which is a new term for them. I took the help of "Tik Tik Tik"(2018) tamil movie, to explain about the "Space walk" and "ISS" (International Space Station) concepts!!

Day 1:

This is the dice we used for the game... I planned for a giant sized dice made out of cardboard, but my niece was so kind, that she said no need to waste a cardboard, and instead lets play with normal dice!!!

As the Astronauts were getting ready for the play.......

It started to drizzle!!!

We dropped the play, and enjoyed the rain....!

Day 2:

Next day with the same enthusiasm we started again... Initial setup of placing the planets, I mean the balls were done by "Astronauts"...!!

My niece's idea of having "lives"... used cello tape to mark them... Imitating "Jumanji"..!!!

And the setup is complete!!

Before starting the game, lets see about the "Gaming Rules"....

2 - Mercury. The number on dice decides the game and the score board. When the dice shows 2, the player rockets to Mercury and also gains 2 points. Since it is very close to the Sun, the player gets back to his previous planet; and no points gets added to his score board.
3 - Venus. If the number on the dice shows 3, the player moves to Venus and gains 3 points.(Likewise for rest of the planets...) Since Venus is the Brightest planet, the player enjoys more light, and rest of the players lose one point!
4 - Earth. Home Planet! When the player reaches Earth, he gets to fill his rocket with fuel for free!!! Gains 2 points.
5 - Sun. Getting to the hottest place, the player loses a life!!!
6 - Mars. The player gets a chance to work with "Mangalyan Mission". Gains a point and also the Mangalyan band!
7 - Jupiter. Being on the biggest planet of the system, the player gets an extra turn to throw the dice.
8 - Saturn. Enjoy playing on the rings of Saturn and gain a point.
9 - Uranus. As you went far away from the Sun, the player loses a point and also gets to shiver in the cold
10 - Neptune. The player loses a point.
11 - Pluto.The player misses a chance.
12 - ISS. The player enjoys to attend a workshop at ISS and gains 5 points.
The game continues until all the player loses their lives (the three strips of cello tape!!!).

Noting the points scored by the Astronauts...

And the space travel begins...!

This is "Mission Mangalyan" band..!! Those who land on Mars would get to wear this, until the next Astronaut reaches Mars...

Lost a life after landing on the Sun...

The coincidence was all three of them lost a life at the same time..! They all got to land at the Sun one after the other!! And you know what they did...