Open ended play with Nature's loose parts!

 Open ended toys are not new to us! Age-old method, when we talk about children's play. When I give a set of toy to LO, he plays with that for sometime (like the way in which it should be played) and soon we can find him in a completely different play with the same set of toy. Kids don't have preconceived notions about how they should play with a toy/game until we tell them so. And this is how the kid's brain are designed I think. Creative, Exploring and Imaginative! Open ended play encourages child's problem solving skills and decision making.

LO and his cousins mostly spend time with animal toys and pretend play. Open ended toys are not new to them. But then I had these pebbles and so wanted to setup this nature play activity! Along with the pebbles I added Nature's loose parts like sticks, leaves of dragon money plant and sand. The kids brought in some animal toys on their part (They can't play any game without animal toys!). This is a no-setup activity but I wouldn't say mess free!! Be ready to protect your floor as this is an open ended play, surprises are to be expected!😆

Open ended toys - Be it any toy or small fabric pieces, old socks, pen cap, blocks, cups, shells, pebbles and sticks, all of these have many possible uses. They can be imagined into any kind of pretend object. The possibilities are confined only to a kid's imagination and creativity. 

We had fun in combining open ended play with the nature's loose parts. Hope you too liked this and give a try with your kids and let me know how you guys enjoyed!

Happy Parenting!😊

Burn a paper using magnifying lens.. STEM activity for kids

To me, STEM activities should be introduced to kids as early as from kindergarten to expose them to the amazing world of science. Whether they understand the science concept or not, I'm sure they would enjoy the outcome of the experiments.

The science behind this burning of paper without  fire is....When a magnifying glass is held over a piece of paper at a distance equal to its focal length, the sun's rays falling on the lens converge at a point that lies somewhere on the paper. Thus, solar energy spread over the lens surfacearea gets concentrated at one point....That's when the paper starts burning. Science apart!!! Let's go to the fun part....

This idea of making "Sindhus Cocoon" on paper is from my niece. You need a lot of patience to do this experiment. Once you find out the focal length of the lens it's an easy peasy activity. But again you need lot of patience 😉Click the following link to experience the amazing output of science!! Burn the paper without 🔥 🔥 🔥!!

You just need a magnifying lens, paper and ofcourse a hot Sunny day....

Hope you liked watching the video... Please share your comments and inputs. 

Amazing DIY maze activity

Want to setup a quick customizable maze for your kids that improves concentration and boost brain !!! Here comes the playdough to give us a helping hand.. We just need playdough, a small marble and a writing pad or any flat object for the setup (You can either use a cardboard or a tray). Kids helped me in rolling the playdough and it turned out to be a dual fun activity. To make the activity more challenging have two marbles to run along the maze... We also tried playing the maze with blind folded. It was super fun and kids enjoyed by playing it again and again!! 

Click on the link for the circular maze.. 

And the blind folded try here!!! Though we didn't accomplish on blind folding, her try is commendable... 

Keep checking this space for more amazing activities...

Happy Parenting..

Frozen Dinosaur Eggs - Surprise STEM Activity for Kids !!!

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!!😊😊😊

Lets go into Space! - Solar System Activity for kids

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...

They played, "Ring a Ring o' Roses"!!!! Without bothering about the very hot temperature on the Sun...

And this is the score board...

The Astronaut with the highest points get to travel to the nearest galaxy the "Andromeda"... !!!

Hope you enjoyed the space travel. Please drop your comments and let us know what do you feel about this game.

Happy Parenting😊😊😊

Measurement Scavenger Hunt - Part 2

The last two posts on Scavenger Hunt, the Shapes Hunt and Measurement Part 1 turned out to be very interesting with my kids, so the next one in the STEM activity series is here, for my lovely Niece. She is in her grade 4 so planned for a comparatively effortful measurement activity. In this for few tasks, I gave her the measurement in prior and she needs to find the object which fits to that measurement. It turned out to be little laborious for her, as she measured more than five to six objects before finding an apt answer for the queries. This activity gives an opportunity for the kids to explore real time objects by measuring them. Encourage the kids to make a guess before measuring the object for its length, to shoot up their curiosity level!!

Don't forget to check on the earlier posts on Shapes Scavenger Hunt and Measurement Scavenger Part 1.
Happy Parenting😊😊😊

Scavenger Hunt - Shapes

Kids find the term "Scavenger Hunt" very catchy!!! 😁😁On hearing the term they got so excited and kept nagging me what's the activity. To start with I did a simple one, Shapes Scavenger Hunt. Following this we did one more, the Measurement Scavenger hunt. I prepared two lists for my two boys. And I helped them with the writing work. They both raced to find the objects!!😀 And when they found the same object for a particular shape, I insisted them to find a different one. It was very fun and interesting.

Happy Parenting😊😊😊

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