Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles.....

The other day we had filled the trough and added dish washing liquid so we could do some experimenting with different bubble making tools. These included some potato mashers, a whisk, some spoons and a spatula.  We worked our way through each one assessing it's bubble making ability. Blake was quite excited to use the egg beater, Sophia started with the whisk stirring it round and round, first making little circles then big circles, Chloe decided to use two mashers to see if that would work better, Zoe had other plans going with a leaf and then Jack and Frank teamed up with their different utensils, thinking collaboration was the way to go.  Once we noticed the bubbles rising and growing bigger, we did get a little excited and and set out to see who could make the biggest and soon there were bubbles galore!!  Hugo just couldn't resist the feel, getting his hands all wet and bubbly while Frank thought it would be fun to shake the excess bubbles on the ground and stomp on them.   What a fun morning of discovery and exploration!!

The tamariki showed a curiosity and a willingness to experiment and to follow their ideas, enjoying the water while developing their confidence in exploring, puzzling over and making sense of the world. Here they are using trial end error and experimentation, observing, and comparing to make a decision about which was the most effective tool for you to use to make bubbles. They are also developing working theories about how water and bubbles behave. 

I wonder what plane will fly further?

Today we experimented with paper planes. We got three different types of paper - white paper, black cartridge and cardboard.  We talked about what type of paper would make our plane fly the furthest.  The children touched the three types of paper and noticed that they felt different, one observation was that the card was thicker than the paper. We then got started on making the planes, making sure the design was the same for each one. We had turns standing in the same spot to fly each plane and we discovered that the plane made of cardboard went the furthest.

The children were very engaged and curious when participating in this experiment and very eager to make predictions!

 

Using our senses in the Ngahere (Bush)

At Uxbridge we are so lucky to have this bearuiful Ngahere right on our doorstep.  We often get the opportunity to go for a hikoi (walk).  Our children love getting out to explore, and are familiar and confident keeping themselves safe on outings. Because the children are relaxed on these walks they can take in everying they see, hear, and smell using our senses. 

I wonder what we are going to see – well not long into our adventure, we were able to see so many spiderwebs, and larvae crawling around under the deadwood. 

Some one in our community has kindly put up some plastic insects in the  bushwalk  for all of the children to spot, today we found weta, ladybugs and grasshoppers.  We also saw some of the birdhouses that we had placed on earlier walks.

"S" noticed a banana tree – because it looks like our one at kindy.

We noticed a little waterfall, a creek, a dove and a blackbird and a lizard.

We were interested to see what we would find on this adventure and our first find was a lizard ornament on the shed.  As we walked we were surprised by a group of colourful and noisy Rosellas flying in and out of the tree tops.

After navigating the stepping stones we discovered the goldfish darting in and out of each other, "A" counted 13 fish.

"J" thought the fish looked sad, we asked "J" why and he replied, because they want to go to a different place.  Then "J" showed up his fish lips.

"M" thought the fish made a ‘glub, glub’ sound.

"J" saw the Well and said ‘I know what that does, it pumps water into a bucket.

Look at these precious leaves – What makes them precious?  Cause they are special replied "J".

Then we looked under a log and discovered a small black spider and a black beetle.

On our return up the path, we saw a Tui taking a drink from the top fish pond.

"M" said she liked going for a walk.

 

Exploring Salt and Ice!

Yesterday our budding little scientists eagerly explored another exciting science experiment which was salt and ice.  Kaiako Lisa had frozen some coloured water in balloons and once they had frozen we got them out and opened up the balloons.  There sure was lots of excitement when our children saw the big round balls of ice and when they saw the different colours that they were.  We then got some salt and before we began our experiment we talked about what we thought might happen when we put salt on the ice.  Some of the children made their predictions and thought that the salt would melt the ice. The children each had some salt and put it on the ice and watched on with amazement.  We discovered that salt does in fact melt the ice and it also gives the ice a rough bumpy texture. After some time we saw lots of cracks appear in the ice and one of the children said "I can see the cool patterns on it".  The children really enjoyed this fun activity, making new discoveries!

Microwave painting!

All the activities we have at Kindergarten have a purpose.  This activity allows the children to listen for instruction, follow a recipe (process), make their own mixture watching as the mixture changes it’s consistency (science).  They then have to put their creation in the microwave (technology) and push the right microwave buttons in order (10 twice (20) and then start..... Maths and literacy) to cook their creation.  The children have the opportunity to observe the change in state of the mixture they put in.  When the microwave dings, this means that it has finished, it’s time to open the door and check out the results.  I wonder what happens??

What a great way to science, literacy and numeracy!

"It's gone all dry and puffy" - Phoebe

It's bumpy" - Hazel

"It's dry, bubble and hot" - Santi

"It's an experiment" - Owen