Animal Classification Bingo Game: Animal sorting game for preschool science Lesson Plans
Recycled Cardboard Play House for Preschool House Area Learning Center
Preschool
children are wonderfully imaginative. If you give them an old box and tell them
to pretend it's a car, they will enjoy hours of fun in their Maserati. Kids
don't need expensive playhouse to have fun. You can make a recycled cardboard
playhouse easily. In fact, teachers and parents, you can create entire
Montessori preschool practical life learning
centers for home or school, with just a
refrigerator box, available in dumpsters behind appliance stores.
First
a word on the refrigerator box--it's a wonderful tool for Montessori preschool
play. It's green, versatile, sturdy enough for children to play in and
recyclable when you're finished with it. My father made me an entire cardboard
playhouse full of furniture, with recycled cardboard boxes. Here's how to make
a cardboard playhouse for Montessori preschool practical life learning centers.
First, cut the refrigerator box along one of the long edges. Now open the box
and flaps of both ends. Place refrigerator box upright around one corner of the
room, flaps toward the floor. Alternate flaps, one in, then the next facing
outward (to form a base). Arrange the cardboard playhouse so that it encloses
the corner. Invert refrigerator box so printing faces inward. Duct tape edges
of cardboard to the walls and tape flaps to floor. This is not meant to be a
permanent structure; but the tape will prevent the cardboard box wall from
collapsing. There is no need for a roof or ceiling. Children understand the
concept and will be able to imagine a ceiling.
Cut
a window or two in the sides of the box. Cut window panes and curtains and
color them in. Or staple scrap fabric to make curtains. Draw a flower box on
the outside or make a little rack to place real plants. Cut a door that opens
and closes or cut a doorway and hang a piece of cloth like a curtain. Place
green and brown towels along the bottom of the cardboard playhouse to look like
earth and grass and to mask the edges. Inside your Montessori preschool
practical life learning centers, place a doll cradle with assorted dolls,
child-sized table and chairs, with play kitchen furniture, play food and dishes
and house area costumes. Make recycled cardboard appliances.
Set up artificial trees and flowers to lend verisimilitude. Inside the house,
put a basket of books that pertains to the subject you're studying. Add comfy
throw pillows. This makes your Montessori preschool practical life learning
centers into a quiet reading or library learning centers.
Habitat Science Tubs and Preschool Learning Center Activities
Montessori type learning centers focus on hands-on child-led mastery learning, individual
work stations and play as work activities. Activities in learning centers aim
for mastery learning through exploration and task completion. Montessori
science learning centers are also called sensory or sensorial learning areas.
Here's a system for portable exploratory science tubs with task-oriented
science experiments and activities for mastery learning.
Montessori
learning centers are organized, precise and minimal. Instead of a jumble of
toys, there are specific ordered learning materials with task-oriented goals.
Children work in individual work stations instead of desks or tables. These are
usually portable mats rolled out on the floor. Portable unit-based science tubs
work well. Materials in science tubs may be preset on stationary learning mats
and children rotate through learning centers to complete activities. Or
children may select science tubs, bring them to their mat work stations where
they interact with materials to accomplish educational tasks.
To
create exploratory science tubs, you'll need small plastic boxes with lids,
baskets and different science unit materials. Stacking boxes or drawers in a
rolling cart work well too. You might also use zippered plastic bags for
individual science units. You will arrange materials by content area. When
you're studying a particular content area, you'll remove materials from drawer
or box and place in baskets. This makes learning materials more appealing and
approachable.
Themes
for exploratory science tubs include: magnets, matters, animal classification,
mammals, reptiles, air, water, weather, measurement, polymers, plants, rocks
and minerals, chemistry, seeds and seed carriers, feathers, electricity, atoms,
food, bubbles, bugs, spiders, electronics. Place materials to explore in
science tubs. Add several related follow up tasks for mastery learning--flashcards,
worksheets, matching games. Children can do mastery learning tasks in science
journals for follow up.
Back to School DIY Science Nature Detective Kit
Looking
for summer camp kids' activities?
Here's a nature science lesson plan. Make nature detective kits to explore
wildlife science concepts. Use this activity to welcome kids back to school. Kids
will love playing nature CSI! Homeschooling parents
will love this inexpensive, hands-on science lesson.
You
will need one of each of these items per student:
--large
gallon size zipper bag or cheap carry-all bag to store supplies
--plastic
magnifying glass (available in bulk at Great Party, Party America or Oriental
Trading)
--cheap
one-subject notebook
--pocket
folder ($.05 -$.15 each from Walmart, Staples, Target)
--plastic
disposable gloves (choose latex free; give each student one pair)
--tweezers
or cotton swabs (both would be useful, but use cotton swabs to save money)
--3
or 4 specimen bags (snack size Zip-Loc)
--3-4
larger specimen bags (sandwich size Zip-loc)
--sheet
of label stickers
--pen
and pencil
--
roll of invisible Scotch tape
--several
pieces of yarn or string
--box
of crayons ($.25 at back-to-school sales)
--measuring
tape (here's a free printable measuring tape)
How
to Use Nature Detective Kits:
Make
kit assembly part of the lesson. Set out supplies in stations and give students
gallon zipper bag and supplies list. This provides experience in counting,
sorting and organizing.
Using
stickers, kids label notebook: Investigator (name)____________ or Detective
(name)____________. Label bags: Exhibit A, B, C or Evidence. As evidence is
collected, data and date should be added. For example: 'beetle exoskeleton
9-3-2015.
Go
on nature investigation hunts around your neighborhood, school playground or
camp. Assign students different items to investigate, native to your area.
Students should not keep living specimens, but they might bring a bug box to
temporarily house and examine a living critter. Look for evidence of living
creatures: bug carcasses, exoskeletons, fallen leaves, feathers, owl pellets,
seed pods, rocks, fallen nest, bits of animal fur, bark samples, plants,
flowers and rocks.
Have
students draw living creatures, homes and habitats: spider's web, bird's nest,
wasp's nest, rabbit hole, ant hill, scat (animal droppings). Students should
record when and where they observed it. Students shouldn't touch but may
observe scat(animal droppings) or dead animal remains.