We Arrrrrr Pirates!

This week was our last Monday Fun class.
(*sigh*)
so what is a better way to send off the kiddos
than by talking about
Pirates...

Arrrrrrrrrr!

After reading...

...How I Became a Pirate to the kiddos,
(SUCH a fun story!)
I led the kiddos in making their own
mini Pirate ships.

The items we used to make the ships included:

Egg carton cups
Markers
Modeling clay
Toothpicks
Tape
Glue sticks
Pirate Sails Printable
(Cottage Industrialist has many other fun Pirate printables
for free you should check out by clicking HERE.)

First, the kiddos decorated their egg carton cups
with the markers.

Then the kiddos put a lump of clay
into the bottom of the cup.

Then the kiddos put the sails together with
the glue sticks and taped them onto the toothpicks.

Finally the kiddos put their flags into the clay,
and they were ready to set sail!

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After completing the ships...

...the kiddos dress up as Pirates...

...and Pirate Princesses...

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Now, they were ready... ...to play a Pirate game!

Using their ships as game pieces...

...the kiddos spent the rest of the class sailing
to seek their treasure
with the use of the game board
from THIS Pirate Preschool Lapbook...

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

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For more fun ideas to do with your little ones,
head on over to
Feed Me Books Friday,
Kids Get Crafty!,
It's Playtime,
Preschool Corner,
Read, Explore, Learn,
and
stART...

Science Sunday: Metos, the Fountain Maker

This past week during my Monday Fun
Magic Science Class,
we had some explosive fun...

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One of the girls in my class brought in
a small bottle of Diet Coke and a package of Mentos,
which just HAPPENED to be the same
ingredients we were going to use in our experiment.

So, before we combined my
2-liter of Diet Coke and Mentos...
...we did the Mentos experiment...
...on a much smaller scale.

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Now, for my experiment,
I included...
...Steve Spangler's Geyser Tube.

THIS PRODUCT IS SO WORTH THE MONEY!

As you watch the below video clip,
you will see why...

(Oh, and you will need to tilt your head to the side
to watch it properly-
the clip was recorded on my camera in the
wrong direction,
and I can't seem to change its orientation-
Sorry!)

Isn't that AWESOME?

I just LOVE listening to kiddos scream...

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The science behind this "magic" is as follows:

Each Mentos chewy mint has thousands tiny pits all over the surface.
These tiny pits are called nucleation sites-
perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles in the soda to form.
As soon as the Mentos hit the soda,
bubbles form all over the surface of the mints and quickly rise
to the surface of the liquid.
Couple this with the fact
that the Mentos are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle
and you've got a double-whammy.
When all this gas is released,
it literally pushes all of the liquid
up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast.

That is the SIMPLE explanation-
for more detailed info, click HERE.

For the journaling form we used and all the
instructions for replicating this experiment,
just click HERE.

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For more fun with Science,
head on over to
Science Sunday...

Eating the Alphabet

The theme this week at Monday Fun's
stART Preschool Class was
Foodie Fun...

I read...

...Eating the Alphabet and...

...The Boy Who Ate Around.

The kiddos especially enjoyed this picture,
since it was about a boy
who did not want to eat his dinner.
So, he turned himself into a monster
and "ate around" his dinner,
which included eating his parents,
his house, his school, etc.

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After the books,
I busted out some...

...Peanut Butter Play dough
for the kiddos to enjoy...

Here is the EASY recipe:

- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 cups powdered sugar

Mix ingredients in a bowl and you’re done!
Store in an airtight container or plastic baggie
with air sucked out of the bag.
(Quick tip: Spray your 1/2 cup with oil
before measuring your honey
and the honey will pour much easier.)

Trust us...

...it's yum-yum-yummy!

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While the kiddos were working with the play dough,
we decided to make all the letters in the alphabet,
our own "Edible Alphabet,"
if you will...

(This little movie shows all the letters
the kiddos made-
minus the letter J-
ooops!)

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After we put up the Play Dough,
I gave the kiddos another
Explorer Box Challenge...
Each box contained food shaped erasers...
...and other small objects.
I mixes them all up in some dry oatmeal...
...and threw in some measuring spoons to use as
"digging tools."
The kiddos dug for the items,
and sorted them into two piles-
Edible and Non-Edible...
(Let me just say, the mess was worth the fun!)

Next Week's Theme: "Egg"-cellent Easter Eggs

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For more fabulously messy fun,
head on over to
Feed Me Books Friday,
Kids Get Crafty,
Preschool Corner,
Read, Explore, Learn,
and
stART...

Science Sunday: Reincarnating Raisins

During this past week's Magic Science class,
my 3rd-5th graders and I
brought raisins
BACK TO LIFE...

MWAHAHAHAHA!

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In all seriousness,
we performed a simple experiment
that showed the "power" of carbon dioxide...

All you need for this "trick" is a
bottle of club soda and some raisins.

Open up the soda and put some raisins in it...

...and wait a few seconds...

...to behold some of the raisins
rising back up to the surface.

Their shimming movements may remind you of...
...some other famous raisins...

(Click HERE if you are too young to know
who the California Raisins were...)

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The scientific explanation for this movement?

The irregular surfaces of the raisins hold some
carbon dioxide in the soda. When enough bubbles
accumulate, they lift the wrinkly raisins
to the surface of the soda.

When enough bubbles pop,
the raisins sink back down further into the soda,
causing them to
"come back to life!"

(You can download the journaling sheet
we used for this experiment
by clicking HERE.)

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A "second part" to this experiment
is to leave the raisins in the soda over night...

...and you will get "grapes" again!

Raisins ARE just dried up grapes, after all...

Guess you really CAN bring them
"back to life"... :0)

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For more fun with Science,
head on over to
Science Sunday...

Beautiful Bottle-cap Bugs

Things got "buggy" during my preschool
Monday Fun class,
especially after I read...

...Mystery in Bugtown.
It is one of my FAVORITE
read aloud to kiddos...

I mean, with giant eye-balls and illustrations...

...like these,
who WOULDN'T enjoy the book?

I also slipped in some Science by discussing
what makes an insect an insect:

2 Antennae
3 Body Parts
6 Legs

We discussed which critters in the book
were insects,
and which ones were not.

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After book and discussion,
I gave the kiddos a variety of plastic jug caps,
paint pens, craft glue, and googly eyes
so they could make
Bottle-cap Bugs.

Some of the kiddos chose to make add the googly eyes...

...and some did not.

Either way, they created...

...some simple and sweet insects.

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I brought back the explorer boxes,
and with them...

...I gave the kiddos a mission.

Inside the boxes were a wide variety of critters...

...some of them being insects,
and some of them were not.

After "digging out" the critters from the
"grass"
(aka colored macaroni)...

(I used the recipe found
HERE to color the macaroni)

...the kiddos sorted them:

Red Bowls: Not an Insect
Green Bowls: Insect.

We just go "bug"-listic over bugs!

Up Next: Foodie Fun...

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Check out more fun for your kiddos by
heading on over to:

Feed Me Books Friday,
Get Crafty,
Preschool Corner,
Read, Learn, Explore,
and stART...