kids' cbc

Spider Web Science for Kids

Spiders are often associated with Halloween, but they are fascinating creatures at any time of year. This easy, fun, and active spider web science experiment is a wonderful way to teach your preschooler or kindergarten student about how spider webs work, and even toddler junior scientists will enjoy the sensory fun and gross motor skills challenge it provides.

 

Spiders produce a special sort of silk that is sticky and incredibly strong. If you were to compare an equally thick piece of steel rope and a spider's silk, the silk would be stronger. Scientists believe that spiders may have begun to spin webs to protect their eggs, but most spiders now use their silk to capture insects that the eat. A spider will spin a web, or even leave a "trap line" of sticky silk. Unsuspecting insects get stuck to the web, and are trapped there. Spiders themselves don't stick to the silk because of a special oil their body produces.

 

To learn more about how the strong, sticky spider webs work, we built one of our own.  All you need is masking tape and cotton balls!

 

 

First, we stuck strips of masking tape across a door opening, criss-crossing them in spider web fashion with the sticky side of the tape facing out.

 

Next, we gathered a bag of cotton balls to represent our insects.  If you want, you could even use a marker to draw eyes on each cotton ball.  After gently touching the "web" to see that it felt sticky, we stood back and tossed the cotton balls at the web.  Sure enough, many got trapped on the sticky tape.  We then got up close to the web to see just how everything was sticking:

 

 

This was a fun and easy activity that helped us understand a little bit more about the science behind spider webs. It was also a fun sensory experience and an effective way to incorporate gross motor movement activities into our day.  Deconstructing the web and playing with the resulting cotton ball and tape balls was pretty fun too. 

 

If you would like to learn a little more about the science behind spiders, make sure you watch the "Along Came a Spider" episode of "The Cat in the Hat" on Kids' CBC.  After the main characters in the show, Nick and Sally, discover that their soccer goal has a hole in it, the Cat in the Hat takes them on an adventure to see Mabel the spider, who teaches the kids how she spins webs and fixes holes. 

 

You could even finish your afternoon of spider science off by making these yummy chocolate rice krispy spider treats. 

Posted by momstown Teach on 10/25/2012 - 13:37
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How to Make Dragon Feet

As the weather gets cooler, it is good to have a variety of indoor active play activities on hand to keep kids moving, exercising, and working on their gross motor skills. On miserable days when it is too wet or snowy to go outside, we often watch and participate along with Bo and Desidore Dragon from the Kids' CBC show Bo on the Go. Today, we made our own Desi Dragon (or dinosaur) feet out of empty cereal boxes and craft foam.

 

 

Here's what you need to make your own set of dragon or dinosaur feet:

  • two empty cereal, cracker, or cookie boxes (we used Baby Mum-Mum boxes)
  • green paint
  • 2 large sheets of green craft foam
  • cream coloured craft foam (optional)
  • glue
  • scissors


1. Glue the open end of each box closed.  Paint bottom and all sides of each box green:

 

 

2. Apply a second coat of paint, if necessary:

 

 

3. Turn boxes over.  Use scissors or a craft knife (an adult's job) to cut an oval opening large enough to fit a child's foot into in the top of each box:

 

 

4. Draw a dinosaur or dragon shaped footprint large enough to completely cover each box on a sheet of green craft foam.  Cut out:

 

 

5. If desired, cut out toe nail shapes from cream craft foam and glue onto the top of each dragon toe (Desi Dragon doesn't actually have visible toe nails, but we liked the look they gave our feet):

 

 

6. Glue a foam foot onto the top of each box, covering the opening.  Use scissors or a craft knife (an adult's job) to cut an "X" into the top of each foam dinosoar foot so that your child can slip his or her foot into it:

 

 

Here is what the feet look like from the side:

 

 

 

Slip on your feet, and you'll be ready to exercise right along with Desi and Bo as you watch "Bo on the Go".  Here are a few activities to try with your feet:

  • turn on dinosauar music ("We are the Dinosaurs" by Laurie Berkner is a favourite here) and stomp around the house like dinosaurs
  • count how many "dinosaur feet" it takes to cross the room.  Compare this with the number of your regular footprints fit across the room
  • try turning around, walking backwards, and jumping up and down with your dragon feet on.  The feet make all of these gross motor activities an extra (fun!) challenge
  • make extra sets of feet and have a dragon race with your friends
  • create dinosaur feet in different sizes, and see whether it is easier or more difficult to walk in larger feet
Posted by momstown Teach on 10/21/2012 - 21:09
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Monster Math Mats: Craft, Counting, and Busybag Fun

The monster math squad has arrived! If you are looking for a craft to let your kids be creative, an on the go busy bag activity that will keep kids occupied while waiting at restaurants, doctor's offices and other places, and a way to work on early math skills, including number identification, one to one correspondence, and ordinal numbers, then this is it.  I came up with the idea while watching an episode of "Monster Math Squad" on Kids' CBC and noticing that different monsters in the show had different numbers of eyes, but it would fit in perfectly with a Halloween theme or a monster unit as well.

 

 

Here is what you need to do to make your own set of counting monsters:

  • Several sheets of construction paper in various colours
  • Scraps of construction paper in various sizes and colours
  • googlie eyes (in various sizes if possible)
  • scissors
  • glue
  • number stickers (optional)
  • marker (optional)

1. Cut each full sheet of construction paper in half lenthwise.

2. Cut monster body shapes, mouths, legs, arms and hair from scraps of construction paper.  We tried to keep the look of our monsters consisent to focus on the change in the number of eyes, but you could make each monster completely unique:

 

 

3. Glue a monster body, plus arms, legs, mouths and hair onto each half sheet of construction paper:

 

 

4. Stick a number sticker, or use your marker to write a number on each monster page.  We also added dots to indicate the number of things that number represented, but you could skip that if your child is already familiar with one to one correspondence:

 

 

5. Set out your monster math mats with a pile of googlie eyes.  Have your child try to place the correct number of eyes on each monster:

 

 

Here is our one-eyed monster:

 

 

Our two-eyed monster:

 

 

And our five-eyed monster:

 

 

The best part about this activity is that when you're done, you can take the eyes off and start again.  Every time you arrange the eyes, you make a different monster! It was fun to just play around and see what we could create.  If you want to make your math monsters more durable, each card could easily be laminated, or simply covered in contact paper. 

Of course, there are all sorts of other activities you could do with your monsters too.  Try arranging the cards in their proper number sequence, adding the eyes on two or more cards, or sorting the monsters by their body colour, background colour, arm colour, or leg colour.  However you use them, this squad of math monsters will be sure to "do the job" in your household.

Posted by momstown Teach on 09/28/2012 - 13:20
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Simple Science: An Easy Fall Pinecone Experiment for Kids

It is never to early to start exploring science with children. Babies can learn about motion and gravity by rolling and dropping balls, toddlers can test out what sinks and what floats, and participate in nature walks, and preschoolers can try basic chemistry experiments, make leaf rubbings, explore with magnets and magnifying glasses and more. I am always on the look out for interesting new ways to include science in our day to day fun.

 

One of the reasons we enjoy "The Cat in the Hat" on Kids' CBC is that the show does just that. Each show begins with one of the children, either Nick or Sally, posing a question about the natural world.  The Cat in the Hat then appears, and the characters head off on an adventure to find the answer.  From travelling north to visit reindeer and learn about what they eat and how they find food in the winter, to making friends with a spider and learning about it's web, kids learn to explore, question, and examine the world around them.

 

Have you ever taken a walk with your kids in the fall and found yourself waiting while they collected pinecones on the ground? This is a great time to take a trip of your own virtual trip on the Thinga-ma-jigger to learn about the amazing method that pinetrees have developed to protect their seeds during harsh weather conditions.

 

Here's what you need to do to conduct your own pinecone science experiment:

1. Head out on a walk, and collect a variety of pinecones. Bring them home, and observe each one.  What does it look like? Is it closed up tight, or are the scales open and spread out?  If you have a chance, look at the pinecones under a magnifying glass to get a closer look.

 

 

Our pinecones had open scales:

 

 

2. If your pinecones have open scales, gently pull a few off (an adult's job).  Notice how each scale has a lighter petal shaped impression in it. This is where part of the pinecone's seed used to be:

 

 

3. After you have finished examining them, soak your pinecones in a bowl of water:

 

 

4. Check back about 15 minutes later, and you'll notice that the pinecones appear to be closing up.  Leave them a little longer, and the difference will be even more dramatic.  Here is what our pinecones looked like when we took them out of the water about an hour later:

 

 

 

6. Leave your pinecones to dry overnight, and you will notice they open up again (if you do not have time to wait, you can try speeding up the process by drying them our with a hairdryer set on cool):

 

 

 

What's Going On?

Pinetrees often grow in areas that get really wet, and those conditions are not ideal for the seeds to develop.  To protect the seeds from drowning in the wet ground before they have a chance to grow, the pinecone closes its scales up tight, keeping the seeds safe inside.  When the weather is sunny and the soil begins to dry, the pinecone opens its scales to release the seeds at a time when they have the best chance to grow. Nature is amazing, and you do not even need to take a trip on a thinga-ma-jigger to find out about it.  Science lessons are right outside your door.

Posted by momstown Teach on 09/26/2012 - 22:38
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Paper Tube Tiger Puppet Craft for Preschoolers

This simple paper tube tiger craft for preschoolers would be great to include in an animal, zoo, or circus theme, and it's perfect as a quick and easy craft idea for preschoolers using supplies you probably already have at home. In our case, it was inspired by the news that the new series "Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood" would be aired on Kids CBC starting this October.

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood is an animated program featuring the adventures of Daniel, a four year old tiger. Based on "Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood," Daniel is the son of the the striped Daniel the Tiger puppet featured on the original Mr. Rogers show. Set in the Neighbourhood of Make-Believe, the Trolley, Katerina Kitty Cat, O the Owl, and many other familiar Mr. Rogers characters also make appearances on the show.

We were able to see a sneak peak of a couple of episodes a few weeks ago, and it was a huge hit with both the adults and kids who saw it. Beyond the obvious nostalgia factor for any of us who grew up on the original show, Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood features sweet songs, charming animation, valuable lessons, and scenarios such as the first day of school that are relatable to the lives of most preschoolers.

To honour the original show and the launch of the new one, it only seemed fitting to make a puppet.

 

 

Here's what you need to make your own trr-iffic paper tube tiger:

  • a paper tube
  • orange construction paper
  • scraps of brown and pink construction paper
  • a brown marker
  • googlie eyes
  • glue
  • scissors

1. Cut a rectangle out of orange construction paper that is length of the tube, and wide enough to wrap around the paper tube with a bit of overhang.  Glue paper onto tube:

 

 

2. Cut strips of brown construction paper, and glue onto your tube to form the tiger's stripes.  Alternately, you can just draw on stripes with your brown marker:

 

 

3. Cut a circle out of orange construction paper.  Glue on googlie eyes, and a pink construction paper nose:

 

 

4. Cut two small orange semi-circles, and glue on the top sides of the tiger's head to form his ears.  Use your brown marker to add a mouth, stripes, and other features to your tiger's face:

 

 

5. Glue face to the top of your paper tube:

 

 

6. Cut two arms, and one long tail out of orange construction paper.  Use your brown marker to add stripes:

 

 

7.  Glue arms onto sides for the paper tube, and the tail to the back.  Put on a puppet show of your own, or take your tiger for a tour of your own neighbourhood:

 

 

Did you watch Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood as a kid?

Posted by momstown Teach on 09/26/2012 - 21:28
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Pointilism For Preschoolers: Seurat Inspired Fall Trees

It's officially fall: the perfect time to create a simple fingerprint or q-tip fall tree art project with your toddler, preschooler, or child! We love kids crafts, but we also love learning about famous artists. Our home is filled with kid friendly art books, we take regular trips to the art gallery, and we love learning about art history and techniques as we watch "Pirates: Adventures in Art" on Kids' CBC.  Every month we also try to learn about one artist in particular.  We look at pictures of the artist's work, read stories about his or her life, and use what we have learned to create art of our own.

 

This month, we have been learning about Georges Seurat.  Georges Seurat was a famous French painter who lived from 1859-1891.  He is most well known for developing a new art technique known as pointillism.  Pointillism involves using small, distinct dots of colour applied in patterns to form an image. A good way for kids to understand it is to have them think of a reallly pixelated image on a computer screen.  That is essentially the digital version of pointillism.  We practised using the pointillism technique to make two fall tree pictures: one with finger prints, and one with smaller dots made with the end of a Q-tip.

 

To make the simpler, fingerprint tree, you will need:

  • thick white or cream paper
  • brown construction paper
  • red, yellow, orange and brown paint
  • scissors and glue

1. Cut a tree trunk shape out of brown construction paper, and glue onto your background paper:

 

 

2. Squirt red, brown, yellow and orange paint onto a palette (yogurt lids work great):

 

 

3. Dip your fingers into the various colours of paint, and then make finger prints where you think leaves on the tree should be:

 

 

4.  Allow picture to dry, and you're done! This would be a great project to keep the kids busy before Thanksgiving dinner.

 

To create the slightly more complicated Q-tip version, you will need:

  • Thick cream or white paper
  • brown, red, yellow, and orange paint
  • Q-tips
  • A paintbrush

1. Paint a brown tree trunk onto your background paper.  Allow to dry:

 

 

2. Squirt yellow, red, brown, and orange paint onto a palette.  Dip your Q-tip into one colour, and begin to make dots on your paper where you think leaves should be:

 

 

3. Continue adding dots in various colours until you are satisfied with the look of your fall tree:

 

 

This version is not really any more difficult than the fingerprint painting, but it is a bit more time consuming, due to both the size of the Q-tips and the need to allow the tree trunk to dry first.  We enjoyed doing both and comparing the results, but whichever one you do, have a happy fall!

Posted by momstown Teach on 09/23/2012 - 18:34
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