Butterflies and Chromotography

After observing our butterflies for a few days, it was time to release them.

Come out little butterflies.  

I'm never quick enough to get good pictures during the butterfly release.

Kate made some butterflies that will stick around a little longer.  Chromotography experiments are so easy to set up, and they certainly have a bit of a wow factor.  

Audubon for Kate

Kate and I enjoyed a weekly preschool class at the Audubon Society over a four week period.  Each week, the class focused on a different habitat.

The first class was all about the forest.  As we walked through the forest, the children turned over logs, looked up in trees, and explored everything in their path.

 Kate liked putting bugs in her bug jar for examination.

The wetlands were the focus of our second class.  Nets were used to scoop out sludge that we examined for little critters.  We found and observed dragonfly larvae, snails, fingernail clams, and snail eggs.

Kate touched a whelk during our third class when we learned about tide pools and the animals that live in them.

During our final class we explored the meadow.

The Audubon Society runs so many great programs.  Kate and I both enjoyed this class and we hope to return for classes again in the fall.

April Showers

During the month of April, Kate and I spent some time on the April Showers theme.  

 Kate used dot markers on a coffee filter folded in half, and then she sprayed the filter with water.

After letting it dry, she taped a construction paper handle to her umbrella.  I cut out some rain drops and added the letters of her name.  I helped her put the letters of her name in order.  She now knows all of the letters of her name, but once in a while she mistakes the letter E for an F.

 

This cloud in a jar science activity was fun.  I filled a glass 3/4 with water and added shaving cream on top.  Kate used a dropper with blue colored water to fill the shaving cream cloud with water. Once the cloud was full, it started to rain in the glass.

After the science fun, Kate asked if she could play with shaving cream.  I gave her droppers with different colored water in cups, but she only wanted to enjoy the sensory experience by slathering the shaving cream on her hands and arms.

Kate really likes prewriting worksheets.  They make her think of rides at an amusement park.

Kate also counted raindrops with this cute printable and glass beads.  She did really well.  Eight was her limit; not because she couldn't count higher, but because she just did not want to continue beyond that.

I really wanted to splash in some puddles with her during the month of April, but it was so cold whenever it rained that I could not stand the thought of splashing around outside.  We will make up for it when we have a nice warm, rainy day.

STEM Expo

Collin and I recently attended the Wellesley STEM Expo.  It was a great day for the two of us.  We don't get to spend much one on one time together these days and he is very interested in all things STEM, so it was a perfect outing.  I didn't know what to expect from the event, and I was slightly nervous it would just be a glorified science fair with nothing of interest for Collin, but the event surpassed my expectations and there was a lot of fun to be had.

Here he is at the Museum of Science table trying to construct an object that would hover perfectly inside the tube (maybe a pneumatic tube, I'm not certain):

 After some trial and error, he succeeded.

 The instructor is showing him the light path of his object in the tube on the computer screen.

The infrared camera at another table was pretty cool.  Collin put his hand on his coat and then moved his hand away.  The handprint remained visible for some time after with the infrared technology.

Collin liked writing with light on glow in the dark paper.

 He used prisms to move lasers.

Here he is directing lasers with mirrors:

 There was a candy math activity that was super easy for Collin, but he was happy to eat the candy!

I was very happy with the Camp Invention table!  Collin and Reagan are both registered for a week of Camp Invention this summer, and it is a new program for us, so it was nice to see a little of what they offer.  At this table, Collin had to choose objects to place within a plastic egg that would result in the egg floating.

He accomplished the task.  The instructor was incredibly impressed with Collin because after he succeeded, he opened the egg and counted out each piece so that he would know exactly what worked.  She said he was the first student she has ever seen do that (usually they are happy to have succeeded and they go on their way), and she called him a "great scientist".

Kaleidoscope fun!

He built a bridge that could hold twenty-one books.  I'm sure it could have held more, but the idea was to learn about the fact that the Brooklyn Bridge was tested with twenty-one elephants after it was built.

Collin was very interested in the 3D printer.  It was making toys like those in the picture.

The MA state police had bomb detecting robots for the kids to try.  Here is Collin learning how to control the robot:

We had a lot of fun together that day, and we are both hoping to make it back to the expo next year.