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February is Black History Month, an opportunity to learn, reflect and pay tribute. While we intentionally read books with diverse representation and introduce our toddler to historical and contemporary examples of Black leaders and innovators throughout the entire year, this month presents an important opportunity to recognize and discuss some incredible individuals and historical events with our young learners, as many educators, organizations, and museums are sharing helpful resources in February.
Looking to acknowledge history, encourage curiosity, and celebrate Black joy and excellence with your little learner? From photographer Gordon Parks to athlete Wilma Rudolph, pilot Bessie Coleman to activist Fannie Lou Hamer, there are countless examples of bold creatives and inspiring changemakers to explore and honor. One of our favorites, and the inspiration for this space-themed play and learning setup, is Dr. Mae C. Jemison.
Materials we used:
Children’s books about Dr. Mae Jemison (examples below)
Children’s books about planets or space (optional)
To educate ourselves on Dr. Jemison’s many ambitions and accomplishments, we dove into books like Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed (picture book), Dream Big, Little One and Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison (board and picture book versions), and You Should Meet Mae Jemison by Laurie Calkhoven (Ready-To-Read/Early Reader). (Admittedly, some of the content is over our two-year-old’s head, but our goal is exposure and developing a love of learning and reading, so even if we only explore a page or two at a time, it’s still time well-spent!) We then reviewed some of the facts we learned while reading -- an excellent opportunity to expose our little learner to some rich STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) vocabulary. For instance:
Mae Jemison is a doctor, scientist, engineer, teacher and dancer.
Mae Jemison joined the PeaceCorps and has traveled to many countries.
Mae Jemison is fluent in several languages, including Swahili, Russian and Japanese.
Mae Jemison was a NASA astronaut and the first African American woman to travel into space.
Mae Jemison served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She spent more than a week orbiting Earth, completing scientific investigations while on board.
Our toddler is very interested in all things star, moon, and space-related, so these latter facts about Dr. Jemison led us to create some astronaut-themed activities to engage both her body and mind!
Enter Learning Resources’ Primary Science Leap & Launch Rocket -- a literal blast and a visual tool for discussing how Dr. Jemison launched into space on the shuttle Endeavour! This product comes with a launch pad, adjustable launcher, two rockets, and two target mats with sun and moon images (so future rocket scientists can strategize and attempt to aim the rocket towards a specific landing location).
When jumping or stomping on the air pocket launch pad, you or your child give the rocket power to fly across your yard or play space. By angling the rocket launcher, you can change where and how far the soft rocket will travel -- great for critical thinking and problem-solving fun. Build anticipation and foster those early math skills by counting backwards until stomping on the launch pad’s dome for liftoff! Our toddler gleefully asked us to launch the rocket again and again, engaging her gross motor skills by chasing after it each flight to retrieve it for it’s next mission into space.
To complement this amazing imaginative and gross motor play, we set up a small, space-themed sensory bin inspired by young Mae Jemison’s dreams to be a scientist and reach for the stars. Using uncooked black beans and glass beads as our solar system base, we then added manipulatives like star-shaped stacking cups and scooping tools from Learning Resources’ Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set. This simple setup is an open invitation for our toddler scientist to examine, explore, compare and count her ‘stardust’ and ‘moon rocks’ to her heart’s content, all while building strong finger and hand muscles for important tasks like writing and cutting in future years.
Bonus: a rocket and sensory bin setup like this lends itself to ongoing play, so don’t pack it away after one encounter! Our toddler returned to her Launch Rocket and space bin multiple times throughout the week. All that repetition meant lots of opportunities for problem-solving, trial and error, and trying out all the new, rich vocabulary we had been discussing. In future play sessions, we returned to our Mae Jemison biographies, as well as other board and picture books about space, like Future Astronaut by Lori Alexander, Solar System by Jill McDonald, and 8 Little Planets by Chris Ferrie.
Looking to adapt or extend your play and learning even further?
Honor Black history and celebrate other Black changemakers by exploring and discussing picture books like The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson, Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews and Bryan Collier, and Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan -- all of which are written and illustrated by incredible Black creators.
Looking for fiction featuring Black main characters? Check out some of our recent picture book favorites: Jabari Tries (sequel to Jabari Jumps) by Gaia Cornwall, Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and Your Name Is A Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. Your local library will have many more title recommendations!
February is Black History Month, an opportunity to learn, reflect and pay tribute. While we intentionally read books with diverse representation and introduce our toddler to historical and contemporary examples of Black leaders and innovators throughout the entire year, this month presents an important opportunity to recognize and discuss some incredible individuals and historical events with our young learners, as many educators, organizations, and museums are sharing helpful resources in February.
Looking to acknowledge history, encourage curiosity, and celebrate Black joy and excellence with your little learner? From photographer Gordon Parks to athlete Wilma Rudolph, pilot Bessie Coleman to activist Fannie Lou Hamer, there are countless examples of bold creatives and inspiring changemakers to explore and honor. One of our favorites, and the inspiration for this space-themed play and learning setup, is Dr. Mae C. Jemison.
Materials we used:
Children’s books about Dr. Mae Jemison (examples below)
Children’s books about planets or space (optional)
To educate ourselves on Dr. Jemison’s many ambitions and accomplishments, we dove into books like Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed (picture book), Dream Big, Little One and Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison (board and picture book versions), and You Should Meet Mae Jemison by Laurie Calkhoven (Ready-To-Read/Early Reader). (Admittedly, some of the content is over our two-year-old’s head, but our goal is exposure and developing a love of learning and reading, so even if we only explore a page or two at a time, it’s still time well-spent!) We then reviewed some of the facts we learned while reading -- an excellent opportunity to expose our little learner to some rich STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) vocabulary. For instance:
Mae Jemison is a doctor, scientist, engineer, teacher and dancer.
Mae Jemison joined the PeaceCorps and has traveled to many countries.
Mae Jemison is fluent in several languages, including Swahili, Russian and Japanese.
Mae Jemison was a NASA astronaut and the first African American woman to travel into space.
Mae Jemison served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She spent more than a week orbiting Earth, completing scientific investigations while on board.
Our toddler is very interested in all things star, moon, and space-related, so these latter facts about Dr. Jemison led us to create some astronaut-themed activities to engage both her body and mind!
Enter Learning Resources’ Primary Science Leap & Launch Rocket -- a literal blast and a visual tool for discussing how Dr. Jemison launched into space on the shuttle Endeavour! This product comes with a launch pad, adjustable launcher, two rockets, and two target mats with sun and moon images (so future rocket scientists can strategize and attempt to aim the rocket towards a specific landing location).
When jumping or stomping on the air pocket launch pad, you or your child give the rocket power to fly across your yard or play space. By angling the rocket launcher, you can change where and how far the soft rocket will travel -- great for critical thinking and problem-solving fun. Build anticipation and foster those early math skills by counting backwards until stomping on the launch pad’s dome for liftoff! Our toddler gleefully asked us to launch the rocket again and again, engaging her gross motor skills by chasing after it each flight to retrieve it for it’s next mission into space.
To complement this amazing imaginative and gross motor play, we set up a small, space-themed sensory bin inspired by young Mae Jemison’s dreams to be a scientist and reach for the stars. Using uncooked black beans and glass beads as our solar system base, we then added manipulatives like star-shaped stacking cups and scooping tools from Learning Resources’ Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set. This simple setup is an open invitation for our toddler scientist to examine, explore, compare and count her ‘stardust’ and ‘moon rocks’ to her heart’s content, all while building strong finger and hand muscles for important tasks like writing and cutting in future years.
Bonus: a rocket and sensory bin setup like this lends itself to ongoing play, so don’t pack it away after one encounter! Our toddler returned to her Launch Rocket and space bin multiple times throughout the week. All that repetition meant lots of opportunities for problem-solving, trial and error, and trying out all the new, rich vocabulary we had been discussing. In future play sessions, we returned to our Mae Jemison biographies, as well as other board and picture books about space, like Future Astronaut by Lori Alexander, Solar System by Jill McDonald, and 8 Little Planets by Chris Ferrie.
Looking to adapt or extend your play and learning even further?
Honor Black history and celebrate other Black changemakers by exploring and discussing picture books like The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson, Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews and Bryan Collier, and Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan -- all of which are written and illustrated by incredible Black creators.
Looking for fiction featuring Black main characters? Check out some of our recent picture book favorites: Jabari Tries (sequel to Jabari Jumps) by Gaia Cornwall, Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love and Your Name Is A Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. Your local library will have many more title recommendations!
It can be tempting to think that scientific experiments are only for ‘big kids’, but I firmly believe that even toddlers and preschoolers can start to develop key science-based skills given the correct activity. This is one of our all-time favorite ways to enjoy a science experiment, and all you need is a few basic ingredients. Here are all the details for this fun colorful ice cubes experiment.
Kool-Aid, we used six different colors/flavors (this adds great colors… and lots of smells too!)
Small pots or containers
Toothpick or mini kebab stick for stirring
Selection of sequins (glitter, beads, pom poms or even small toys will also work)
Tray or container to help contain the mess
How to make the colorful ice cubes:
The great thing about this activity is that it naturally lends itself to so much fun sensory play, whilst also working your child’s fine motor skills hard. Start off by adding a little of each color Kool-Aid powder to your containers and then invite your child to squirt on some water with their Twisty Dropper™. My 3-year-old gave the cutest little gasp as she saw the water change color. She also loved that the Kool-Aid made ‘yummy smells’ as well. After she added water to each container she used a little kebab stick to give them all a good stir.
This is the point where we started to talk about the science experiment we were creating. I explained that she had made some lovely colored water and that water is a liquid. I asked her to predict what would happen if we put her colorful water in the freezer overnight. She told me that she thought the water would get very cold and freeze. This was a great start and led to us talking about the difference between the water which is a liquid, and ice which is a solid. It may seem like such a concept is too complex for your preschooler, but I’m a strong believer in the power of exposure. Just by involving my preschooler in the discussions, she is being exposed to the vocabulary and I am positively modeling interest and skills associated with science.
After our discussion, we transferred the colored water into an ice cube tray. This was another great way to get her hand muscles working. We were also able to link in some color mixing as she decided to invent a few new colors by mixing the ones from her containers. I always love watching children’s amazement when colors mix together to make new colors.
The final stage of making the colorful cubes was to add some sequins and confetti. This is optional of course, but it makes it really fun when the ice cubes melt because you can then try and rescue all of the runaway confetti. Once the ice cube tray was full of colorful and sparkly liquid, we put it in the freezer and left it to freeze overnight.
Once you get the ice cubes out of the freezer tip them into a large bin and have the fine motor tools, warm water, and salt at the ready. Before you add anything to try and get the ice cubes to melt, take the opportunity to explore what has happened to the water overnight. A great way to do this is to use your senses. Ask your child what they can see has changed, and also how it feels different from before. Communicating their findings is a scientific skill within itself!
Now comes the fun… let’s get melting! Let your child add the salt and warm water using their hands and the fine motor tools. The Squeezy Tweezers™ were great for distributing the salt over the ice. I took the opportunity to explain why the salt helps to melt the ice while she played. Again, I’m not expecting her to learn these facts but just the exposure is a great start.
As the colorful cubes melted it was so neat to see the confetti coming loose and floating in the water. The colors also all started to mix in the bin. The Handy Scooper™ was such a fun tool for scooping up the cubes and water and watching it drip through, leaving the confetti inside the scooper.
The more warm water my preschooler added, the quicker the ice cubes melted. I asked her what she was noticing and she did a great job of using her senses to describe the changes. There was so much scientific vocabulary being used!
Wrapping up the investigation:
As with any science experiment, it is important to reflect on what we predicted would happen. We ran through the process of freezing the water so that it became a solid ice cube, and then how adding salt and warm water helped the solid to melt back into a liquid. So much learning in this fun hands-on sensory activity. We hope you give it a try too!
It can be tempting to think that scientific experiments are only for ‘big kids’, but I firmly believe that even toddlers and preschoolers can start to develop key science-based skills given the correct activity. This is one of our all-time favorite ways to enjoy a science experiment, and all you need is a few basic ingredients. Here are all the details for this fun colorful ice cubes experiment.
Kool-Aid, we used six different colors/flavors (this adds great colors… and lots of smells too!)
Small pots or containers
Toothpick or mini kebab stick for stirring
Selection of sequins (glitter, beads, pom poms or even small toys will also work)
Tray or container to help contain the mess
How to make the colorful ice cubes:
The great thing about this activity is that it naturally lends itself to so much fun sensory play, whilst also working your child’s fine motor skills hard. Start off by adding a little of each color Kool-Aid powder to your containers and then invite your child to squirt on some water with their Twisty Dropper™. My 3-year-old gave the cutest little gasp as she saw the water change color. She also loved that the Kool-Aid made ‘yummy smells’ as well. After she added water to each container she used a little kebab stick to give them all a good stir.
This is the point where we started to talk about the science experiment we were creating. I explained that she had made some lovely colored water and that water is a liquid. I asked her to predict what would happen if we put her colorful water in the freezer overnight. She told me that she thought the water would get very cold and freeze. This was a great start and led to us talking about the difference between the water which is a liquid, and ice which is a solid. It may seem like such a concept is too complex for your preschooler, but I’m a strong believer in the power of exposure. Just by involving my preschooler in the discussions, she is being exposed to the vocabulary and I am positively modeling interest and skills associated with science.
After our discussion, we transferred the colored water into an ice cube tray. This was another great way to get her hand muscles working. We were also able to link in some color mixing as she decided to invent a few new colors by mixing the ones from her containers. I always love watching children’s amazement when colors mix together to make new colors.
The final stage of making the colorful cubes was to add some sequins and confetti. This is optional of course, but it makes it really fun when the ice cubes melt because you can then try and rescue all of the runaway confetti. Once the ice cube tray was full of colorful and sparkly liquid, we put it in the freezer and left it to freeze overnight.
Once you get the ice cubes out of the freezer tip them into a large bin and have the fine motor tools, warm water, and salt at the ready. Before you add anything to try and get the ice cubes to melt, take the opportunity to explore what has happened to the water overnight. A great way to do this is to use your senses. Ask your child what they can see has changed, and also how it feels different from before. Communicating their findings is a scientific skill within itself!
Now comes the fun… let’s get melting! Let your child add the salt and warm water using their hands and the fine motor tools. The Squeezy Tweezers™ were great for distributing the salt over the ice. I took the opportunity to explain why the salt helps to melt the ice while she played. Again, I’m not expecting her to learn these facts but just the exposure is a great start.
As the colorful cubes melted it was so neat to see the confetti coming loose and floating in the water. The colors also all started to mix in the bin. The Handy Scooper™ was such a fun tool for scooping up the cubes and water and watching it drip through, leaving the confetti inside the scooper.
The more warm water my preschooler added, the quicker the ice cubes melted. I asked her what she was noticing and she did a great job of using her senses to describe the changes. There was so much scientific vocabulary being used!
Wrapping up the investigation:
As with any science experiment, it is important to reflect on what we predicted would happen. We ran through the process of freezing the water so that it became a solid ice cube, and then how adding salt and warm water helped the solid to melt back into a liquid. So much learning in this fun hands-on sensory activity. We hope you give it a try too!
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