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‘Tis the Season – to Learn!
- Learning Resources Posted On Nov 14, 2022 | Social-Emotional Learning
Trimming the tree with toddlers and preschoolers is as tough as it sounds. So many shiny, pretty things to touch and hold! This year, let your little ones in on the decorating fun, and save your sanity with a little learning tree of their own!
A three- or four-foot tree is plenty big. Put it on a sturdy stand so it’s sure not to tip, and place it in your playroom or other open space. Then turn this time-honored tradition into a fun, family learning activity by decorating the tree with child-safe ornaments made of everyday objects, like the Learning Resources Back in Time Dinosaur Counters.
We turned this colorful set of 72 dinosaurs into props for our holiday-themed lesson by wrapping flexible ornament hooks around each one, then hanging them on the tree. Once they’re hung, there are many ways to learn and play this holiday!
Ways to Learn with Back in Time Dinosaur Counters
1. Color Learning
With all the dinos hung in the tree, challenge your child to find and remove all the orange ornaments, then all the blue, green, red, yellow, and purple in turn.
2. Counting
Once the dinos are down, take a careful look at each pile. Which one is the biggest? Which one is the smallest? Be sure to use early math vocabulary words like more than and less than. Next, help your child count each pile, saying each number as you move that dinosaur aside.
3. Sorting
When you’re done counting, let your little one jumble up the piles into one giant, rainbow-colored dino dig. Then see if she can sort the piles by attribute. Try sorting first by color, then jumble them up again. Then try sorting by type of dinosaur, then by size. Sorting is an important early math skill, as it helps children begin to identify and group “like” objects.
4. Matching
Next, choose four different dinosaurs. Show them to your child one by one, and see how quickly he can find a matching dinosaur in a pile. Make sure the pairs are identical in both color and type of dinosaur.
5. Letter Learning
Preschoolers can practice their letters with this dino-covered learning tree, too! Place the dinos back in the tree, and then challenge your pint-sized paleontologist to find all the dinosaurs whose color starts with the “O” sound, then the “Yeh” sound, the “Buh” sound, and so on.
6. Fine Motor Skills
When the learning and fun are done, you still have one last chance to slip in some developmental practice! Ask your child to place the ornaments back on the tree, working those fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
There are so many ways to learn and play every day, but the holidays offer a unique chance to shake things up as we did with our learning tree. How will you ‘grow’ the learning this season?
Christmas Chemistry: Holiday Fizzing Trees!
This time of year bursts with discovery and wonder, so why not make the most of it? Take a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy this simple chemistry experiment that features everyone’s favorite scientific ingredients: vinegar and baking soda.
Kids never tire of seeing this classic base and solid reaction. No matter the shape it takes, watching those bubbles grow will always make your little chemist erupt with excitement. Here we make little “evergreens” to demonstrate this scientific standard of chemical reactions.
Supplies to make your trees:
- Baking soda
- Food coloring
- A splash of water
- Paper plates
- Vinegar
- Glitter
- Eyedropper or pipette
- Bowl, spoon, and tray
First, pour 2 to 2 ½ cups of baking soda into the bowl. Feel free to scale these portions for the number of trees you want to make.
Next, add green food coloring and a splash of water.
Stir the mixture well. Add glitter for added sparkle. The mixture should be crumbly but should be able to pack tightly (similar to kinetic sand). The last thing you want it to be is soupy or clumpy.
Grab a white paper plate, and cut it in half.
Twist the plate into a cone shape. Tape the sides to keep the form.
Then pack the baking soda mixture into the cones. Be sure to pack it tightly—level off the top.
Make another round of snow-capped trees without food coloring. Add confetti for a special reveal.
Place all the cones on a cookie sheet and keep them in the freezer for at least six hours.
When your chemists are ready, pull your trees from the freezer. Grab a pie plate or dish with sides high enough to contain the liquid but low enough for your kids to see the reaction up close.
Pour the vinegar into a cup and add a little green food coloring. Your trees will be a bit more brilliant green if you add food coloring to the vinegar.
Carefully unwrap your trees from the paper plate cone over the pie plate, so any crumbles are caught.
Create your “forest” on the pie plate. Then using the eyedropper or pipette, drip the vinegar over the trees. The fizzing begin immediately!
The vinegar reveals the hidden snowflakes and glitter.
Once the forest is melted down, grab a spoon and stir it up. It was decided that the mess look liked soup the Grinch would like.
Repeat with other trees – the excitement level remains the same for each melting, fizzy tree! Happy holidays!
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Celebrate Astronomy Day with Kids
Each year Astronomy Day is celebrated worldwide. The stars have fascinated humanity for literally centuries, and even to this day captures the imagination of kids of all ages. Celebrate this event with them this year and don't worry if you don't own any expensive telescopes. These DIY activities use real life discoveries to inspire your little astronomers!
Track the Phases of the Moon
Bone sticks from across Europe and Africa dating back as long ago as 35,000 BCE that tracked the moon’s phases. Use a simple number line with your kids to track the phases of the moon over the course of a month, from full moon and back again. Do it for several months and see what patterns they begin to observe.
Depict a Celestial Phenomenon
A celestial phenomenon is a astrological event that involves one or more objects. The earliest example depicted was discovered in Germany in 1999. The Nebra Sky Disc dates back to 2000 BC and it depicted a star cluster, phases of the moon and the rising sun.
Use a black paper plate, or even just black paper, and encourage your children to depict their own star formations. If they can’t stay up to observe them at night, project some indoors with this Shining Stars Projector.
Astronomy to Keep Time
The Chinese astronomers kept detailed observations beginning about 600 BC, for the primary purpose of timekeeping. Their records allowed them to predict eclipses, and include the first record of events such as supernovas and comets.
On the other side of the world, the Mayans developed their own astronomical tables for predicting the phases of the moon, eclipses, and the appearance of the other planets. They used these and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and constellations to establish the Mayan calendar.
All of the above astronomy was without a telescope, and you can still observe these astronomical events with your kids today. Check out this astronomy calendar and pick a full moon, eclipse, planetary event, or meteor shower to observe as a family.
Try this simple astronomy experiment to help kids as young as preschoolers understand what makes night.
Just because ancient astronomers did all of this without a telescope doesn't mean your little ones have to! All of the above activities can be done with the naked eye but if you feel like shooting for the stars check out Learning Resources Big View Telescope. How will you celebrate Astronomy Day?
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