Summer Solstice

This week we are celebrating the sun.  We started with some outside time, playing in the park Monday morning before it got too hot.  We read The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System and Arrow to the Sun.  We talked about how the sun is the closest star to Earth and how we depend on its light and heat.  We used the Magic School Bus book to examine what life might be like on other planets closer to or further from the sun.  We also listened to They Might Be Giants sing about the sun.  There are two songs in particular we listened to - Why Does the Sun Shine and Why Does the Sun Really Shine .

These songs talk about the states of matter, so we began our week with a simple experiment.  We used some ice cube trays to see if we could freeze liquid water.  We watched an ice cube melt.  We also used a kettle to heat some water to create steam.  We mentioned how the molecules in matter move differently depending on the state of matter.  I like letting kids run around to demonstrate this one.  Have them stand close together and wiggle to represent a solid.  Spread out a little more and walk around to represent a liquid.  Then use lots of running space to represent a gas.  This is nice because it lets them get out a little energy when dealing with a topic that can be difficult to grasp.

Since it's Monday, we also did our Animals of the Alphabet book.  This week, we looked at animals starting with J, K, and L.  We wiggled our arms like a jellyfish and added some jaguars to the book too.  We hopped like a kangaroo and added koalas, kiwi birds, and Komodo dragons.  Finally we roared like lions and pinched our claws like a lobster for L.  We also added llamas, since she loves the Llama Llama books and ladybugs because grandma loves them.


Tuesday we invited friends over for a messy art day.  We used the shaving cream paint with liquid water colors.  We used ice cubes and shakers with tempera paint.  (This makes a great visual demonstration of how glaciers moved seeds from one part of the land to another and changed landscapes.)  We added some liquid water color to some water and dish soap and used straws to blow colorful bubbles.  We had some tempera paints and stamps.  And for those that didn't want to get as messy we had some chalk board paper and some chalk.  The girls had fun getting messy for over an hour, then took a break for snacks and other toys while moms straightened up and collected projects.  One of the advantages of our house is that we can do things like this on our tile floor without having to worry like one would with carpet.

Since we had dance class on Wednesday, we came home and talked about different cultures that celebrate the sun and summer solstice with dance.  We danced and drummed.  We re-read Arrow to the Sun and also told the story of Daedalus and Icarus.  We  looked at Stonehenge, but decided not to build today.  Genevieve has also been becoming a YouTube star, hogging the camera on grandma's podcast.

We had fun outside experiments with the sun on Thursday.  UV beads can help remind you to put on sunscreen.  She has a UV bead bracelet, so we can watch the colors change.  We also did a second sun print.  This time we used buttons, so we got some really nice images.  We traced some shadows and noted how they moved throughout the day.  We talked about sun safety, sun screen and how

Since the buttons were out, she wanted to show grandma everything she had learned when we worked with buttons before.  She helped grandma sort them and compared them.  She also is really proud of her burgeoning buttoning skills.

She was playing with an Earth eraser and a light so we decided to model rotation and revolution and how they are responsible for day and night and the seasons.  We read excerpts from discover science Solar System and Sun Moon and Stars.  Then we used clay to make our own clay suns inspired by Mexican clay suns.

Saturday she said she was sleepy so I offered to read her a Pre-calculus textbook and suddenly we were ready to go to soccer.  We spent the afternoon coloring, building and playing with beads.