Snowballs: Getting Creative

Where we live we don't see snow very often. We can travel a short distance and get snow, but it rarely makes an appearance in our backyards. With this in mind and us doing a theme of Winter, we were inspired to get creative. I found this post awhile back on Pinterest. Be sure to check it out: http://www.makeandtakes.com/glue-yarn-ball-tutorial  The blogger had used a variety of colored yarns for her activity. I chose to purchase some white yarn for our cause.

For this we used: white yarn, balloons, glue and water.

The original blog used 5 inch balloons. I couldn't find any balloons that small, so I got the smallest I could find. I think they were 9 inch ones. I inflated them to between a baseball and softball size. We mixed up a mixture of glue and water, ran the yarn through it squeezing off the excess and began wrapping the yarn around the balloon. 

After the balloon was wrapped really well we sprinkled silver glitter and snow glitter on it and laid it aside to dry. 

This is what they looked like when they were drying. The tape sections had each child's name on it.

The next day when they were completely dry, we had each child use a pair of scissors to cut a hole in the balloon. It was interesting that some of the balloons peeled away from the yarn as it deflated and sounded like ice cracking and others held their position and pulled away as children pushed through the yarn holes with their fingers.

I know snowballs don't hang in the air, but I wanted to display them in the window so we could see the glitter when the sun was shining on them. It was a very messy project, but it turned out beautifully!

Preschool Ice Explorations

We began our study by discussing what the kiddos knew about water and ice. Each child filled a small plastic cup with water and placed it on a tray, which we then put in the freezer overnight. 

Before removing them from the freezer and bringing them to our group time, I asked the kiddos what they thought had happened to the water in the cups. We discussed what the difference would be with water placed in the fridge instead of in the freezer, etc.

They immediately began touching it and checking it out. I instructed
them to flip the ice out into their hand to explore it further. Many noticed
that it began immediately melting in their hands. 

We then went outside for further investigating. I instructed them not to throw the ice at their friends, but didn't advise them beyond that, as I wanted to see what their curiosity would reveal. 

Some sat them out in the sun to see what would happen. 

Some continued holding them in their hands and watching and
feeling the melting taking place.

 

This friend was trying to determine if she put it in an existing puddle
and covered and uncovered it, would it melt faster or slower. 

Would rubbing it on the blacktop make it change faster?

What would happen if a group of them were placed in a puddle?

Would adding more water to the ice make a difference?

Throwing the ice on the ground and stomping it was another
way to change the appearance of it.

I love it when a simple idea with minimal materials is provided and it ends up leading to lots of discovery and excitement!