Volcano!

We did this science experiment a long time ago, when we were learning about the beginning of the Earth, but I wanted to document it and share with you. The volcano we made was this one. It was easy and lots of fun. I mean boys, explosions, "lava"... pretty hard to go wrong!

Knead the dough and shape your volcano...

Go outside (highly recommended!) and pour in the vinegar...

Yeehah!

Great fun. And afterwards, the kids played for ages with all the sloppy leftover mess. And then I left the mess for such a long time that Matt got sick of it and cleaned it up. So, all in all, a winner ;0)

Sorry Toad...

This year, our overarching educational theme has been the beginning of the universe and the evolution of life on Earth. I haven't really posted any of our activities because I keep forgetting. We are up to Stone Age people now. I did, however, want to share a very successful activity in case you would like to give it a go....or not.

Whilst studying Amphibians, I thought a toad dissection might be of interest and relevance to the children. It really was! The kids were completely engrossed (and grossed) by this activity.

So. First you need to duck and dive around the backyard with rubber gloves and a plastic bag, and catch a few of the pesky varmints. I should let you know that toads are a big-time PEST in Australia.

The most humane way to end their days is by popping the bag in the fridge for an hour or two so they can go to sleep - just ignore the rustlings - then into the freezer overnight.

Thaw them out, and you have your specimens:

We pinned ours out with sewing pins on the lid of a polystyrene fruit and veg box.

Yes, Tamara, to your undoubted mortification, they are my sewing scissors!

Max trying not to be sick. At the end, he got up the courage to have a go, and unexpectedly chopped off the toad's foot. It's always those quiet ones...

Just check out the concentration!

Lucy: "I've got the heart!" Mwahahahah...also one of those quiet ones.

Future brain surgeons? Or maybe they'll just be really good at "Operation"!

You can watch a short animated film on called "Cane Toad: What Happened to Baz" here. It was made by my brother and his friend, and shot them both on their way to brilliant careers!

The Water Cycle Lesson Plan

Well folks, looks like we've got MORE rain on the way, just in case we hadn't had enough already! So if your shoulders are drooping with dread at the thought of another few days indoors with your little treasures, fear not! You might enjoy trying our water cycle lesson plan!

This was the first website I used. It's very simple for little learners and has some good basic printables.
We read through those sheets, then did an experiment. You boil some water, hold a piece of card or plastic above the steam to catch it, then discuss how it condenses back into liquid to fall back down, like rain. This was a very easy but helpful experiment.

We enjoyed this catchy animated song about the water cycle on Youtube.

And this cool water cycle rap would be great for upper primary kids.

This little short animation is nice and simple too, while you're there.

We made boats.

Then the highlight of the day was the rainy walk and play.

We came home, had a hot shower and some lunch, then curled up on the couch to watch

The Magic Schoolbus - "Wet All Over".I'm so glad I found The Magic Schoolbus! They have episodes about all different topics and I plan on using them a lot.

Then we sewed some rain clouds. You need: grey felt, grey embroidery thread, scissors, sewing needles, stuffing, clear beads and clear thread (optional).

Lastly we made a rainy day soundscape, recording our voices singing "Rain, Rain, Go Away". We overlapped this with pitter-pattering, a rainstick and chimes to make our soundscape. The kids liked it more than I thought they would. I guess everyone likes the sound of their own voice. What's that? You don't?

We hope you enjoy learning about the water cycle as much as we did. Now that we've done it, I'll have to think up another way to embrace this week's rainy weather ...