What do America's first zoo, the Constitution, and a city that smells like chocolate have in common?
Create an easy and simple cold sensory experience with frozen water beads. Freeze your water beads for a cool way to play, learn, and imagine.
Simple paper bag lung project for kids helps explain how do lungs work for kids with an easy human body project for kids of all ages.
Find creative 2D and 3D shapes activities that will send your engagement factor soaring! 1st and 2nd grade students love these activities based on the viral video, "What Does the Fox Say?".
Can you handle a picture for every year Madonna’s been alive? We reckon you probably can ... especially when they involve some ‘challenging’ high kicks
Hello darlings! It's Amy from That Teaching Spark and I am honored to be an author here at All About 3rd Grade! Keep coming back for more valuable posts specifically for 3rd grade teachers! I have 15 days left of school! How about you? These seem to be the most tiring and trying days of the year. Kiddos are getting rambunctious and we have tons of testing, grading, packing, and surviving to do! But I don't want to just survive the end of the year! I want to enjoy my last days with my kiddos! Every few days I try to throw in a fun and engaging STEM activity. FINALLY science is getting its due and districts are now pushing STEM, when it used to be the subject that wasn't paid much attention. I LOVE science and am so glad there is finally a push for it in elementary schools! STEM activities are meant to be inquiry based activities. Students must work together to solve a real world problem. These kinds of hands-on investigations are open ended and require students to work towards a solution or a product in their own way. And guess what? This kind of learning opens up all kinds of higher level questioning and thinking strategies. And the best part? The teacher is just an observer and occasional guide. That's right. Your kiddos are the ones taking charge of their own learning! So what can you do to keep your kiddo engaged the rest of the school year? All you have to do is... 1. Gather the following materials. 2. Give your kids the problem to solve. 3. Give them a time limit (20-25 mins. average) 4.Watch their little minds catch fire! Kite Construction Problem Construct a kite that will rise and stay up in the air the longest. Materials: (just ideas) different weight and sizes of paper tissue paper plastic bags Popsicle sticks string tape glue Smores Oven Problem Create an oven that will melt the chocolate to create Smores. Materials: zipped locked bag foil marshmallows graham crackers chocolate (outside location that can be monitored throughout the hour or day) Water Cycle Problem Create a water puddle that takes the longest to evaporate. Materials: (just ideas) cups water (same amount of water for each group) chalk to mark the start timer Parachutes Problem Construct a parachute that will stay in the air the longest. Materials: (just ideas) different weight and sizes of paper tissue paper plastic bags string tape glue hole puncher paper clips (for weight) Spaghetti Tower Problem Create the tallest structure. Materials: spaghetti marshmallows (make it a challenge with different sizes of marshmallows) Learning Happens in the MESS! There you have it folks! A few tried and true STEM activities to keep your little rascals learning right up until the very last second of school! All you have to do is gather the materials and watch their investigating minds. Don't freak out if things get a little messy. Learning happens in the mess. They can clean it up later! Do you have any tried and true STEM activities? We'd love for you to share in the comments!
Fun leprechaun trap ideas with tips and ideas for building your own leprechaun trap this St Patrick's Day.
Learn about the science of oil and water with this simple lava lamp experiment. Find out how to make a lava lamp with Alka Seltzer ingredients.
This leprechaun paper plate craft is ideal for St. Patrick's Day crafting. It is an easy and fun activity to do with younger kids and...
These pretty "earth" cookies are delicious too - and super easy to make!
Put together a simple spider art activity that involves rolling golf balls with white paint. A fun process art idea for toddlers and preschoolers! #spiders #art #fall #autumn #processart #golfballs #paint #toddlers #preschool #age2 #age3 #teaching2and3yearolds
Series of easy space mazes for preschool and kindergarten - each space maze pattern has an easy & more detailed version pdf to print
Kite flying is such a fun spring activity, especially when it is a homemade. These step-by-step instructions on how to make a kite will make your own DIY project a breeze.
These Jello worms are amazingly disgusting! So perfect for your next Halloween party!
Spring has sprung which means Spring Break is just around the corner! If you're looking for a fun, educational way to keep the kiddos occupied, we've got some fantastic ideas here with our STEM Activities
Do you struggle to plan P.E. games for your students? Here are a few resources that elementary teachers might find useful when planning P.E.
Learning about cloud shapes? Try this fun ink blot cloud shapes activity to go along with Eric Carle's Little Cloud book.
I have had to get "creative" with some supplies this year...stretching budgets and resources quite thin. Scrimping and scrapping and now I just found out THAT budget is going to be cut in half for next year. Anyone else in the same boat? I had some faux African printed papers in my cabinet that I usually use for quilt block patterns, but I thought it would be nice to, you know, use them for an AFRICAN project, maybe?! I did these with my second graders, and they took two days. On Day 1 we painted a 12x18" paper yellow and orange. We also used the African print papers to cut out the "robes". I had the students use Sharpies to draw a necklace on one robe, a sash on another, and a belt on yet another. On Day 2 we used a ruler to draw the "frame" around the edges, glued on the robes, and brought our dancers to life! I did have different criteria for the "frames"- designs had to be geometric in nature, and patterned. Dancers had to have different hairstyles and each needed to be standing in a different position (legs and arms). One of my second graders told me they reminded her of a Kokopelli she has at home (different culture, but they look similar! Nice!!!) I am proud of the way they turned out, so striking in real life! Note: I have seen a few different versions of these floating around on Artsonia and I love everyone's different interpretation...just like the different interpretations our kids have! Happy Friday, let's dance!
Create an outdoor bowling alley with a fun pool noodle hack out of coke bottles, pool noodles, and a yoga mat. Cute backyard game for summer.
Learning about the Desert preschool theme Discover the Desert: Lasso craft, lasso shapes activity
In this post, I’ll describe the shifts of the CCSS for Mathematics, share Dr. Anita Bright’s analysis of what the new standards will mean for ELLs, provide Dr. Judit Moschkovich’s recommendations for connecting mathematical content to language, and share some resources on the CCSS for Mathematics.
Just a quick message to remind you to be sure to get entered in the giveaway at the end of this post and follow the links to a treasure tro...
Create James Rizzi art with your students using watercolors and oil pastel. Teach detail and expression to your children's work of art with watercolor faces
Use this Spice Drop STEM Activity for Kids in the classroom and at home. It's the perfect Christmas activity for class parties!
With Earth Day right around the corner, this is the perfect time to teach your kids about the harmful effects of pollution. This oil spill experiment promises to open your kiddos eyes to the devastating effects of water pollution on our planet...
Holiness is a big word that can be difficult to define. It seems like perhaps it should be reserved for God alone, but His Word...
Our favorite collection of preschool fine motor activities. A free fine motor checklist is included for you to download today!
I might have mentioned before, but I love Brown Paper School books. I grew up with a few. The illustrations and casual tone has always resonated with me. I recently picked up a copy of The I Hate Mathematics Book and immediately fell in love with the open ended math explorations it offered. We spent one fun morning cutting up the sidewalk (dividing planes). We each took a square or rectangle of pavement and then cut it up using only 3 lines (edge to edge). The goal of the project was to see who could get the most segments. On the first attempt, everyone divided their sidewalk section in equal parts like a pizza. As we added more lines, eventually getting up to 5, more original division starting happening. Next, we introduced a curved line. (Not a spiral like you see above, that was later). So, we would use 4 straight lines and one curved (and many variations). Each kid would work on their square and then we looked at each person's work, counting and commenting on their techniques. We eventually ran out of sidewalk and went inside to work on paper. We would decide on the specifics of each exploration, then work independently for a few minutes, and then share what we did. The kids really liked this (one in particular was very good at it) and as we went on, the designs became more complex and sophisticated. They started realizing which patterns gave the most segments and then would grab another sheet to work more with what they had just learned to see if they could go further. We learned the terms: plane, intersection, parallel, line, and line segment. We had a brief discussion about odd and even numbers and whether we could predict which we would get after dividing our plane (we couldn't - it could either way). We discovered that a curved line will help you get more segments. We also discovered that an off center line will help you get more segments. We talked about the applications for the skill (architecture, art and design, game making). We had fun and thought we would do this again for entertainment. What are your favorite resources for open ended math explorations?
These cucumber sandwiches are simply delicious, thinly sliced fresh crunchy cucumber combined with a lovely flavoured cream cheese spread.
Because science doesn't have to be complicated.
A simple add on changes your painting into a sensory experience . Paint with sound. Great art project for preschool.
I selected the sassy sombrero as my subject and also did Poncho art. The kids loved it. My art room was an explosion of color and styleof Mexican art!
