Introduction

Welcome to your activities guide, a preview from the interactive learning laboratory of That Science Fairy.

A #sciencefairyproject is a unit of 5 related activities hitting upon multiple STEM disciplines. This 4-project guide of 20 activities is ideal for one month, either done daily or delivered weekly in batches. All #sciencefairyprojects (italic and underlined words jump to the Glossary) are designed for 8 learners with a wide range of ages, from 2 to 8-years-old. Larger classrooms may run two stations at the same time, then switch to engage that class of 16 learners. Three stations for 24 students.

Only Kindergarten math standards and practices from Common Core are included. See corestandards.org/Math/Content/K/CC/ where the standards (CC.A.1 example) hold their copyright.

(CC.A.1) eBook note for how the standard is met.

Materials

NOTE: These materials are not always easy to get. The goal is to have very engaging experiences. Doing so involves some out-of-the-box thinking and DIY in order to succeed. This encourages innovative thinking by all!

Plan ahead by 3 weeks.

A chart for where to shop, for what, can be downloaded at Print Support. Templates are also included.

Utilize the grocery store to make fewer trips.

Ask a coworker with a full house for household items to borrow.

This Amazon Wish List has the items that are worthy of purchase.

Need materials substitutes or ideas for extra? Tag me with a picture on social @sciencefairyCO

eBooks for future sale

Opt-in request at books.thatsciencefairy.com

Holes Project

1. Blocks with holes

2. Bead hole making

3. Seeping barrier

4. Hole-y spaghetti

5. Punch it

Corn Project

1. Dancing kernels

2. Mini inspection

3. Shucking

4. Pop-percent

5. Cornetic Sand

Money Project

1. Clean copper

2. Zoom value intro

3. Dimensions charting

4. Bitcoin game

5. Cylinder slices

Electricity Project

1. Circuit snapping

2. Marble-electron run

3. Static charm

4. Nuclear stick

5. Current in pipes

Final Material

Glossary

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Copyright

Endnotes

Holes Project

Learners become makers and observers of the nature of a simple principle in engineering.

"A hole is an empty space with material going around it. Lots of things are made with holes in engineering. Today we are going to explore different ways that holes work in the world of making stuff. For example, here different groups of holes work to separate different sizes of materials from each other."

Blocks with holes

Activity | a |

Drilled holes can hold onto different (MD.A.1) screws with different heads engineered for different purposes.

Materials Needed (Number Required):

DIY drilled wooden blocks or Montessori style on Amazon (2)

variety of screws (8)

screwdrivers, Alan wrenches (8)

1. Gather screws.

2. Drill holes to screw size, Video Explainer. Go up one drill size if it is too tight for a child to turn.

3. On the wood, outline each head type.

4. Give children tools to explore screw types, holes, and twisting direction.

(MD.A.1) Measurable attributes of objects, screws.

Return to Table of Contents

Bead hole making

Activity | b |

Create take home beads (how to Video Explainer) using subtractive or additive hole manufacturing.

Materials Needed:

DIY thin magazine paper cut (8)

sturdy straws cut to 2 inches (8)

sturdy straws cut to 4 inches (8)

air dry clay or Sculpey (large hand full divided by 8)

wax paper

bowl with a little glue

Subtractive Method

1. Break clay in nickel diameter size spheres (G.B.5) for each child to form on top of a section of wax paper. Encourage sphere rolling.

2. Help each child bore through their bead.

3. Wrap loosely in wax paper with names in Sharpie.

4. Air dry 24 hours or bake Sculpey.

Additive Method

1. Cut colorful magazine paper in triangles with 1 inch base and 5 inch height.

2. Stick the triangle base to a section of a drinking straw, perpendicular with a small piece of tape.

3. Help children roll the paper around the straw and cover the bead with a little glue.

(G.B.5) Build shapes from parts, both beads.

Return to Table of Contents

Seeping barrier

Activity | c |

Observe seeping from a baggie with 40 holes.

Materials Needed:

clear lightweight bowls (2)

sandwich baggies (2)

thumb tack (1)

padding

food coloring

1. Fill 2 clear bowls ¾ full of water.

2. Use a tack to count together (CC.B.5) and poke 20 jabs in each plastic baggie over some kind of padding. Keep the jabs below the bottom 1 inch of the baggie. Decompose (OA.A.3) for the 5 jabs for each child such as 2 + 3 = 5.

3. Fill the baggie with water to above the holes, there are 40 holes now that the 2 sides are separated (early multiplication).

4. Squirt 5 drops of food coloring or 2 squirts of liquid water color into the baggies. Set over the edge of bowls.

5. Ask if the baggie can keep in the color? What will the holes do? At this rate will the water be the equal in color sooner or later? Repeat with more jabs or more coloring.

(CC.B.5) Answer “how many”…20 jabs in a rectangular array.

(OA.A.3) Decompose numbers such as 5 to 2+3.

Return to Table of Contents

Hole-y spaghetti

Activity | d |

Use straining spaghetti as an intro to separation methods in engineering.

Materials Needed:

DIY spaghetti (1/4 package) undercooked and oiled

kitchen colander (2)

1. Undercook spaghetti noodles and add oil to prevent sticking (Fun Fact: special bucatini pasta adds another dimension of holes).

2. Hand out one noodle per child to start.

3. Divide up the colanders for separating pasta and threading through the colander holes.

4. Encourage exploration of this sensory material.

Return to Table of Contents

Punch it

Activity | e |

Children learn to use a real hole punch to change the geometry of foam shapes.

Materials Needed:

DIY craft foam sheets for cutting math shapes out (multiples of 8)

single hole punches (8)

1. Hand out pre-cut DIY shapes (G.A.2) from a foam sheet.

2. Hand out hole punches with teaching how material goes into the jaw mechanics, assist as needed.

3. Thread remaining pasta from previous activity (Holes | d |) through holes.

(G.A.2) Name shapes of all orientations and sizes. Let children ask about shapes they see.

Return to Table of Contents

Corn Project

Many math connections help the children without them realizing it. Meanwhile, this project also includes sensory experiences.

"A kernel is a seed. In the world of plants, seeds are soft inside and they grow in ordered patterns. The hard outside of a kernel protects it and is strong. The push from when heating it though, will suddenly bust the seed coat to pop the carbs inside to outside. Not all kernels pop. Also the rows of kernels in a corn cob can be counted by multiplying (early multiplication). Eating is not allowed in most science, but it is okay with this project."

Dancing kernels

Activity | a |

Create gas bubbles that raise and sink kernels of corn.

Materials Needed:

plastic test tube set of 2 (4 sets)

NaHCO3 = baking soda (1/4 cup)

vinegar

popping corn

mini seltzer bottle

1. Guess about what happens when opening the soda or play the Video Explainer.

2. Get the seltzer poured in the first test tubes. Add and subtract kernels to get 5 or 10 in each tube (OA.A.3). Observe and tap the side if needed to sink.

3. Next, have children scoop baking powder into the second test tubes (3 teaspoons).

4. Let an older child pour in vinegar two thirds full into the baking soda set of tubes.

5. Observe and now, add the 5-10 (OA.A.5) corn kernels. Ask for ideas why they do this.

(OA.A.3) Decompose amounts of kernels per tube in pairs to add together for the total in tube

(OA.A.5) Fluency on decomposition in second counting experiment

Return to Table of Contents

Mini inspection

Activity | b |

Discover the step between cultivated grass and modern corn.

Materials Needed:

jar of baby corn (1)

60x magnifier Amazon (1)

smart camera (1)

1. Share that corn was originally a grass seed pod. After horticulture by some Native Americans, the seeds grew into large kernels. These baby corn are a step in between.

2. Use the 60x magnifier to show each child the tiny kernels on their own baby corn.

3. Try counting the mini kernels in ta line from top to bottom or bottom to top. (CC.B.4.B)

4. Invite the children to taste.

(CC.B.4.B) Order doesn't change the number

Return to Table of Contents

Shucking

Activity | c |

Count the leaves to get to the curious center.

Materials Needed:

full ears of corn (8)

1. Show how to pull off an outside leaf and inform the children of the hair-like silk. More about botany of corn reproduction in this Video Explainer.

2. Help the children count the leaves removed (CC.B.4.C), 60x magnify, and make husk art if they are interested or they have experience with tamales. Count the kernels around the base and times it by the number of kernels on the length. Even use the calculator you are holding.

Note: Save the cobs to boil for lunch, unless you find worms…60x magnify those

(CC.B.4.C) Successive numbers are one larger

Return to Table of Contents

Pop-percent

Activity | d |

Microwave cook popcorn to eat and measure the percent popped.

Materials Needed:

brown paper lunch bags (2)

kitchen scale

masking tape

microwave

lightweight bowls (10)

1. Place a bowl on the scale, tare, and have one child pour in half of one ½ cup (¼ cup is needed but this is a good introduction to fractions) of popping corn into the bowl. Note the weight in grams.

2. Another child can dump kernels into the bag, you fold the top over twice and use masking tape the fold down securely, just in the middle.

3. Take a group of 4 to the microwave. Set it to 1:40 seconds and experience pop.

4. Pull off the popped kernels to divide into snack bowls. Weigh the unpopped kernels.

5. Take the unpopped number and divide it, using a tablet function, by the first weight to get the percent popped. Repeat steps 1-6 to feed 8 learners. Compare numbers (CC.C.6).

Note: Use this method yourself with some melted butter and enjoy a natural version of bagged microwave popcorn. Yummy.

(CC.C.6) Which group is greater in not popping?

Return to Table of Contents

Cornetic Sand

Activity | e |

Experience mixing oil into ground corn and making a mess.

Materials Needed:

DIY squeeze bottles (8)

2 cups vegetable oil

pie pans (4-8)

corn masa or corn meal (1.25 pounds)

dish soap for cleanup

1. Hand out pie pans for pairs or individuals.

2. Have children scoop out one ½ cup of corn masa into their pan.

3. Fill squeeze bottles with ¼ cup vegetable oil for the children to slowly mix the oil in with their hands. Sensory play away with hydrophobic oil and the properties of powders.

Return to Table of Contents

Money Project

The principles of math in 10's teaches itself through cash handling as well as more abstract currency.

"A dollar is a value that Americans use to pay for something or to sell for something. Different things have different values to the person buying and person selling until they agree on a price. A tablet, for example, can be bought with dollars and resold for international money. What do you own that you think has the most value?"

Clean copper

Activity | a |

Experiment time! Experience what household solutions clean copper-coated pennies.

Materials Needed:

DIY full strength vinegar spray bottles (4)

coins in 1, 5, 10, and 25 cent rolls

bottle of ketchup

rags or paper towels (12)

1. Have children pick 2 dirtier pennies (MD.B.3) and place them in name order (CC.B.4.B) for the group to take a set of "before" pictures.

2. Have each child cover one penny set with vinegar spray and the other penny set with ketchup.

3. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.

4. Use rag or paper towel to scrub away the grime. Place in the before order by name and compare both sets with an “after picture”.

5. Cast votes as a hypothesis for which chemical works best.

(MD.B.3) Classify objects into categories, different coins.

(CC.B.4.B) Number is same regardless of order by classmates.

Return to Table of Contents

Zoom value intro

Activity | b |

Show how coins and bills add together while viewing values of money.

Materials Needed:

international coins or tokens

five $1, two $5, one $10, and one $20 bills, can be play money

60x magnifier (1)

smart camera (1)

1. Hand out bills to children.

2. Place 4 quarters in center, make equal to a child’s $1 bill, then add their 4 $1 bills to make a $5 bill even, continue (OA.A.4).

3. Use 60x magnifier to zoom in on curious parts of bills and coins and introduce that different countries use different currency.

(OA.A.4) What number makes the next bill equal.

Return to Table of Contents

Dimensions charting

Activity | c |

Understand that creating differently shaped bills makes it easier for blind persons to use cash.

Materials Needed:

DIY varied size rectangles of cut paper see Print Support (8)

steel baking tray

masking tape

rulers (4-8)

small magnets (8)

1. Fan out dollar bills from before, have the child close their eyes and guess what they picked. This would be easier with different sizes, especially for those who are visually impaired.

2. Hand out cut rectangle "bills” (G.A.2). Are these easier to pick out?

3. Help the children measure (MD.A.1) the long side and move their magnet along the bottom edge of the baking sheet to the matching number on the bottom strip of masking tape.

4. After the widths are charted, raise each magnet up to the 6 centimeter or 7 centimeter marks on the up strip of the masking tape. Thus comparing the measurement (MD.A.2).

(G.A.2) All bills are still rectangles.

(MD.A.1) Describe length attribute.

(MD.A.2) Compare the 2 values of lengths.

Return to Table of Contents

Bitcoin game

Activity | d |

Be introduced to the ledger of transactions in blockchain technology using fruit sales and math blocks.

Materials Needed:

toy food

white paint

Base Ten blocks

Krazy Gears pieces (8)

small hammer

1. Use white paint to make one pointer fingerprint per child on their paper rectangle (G.A.2) from (Money | c |) share that these are unique, no one has their same fingerprint. The paper has the “memory” of their print to know it’s theirs later in the game.

2. Divide out cash. Start by taking money to buy a fruit. Put a cube out and have both parties of the sale stamp the ones block/cube, from the Base Ten Blocks, with their paint fingerprints.

3. Sneak 7 blocks into your hand and tap the fingerprinted block in the enter with the hammer however many times. On the final count (CC.B.4.B) release the blocks from your hand. Give each child a “copy” to go in a gap in the Krazy Gear section, known as the ledger.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 for each child to use the miner hammer, magic blocks drop or not.

5. With the gears full of blocks, get the children to match their ledgers to each other, which is what the internet does when dealing in blockchain checking.

(G.A.2) Pick the rectangle shape.

(CC.B.4.B) The final number in the count up is the number that releases the blocks.

Return to Table of Contents

Cylinder slices

Activity | e |

Clean up coins by sorting and stuffing into cylinders.

Materials Needed:

coins in 1, 5, 10, and 25 cent piles

coin rolls paper (8)

1. Sort coins with equal coins (MD.B.3).

2. Present the value of each roll by counting out 50 dimes + 50 pennies (CC.A.1) Include tens places and add and subtract to meet more standards (NB.A.1).

3. Hand out paper rolls explaining the coin is like the slice of a cylinder once it is totally filled in (G.B.6).

(MD.B.3) Classifying objects and sort by counts.

(CC.A.1) Get to 100.

(NB.A.1) Quarters for example to compose and decompose.

(G.B.6) Joining simple circles into a larger cylinder.

Return to Table of Contents

Electricity Project

Electricity has many ways of showing itself. Children will explore static, current, semi-conductors, and even nuclear ideas.

"Electrons are tiny, tiny balls that like to bounce around. They like to go together to positive places. When they do this together, it is called flow. It’s like a river or an ocean, it has current. Technology depends on this electrical current to do work and is why we call devices electronics."

Circuit snapping

Activity | a |

Circuit Snapping

Use electrical components in a circuit.

Materials Needed:

Snap Circuits Jr. set (1)

1. Introduce the battery pack and that a circuit is like a circle of electricity. Add a light component across from the battery and help children snap in the connectors between the two components (you might need to turn the light component 180 degrees).

2. Swap out the light for the silver motor and add the propeller. More ideas are in the instruction manual.

Return to Table of Contents

Marble-electron run

Activity | b |

Cause marble electrons to go from high to low energy through semiconductor obstacles with the video explainer below.

Materials Needed:

marble run obstacles (8)

marbles (10)

1. Have children hold their marble-electron high and ask “does it want to go low?” repeat until children understand that it wants to flow down.

2. Introduce the special pieces as ways to get the marble electrons to do different things, just like semiconductors in tablets and gadgets.

3. Rotate the obstacle pieces around the group or build one marble run together.

Note: For outdoors, there is also a large water inflatable run where the water would be the “current” flow.

Return to Table of Contents

Static charm

Activity | c |

Charge a plastic rod to lift a tissue paper snake.

Materials Needed:

DIY 6 foot PVC 1 inch pipe cut to 8” (8)

DIY tissue paper cut snakes request Print Support (8)

staticky microfiber cloth, sock, fleece (8)

1. Pre-cut snake snakes from even, flat tissue paper with the Print Support template.

2. Hand out clingy cloths and a PVC pipe. Have children rub the pipes energetically for 4 sets of 10 seconds to count to 40 seconds (CC.B.4.A). More activities using static methods.

3. With the tissue snakes flat on a bare table, invite the children to move the pipe slowly and close (without touching) to the snake head in the center. It may take a few tries needing to recharge the pipe for 40 seconds again. The flat will become 3D (G.A.3) and be charmed as a trained snake lifts up from a coil like was done in historic India.

Note: The hair comb and balloon rubbing is not recommended as hair type varies.

(CC.B.4.A) One-to-one correspondence.

(G.A.3) Flat 2D becomes solid “snake”.

Return to Table of Contents

Nuclear stick

Activity | d |

Learn a sense of atomic attraction with sensory play.

Materials Needed:

foam putty (12 grams)

Package craft Styrofoam beads

straws (8)

1. Give each child a ¼ of a foam putty package.

2. Put free foam balls in the table’s center and invite to use a straw to blow around like a current. These represent loose electrons.

3. Have the children stick the loose electrons to their positive matter, the foam putty.

Return to Table of Contents

Current in pipes

Activity | e |

Pump water into pipe layouts like current flows.

Materials Needed:

DIY 6” sections of ¼ inch plastic tubing (6)

balloon pump (2)

water play tub

towel

¼ inch union tee (2)

¼ inch coupling (2)

1. Use the balloon pump as a water pump sucking the water in the tub into the chamber.

2. Add the union coupling to the tip of the pump, push out water through a section of ¼ inch tubing. Continue to invite a pumper and keep adding sections: union tee, fitting, then tubing on either side.

1. Explain the water flowing is like electricity in a circuit, it loses current.

Return to Table of Contents

Final Material

Philosophy

The push for STEM education often leaves out Early Childhood Education. I believe in the competence of the 3-year-old. Coaching early abstract thinking benefits children, most so in math. ECE needs positive numeracy experiences that are relatable to children and their expanding minds.

The #sciencefairyprojects I’ve developed aim to include diverse histories and engage children to move, smell, taste, and express their learning of STEM skills. The brain remembers this. The short term result is joy and in the long term these experiences bring confidence in any endeavor.

Return to Table of Contents

blockchain

a tech answer to securely know what has been bought and sold

bore

make a hole through something

circuit

the path an electron takes around a circle of parts

cylinders

a circle like a coin, but built tall

electrical component

a device part connected to finish an electrical circuit

equal

same as

horticulture

the process of growing of plants

hydrophobic

pushes away water

ledger

the record log book of what happened with what

mechanics

the working parts of something

manufacturing

making something that is repeatable using technology and engineering

matter

the tiny space parts that make everything

method

a way of doing something

miner

a person who uses computer resources to check ledgers and earn cryptocurrency

perpendicular

at an exactly up and down angle to a line or surface

#sciencefairyproject

a learning unit of 4-6 activities crafted by that science fairy to teach stem concepts with hands-on materials and be found on the web

semiconductors

can carry electron flow more than or less than other materials

solutions

watery mix of different ingredients

staticky

the trait of a fabric that clings to itself or another cloth

tamales

a Latin food wrapped in corn husk to be transported

tare

resetting a weighing tool to not count something already on the scale

About the Author

Starting in 2016, I began bringing tubs of STEM learning materials to children in childcare, in the home, and out in the community of Colorado Springs. That Science Fairy was born from my degreed background and training in Molecular Biology and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. My creativity though is a better fit playing with kids than it is in the laboratory!

Thank you for being both guide and guided.

Acknowledgements

to Rata Clarke, who preserved creativity while teaching science

Dedicated

to future Science Fairies

Copyright © [2022] by [Laura M. Weilert]

All rights reserved. Penalty for commercial use.

“Science Fairy” is a registered mark of That Science Fairy.

Print copies not available for sale at this time.

Publisher address is in Colorado Springs, CO, USA.

Additional © Copyright 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best

Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Interactive Activities Guide

Free eBook with 20 STEM Experiences in Early Childhood

By Laura Weilert, Science Fairy

eBooks for future sale

Opt-in request at books.thatsciencefairy.com

@sciencefairyCO

Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter

Words to use on your favorite review site

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Holes Project

1. Blocks with holes

2. Bead hole making

3. Seeping barrier

4. Hole-y spaghetti

5. Punch it

Corn Project

6. Dancing kernels

7. Mini inspection

8. Shucking

9. Pop-percent

10. Cornetic Sand

Money Project

11. Clean copper

12. Zoom value intro

13. Dimensions charting

14. Bitcoin game

15. Cylinder slices

Electricity Project

16. Circuit snapping

17. Marble-electron run

18. Static charm

19. Nuclear stick

20. Current in pipes

21. Final Material

Glossary

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Copyright

Endnotes