Fireworks in a Jar

This Science experiment idea is from I Can Teach My Child

Age: From 4 years old

Materials:

1. 1 large mason jar 3/4 filled with warm water

2. 1 saucer 4 TBS cooking oil

3. 4 drops of red, green, yellow and blue food coloring each

4. 1 fork to stir the color

5. 1 spoon

6. 4 droppers (optional)

Directions:

1. Fill 1 large mason jar 3/4 with warm water.

2. Add 4 TBS of oil into a saucer.

3. Add 4 drops of food coloring red, blue, green and yellow each into the saucer with oil.

4. Stir gently if necessary to mix the oil and color.

5. Pour gently into the jar of water.

Additional Information:

J (6Y0M28D) wanted very much to make some Science experiments with me and have been pestering me for it. He wanted to do something with water and color. But I am too lazy to prepare the materials. Today, we finally sit down to do it. Ours doesn't look as good as the one from I Can Teach My Child. We repeated our experiment 3 times, but J still found it fun. Oh well, it is the process that counts :-)

References:

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/fireworks-in-a-jar

0. Prepare your materials

1. Fill 1 large mason jar 3/4 with warm water.

Close-up

2. Add 4 TBS of oil into a saucer.

 3. Add 4 drops of food coloring red, blue, green and yellow each into the saucer with oil.

4. Stir gently if necessary to mix the oil and color.

5. Pour gently into the jar of water.

Montessori Activity: Color Box 3

Age: From 3.5 years old

Activity Duration: 5 - 15 minutes

Objectives:

1. To teach color has different shades.
2. To train visual discrimination of color.

Materials:

1. 1 set of Montessori Color Box 3 (63 tablets comprises of 7 different shades of red, blue, yellow, purple, orange, green, gray, dusty rose, brown)

2. 1 floor mat

Presentation:

1. Name the Color Box 3 and show where it is kept.

2. Choose one set of tablets and put them on the mat.

3. Start with the darkest shade and put it on the top right of the mat.

4. Find the next lighter tablet and place it next to the previous one.

5. Continue with the rest of tablets until all 7 tablets have been graded.

6. Hold the lightest one and trace from the darkest to the second lightest tablet, then put it on the bottom of the line.

7. Give a 3 Period Lesson on the relative hue of color, say: "This is the darkest blue, lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter, lightest blue."

8. Let the child choose the next set of color.

9. Repeat step 3-8.

Video Demonstration:

https://youtu.be/N5OG_t3mW7E

https://youtu.be/PM04nzsNDL0

Tips:

1. When the child is good at grading 1 set of color, have him grade two sets of color at the same time. Increase the set accordingly as he succeeded with more sets.

2. Grade the color set-by-set in the pattern of a sun (2 children can work together).

Video Demonstration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5OG_t3mW7E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlnHB20nfas

Additional Information:
J (3Y7M14D) tried this for the first time today. He was rather frustrated with some of the shades such as orange, as he could not tell the difference between the hue. I must say that even I could not tell the difference. I bought the Color Box 3 from Kidadvance. I am very happy with all the rest of the materials I bought from Kid Advance, but definitely not their Color Box 3. I would not recommend this item from Kidadvance. The grey shade is one of the most well-made shades. Here J had success.

References:
http://www.infomontessori.com/sensorial/stereognostic-sense-geometric-solids.htm
http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Knobless_Cylinders
http://faculty.fullerton.edu/syen/mts/sensor/19.htm
Basic Montessori Learning Activities for Under-Fives

Montessori Activity: Matching Colours

Age: From 2.5 years old

Objectives: To teach colours, shades and tones.

Materials:
1. 1 bowl containing 10 paint swatches of different colours and shades of matching pairs.
2. 1 tray or mat.

Directions:
1. Go through one round and name each of the colours of your child.

2. Hand one colour to your child and say “can you match this green colour?”

3. After one round mentioned in point 2, invite your child to match the pairs himself and ask, “What colour is this?” Encourage your child to say the name of the colour.

4. To mark completion and a sense of achievement, ask your child to wave the empty bowl after he has finished.

5. Thereafter, go through one round of naming the colours together, and if your child wishes, ask him to repeat the name of each colour after you. If you are a bilingual or trilingual family, take this opportunity to name the colours in 3 languages at this stage. It also provides variation to this activity.

Additional Information:
Joshua tried this for the first time and he enjoyed it. The curriculum right now at Joshua’s kindergarten is on colours. So this activity is good to reinforce what he is learning at the kindergarten. We named the colours in 3 different languages, English, Mandarin Chinese and Danish.

Completed :-)

Cost:
Paint swatches: 1 set of 10 for 16.99 DKK from Søstrene Grene.

You might be able to get free paint swatches from your local paint shop. We couldn't. If not, you can also get it from Amazon:

Or this original one from Montessori, but it is pricey:

This is a very known Montessori Activity. We adapted ours from one of the Montessori books:

Teaching the Colours of the Rainbow to Toddlers the Fun Way

A fun way to teach pre-school children colours is to sing it. Here are some great video from KidsTV123:

The Colours of the Rainhow Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRNy2i75tCc

The Colour Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPWZu4LDmQM&feature

The Train Colours Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwlMvE8qeoY