Educational creativity

Today we read this cute story about an octopus who just can't get her ink cloud right.  It is a great story to enforce color recognition and to keep trying. We made a Cartesian diver to represent Octavia.  The pics are kind of hard to see I think because they reflect off the water.  When you put a little colored water in the diver it will spit out an ink cloud just like Octavia. How to make a Cartesian diver.  Preparation takes  a lot of adult preparation, but the kids love squeezing the bottle to see the ink cloud. (good for the muscles) You need a plastic pipet. I've gotten them in art and education stores in the science section.  (I will give you some links for using a straw and an eye dropper) Cut the end off and put a nut on the end to weigh it down. Now is when you may want to decorate it like an octopus.  Use waterproof materials and make sure you don't cover up the hole.  We used electrical tape, string, and tried permanent marker...

I love taking a book and finding ways to use it throughout day and throughout the other subjects.  I have found science to be the easiest and most creative.  So here is a couple of fun things to do with the book The Chick and the Duckling. It is a cute little book about a Duckling and a chick who have hatched and become friends.  The chick does everything the duckling does and responds "Me, Too".  This makes a great shared reading experience when the kids join in. The Duckling The Chick (filled with water) We made our predictions.  In the classroom, I would have more of these pre-made items and have a cookie sheet for the prediction sheet and the "what happened" sheet.  I allowed my daughter to choose other items which is harder to do in the classroom.  Here is the checklist of items she made of items she wanted to try.  I didn't encourage this, but what a great idea to incorporate writing.  It would be easy to add a clipboard and pen...