STEAM Activity:
Pop Bottle Greenhouses
For this activity, cut a 2-litre soda bottle in half. Cut a perpendicular slit into the bottom half of the bottle to allow the top half to easily slide over it when the bottom is squeezed. Now for your seed starters! Use eggshells to become your little seed nurseries. Gently break open the top of your eggs and use the contents for your breakfast. Save the bottom halves, gently wash, fill with soil and plant your seeds. Place 2 to 3 in the bottom half of your pop bottle greenhouse! Monitor their growth daily, and when seedlings emerge, they can formally be transplanted into individual pots, eggshells and all!
https://www.instructables.com/id/Pop-Bottle-Greenhouse/
Science Activity:
Windowsill Garden
Save the scraps from your fruits and vegetables to place in jars along your kitchen windowsill! The bottom of a celery bunch can be saved and placed in a jar with a little water, and before long it will start to form roots and grow leaves. Likewise, the top leafy chunk of a pineapple can be saved! Insert toothpicks into the bottom of the crown and place in a jar of water so the base is immersed. Change the water of both your celery and pineapple every two days. After 3 weeks, they should be ready to be transplanted!
https://www.diyncrafts.com/4732/repurpose/25-foods-can-re-grow-kitchen-scraps
Physical Activity
Air Puff Golf
This is another activity focused on using recyclable materials. Save your dish soap bottles and pop bottle caps to be used as golfing equipment for this activity. Encourage your child to create a series of targets by cutting out circular openings from a cardboard sheet, cutting out openings in the bottom of paper towel tubes or by laying cups on their sides. The goal is to use the air puffs made by squeezing the dish soap bottle as the force to guide bottle caps into target zones. Each of these targets should have varying point levels, some more challenging than others. This activity can be made more challenging by increasing the distance between the starting line and the target!
https://learnasyouplay.net/2020/04/13/air-puff-number-match-ages-3/
Creative Activity:
Cardboard Expressions
Collect sheets of cardboard, like the fronts or backs of cereal boxes. Encourage your child to draw a picture using different coloured markers and add detail using 3-dimensional decorations. For instance, perhaps your child has long hair and has drawn a self portrait. Use a hole punch and tie a ribbon around the hair within the portrait. Another example, perhaps your child has drawn an image of a gift-wrapped parcel. Use a hole punch and tie a ribbon at the top of the gift! There are so many unique ways of adding this extra element of creativity!
Additional Resources:
https://www.todaysparent.com/baby/how-to-play-with-your-baby/ - Visit this website to find “8 Games to Play with Your Baby”. You will find lots of other information on this Today’s Parent site as well.
https://www.redtedart.com/ - Follow this link to a website full of easy craft ideas for children.
Learning at Home OSC KidZone Week 9
Learning at Home OSC KidZone Week 16
