Light

We were on vacation this last week for my high school reunion (we won't worry about how long ago I graduated) so I took some of our lessons to do with the girls and my nephews.

The first lesson we did was Light.  We started by matching marker caps that my art teacher/recycler extraordinaire mother saved from dried up markers for sorting activities.  The kids were all pretty fast with this activity and enjoyed finding different shades.  My 6-year old nephew decided that the pink caps belonged with red since all you do is add white to it to make pink.  I love his reasoning skills.

We tried the rainbow in a glass of water experiment but had a hard time with it.  We had the most luck when used a cut crystal bowl that acted like a prism.

They enjoyed making the color paddles.  I found the easiest way to do it was to put the cellophane between the two sides and cut around it, then add glue to around the insides and then just shut it.  I had them use the rectangle cut out pieces from the paddle to draw their different colored pictures.  They all had a great time running around, pretending to be color changing detectives (I guess they reminded them of magnifying glasses).

I think the most favorite activity was finding the letters with the lantern in the fort.  My dad actually constructed a PVC framework that rests on the couch and coffee table in order to build a sturdier blanket fort.  We blocked all the holes with blankets and pillows, then I hid letters and shapes inside for them to find.  I had Littlest looking for shapes and the older kids looking for the letters.  They had an absolutely great time until one of the decided not to come out and give the other kids their turns.  It quickly devolved from there but was an activity we could come back to again and again.

My nephew has a great series from Weekly Reader called "Just Ask" and there is one about rainbows that would be great for supplementing with kindergarten and first graders.  They appear to be only available second hand so I've got my fingers crossed he decides he doesn't want them anymore in a couple of years. ;)

As a sort of related activity, we tie dyed tee shirts.  They had a ton of fun and the shirts turned out great.  I do caution you to wear gloves even if you intend to have the kids do most of the dyeing because it took several days to get the dye off my fingers and all I did was take the lid off the bottle for Miss M.

We didn't do the rainbow color by number because my nephew isn't much into coloring and my girls only wanted to do what he was interested in doing.  I know Miss M could have done it perfectly but Littlest doesn't like being constrained by rules or lines right now.  I would probably just have her draw her own rainbow, maybe handing her the colors in order.