Fall STEM: Sink or Float Activity

This is such a fun fall activity for children to use their brains! You can even add a sensory aspect depending on the sink/float items you choose.

Fall items you can use:

 

To start off the science experiment, have kids think about which items on the tray will float and which items will sink. If you’re doing this activity with multiple children, make a list of who thinks what items will float/sink so you can compare later.

Have children start experimenting! Some might be surprised about their predictions. Ask them why they thought an item would sink/float and help them find the reason why it actually floats/sinks.

 

Experimenting-with-Fall-Objects-in-Water-for-a-Preschool-Science-Activity-at-B-Inspired-Mama

 

Fall STEM: Creating Structures with Pumpkin Candy

How to Build Structures with Candy Pumpkins for a Halloween STEM Challenge

 

This is a very easy activity with limitless possibilities! It relies on creativity, imagination, and a little STEM thrown in! As they build, they’ll count and measure, using tons of math without even realizing it. There is so much trial and error involved it’s great for scientific thinking!

Patterns-and-Building-Activity-for-Halloween

Materials Needed:

  • Toothpicks
  • Gummy Pumpkin Candy
  • Imagination

Let the children make their own buildings and structures or ask them to build specific shapes using a certain number of pumpkins and toothpicks!

The Dangers of Baby Bottle Propping

Bottle propping is a dangerous practice that goes back years. But it is now receiving increased attention as society tries to sell a “solution” for everything.

Feeding a baby with a bottle resting upright against something allows the milk to flow without the need for parental hands. And over the last few years, numerous devices that essentially make feeding a baby a hands free activity have flooded the market. Promoted as enabling parents to get a break from the proposed monotony of caring for a baby, they sell a solution that could be deadly.

Tragically, bottle propping can be fatal. Young babies may not have the head control or strength to move away from the flow of the milk that is being aided by gravity. Quite simply they can choke to death as they cannot escape from the milk, or inhale it as the bottle becomes displaced.

There is also the very real risk that babies simply end up consuming too much milk if it keeps flowing. Research has shown how babies take more milk from a bottle than they do when they breastfeed (one reason why bottle fed babies can be at a higher risk of being overweight) and this increases if they are encouraged to take more – as a propped bottle would “encourage” them to do.

Yes, an older baby might be able to move their head away, but at what stage? When they’ve had enough? Or when they really can’t stand any more? Small extra amounts of milk every day matter. Those few extra calories can turn into extra grams and pounds over the months. And encouraging a baby to keep feeding when they are full can also interfere with their ability to control their appetite later on.

Then there is the inescapable fact that having a bottle propped into your mouth when you can’t remove it can’t be the nicest feeding experience. Feeding is about so much more than nutrition. Holding a baby warm and close while being fed is a big part of them feeling secure and loved. It’s no coincidence that the sight range of newborn babies is pretty much perfect to reach their parents eyes at the angle that they would be held for a feed. Skin to skin contact is ideal when possible during feeds, but just the fact that the baby is being fed by a human being increases oxytocin, helping calm them and create general all round lovely feelings.

And no, you don’t need to stare endlessly into a baby’s eyes at every feed, but there is a vast gulf between that and not even holding a baby.

Hungry but happy. MJTH/Shutterstock

 

Simple Pumpkin Activities

From the vibrant color to the odd shapes and textures, kids love to play with pumpkins in the fall! With pumpkins, children can explore almost every sense including sight, touch, smell, and taste!

Science:

  • Provide a variety of small pumpkins and gourds along with a magnifying glass. Have children examine the textures, shapes, and colors of the pumpkins and gourds. Have them point out differences and similarities.
  • Have the children predict whether a pumpkin will sink or float. Then drop a pumpkin into water to discover that it does float.  It is hollow inside and the trapped air keeps it from sinking.
  • Explore the inside of a pumpkin to learn more about seeds, fibers, and pumpkin meat. Have the kids feel the stringy texture (this is awesome for sensory play).
  • You can even bake the pumpkin seeds and add salt or cinnamon sugar for a unique treat!

 

Math:

  • Guess how many seeds a pumpkin has inside! Collect and count the seeds taken from a cut pumpkin.
  • Guess how much a pumpkin weighs, make predictions and then use a scale to determine its weight.
  • Cut out several pumpkins ranging in size from small to large. Have the children place the pumpkins in order from smallest to largest. (PRC has 4 sizes of pumpkin die-cuts)
  • Have children draw faces on orange colored paper plates only using shapes they have learned about (squares, triangles, rectangles, circles).

 

Art:

  • Pass several pumpkins around the classroom and have the children examine the size, color, shape, and texture of each one. Have them draw detailed pictures of the pumpkins.
  • Provide dried pumpkin seeds, glue, and 1-2 inch pieces of orange yarn for children to create their own pumpkin insides.
  • Pumpkin Suncatchers-grate pieces of orange crayon and place between 2 pieces of waxed paper.  Place a cloth over the paper and iron.  Cut out a pumpkin shape and hang in a sunny window.

 

 

 

Pumpkin Volcano: Fall Science

This fall preschool project for mini pumpkin volcanoes introduces the concept of chemistry and chemical reactions, encourages following instructions, and is a tad messy (so beware)!

So, what causes these mini pumpkin volcanoes to erupt: You’re mixing baking soda (a base) and vinegar (an acid) together which causes a chemical reaction. This reaction produces carbon dioxide (a colorless, odorless gas) which causes the eruption.

Materials:

Dish soap
Baking soda
White vinegar
Food coloring: Orange, purple, green
Mini pumpkins
Knife
Tablespoon
Large plastic lid or container

Directions:

1. Carve out the top of each pumpkin.

2. Scoop out most of the insides (this doesn’t need to be perfect).

3. Bring pumpkins outside and set them on a lid or in a container.

4. Add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to each pumpkin.

5. Add a couple squirts of dish soap to each pumpkin.

6. Add one squirt of each color of food coloring to each pumpkin.

7. Start pouring vinegar into each pumpkin; you’ll likely need about 1/3 cup for each.

Watch your pumpkins erupt!

Note: You can rinse the pumpkins out and try this fall preschool project again and again! Trust us, your kids will request demand that you do so!