Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Jane,
Thanks for sharing this. This is such a lovely playful way to get them using that descriptive language.
Hi Sean,
These activities are both enjoyable and educational. The Alien Chemistry sounds like a brilliant way for the children to explore science through hands-on experiments and teamwork.I love the ideas of creating a digital class book or video. It is a lovely way to reflect on their learning and it makes the whole experience even more engaging and memorable.
Here is my plan for Space week. I have picked a different space theme topic for each day and tried to extend the activities in 1st and 2nd from those in JI and SI.
Junior Infants & Senior Infants
Monday – Space
– Planet song.
– Space theme story time.
– Space themed play.Tuesday – Rockets
– Engage with a picture of a rocket.
– Rocket Mouse activity.
– Explore changing forces with rocket.Wednesday – Stars
– Focus on the sky today and stars by creating telescopes and constellations from match sticks and playdough.Thursday – Mars
– Explore image and videos of Mars.
– Design a Martian activity.Friday
– Space party.
– Space theme dress up.
– ESERO space goes to school – videoconference with guest speaker.1st & 2nd Class
Monday – Space
– Day and Night Earth Rotation activity (Module 2).Tuesday – Rockets
– Engage with a picture of a rocket.
– Explore a variety of materials and plan a design to make a rocket.
– Learners check to see if the rockets work, explore changing forces and show their creations to the rest of the class.Wednesday – Stars
– Star Gazing – Stellarium.
– Drawing their own constellations.Thursday – Mars
– Story: Curiosity. The Story of The Mars Rover.– Design and make a Mars rover.
Friday
– Space Share – The children will share their creations and experiences from the week.
– ESERO space goes to school – videoconference with guest speaker.Hi Rebecca,
I love your idea of using “What Clothes to Wear” to help infants explore seasonal change. It’s both meaningful and developmentally appropriate. Introducing the concept through picture books is a great way to build familiarity, and the junk art project adds a wonderful hands-on element. Having the children design outfits for Teddy based on seasonal weather really brings the learning to life! I love how you incorporate reflective questions to support observation and reasoning. This introduces early science skills in a fun, relatable context.
I will definitely do the hot and cold activity with the ice cubes. This is a nice simple activity that allows the children to work scientifically. They can predict what might happen to the different ice cubes in the sun and shade. They can observe the experiment happening and then record their findings.
I also like the hot and cold activity. I did a similar activity to show the penguins blubber helps keep them dry. We used black wax crayons to colour the penguin and then using a pipet dropped some water drops on the penguin. The water rolls off because of the waxy coat. The children in my class really enjoyed this activity.
I also wanted to share a link to a video I shared with my class when working on a unit on animals in the Arctic and Antarctic. This video bring the children on a walk through the Arctic to spot some animals. My class really loved this too. It’s an fun and engaging way to spark their curiosity and sense of adventure. One child in my class said ‘I can’t believe we just went to the Arctic’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9xDztBhzEDesign an alien activity.
Having done some work on planets and space and as part of the unit of work I’d do the ‘Design a Martian/Alien activity. I think this would be a fun and engaging activity for younger children. It allows them to be creative and allows for active playful learning. There is opportunity for cross-curricular links with this activity. It also allows the children to work scientifically by questioning, observing, predicting, estimating and measuring.
I would question the children with some of the following questions and we would wonder about what aliens might look like.
– What might an alien look like? How are animals adapted for places that are very cold or very warm? Are other planets the same as the Earth? (Some planets are closer to the Sun, some are bigger or smaller. So conditions on those planets are different to Earth.) How might this play into our designs?
The children would make a 3-D alien from a modelling material.
They can share their designs with the class and discuss the different features.
They can then sort the aliens into families based off observable features and children can be asked “Why are these aliens in the same family? Are they both blue, have three eyes, etc.”.I really like how you’ve structured the learning through inquiry and creativity. Using an image of the night sky as a prompt is such an effective way to get children thinking and talking at the beginning stages of the inquiry cycle.
I haven’t really thought much about Space myself. I sometimes think maybe children wouldn’t be able to relate to the topic as I feel it’s very distant from their lives and experiences. The ideas in the course have reminded me how valuable it is to spark that sense of wonder though and space is certainly a topic that can do that. I feel it is a topic that children will definitely be interested in and curious about.
I particularly like the idea of combining science with storytelling through the constellation activities. It’s such a nice way to bring the topic to life and help children connect with it on a deeper level.Reflecting on these activities reminds me how powerful child-led learning can be. When we give children the space to observe, question, and draw their own conclusions, they become active participants in the learning process. Activities like this also highlight how science concepts can be introduced in developmentally appropriate ways, sparking curiosity that can grow over time.
One of my favourite activities from those suggested is the ‘day and Night’ activity. The lesson was very hands on and child centred. I like how at the start they elicited the children’s prior knowledge by discussing the difference by day and night. The questions asked really got the children thinking. Comparing the photos in the activity was nice too and I liked how they worked up to the idea that we can see the moon in the daytime too. This might be a misconception the children might have.
The big earth ball is a great way to engage the children, and the activity can really show the children how the earth rotates and when the side exposed to sun makes it daytime and the opposite night. This active and visual representation would work really well for introducing young children to this idea of the Earth rotating and of day and night. Adding the bear and discussing what the bear on each side might be doing further extends that discussion from the beginning of the lesson on the differences between day and night.I too love this activity. It is such a rich, hands-on way for infants to explore light and shadows. I love that you begin by connecting to the children’s own experiences. That really helps build curiosity and engagement from the start. I also like the idea of using black crayons to draw the shadow. It’s simple yet effective. To extend that exploration, it could be fun to revisit the same spot later in the day to observe how the shadows have moved to introduce the concept of time and how the Sun’s movement affects shadow length and direction.
Inquiry question: How can different objects be moved ?
Prompt– Toy car – how can we move the toy car?
Wondering – I will introduce the concept of forces by reading the story ‘Newton and Me’ by Lynne Mayer. We will discuss the various examples of pushing and pulling in the story and how these make the objects move – what happened when the boy doesn’t push or pull on the object?, What does he have to do if he wants the ball or wagon to move?, Why did the ball go really far? (pushed it really hard).. What did the boy learn about pushing and pulling ?He says that pulling and pushing are forces of motion? That’s a tricky word, does anyone know what it might mean?
Explore – The children will explore and investigate for themselves with objects (toy cars, trucks, toy wagon, toy crane, ball) whether they move by being pushed or pulled. -what happens if you push the toy car?, what about if you push it harder? Can you make it go faster?, How can you make it stop? ..
Predict – They will predict how it might be moved.
The children will then identify if certain objects move by being pushed or pulled and sort the objects/pictures into push or pull hula hoops.
Record their finding on a worksheet.
Discussion about what they found out and a chance to share their wonderings.
Further extend the lesson – Design and Make activity
– The children will design and make their own toy transport object that can hold a Lego man and be moved by being pushed or pulled (a car, a cart, a wagon etc.).
– They will plan their design on a planning sheet – resources needed, will it move by being pushed or pulled?, a sketch.
– Making the design
– Testing their design – other children could predict whether it is move my being pushed or pulled.Hi Clara,
I absolutely love this lesson idea and its one of my favourites to teach with Junior Infants. It’s so simple but hands-on. The inquiry based approach is really evident in your description, and you really encouraged questioning and predicting.
I especially love the playdough idea! Using it to explore how shape affects floating and sinking is such a clever and engaging way to challenge their thinking beyond just “heavy vs. light.” It’s such a great visual and tactile way for young children to grasp a more abstract concept. Definitely going to extend my floating and sinking lessons with this. Thank you for sharing!
