My family and I live in Southern California- the land of eternal sunshine. We haven’t had a lot of winter around here, so unlike people in Northern California who would have to get a furnace installed and propane tanks set up (perhaps with the help of firms like Kelly Propane), we don’t have to worry about that. As a matter of fact, we only recently had a few days of rain (which Cannon was amazed with!). During this brief rain, it became pretty obvious that Cannon has been “meteroligically sheltered”–. My poor son had no idea what rain was! Not only that, he didn’t really understand the word “cold” (although he most definitely knows the word “hot”). I figured we could read books about snow and ice and cold weather, or we could experience what “cold” really meant with a hands on investigation- I chose the latter 🙂
I poured a few blueberries and water in a small container and left them in the freezer overnight. When the blueberries and water were thoroughly frozen, I placed the ice on a small dish. I also gave Cannon a water dropper and a small cup of warm water (lukewarm- NOT hot!). Just to add a little visual interest, I added a few drops of food coloring in the water. Since Cannon had never worked with a water dropper before, we spent a minute investigating that first. He got the hang of squeezing the rubber end to suction up water, and then squeezing it again to release the water. That could have been the whole activity by itself! But when he finally saw the blueberries in the ice, he was ready to excavate that yummy snack!
-
States of matter (specifically solid and liquid)
-
Physical changes (solid melting into liquid form)
-
Temperature investigation (sensory understanding of the world “cold”)