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Chinese/Lunar New Year & Extreme Weather Unit: Earthquakes & Volcanoes

Chinese/Lunar New Year is coming soon!  We're getting ready by learning all about China and traditions there.

We're also studying extreme weather right now.  Currently we're focusing on earthquakes and volcanoes.

To keep life organized by weekly unit studies we've combined all of these activities into one post: Chinese/Lunar New Year & Extreme Weather Unit: Earthquakes and Volcanoes.  

Chinese New Year and Extreme Weather Unit: Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Chinese/Lunar New Year and Extreme Weather Unit: Earthquakes and Volcanoes


Here's what's on our shelves this week!


Chinese Zodiac Nomenclature Cards


Chinese Zodiac Nomenclature Cards

The kiddos will match up cards correctly, and then place animals on proper cards.

Source:  I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack II. This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Zodiac Signs First Vowel Sound Identification


FREE Chinese Zodiac First Vowel Sound Clip Cards


I've noticed that Bulldozer and Princess are having a hard time identifying vowel sounds in words. It doesn't matter if the sounds are long sounds or short sounds.  I'm hoping this activity will help them improve those skills.

Source:  I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack II.  This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Zodiac Animal Spelling Words


Chinese Zodiac Animal Spelling Activity


We had a lot of fun with the intro to this activity today.  Each kiddo was given a plastic bag with a dragon head and tail to color.  Once complete, we pulled out all the letter cards in the Set 1 envelope.  The kiddos took turns making Dancing Dragons out of the letters of each word.


Zodiac Animal Spelling Words
Dinomite's Dancing Dragon

Zodiac Animal Spelling Words
Princess' Dancing Dragon

Zodiac Animal Spelling Words
Bulldozer's Dancing Dragon

At the end of the week, we'll replace the letter cards with a real body for our dragons.

Source: I created the spelling list for this activity.  The free dragon head and tail printable can be found at Craft Jr.


Chinese Dragon Odd & Even Numbers


Chinese New Year Odd and Even Numbers Free Printable


It's been a while since we reviewed odd and even numbers. To my surprise, everyone remembered! Hurray!  The cards can also be used for counting by 2's etc.

Source:   I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack.  This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Measuring Chinese Dragons


Measuring dragons activity and free printable


I wanted to practice measuring one more time before our unit is complete.  I still can't believe how quickly the kids caught on to this and loved it.  Once again this activity is a hit. The kiddos measure the dragons and match them up to their inch number cards.

Source:   I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack.  This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Greater Than/Less Than Clip Cards


Chinese New Year Greater Than/Less Than Clip Cards


Here's another review activity on our shelves this week.  The kiddos weren't as great at remembering how to do this one, but by the end of today they finally remembered.  Bulldozer surprised me, in that he caught on the quickest.

Source:   I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack.  This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Adding with Pandas


Panda Addition Clip Cards

I couldn't resist using Pandas for our addition practice this week!  As I suspected, it's been a big hit!

Source:   I created the cards used for this activity as part of my China Printable Pack.  This is a subscriber's only freebie. See directions at the bottom of this post on how to access your free copy.

Asia, the Continent


Asia map play dough activity

The kiddos will cover the map of Asia with play dough, refreshing their memory of it's shape. 

I chose a physical map so they could notice the topography of the Continent and identify specific countries.  

The color yellow is used because it's the Montessori color associated with Asia.

Source: The idea for this activity came from To the Lesson!  The free map for this activity can be found at Theodora.com.

Flag of China


Coloring the flag of China

Even though the kiddos aren't crazy about flags, I still love to incorporate them when I can.  The kiddos will color the flag of China correctly.

Source: The free map for this activity can be found at Homeschool Creations.

Largest Cities or Towns of China


Largest Cities or Towns in China activity and free printable


It's one thing to learn about the rich history of China, but another to realize what China is like today.  I wanted to make sure the kiddos understood the difference.


Largest Cities or Towns of China


The kiddos will put the cities or towns in order from biggest to smallest.  If they so desire, they can find and mark them on the map.  (I had to write two of the cities/towns in that weren't already shown on the map.)

Source:  I created the printable for this activity. The Largest Cities or Towns in China Printable is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, be sure to follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Historic Places of China Nomenclature Cards


Historic places of China nomenclature cards (Free Printable)


China is such a beautiful country with so much history.  I loved teaching the kiddos about the places on each of these cards.


Historic Places of China Nomenclature Cards


Source: I created this printable. The China Cards are are Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, be sure to follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Animals of Asia Nomenclature Cards


Free Animals of Asia Cards


Here is our newest set of animal cards, made specifically for Dinomite.  I would not be surprised if he becomes some type of animal scientist when he grows up. He knows SO MUCH already.  


The kiddos will look at all the different animals on the cards, sorting them as they wish.  A special thanks to my husband for researching all of the animals and making the cards!

Source:  My husband created this printable. The Animals of Asia Printable is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, be sure to follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Layers of the Earth


Layers of the Earth Cards


As I was planning our study of earthquakes and volcanoes, I realized we couldn't learn about them without understanding a lot about the layers of the Earth.  This was our intro activity.  I was so surprised the kiddos understood it all so well.

Source: These free cards can be found at The Helpful Garden.

How the Earth's Tectonic Plates Move


How the Earth's Plates Move Activity for kids


After learning about the layers of the Earth, we focused on the layers of the Mantle, to better understand how earthquakes and volcano eruptions happen.  


I found this really cool visual activity that I couldn't resist using.  The kiddos loved it and completely understood the difficult concepts. I was super excited!


How the Earth's plates move using Oreos


The kiddos create the different ways the plates shift using the Oreo cookies, matching the diagrams provided.  They loved taking it one step further, having the plates collide, etc. to create earthquakes.

Source: This activity can be found HERE.

What an Earthquake Looks Like on the Surface


What an Earthquake looks like on the surface

It's one thing to understand what happens below the surface to cause an earthquake. It's another to understand how it affects the surface and what happens.  

The kiddos poured rice on the green paper, covering a metal cake pan.  They liked to say that the rice grains were people.  

Then, they took the spoon and banged it against the side of the pan, (the mantle movement & collision under the surface).  

It was quite entertaining to watch what happened to the rice.  We then tried the same thing with lentils.

To tie the activity into the history of China, I included picture cards of the earthquake that hit in 2008 causing tens of thousands of deaths, destruction and more.

Source: I found this fabulous idea at The-Science-Site.com.  

Parts of a Volcano


Parts of a Volcano cards

I loved these cards when I saw them.  I was so thankful I didn't have to make my own.  (That wouldn't have gone well.)  

The kiddos will match up pictures with words and hopefully learn all the parts by the end of the week. I told them if they all could do that, we'd make a volcano and have it erupt.

Source:  This free printable can be found at The Helpful Garden.

How to Draw a Horse


How to draw a horse activity for kids

Since this new year is the year of the horse, I thought it quite fitting to learn how to draw one.

Transfer with Chopsticks


Pom Pom transfer with Chopsticks


The kiddos will transfer pom poms from one bowl to the other using chopsticks.

Chinese Writing


Chinese writing practice for kids


The kiddos will paint Chinese Number signs or days of the week signs. They had a lot of fun with this today, especially Dinomite.

Source: The free printable used in this activity can be found at Luxury, Travel & Lifestyle.

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy the posts below.


Chinese New Year Math Activities Chinese New Year Language Activities Chinese New Year Culture and Science Activities Chinese New Year Activities for Preschoolers Chinese New Year Preschool ActivitiesChinese New Year Printable Pack Asia Unit with Free Printables Montessori-inspired Asia Unit Printable Pack Bundle Montessori-inspired Yellow Activities  Earthquake Activities with Free Printables Montessori-inspired Volcano Activities Earth Science Activities

12 comments:

  1. Hi Renae! Such impressive collection of ideas! I certainly miss doing these activities. When my youngest is ready, I will definitely come back here for ideas and for the abundance resources. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thank you Jae! Can't wait to see you back here when your youngest is ready!

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  2. These are the EXACT resources I was looking for this week. I've been trying to decide whether to put together some Chinese New Year's printables and now I don't have to :) We've also been talking about the structure of the Earth and these activities are just fantastic. You are amazing!

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    1. Seemi, I'm so glad I could help you! I know the feeling when you find exactly what you're looking for. I hope you have a great week!

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  3. Renae, these are BRILLIANT!! What a professional and inviting set of activities! thank you for sharing! I especially loved your math ideas, like odd and even!

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    1. Thank you Anastasia! I'm glad you enjoyed the activities!

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  4. What fabulous activities and printables, Renae! Thanks so much for sharing another amazing unit! I was happy to feature your post as the Free Printable of the Day at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and on Pinterest. :)

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    1. Thank you Deb! I love being able to share the printables I create with others. It makes all the work worth it!

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  5. Where did you get the plastic animals for the Chinese zodiac? We have the pandas. :) 3 of my kids are from China, so we love learning more about their homeland.

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    1. The plastic animals used for the Chinese Zodiac Activity were pulled from Dinomite's VAST collection of animal figures. They were not a specific set, although it does sound like a great idea to pitch to Safari Toob!

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  6. Thank you so much for this! You are really inspiring me to do the work to incorporate more hands-on learning into our homeschool!
    Tina

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