The second week of our Earth Day Unit is focused on Pollution.  

I also decided to introduce the kids to the very basics of recycling also, to prepare for next week's theme of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  

We've only had the new activities out on our shelves for a day and I'm relishing in all of the conversation and questions!

April is always a busy month for us, especially the first half of the month.  

This week I've prepared pollution themed activities, but you'll notice that there aren't many included in the language section.

Ending Sounds

We've used some of these cards before, but with our poke out letters.  This time I decided to include a writing tablet so the kiddos could practice writing their words.  

I always worry I don't get enough writing in with them.  We do worksheets in the morning as part of our routine but it's something all of the kiddos struggle with, so I feel like I need to do more with them.

Source:  The free cards came from Montessori Print Shop.

Bossy "E" Words

Dinomite has been working on his bossy "e" words, so I decided this might be a fun activity for him.  I included the poke out letters to keep Bulldozer and Princess engaged, as they are not reading yet. 

Hopefully I'll have the proper Montessori letters by the start of our new school year. For now though, these are working and were $1.

Source: The Bossy "E" Word Cards were free at Montessori Print Shop.

Compound Word Match Up

You might say Dinomite has a thing for compound words.  He loves them.  I love that he loves them, hence why I made sure to print out this activity when I found it.  

The best part is, even though Bulldozer and Princess aren't quite reading yet, all of the cards have pictures and can be matched up by puzzle piece shape.  What a win win situation for everyone!

Source:  I found these for free at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Earth Day Unit: Pollution

Earth Day Themed Counting

Bulldozer and Princess do fabulous counting out objects to ten, however they really start to struggle past that point. I loved these cards because they use larger numbers, not just the typical 1-10.  Happy Counting for us!

Source: I found these cards as part of an Earth Day Pack at Royal Baloo.

More Than/Less Than Cards

There's something about more than and less than problems that works with Bulldozer.  

Still in speech three times a week, he really struggles with a lot of concepts and word phrases, but more than and less than phrases he does not.  

Add objects he can count out and voila!  Instant success.  

It's in these happy moments I am so thankful we switched to using the Montessori Method.  He's SUCH a visual learner.

Source:  I found these free cards at Montessori Print Shop.

Fill in the Missing Numbers & Letters

These worksheets were placed in a sheet protector, hence why there's an erasable white board marker included.  

The kiddos traced solid numbers and letters, dotted numbers and letters, and then wrote ones that were missing.

Source: I found these free printables as part of the Earth Day Pack at Royal Baloo.

Land, Water & Air Pollution

Our main focus of the week is pollution. I wanted to teach the kids that there are three main types of pollution and give them examples of each type.  

After researching several sites, I figured I had enough examples they could understand at such an early age.  I tried to select pictures that gave hints as to the type of pollution they were creating.

I can not tell you how much discussion this activity initiated between the kids and how many questions they asked etc.  To date, it's probably one of my happiest memories so far this year. 

Source: I created and updated the printable for this activity. The Land, Air, and Water Pollution Cards are a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

No to Pollution!  Yes to a Solution!

Dinomite, Bulldozer and Princess are all anxiety ridden kiddos.  We're talking significant anxieties, so I KNEW I couldn't teach them about pollution, without giving them comfort in knowing there were things they could do about it.  So, I made several matching sets of cards.  

The first card of the set shows a type of pollution. The second card shows a solution or alternative way of doing things that doesn't cause pollution.  I'll admit a couple were tricky, but Dinomite LOVED the process.  It definitely helped him feel more in control of his little world.

Once Dinomite finished the first part of the activity, he realized there were three more cards on the tray.  He was determined to finish everything.  

I created land, water, and air cards so he could see what solutions helped different kinds of pollution.  Granted some cards could fit in two or more categories. Feel free to print extras to do so.  

For him, just the basics were enough.  The activity was a HUGE success.

Source: I created and updated the printable for this activity. The Preventing Land, Air & Water Pollution Cards are a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Metals

With the kiddos so young, I wasn't sure if they would know the difference between materials they could recycle:  metal, glass, plastic, and paper, so I tried to create a tray that specifically focused on each of the four categories.

Our metal tray was a lot of fun.  You'll notice a magnet attached to the mini cake pan.  The kiddos were asked to test out the magnet on all of the metal objects in the basket and separate them into two categories, ones that the magnet would stick to and ones that it wouldn't.

Contents in the basket included:  

• a mini cake pan
• tomato paste can
• hole punch
• tweezers, spoon
• dock cleat, foil, barrette
• key
• dime
• penny
• wrench.  

You could add many more, but that's what we found laying around the house.

Opening & Closing Plastic Containers

The kiddos really struggle with opening containers, so I figured it was time they start learning.  

I collected several different sized plastic containers around the house and they went to town.  

There were definitely some frustrating times, but huge cheers as they were successful.  

Missing from the basket when I took the picture is a dish detergent container.

Pouring into Glass

We've done pouring activities several times before, but not using glass.  I found these child sized cups and pouring container at a second hand store for 29 cents each.  

Instead of pouring water, I've been dying to find a way to incorporate water beads into our activities. What can I say?  They are so FUN!

And boy were they!  The kiddos did great pouring from container to cups, however pouring the beads back into the container proved to be really tricky.  

The beads are bouncy and went everywhere.  Luckily, Mommy came to the rescue noticing the issue and introduced them to the funnel.  I had to use a larger one so the beads would fit through the spout.  

This is by far Bulldozer's favorite activity of the week!  So much he's had to show his occupational therapist every day she comes.

Tearing Paper

My husband and I gathered together all types of paper-tissue paper, cardboard, poster board, magazine paper, construction paper, etc.  The kiddos were asked to tear the papers into tiny pieces, and using the glue and paint brush, make a beautiful torn paper recycling sign.

Little did we know just how difficult the task was going to be for Princess.  It had never occurred to us that she wouldn't know how to tear paper.  

Daddy worked side by side with her to help her succeed.  By the end of the activity she was a pro! 

Air Pollution

I wanted to come up with a way for the kids to really SEE what each type of pollution looked like with their own eyes.  

Before going further, this activity needs to be done with 100% adult supervision.  Lighting of candles needs to be handled by the supervising adult.

The kids were asked to make Mommy a birthday cake using play-doh, seeing it was Mommy's birthday coming.  Then they placed the candles provided into the cake.  (I love how this activity incorporated hand muscles and pinching grasps).

Once candles were in place and checked by Mommy or Daddy, one of us lit the candles for the kiddos.

They loved singing "Happy Birthday" before they tried to blow them out.  

The blowing itself was great practice for Bulldozer who really struggles with that.  

After they blew out the candles, they could see, smell, and at times cough because of the smoke.  I loved how much they understood the concept after actually seeing it.

Land Pollution

One could say this was a type of sensory bin.  Hidden in the dirt, rocks, etc. were several pieces of garbage the kids could retrieve.  They realized just how much they didn't like playing with "dirty" dirt.

Water Pollution

This activity was a HUGE hit! Although it's pretty smelly and yucky too.  But of course that's the goal. 

I gave the kiddos a clean bin of water, along side it was a tray that held tongs, a strainer, oil (representing toxins), and several pieces of garbage.  

The kiddos put all of the garbage and oil in the water.

I explained how the water was now polluted and that we needed to clean it up.  With the tongs and strainer the kiddos tried to clean the water, but realized there was no way they could make it clean again.

They repeated the activity over and over again.  I'm super excited they now know exactly how much damage water pollution can cause.

Source:  I found this idea at Along the Way.

We're getting excited for Earth Day here!

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The Earth: Creation

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This month our theme of study is the earth. I found it only appropriate to first focus on the Creation.  The kiddos have been having a fabulous time learning about all of the different creations one by one, to the point where they're really starting to understand it all.  As I've prepared all of the activities for the week, I found myself in awe of all the many things that have been created on this beautiful Earth.  It really is overwhelming!

I've separated the activities by day of the Creation.  The first few activities are just Earth/Creation related activities.

Earth:

Six Days of Creation

To introduce the whole concept of the Creation, I decided to put together a sorting basket for the kiddos.  I had these beautiful numbers from a while back that I thought would be perfect to help the kids understand the sequence without words.  For Dinomite, since he can read, I included words too.

Source:  I found the number cards HERE.

Above you can see all of the little items in our basket!  The kids have LOVED this activity!

Creating the Earth with Beads

I love these sort of activities for the kiddos.  They prove to be difficult for Bulldozer but very rewarding for Dinomite and Princess.

Source:  I found the print out at 3 Dinosaurs as part of the Space Pack.

Earth Bead Bracelets

The kids made beautiful green and blue bead bracelets to celebrate our Earth.

Spooning  "Earth" Balls Activity

I wanted to use only blue and green balls for this activity, but didn't have enough.  Oh well, you get the point.  Bulldozer really struggled using this spoon, so I had to switch to an easier one for him so we wouldn't have tears.  Princess on the other hand did awesome!

Animal Puzzle

I just love Melissa & Doug Puzzles!  Princess does too. She can now complete any 48 piece puzzle independently!

Day 1: Light

Let There Be Light

For this activity I traced the outline of the Earth onto black construction paper using a white crayon.  The kids poked holes using a toothpick along the white lines.  When they finished they LOVED holding their Earth up to the light, because they could see the light they had created on their Earth.

There Was Darkness

To help the kids understand what the Earth looked like before their was light, we covered a baby food jar with black Play-Do. Then they took a flashlight and put it inside the jar. If their jars were completely covered with Play-Do, they could not see light.  Once the darkness was demonstrated, the kids pulled pieces of Play-Do off bit by bit to show light.

I loved how they used their hand muscles and fine motor skills to completely cover the baby food jar.  It proved to be work for Bulldozer.

After doing both Day 1 activities the kids really understood what the Earth was like at first and just how light influenced it.  I was super excited they understood.

Day 2: Sky

The Sky

The only way I could think of to teach them about the sky being separated from the waters was to introduce the water cycle and cloud formations.  After all, that's a concrete concept that they can understand.  Our first activity was learning about cloud formations in the sky.  After identifying them or matching pictures and labels up, the kids could choose up to 4 cloud formations they wanted to create using cotton balls.

Source: I made the printable for this activity.  The Cloud Formation Cards are a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Demonstrating a Rain Cloud

To further demonstrate the water cycle and also the separation of water and sky, we used a dropper to fill cotton balls with water to the point that they "rained."  The kids really liked this.

Source:  I found this activity at Living Montessori Now.

Day 3:Seas, Land & Plants

Sequencing the Growth of Plants

I loved these cards when I saw them and knew I just had to use them. Bulldozer really struggles with sequencing, so I've been trying to incorporate at least one activity a week.

Source:  I found these cards as part of a Garden Printable Pack set at Home School Creations.

Land & Water Masses

I saw this activity at a Montessori Preschool I visited and LOVED it!  It worked perfect as I try to explained the separation of water to form land masses as part of the Creation.

My apologies, I do not know where the cards came from.  However, if someone does, please leave the source in a comment!

Day 4: Sun, Moon, & Stars

The Moon

Studying the moon using Oreos is an idea that is everywhere!  Knowing Bulldozer and his LOVE for Oreos, I figured it would be perfect. Sure enough, he LOVED it!  I love that all of my kids can now identify the moon they see in the sky!

Source: I found the cards at Noor Janan Homeschool.

For those who have not seen the activity, this is what it looks like!  Just be warned, it takes 8 Oreo cookies to do the activity.  You may want to let kiddos know before hand how many cookies you'll let them eat after or else they will be eating a LOT of cookies.  (I learned this the hard way!)

The Sun, Stars, & Moon

Dinomite received this Solar System Leap Frog Tag Game for Christmas.  I figured this was a great time to bring it out and teach all of the kiddos the very basics of our Solar System and just what the sun, moon, and stars are.  They have really had fun with it.  I'm not sure you can tell from the picture that the game folds out to be quite large.

Day 5: Sky & Water Creatures

Where Do Fish Live?

This activity was inspired by a book my son took out from the library. As always, I was trying to find an activity that would be a challenge for Dinomite, since animals are his world and he knows far more about them than I do.  Identifying oceans was way too easy for him so, with the help of my husband, we came up with this activity.

There are six categories or choices of where the fish live:1.  Warm Salt Water2.  Cold Salt Water3.  Warm Fresh Water4.  Cold Fresh Water5.  Hatches in Fresh Water, Lives in Salt Water6.  Hatches in Salt Water, Lives in Fresh Water


Each location can be matched to two fish cards.  Matching numbers are on the back of each set of cards so the kids (and Mommy) will know the answers.  I designed all of the cards using pictures I found online.  It turned out pretty well!


To save those who are interested, the time and effort it takes to research which fish live where:1.  Warm Salt Water-Devil Ray & Great White Shark2.  Cold Salt Water-Atlantic Cod & Smooth Flounder3.  Warm Fresh Water-Catfish & Piranha4.  Cold Fresh Water-Lake Trout & Northern Pike5.  Hatches in Fresh Water, Lives in Salt Water-Pink Salmon & Sturgeon6.  Hatches in Salt Water, Lives in Fresh Water-European Eel & Cougar Eel

Source: I created this printable.  The Fish Habitat Cards are a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Bird Beak Identification

Source:  I found these cards at Montessori Print Shop.

Day 6:  Land Animals & Man

Animal & Continent Match

We've used this activity many times, just not all the animals together.  The kids love it!

Source: I found these printables at Walk beside Me.

The Body of Man

The kids have had no experience with studying the body except a few bone activities we did around Halloween time.  I figured this was a great time to do it!  I am always in awe at the bodies that have been created for our spirits to live in.

I found these cute little body parts last year around Halloween.

Source: I created these cards.

The kids are definitely understanding the story of the Creation much better and are developing a very deep respect for it as we all have learned just how complex it is.  It's been a fabulous way to start out our Earth study unit this month!

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