Air, Land & Water Nature Table
Preschool Discovery Table
[pinit]
EARTH DAY Celebration with hands On Play!
Making the Air, Land & Water Nature Discovery Table
I had a lot of ideas for Earth Day and was very enthusiastic the week before but somehow lost some steam by Monday! I like to find or create activities that do three things for us. I want the activity to have some educational value. I want the activity to be hands on and sensorial. Lastly, I want the activity to open up discussion between us. This particular activity had all three and then some. Sometimes I need to take concepts and twist them a bit so that I know Liam will be successful with them and enjoy them and maybe do them again.
1. I sewed (using the verb sew loosely) the four rectangles of felt together into a mat
2. I made header cards for air, land and water
3. I gathered some natural materials to creates spaces: cotton, twigs and shells
4. I gathered all our little animals from all our Toobs: birds, jungle, farm, ocean and trees
5. I found old photographs from hiking and camping trips and mounted them to coordinating scrapbook paper (help with independent sorting)
This was his invitation to play when he got up in the morning. It took him awhile to warm up to sitting down for the activity and he showed sparse interest in it until much later after he had done many other activities. He was warmed up! (There is nod to the Montessori unit on Air, Land and Water but I didn’t feel the exact unit was enough to capture Liam’s attention.) I also felt it was a nice way to talk about the Earth.
I modeled what I thought would be a good sequence for him to remember and use again with the activity. He does better following a structure with a clear beginning, clear methodical order and clear end. Although I don’t want him to rely solely on activities that offer this, I also like keep in mind what he is comfortable with when I introduce new activities! I also was hoping it would give him a sense of how he could do it on his own if he wanted to try it again.
My sequence was to first look and talk about the photos and decide where they should go on the mat. I showed him how the borders matched the colored areas of felt for air, land and water. We decide, from observation of pictures, and agreed that a few could be placed in more than one color! Discussion! After cleaning up the cards, I showed him how he could lay out the natural materials and he took over and finished up the task. He made a tree house out of the clouds (his favorite). Lastly, I showed him how to choose where animals could go. Again, from observation, we talked about what each animal was, where it might live (or fly) and whether it could be in two places on the mat. More discussion! Hooray for matching, categorizing, discussing and learning simple Earth facts!
Best part of all, he asked to do it again the next day! I would like to change the pictures to transportation and take out all sorts of air, land and water vehicles for a new twist on the idea. I just need a mini Duck Boat!
Find more activities
Beth
April 26, 2013 at 6:19 pmWhat a fun Earth day activity! Thanks for stopping by and liking 123Homeschool4me =) Always fun to meet a new blogger!
Beth
Maureen
April 27, 2013 at 1:32 pmLove the mat that you sewed together. I had planned on using construction paper but I like the look and would like the feel of the fabric better. Great ideas.
littlebins
April 28, 2013 at 8:11 pmIt really was a quick sew and I didn’t do anything fancy! I am the worst at sewing but I thought the feel of the material would be a nice sensory piece and the materials would stick a little. I would love to see what you come up with when you are finished!
Enchanted Schoolroom
April 29, 2013 at 9:43 pmLove it 🙂
Totally identify with the loosing steam thing, lol!
Mary Catherine
April 30, 2013 at 12:53 amLove this sorting mat activity (as well as the mat you made for it)! What a great connection to Earth Day. If you have the time, I’d love for you to share this at Stress-Free Sunday . . . it’s open until this Friday. 🙂
littlebins
April 30, 2013 at 11:51 amThank you and I am headed over now!
Stephanie
April 30, 2013 at 1:21 pmThis is such a great activity for little hands. Even the colors are sensory engaging. Great job putting that together.
littlebins
April 30, 2013 at 4:10 pmThank you so much! It was fun to do together and he was pretty proud of it. Will pop by and see what you are up to as well!
jeannine: waddlee-ah-chaa
May 2, 2013 at 11:28 pmI like how you will be able to use this as a sorting mat for many different learning themes. Love all of the sorting and thinking.
littlebins
May 3, 2013 at 3:07 amYes, there are so many possibilities! Thank you and I hope you will follow along!
Allison S (@Train_Up_aChild)
May 3, 2013 at 9:46 pmI love this set up! I’m featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this week.
littlebins
May 4, 2013 at 11:54 amOh wow! So happy you are featuring my activity. Thank you so much and thank you for a great place to share!
Carrie
May 3, 2013 at 10:57 pmWhat a wonderful activity and such a great way to celebrate Earth Day! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
littlebins
May 4, 2013 at 11:44 amThank you so much for the great space!
Renae
May 4, 2013 at 11:17 pmThanks for inviting me to take a look! What a fun idea! Although, I’d have to do three separate pieces of felt because I’d probably never even take the time to attempt to sew. As my girls get older, I’m seriously going to have to check out the book: Sewing for Dummies, just so I can learn and teach them. That’s what a get for a mother who hired a seamstress.
littlebins
May 4, 2013 at 11:38 pmThanks for stopping by! Really, I took so little time to do it and you really wouldn’t want to look closely. The stitches are huge on the back. I just did the opposite seams together. The felt isn’t even at all either haha. The camera does a good job covering it all up! I am sure separate ones would look just as great!
Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest
May 5, 2013 at 1:26 amI love, love, love this activity! Such a fun and creative way to learn about the natural world. I may just have to do something similar for my little guy. Thanks for the inspiration!
littlebins
May 5, 2013 at 10:24 amThank you it was fun to create and play with! I am trying to gather things now to turn it into transportation. Glad you were inspired!
Ashley
May 5, 2013 at 1:19 pmLooks like lots of fun! A great way to experience some of the differences we associate with air, land, and water! Thanks for sharing at Mom’s Library.
Hannah
May 7, 2013 at 2:03 pmWhat a great way to learn! I featured your sensory table on my blog. Hope to see you again today at Eco-Kids Tuesday!!
littlebins
May 7, 2013 at 4:07 pmThank you so much! It was a great morning of play. I have already been to your page and put our latest beautiful butterfly sensory bin up. The colors were so pretty and he had such an imagination with his butterfly friends. You guys look like you are having some great times too even if a little under the weather this week. Take care!
Ashley
May 7, 2013 at 10:43 pmFeaturing you on Mom’s Library this week!
littlebins
May 7, 2013 at 11:32 pmAwesome! How cool is that? lol