Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool - Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool

Tapioca Sensory Play!

2/15/2016

We are exploring dyed tapioca pearls in our sensory table today! A completely edible version of water beads although, would you believe, not even ONE of the kids tried putting these in their mouth this morning?! After finding an extremely wide variety of cooking instructions, I decided to just be completely random and I cooked 3/4 cup of pearls in 2 cups of dyed water for each color. It seemed to work out perfectly! We added a bit of water to the tub for play, and it took away all of the stickiness and made for a fantastic sensory play experience! Aren't they just beautiful?!

Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool -- Tapioca Sensory Play

Pouring Station

1/21/2016

We set up a pouring station today and had so much fun with it. Great practice for an important life skill and a fun way to exercise critical thinking skills, eye-hand coordination, self-regulation, and spacial awareness too!

Cotton Ball Sensory Science

1/14/2016

The kids really loved this sensory exploration this morning. SO simple to set up, too! Just a tub of water, and some trays of colored water with cotton balls in them. I added tweezers at the last minute as an after thought, and it was a definite hit! Whether using the tweezers or their fingers, it was a great fine motor activity, with scientific aspects (absorption, displacement - when they made big splashes, which brought big giggles, too!), and a great opportunity for expanding vocabulary (I heard words like darker, lighter, full, empty, splash, and lots of color words, too).

Vinegar & Baking Soda on Ice

1/7/2016

We are trying out a new twist on an old favorite around here today: colored vinegar and baking soda in ice! The kids love the chemical reaction, as usual, and the ice gives it all added depth and texture.

Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool -- Vinegar & Baking Soda on Ice

Absorption Art

11/17/2015

I'm excited for our combination art and science absorption activity today! We have wax coated paper plates, coffee filters, parchment paper, cotton balls, tissue paper, felt, paper towels, tissues, and various types of art papers, and liquid water colors, paintbrushes, and droppers to experiment and create with!

Gourd Volcanoes!

10/21/2015

Excited to see how the kids explore this mini pumpkin/gourd volcano setup this afternoon! Gourds, seeds, baking soda, and colored vinegar...should be fun!

Shake Painting

9/9/2015

We had fun with some "shake painting" today! The kids added paint to their paper in a container, then added some marbles, beads, and golf balls, snapped on the lid and started shaking! We noticed the different sounds that different balls made, observed the balls mixing our colors into new colors, saw the tracks left behind, and had lots of fun making some beautiful art!

Mixing Science

3/25/2015

Mixing science - Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool

One of our friends came in this morning asking if we could please do some science today! :) So, we had a really fun discussion about what we would need to "do science" and then got out an assortment of our favorite materials and got to work. We filled some ice cube trays with plain water, colored water, and colored vinegar. We also had flour, epsom salt, baking soda, and of course some tongs, droppers, and safety goggles. :) We had a great time being scientists and making discoveries!

Mixing science - Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool

Bubble Painting

3/19/2015

We had big fun with paint bubbles this morning! Bubbles are always fun...add a bit of paint and some paper for print-making, and it's extra exciting! :)

Salt & Ice Science

3/5/2015

We had fun with the beautiful science of salt and ice this morning! I prepared some ice in several different sizes and shapes, and put it out for the kids along with some coarse salt, Epsom salt, liquid watercolors, and droppers for the kids to experiment with. The results are amazing!