The Water Cycle

This morning we continued talking about spring and the different changes we have seen since it started to warm up outside. Our letter today was "W" and we listed several words that start with the /w/ sound. Some of the words the kids thought of were watermelon, wagon, whale, white, wet, wind and Wednesday.

Ms. Michelle was outside today....and it was so nice in the shade! First we bear walked to the parachute. We practiced following direction while Ms. Michelle gave us commands. We moved the parachute up and down and then walked around in a circle. She even let the kids sit under the parachute while the teachers made wind over top of them. The last parachute activity was popping popcorn...which is the kids favorite! Then it was time for finger fun....and we made ice cream! We mixed baking soda, a cotton candy icing flavor packet and ice cold water together. It was cold like ice cream and smooth. Ms. Michelle let us vote on what we wanted her to bring to our last class next week.

Our story today was "Splish, Splash, Spring" by Jan Carr. It described a rainstorm and things the kids during and after the rain was finished. After reading the story we talked about the water cycle. We learned three REALLY big words...evaporation, condensation and precipitation. We learned the water evaporates from an ocean or puddle and moves up into the sky. The water makes a cloud and the cloud gets very heavy when it condensates. Finally, the cloud is so heavy it starts to precipitate or rain.

For science we showed the kids how the water cycle words. We made clouds with shaving cream and added blue food coloring. When the cloud got very heavy the rain started to fall from the clouds. We reviewed our special new vocabulary words after science was over.

For art we made a rainy picture. The kids drew a picture of themselves on their paper. Then they glued an umbrella over their head to keep them dry. Next we mixed corn syrup and blue food coloring together to make rain. The kids used popsicle sticks to make rain on their papers.

After lunch we ended the day with rain and water cycle songs. Next time it rains we will know that the clouds were to heavy to hold the raindrops in the sky.

Thank you for the sweet and thoughtful cards from the kids this morning. It made my day! The teachers enjoyed their wonderful lunch too!