How can one activity spring off into multiple others? It happens a lot in our house! It’s exciting to follow the interests of our children to expand their learning.
First, we had dyed egg shells when were did the dying egg shells activity.
When I was cleaning up our supplies, my son asked, “What color will it be if we pour them all together?” He was talking about all the leftover dye we had in the glasses.
I said, “We can try it and see.”
We moved from our dining room table (the project table) into the kitchen. I helped each of my children pour one color of dye into a larger plastic canister. As we poured each color in, we observed the changes.
I asked them questions such as, “What color is it now?” They would watch and answer.
My toddler just wanted to mix the concoction. She always wants to mix! When it looked like the mixing was going to end up launching dye all over the kitchen, I thought of another activity.
I told her she could try mixing some soap and water instead. I asked them if they wanted to mix soap and water, and they agreed.
Another activity sprouted: I took the colored dye away and prepared two mixing bowls each with water, a squirt of dish soap and a whisk so both kiddos could have a chance to try mixing at the same time. Hooray for having two whisks!
In the kitchen, on their little table, they whisked away to create soap suds.
My son asked about the smell of the soap, so we smelled it a little.
My toddler was literally trying to get her whole body into the bowl. It was a sight!
Not much was spilled on the floor, surprisingly, and since it was just soapy water, it helped wash the floor a little when we wiped it up.
We put on some music after this and the kids were finished with their explorations in the kitchen for the evening.
Over the course of one hour, we went from a science-art-sensory activity with the egg shells, to a science-fine motor activity with pouring and mixing the dyes together, to a sensory activity with the mixing and whisks.
The kids were both focused the entire time, on the same activities for the same amount of time. How often does that happen!?
When you are home and have open-ended time, it truly is awesome how much exploration and learning can take place especially when you do not have a specific lesson plan in mind.
Have you had a time when one activity naturally moved into another with no lesson plan required?
More Simple Spring Kids Activities to Explore:
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I love how you let them explore – sometimes the best activities come with no planning, just following the kids' lead. You have got some lucky kids there! 🙂