It's Getting Windy In Preschool
Weather patterns and transitions between the seasons offer many great learning opportunities for your preschool classroom. Trish, creator of Preschool Playbook, took the idea of wind and ran with it! As her preschoolers found out, there are many ways to 'make' wind!
First, she encouraged students to attempt forcing various amounts of air through their pursed lips to make soft breezes and gale force bursts of wind. While extremely fun and insightful, please note that a slight disclaimer exists for this activity. Just like blowing out candles on a birthday cake, some of your preschoolers may not have mastered the art of blowing without spitting. If this is the case, you may wish to give them a few pointers, but move on before other students are disrupted. Next, Trish demonstrated how her students could feel a gentle breeze by moving their hands up and down rapidly. For a fun craft, children were provided with colorful construction paper to decorate with markers, stickers, and glue. When finished, they were folded into fans as another way to generate and feel wind.
Lastly, Trish allowed her preschoolers to experiment with a fan. Students heard and felt the difference between low and high settings, tested an assortment of objects to see which could be blown around by the wind, and discussed the characteristics of the objects that were able to stand up against the 'wind' including weight, size, design, etc.
A fun activity that combines sensory exploration, hands-on interaction, and a place for inquisitive minds to learn!