• Balls Study

    Week of May 11 - May 15, 2020

    Click Here for a letter to famillies from Teaching Strategies: The Creative Curriculum featuring the Balls Study.

    Focus Question: What makes balls move?

    Question of the Day: Monday: Which ball game do you like best? 

    Tuesday: How do you think a ball would move if it were floating in water?

    Wednesday: Do you think balls roll in water?

    Thursday: How do you think a ball can move from one end of a room to the other without touching it?

    Friday: Who uses balls?

  • Read-Alouds

    Starting on Monday, watch and read along with one title each day.

    Monday: The Three Little Pigs - Click the title to listen to and watch a read aloud of The Three Little Pigs.

    Tuesday: Bounce - Click the title to listen to and watch a read aloud of Bounce.

    Wednesday: Stop That Ball - Click the title to listen to and watch a read aloud of Stop That Ball.

    Thursday: The Lost Ball  - Click the title to listen to and watch a read aloud of The Lost Ball.

    Friday: The Matzo Ball Boy  - Click the title to listen to and watch a read aloud of The Matzo Ball Boy.

  • Make Time for...

    Outdoor Experiences

    Move a Ball 

    • Explore the different ways balls can move or can be moved from one place to another.
    • Challenge children to think of all the different ways they can move a ball from one sid eof the playground to another without touching, hitting or kicking it.  If possible, experiment with using a leaf blower to move balls across the playground. 
    • Invite children to make and test predictions. 
    • Take pictures of their investigations.

    Physical Fun

    • Balloon Catch: Using a blown up balloon, try to toss the balloon back and forth between yourself and your child

     

    Family Partnerships 

    • Invite a family member who uses an exercise ball, and explore the various ways to use one. 
    • Invite a grandparent or older family member who can tell a story about a ball game he or she used to play as a child. 
    • Invite a family member and his or her pet who plays with a ball, e.g., a dog that catches a ball or a hamster that plays inside a ball. 

    Wow Experiences

    • Invite a family member who plays sports to visit and play a game they are skilled in. 

     

    *cited from Teaching Strategies: The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, featuring the Balls Study.

  • Interest Area Activities

    This is where you can find some fun activities to do with your child.  These activities can be done with materials you already have at home, or items similar to what you have at home.  Choose one activity each day starting Monday.

    1.   Using straws, small lightweight balls and a measuring tool, try blowing through the straw pointed at the balls with one breath as far as you can.  Measure how many inches you were able to blow the ball.  

    2.   Using plastic lightweight balls, a straw and bowl or tub of water, and a measuring tool, see if your balls will float across the surface of the water when you blow through the straw.  How far does it move with one breath? 

    3.   Using a bowl or small tub of water, experiement with several different types of small balls.  Before immersing the balls into the water, predict with your child what will happen to eaach ball - will it sink or float? Gently place each ball into the water and record on paper with a drawing which ball floats and which ball sinks.  How do the results compare to your predictions?

    4.   Using a fan or hairdryer, small lightweight balls, and a measuring tool, try blowing the balls across the room.  Keep the fan or hairdryer stationary in one place, and see how far you can get the balls.    

    5.   Take some of your favorite balls outside.  Explore the balls and the ease with which you can kick or throw the balls.  Are any balls easier to play with than others?  Why do you think that?

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