Ice Cream in a Bag (Fun in the Sun)

Cooking/Science Project “Ice Cream in a Bag” :
We were divided into small groups and made ice cream using Ziploc bags. 

This activity is a great way to spark conversations and interactions. Here are some ideas:

• Offer a variety of flavors that can be made and let the students in their small groups decide what ice cream they want to create.
• Encourage cooperation throughout, e.g., one student holds the Ziploc bag open, while the other pours the ingredients into the bag.
• Facilitate conversations by asking structured questions: "What will happen when we start shaking the bag?" "How long do you think we will have to shake the bag?"
• Let the students vote on their favorite flavors.

ICE CREAM IN A BAG

HERE IS WHAT WE NEED:

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• ½ cup milk (any kind: whole, 2%, chocolate milk) or half and half.

                          

• ¼ teaspoon flavoring (or to taste, if the flavor is pure a couple of drops might be enough). Flavor suggestions: vanilla, chocolate, mint.
  
  

                 

• Ice

                         

• 6 tablespoons rock salt

                     

• 1 gallon-sized/1 quart-sized Ziploc freezer bag

                    

HERE IS HOW IT WORKS:

• Measure the ingredients and pour sugar, milk and flavoring in quart-sized Ziploc bag. IMPORTANT: Seal bag securely.

                            

• Fill the gallon-sized Ziploc half full with ice and add rock salt.
  
  

                               

• Place the quart-size Ziploc bag into the gallon-sized Ziploc bag and seal (you may want to double bag).

                 

            

• Zip outer bag shut (make sure is sealed well) and shake, turn, toss and mix the bag for at least 5 minutes.

     

Caution:

• The hands will get cold very quickly. You can use some towels as a protective layer.

YUMMY!!!

Fun in the Sun: Summer Dips

Today,  we engaged in one of our favorite activities: COOKING.

Hands-on cooking projects are not only great fun for kids of all ages and skill levels but address all areas of development:

Social/Emotional: turn taking and sharing the different materials and tools; working together toward a common goal, namely preparing a meal together; promoting independence and self-direction by following a recipe; helping each other; trying new things; sitting down together and enjoying a meal as a group.

Language/Communication: learning new vocabulary (e.g., names of ingredients, cooking utensils); practicing asking questions and making comments while cooking; requesting; expressing an opinion (likes/dislikes);

Fine-Motor Skills: pouring, squeezing, cutting, mixing.

Cognitive Skills: following multiple directions; attention to task; understanding a sequence, organizational skills; measuring and counting.

We split up into two small groups and each group prepared a different summer dip: HUMMUS AND GUACAMOLE. YUMMY!!! And it was a toss up at the end: Some of us liked the hummus better and others preferred the guacamole.

HUMMUS

• 2 cans garbanzo beans: drain, keep liquid   

• 1 clove garlic crushed with garlic press
  
  

•  2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  
  

• 1 teaspoon salt (or less: TASTE)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
  

Combine ingredients in a blender. Blend on low speed, gradually adding bean liquid, until desired consistency is achieved.

Guacamole

• 4 avocados: slice avocados in half the long way (adult), pull out the pits. Use a spoon to scoop out all the soft, green insides. Put them in shallow dish and mash them with a potato masher.

• Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice

• Add 1 teaspoon cumin

• Add 1 clove of garlic, crushed with garlic press

• 1 teaspoon salt (or less: TASTE)

• Mix all the ingredients together until the guacamole is completely blended. Tip: If you are not going to serve the guacamole right away, put the avocado pits back in. The pits will keep it from turning brown.

 

Paper Mache Globes (Earth)

 
Earth Obstacle Course: We pretended that a big therapy ball was our earth. The objective was to work with a partner and to transport the ‘earth’ through a course with obstacles (i.e., cones) by pushing the ball together. The other members of our team practiced cheering us on.

“Paper Mache Globes, part 2” : We worked in small groups and created our own planet earth by attaching different collage materials (e.g., pictures of continents, animal stickers, blue and green tissue paper, etc.). to the paper mache globes we had made last week. But first, we had to decide how we wanted our earth to look. Since we worked in a small group, we had to focus on compromising.

Using visuals such as the one below, is a great way to get the conversation going and to encourage less verbal or more quiet students to participate in the group discussion:

How many continents do you want to have on your earth?

Do people live on your earth?

What kind of animals?

Are there oceans, rivers, lakes on your earth?

What about trees and plants?

Shaving Cream Art (Earth)

Art Project “Shaving Cream Marbled Painted Earth”: 
Today, we engaged in a fun and fascinating art project. We worked together in small groups and created an earth, using shaving cream and paint. The project is fairly simple but a little bit messy. 

Instructions: First, spread shaving cream (foam not gel) all over a pan or tray. Next, squirt some paint (or scoop with a spoon) or food coloring on the shaving cream. Use a spoon, popsicle stick, or toothpick to swirl (but not too much) to create a marbled effect. Then gently press paper earth into the shaving cream and let it sit for a couple of seconds. Using a squeegee, carefully scrape the shaving cream off of the paper earth.

This is a great project to teach impulse control since the materials have to be used in a gentle and controlled way.

Earth: Bozo Bucket Continent Toss (Earth)

Today was our first spring session. Our theme this time around is "Earth." To warm up, we started with a dancing game: 

“Dancing around the Continents”: We spread out pictures of our continents on the floor. We danced around the continents when the music played, when the music stopped, we found a continent to stand on. We came up with fun ideas how to get from one continent to the other, e.g., flying, swimming, etc.

Earth Collage: We all worked together and created a representation of our earth by attaching different collage materials (e.g., maps, pictures of buildings, stickers of animals, plants and people) to a big sheet of contact that was secured to the table with the sticky side up. We loved adding the glitter representing our oceans and deserts.

Continent Bozo Buckets: Buckets representing the continents were spread out. The player whose turn it was stood behind a line and tried to toss a bean bag into one of the continent buckets. Each player could try 3 times to hit a bucket. If the player hit the target, he/she could draw an animal card out of the bucket. The flashcards were showing animals that live on that particular continent. 

This game addresses not only a variety of social skills such as turn taking and practicing good sportsmanship (e.g., cheering) but also provides great language opportunities such as learning the names of the different continents as well as the names of the animals that live on these continents. It also leads to natural opportunities for peer communication/interaction, e.g., the players can show the animal card they drew out of the bucket to their peers and structured questions can be asked to start a verbal exchange (e.g., "Do you like that animal?" "What is your favorite animal?").