family fun – Bailey Gaddis Blog

The summer is long, so long – especially when you have the task of keeping a preschooler, with an attention span shorter than the nail on their chubby little pinky finger, entertained and educated. Oy vey.

My little nugget has been especially interested in colors lately, so, the following activity from Education.com helped us splash some learning cloaked in fun onto our summer.

(Hudson enjoys his custom made flash cards so much he takes them on road trips and pairs the colors with passing vechicles, road signs, plants, or random food particles scattered throughout our car.)

What You Need:

Card stock or other sturdy paper (index cards work well too)
Scissors
Markers in a rainbow of colors

What You Do:

Begin by talking about color with your child, using the markers as a guide. Take each marker out of the package one at a time and ask him to name the colors as you go along.

Cut the card stock into 5″ x 7″ rectangles. If you’re using index cards, move on to step 3.

Have your child draw a picture of a flower, plant, or other spring thing on the front of each card, using only one color for each card.

Now turn each card over and write the name of the color you used on that card on the back using the same color marker. For some handwriting practice, try writing the words lightly in pencil first, then having her trace over the letters in marker.

Now it’s time to play! Take the cards outside. Choose one card and ask your child to name the color, then turn the card over to reveal the color word.

Now look around outside and find something natural (like a tree or flower) that’s the same color as the card.

Once you’ve found something, turn to your child and say, “I spy something with my eye that is the color_____”. Encourage him to try and find the object you chose. Give him descriptive word clues to help point him in the right direction. If he guesses another object that is the right color, let him know that his pick is also correct.

Continue playing by repeating steps 5-7 for the rest of the color cards. Once he finds all the colors, he wins!

During the course of the game, invite your child to select unique adjectives to describe each color. Encourage him to get creative with his word choices and use his imagination 🙂

I recently had the fortune of rediscovering my fascination with how our world works. Science has an incredible ability to ignite a deep appreciation for the simple yet complex workings of our surroundings and inner world.

Where did this renewed zest for all things science come from you ask? Well lemme tell you. I was sent a simple experiment by the kind people over at Banooper, who are dedicated to “bringing science home”- providing a fun bonding activity for families (with plenty of learning snuck in there!) Kind of like those brownie recipes that call for a secret helping of spinach.

Banooper has an array of activities pulled from different areas of science- I was sent a ‘Vision Science’ experiment called Benham’s Disks. It explores (and explains) the way our eyes perceive color. We were provided a few patterned disks, wooden pins (to facilitate the spinning of the disks), a maker (my son’s favorite part) to draw our own pattern, and an instruction and explanation booklet (that was short, sweet, and simple, which this sleep-deprived mom greatly appreciated.)

My two-year-old was too young to appreciate the magic of the inner-workings of our eyes, but my five-year-old and nine-year-old nieces were fascinated by the process of discovery.

Another plus was that this experiment came in a small box and did not call for flour, glue, glitter, or any other fabulous yet exhausting common science experiment ingredient.

Next experiment, homemade volcano? Maybe when Nana is babysitting.