"I MADE ORANGE!!!!"

As many of you know, I used to be a pre-school teacher (I know, poor kids right!) Well, my favorite thing to do was come up with new activities that taught the children lessons, but were fun and new. As summer break is almost here, and Kaylee will be at home, I wanted to begin working/playing with her. I thought as I do new things, I would share them with you, to give you ideas on what you can do at home to get your child ready for preschool.

Making Colors;
Things you need: plastic cups, food coloring (red, yellow, and blue), water, dropper, and ice tray.

I used the larger cups and placed some water with a little food coloring (note, that red and blue have much more pigment than yellow, so you may want to make those a little lighter).

I then gave Kaylee an ice cube tray and the dropper (using the dropper is also great for small motor skills practice).

I started by doing the first one, and showing her how I mix two colors together and get a new one. I think it is best to say only mix two colors at first. Otherwise your child may end up with a lot of brown!

At first let your child just explore the the mixing on their own. If the activity becomes boring over time, you can then create a chart. For smaller kids I would color say blue with a "plus sign" then color yellow, "equals sign" and then they color in what they get. For older kids they can make their own chart as they experiment. Below, I just gave Kaylee a piece of paper and let her play around.

The lesson introduces early science, and practices fine motor skills. Happy coloring!