Can you help me with ideas for a project?

Question

I am a straight A soon to be senior who is volunteering at the local Head Start/ Daycare. Because I love science so much, the teachers thought it would be fun for me to do a project on wind with the kids. I have a type of pinwheel so far (that the kids can't make because it has a pin in it), but I need about 20 minutes of activities; preferably that the kids can do too, rather than just having to watch. Any ideas? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Doug and Lara: Great answers! Thanks for the help!

Just for everyone else's inforamation: If you read all of the information above, you would see that I asked for ideas involving wind rather than random Ideas...
I will suggest a nature walk for later this summer though... : )

Answer 1

I was a preschool teacher for a few years
Read them a book about wind,
1. then make wind socks
2. have them paint by making their own wind. Give them straws and have them blow the paint
3. Make kites
4. give them grocery bags (plastic) and have them "catch wind" they will run with the bag, the bag will fill up with air.
5. make a wind chime. Use the long tube pasta, or ask the parents to bring in items that could be used for a wind chime.
6. blow bubbles
7. make paper air planes and take them outside and let the wind blow them.
8. throw grass in the air, see which way it blows.

Answer 2

The ideas that others listed are great. One other idea is a making bubble wands with cups with the bottom cut out or with string or pipe cleaners.
Just one comment on the pinwheel.........the kids could still make a pinwheel but instead of using a pin use a bradd (brad). You would need a hole puncher to make holes and then connect all the appropriate corners with the holes in them and put the bradd through and fasten. Good luck and have fun! The kids will amaze you!

Answer 3

I work in Pre-K/Headstart and we did the sink or float marker in the coke bottle. Take a 2 liter coke bottle and fill almost to top with water, a used marker that is just about out of ink. Draw an outline of a soda bottle on construction paper (pref. white) and cut it out. Give paper to each child and let them draw what happens to the marker as you put it in the bottle of water. Let them decide what color marker. Also, let them observe throughout the day as the marker slowly lets out its (color smoke; as my kids would call it). Ask them questions such as: what color ink do you think is going to come out? Do you think the marker will float or sink to the bottom and why? Where did all the ink go? As they try to draw their markers in the water, dictate all their answers on paper. When your all done, laminate every page and turn it into a classroom book and place in your science center. Oh, keep this in the science center throughout the year and each week or day, change the colored marker to let the children watch it. Just make sure the lid is on tight! This will be an exceeds on your PQA when the state comes in. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Discuss the direction of the wind and then have them blow bubbles. You could make kites with them and attempt to fly them. You can do a unit on clouds and discuss how the wind moves the clouds. You can find a lot of lesson plans online.

Answer 5

Mke themn go out opn a natur hunt .... give them a list of animals 2 look 4 and the people who get all the animals get a candy bar while the others who partica pated get a little bit of small pieces of candy.

Answer 6

ooh when i was little they used to give us a paper with a big heart on it n then they told us to divide up the heart with things we cared about n to draw pisctures n color it

Answer 7

how about a small electric fan, a kiddie pool and a little sail boat?