Nature and Science Museum

The Nature and Science Museum in Denver is a lot of fun even for the little ones.  There are hands-on learning boards in almost every section.  The Space Odyssey exhibit is my daughters favorite because of all the interactive areas.  Another big hit exhibit is the kid's area where they can explore magnets, wind, and magnification.  They can also do puzzles, build with large soft blocks, use paint brushes to unearth dinosaur bones, and listen to story time. 

The museum also has a large dinosaur exhibit (FYI- It is difficult to do this exhibit with a stroller so I recommend leaving your stroller in the stroller parking area outside the exhibit doors).  This exhibit has a lot to offer older children but fewer hands-on things for the little ones.  However, this is still one of my daughter's favorite exhibits because really what kid doesn't find dinosaurs fascinating?

We recently bought a membership because my daughter asks to go here all the time.  With the membership we are able to get discount tickets for the Imax shows and the Planetarium which we usually skipped because of the prices.

Here are just some random pictures we have taken during our visits.




Here is a link to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science- http://www.dmns.org/

Zoo

I love, love, love the Denver Zoo.  I loved it as a child and I love watching my daughter love it.  They have added some great exhibits over the years and have created a lot more hands-on learning opportunities.  I am really excited for the new Asian Tropics Section to open up later this year.  If you live in Colorado or are planning to visit the zoo is an absolute must.


Here are some my favorite things about the Denver Zoo.

Hands-on learning- many areas through out the zoo have these touch and feel boards that are at good level for preschoolers.  There are also life size animal statues placed around some of the exhibits.  My daughter loves pointing out the fake lizard and turtle sunning themselves on the rocks.



Underwater viewing-  There are underwater viewing spots at the Polar Bear and Sea Lion exhibits.  It is hard to catch the Polar Bears in the water but we usually make the trip down to the underwater viewing area anyway so that we can get a picture of our daughter next to the life size polar bear.


She is just waiting for the day that she will be tall enough for his hand to touch her head.  So Cute!



Hippo Play Structure- great place to take pictures and let some energy out.  Daddy likes it also.


Animal statues- also great picture opportunities




Here is a link to the Denver Zoo website- http://www.denverzoo.org/

Play Space Extras

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Backyard Play

Here are some photos of our backyard.  I love finding unique and fun play things to add to the yard.

Here is a photo of all of the actual play equipment.  We have been so lucky to have this all handed down to us or were able to find great buys at garage sales.  What we have- swing set with glider and slide, toddler climber with slide, play house, picnic table, turtle sandbox, and a plastic kitchen (far left next to garage).

The toddler climber was passed down to us as soon as our daughter started walking and she has loved it since the first day she saw it (even after all the tumbles she has taken).  I really thought she would have outgrown this or ignored it once we were given the bigger swing set but she still enjoys it.


We also have a plastic pool that we use for tons of outdoor activities in summer.  My daughter loves to set the toddler slide up in the pool.  She loves to make rocks and toys slide down into the water with her.  She also enjoys making a waterfall by setting the hose at the top of the slide and turning it on low to let the water roll down.


We found this turtle sand box at a yard sale for $5 and I think we got our money's worth in the first hour, before we even had sand in it!  Since it was a yard sale find we did not have a bag of sand on hand so my daughter spent a couple weeks playing in it without sand.  She rolled around in it, drove cars in it,  used it as a toy box, collected all her nature treasures in it, you name it and she has probably put it in the the turtle box.  We almost hated to fill it with sand but after she saw us buy the bag she wasn't going to be happy till we poured it in.  She has enjoyed it just as much with the sand.  She loves using her digging tools and pails, she buries treasures in the sand, and she enjoys trying to build castles.  If I ever find something similar to this at a yard sale again I am going to grab it so that she can have one empty box and one sand filled box.


A school I had worked at had small ramps mounted low in the hall outside of the preschool rooms so that they could have something fun to do on days that it was too cold to play outside.  I adapted the idea a little.  I bought one plastic rain gutter and four attachment pieces (purchased at Lowes, I cannot remember the price but it was really cheap).  I had my husband cut the gutter in half.  We mounted one half to the side of our shed.  We also added two square "lift the flap" type things to the shed.  My husband cut some scrap wood into squares, I painted them, we added a knob to each one (left over from kitchen remodel), and hooked a hinge to the top.  I nailed a piece of Velcro in place under each flap.  I laminate postcards and calendar pages of nature and animals then attached Velcro to the back.  This allows me to easily change the picture and keeps her interested enough to check these flaps often.


We attached the second gutter piece to the ramp leading to our back door.  On this one we also added a piece of flexible gutter.  My daughter loves to drop things down the tube and then watch them roll down the ramp.  I would love to find a see through tube that would work as well as the gutter piece but have not had any luck finding something yet.

Water Bead Fun

Water Beads are amazingly fun and I have not met a child who was not interested in them (some kids with sensory issues might not enjoy the slimy, slippery texture but they still like to look at them and watch them bounce).

I will add photos of our water bead activities as they happen.  Please share your ideas in the comments so that my daughter and I can try them.


Water Beads on Light Table
I did a post on this activity.  You can find it here.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

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Painting with Foam Soap

My daughter loves to paint so I am always looking for new twists for her painting sessions. 

For a sensory paint session I pulled out foam soap and sparkly, green, watercolor paint.

I sprayed a generous amount of foam soap into our large craft tray.

I let my daughter add a few globs of water color paint and then handed her a couple brushes.

Most sensory activities end up with a glob of something on the tip of her nose.  I am not sure why this cracks her up but I hope it always makes her giggle.


Button Threading

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Sorting

 
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Sand Wall Art

Sand Wall Art

Supplies- Paper (I used 4x6 photo paper because we have a ton), Elmer's Glue, Sand, Tub and Shaker (optional)



Help your child use the Elmer's Glue to create a design or write their name on the paper.  Place the paper in the tub and let you child pour or shake sand onto the glue.  Gently pick up the paper and shake the excess sand back into the tub.  If a lot of glue is still showing try pouring sand on it a second time. 

 
Allow the art work to dry before hanging it up for display.

Float or sink

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Water Beads and Light Table

Water Beads and Light Table


Water beads are a hit with every child I know.  They are squishy, slimy, and bouncy.  Who can resist?  And what kid doesn't like a light table.  Put them together for double the fun!

I will be creating a post all about water bead play in the near future but since I am working on light table activities I am posting this water bead activity seperately.


We store our water beads in a clear jar on a shelf next to the light table so my daughter can easily see them and ask for me to get them down.  Water beads are must keep out of reach item.  My daughter, who is excellent about not putting things in her mouth, has even attempted to taste one of these slimy little guys saying "I want to lick water".


A water bead light table game my daughter created during play

I made the light table as DIY project I did (you can find the steps here) so the light does not distribute as evenly as store bought light tables.  My daughter actually likes this better because there are shadowy spots.  She likes to try and corral all the slippery beads into the shadowed areas and then move them into the lighted areas.  If she has two colors of water beads she will put all of one color in the shadow and the other in the light.  She does not play like this with her rocks and jewels so I was surprised when she started doing this with the water beads.  It is a great way to teach light and shadow that I never would have thought of until she created it during play. 

Volcano Attempt Turned Bubbles

I had heard mixing Water, Vegetable Oil and Alka-Seltzer together results in a really neat volcano.  We did not have any Alka-Seltzer on hand so we tried it with Efferdent.  Sadly, no volcano action.  But the Efferdent did create a lot of fizz so we improvised and just poured the contents into a bowl and made bubbles.

Supplies: Water, Vegetable Oil, Efferdent Tablets, Food Coloring, Bottle, Funnel, Pan/Bowl, Straws

Fill bottle half way up with water and then add vegetable oil to within an inch of the top. Add food coloring for extra fun.  For a volcano effect break up Alka-Seltzer Tablets and drop them in.

We used Efferdent Tablets that did not create a volcano so I grabbed a bowl and poured out the bottle so we could see the fizziness.  (My guess is that Alka-Seltzer must dissolve much quicker and therefore works better). 
She kept adding drops of food coloring on top of the fizzy spots which quickly turned into a dull mess of colors but she liked it.  She really enjoyed squishing the little tablet pieces and watching them fizz up. 

She wanted big bubbles so I pulled out the straws.


Daddy can always be counted on for big bubbles!

We had fun with this experiment but I really look forward to actually producing a volcano.  Alka-Seltzer is on the shopping list so I should have pictures and a description of the volcano up soon (cross fingers that it works).

Stuck in Play dough

For this activity I help my daughter roll the play dough out flat. 

 
Then she gets to stick things into to the play dough. 


Ideas of objects to use- buttons, beads, rocks, small animals, and Popsicle sticks. 


After the objects are all stuck she uses a spoon to carefully remove each piece.  She tries really hard not to remove any of the play dough.  This is a great fine motor activity. My daughter really likes using animals so she can pretend she is saving them from the mud.


 

Picture Making Light Fun

This is a great fine motor skill builder.  I use a stencil or free draw objects onto the light table lid with a dry erase marker.  Then my daughter outlines or fills in the pictures using pony beads.  This reminds me of the Lite Brite I played with as a kid. 



This is one of my favorite light table activities because she lets me help fill in the pictures.


Early Math Light Fun

My daughter is not a big fan of math right now but she does like this counting activity.


I made six squares and wrote a number in each square.  I set out the correct number of jewels in the middle of the table and let her separate them into the numbered squares.  She picked up on the idea very quickly .  She eventually wanted more jewels so she could color coordinate the jewels within the number squares.

Early Writing Light Fun

 

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Jewels and Gems

Light table plus colored jewels equals fun!

Stacking jewels on rocks.


Stirring everything together.

Sorting rocks and jewels by color.

She calls these small beads "baby jewels" and "diamonds".

Buried Treasure

This is one of my daughters favorite activities.  She likes to pretend she is a
pirate uncovering buried treasure.

Supplies:  Tub of sand, rocks, jewels, paint brushes, and scoops

Most of the time we do this activity on the light table.

 

She uses the scoops and her hands to bury the rocks and jewels.  Then she uses the
paint brushes to uncover the treasure.
 
 
 


Next time I think I am going to make this activity into an archeology dig by burying some small plastic dinosaurs and letting her find them.  Maybe I will search for some fossil toys online today.

DIY Light Table

Here are some photos of the light table I made for my daughter. 

I just used a shallow, frosted plastic tub and white Christmas lights.

The tub I used had a lid that I could turn over and insert upside down forming a tray instead of a flat service.  It really helps to keep the mess down.

Here is a photo of it lite up.  I have recently lined the box with white paper to help distribute
 the light more evenly.


I will be adding lots of light table activities under the Light Play tab.  I'm always searching for new things so add any of your own ideas or blog links in the comments.