Jumble House Art meets Science, Fun Learning for Young Children

Learning about Rain. Art meets Science

Make a rainy day fun by finding out more about rain.

What is rain? What shape do raindrops make in puddles? Why do wet pebbles look shiny?

There are so many questions to find the answers to and so many art and craft projects to continue the theme and explorations.

Follow the link below and watch the short video with your child. Then start to look, to listen, to investigate.

It’s Raining. Art meets Science

Simple answers to those difficult questions:

What is rain?

Rain falls from clouds. Clouds are made from lots and lots of tiny water droplets. These droplets move around and bump into each other They stick together into clumps that get bigger and heavier. Eventually they get so big and heavy they can’t float any more and they fall to the ground as rain.

Why are wet stones and pebbles shiny and darker than dry ones?

The water coats the stone giving it a smooth surface. Light reflects off this surface just like it does in a lake or in the sea.

What shape do raindrops make on puddles?

Rain drops make concentric circles. That is one circle inside another. You can illustrate this by putting a very small plate on a slightly larger one and that on top of a larger one still.

Why do raindrops stay on top of leaves?

Leaves are covered with a kind of waxy coat. Some leaves are more waxy than others. This makes them waterproof and so the raindrops stay on the surface..

Why do raindrops on a window always go down and never up?

its all to do with the pull of gravity. Gravity is like a great big magnet pulling everything down towards the ground. Without gravity we would float in the air and so would all the cars and buses! When raindrops land on the window they are pulled downwards by gravity. As they travel down the window they bump into other drops and be one heavier. The heavier they become the faster they move.,

For related art and craft projects please see the previous two posts. Or search for raindrops and Concentric circles.

Jumble House Art, painting, Printmaking, Modelling for young children, Early Learning, Learning through Play

Learning Fun with Concentric Shapes

We tend to associated the term ‘concentric’ with circles and raindrops falling on puddles are a good example.but any shape, as shown below, can be concentric.

So here are some more early learning ideas based on the Concentric theme..

Link to programme on circles for children .

Jumble House Art, painting, Printmaking, Modelling for young children, Learning through Play, PreSchool, Science for kids

Raindrops on Puddles Part One

It’s incredible how much can be learnt using raindrops on puddles as inspiration.

Science. Art. Mathematics. Vocabulary. Fine motor skills and lots more.

But to kids it’s all just great fun and that’s what learning should be.

Here are just a few ideas. There will be more in the next few posts.

Jumble House Fun Learning for Young Children

Georgie in China Town

Georgie visited China Town today. ,it was only a short visit. Just for a couple hours so there is much more waiting to be explored.

To see her visit today follow this Link: A glimpse of China Town for young children.

It’s not the first time she has visited. Last year she went during Chinese New Year to see the amazing lights. If you would like to see them too visit this links: 2016 China Town Lights

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and we will be filming from Marina Bay

If you want to see how Singapore welcomed in the New Year of 2016 then follow this link: Happy New Year Singapore 2016

Jumble House Fun Learning for Young Children

The Jumbles in Singapore

The Jumbles are traveling in Singapore .

Follow them to experience the sights, smells, tastes and culture of this amazing country.

Today Georgie visited Chinatown.

Later we will post a video of what she saw plus an I spy worksheet for children.

In two days time we will be at Marina Bay for the countdown to New Year and the incredible firework display. Join us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This is the third time that the JUMBLES have visited Singapore. There are lots of videos already posted on our channel.

See below for the link to the playlist Singapore for Kids.

Singapore for families. Past years.

Jumble House Animals, Children, Creativity, Science for kids, Uncategorized, wildlife

Learning about Lizard

Today we saw a lizard in our little garden. She was very active and very healthy. But, a year ago we found one in our cantina. She wasn’t very well at all. We christened her ‘Little LIZZIE Lizard’.

Read on to find out what happened.

Yesterday we found this little lizard in our cantina and it wasn’t very well. We called it Little Lizzie Lizard!

She looked so thin and lifeless and so dull that we were really afraid she would  die but we were determined to do our best and try to help her.  First we needed to find out some facts about lizards.  We have shared them and the story of Little Lizzie Lizard below.


Some Lizard Facts!

Lizards belong to an animal class called REPTILES.
Reptiles (with a few exceptions) are cold-blooded animals which lay eggs. They have a backbone, four legs and are covered in scales.   Lizards can be found all over the world except at the North and South Poles.

 Can you guess why? 

There are over 3,000 different types of lizards and they come in all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes! The smallest measures a tiny 7cms whereas the largest, the Komodo Dragon can reach lengths of 3 metres.
Lizards have four legs each with five little toes and they are very fast runners and very good at climbing. They also have a very long tail part of which can detach itself if a predator grabs hold! The lizard then grows another one!

They are insectivores which means that they eat only insects but some of the larger ones are carnivores and eat small animals,
Most lizards live in trees or under rocks and are more active at night. During the day they like to sunbathe!

 Why?? .
Well, it has something to do with the fact they aren’t found at the North or South Poles !!
Do you know what the climate is like at the poles?
Yes! Ice and snow and VERY cold.
You and I and all mammals like dogs and cats and rabbits and mice and horses are warm bloodied which means we are able to control our body temperature. To keep it the same even when the temperature outside changes. But reptiles and that includes lizards, are cold bloodied which means that they can’t control their body temperature. So they need to sunbathe to warm up!

This is why our little lizard was so poorly when we found her.   She had been locked in a cold underground room with no sun and was very, very cold.  She was also very dehydrated which means her  body was lacking in water and dehydration is very serious.  We couid tell she was poorly because she was so happy to be handled and that is NOT normal.   The poor thing hadn’t the energy to run away!


So!  The Jumbles came to the rescue!!

We had to warm her up and re-hydrate her which means we had to make sure she drank some water.  We held her near a bowl of water and were really pleased because she started to lap it up !

Then we found a nice big bowl and popped her in with a shallow bowl of water and then we put it in a nice warm spot outside but not in direct sunlight because it is VERY hot here at the moment.  We also gave her a little box just in case she wanted to hide!


Then we left her in peace but kept checking every hour.

After about four hours Lizzie Lizard was looking very different. More alert and a much better colour !  So we put a few ants and maggots into the bowl to tempt her to eat.  The DOG BISCUIT was not for Lizzie Lizard! It was just a quick way to catch some insects and transport to the bowl !


By the following morning Lizzie Lizard  was anxious to get out and, instead if wanting to be handled she ran off when we tried to touch her !

That was a good sign Lizzie was feeling normal again.

It was time to let her out !


And that’s what we did!

It was such a great feeling to have helped an animal back to health and to return it to the wild.

Video of Little Lizzie Lizard’s recovery!

Jumble House exercise, Fun Learning for Young Children

Fun exercise for kids

We all know that exercise is important but did you know that it can also turn an irritable or sulky child into a happy one? When you exercise more of a hormone called Seratonim is released into the bloodstream. This hormone is responsible for the ‘high’ we get after a workout. It elevates mood .

So ensuring that children enjoy short bursts of exercise during the day should keep them feeling good and stop them getting crotchety, all depending, of course, that there they are not ill or have some other underlying cause for moodiness.

Exercise doesn’t have to be in a sports hall or even outside although sunlight also increases the production of Seratonim.

Playing balloons, tag or dancing around to music will all increase the ‘feel good’ factor,

So will playing skittles! I keep a few empty water bottles handy. With just a glass of water inside they are perfect for knocking over with a soft ball.

Skittles

Jumble House Christmas Crafts, Fun Learning for Young Children

Christmas Crafts

There’s still time to make a snowman! – decoration, lamp, little and small.

A good way to channel all that pre-Christmas excitement.

This little fellow took only thirty minutes and no mess! I used cotton wool wadding, a litter bin for the body, A football for the head and some black card for all the other bits!

To attach the cotton wool to the head and body I used a reel of white cotton. It helps to have someone holding the head whilst twining the thread around. The hat can be made from a circle of card with an upturned box or empty cottage cheese container stuck on to (covered in black card or fabric. Stick on buttons and face features with glue or cellotape and use a sock or tinsel for the scarf.

Mt. Snowman Lamp,

All you need is an empty plastic large water bottle, some cotton wool or padding from inside a cushion or pillowslip and black card or felt. I used a LED flashing candle light inside the body.

SEE: INSTRUCTION VIDEO

Mr. Snowman decoration

He can be as big or small as you like. You can also make him into a lamp (see video below). For this rather large one I used an umbrella stand for the body and a football for the head.

You will need a ball fir the head. The stuffing from a pillow for a very large one or some cotton wool wadding for smaller. A litter bun or cylindrical box for the body and black card or felt for eyes etc.

See: SEE HIM IN ACTION!

See: HOW TO MAKE

Mr Snowman decoration or lamp.

This one takes time and patience!

You will need a couple of balloons, white glue, thin string and black card or felt or foam.

See: HOW TO MAKE VIDEO

Jumble House Children, Investigations, Learning through Play

Rainbow Coloured Flowers

Georgie had a surprise at Rome airport yesterday when she came face to face with a Christmas Tree multicoloured just like her! Here she is with Paolo and Ruben from UNICEF.

Then we saw this cake in patisserie Glacé in the Marina Bay Link Mall, Singapore so now you know where the JUMBLES are visiting. Yes, it’s Singapore!

So it was RAINBOWS everywhere!

For a fun rainbow activity see the link below.

Fast, simple and fun investigation to do at home. All you need is a plate, milk, liquid soap and food colouring.

Be warned that food colouring stains everything including fingers. In the video I use my finger to apply the soap because it’s easier to film.  You may want to use a cotton wool bud instead!