*You will notice that Stong B is absent for the first part of the activity. He was busy doing three year-old things (crying in his room because he wanted peanut butter on a spoon and I gave it to him on a fork and apparently this was completely unacceptable and enough to make a three year-old ponder the meaning of life, for an HOUR I kid you not). Anyway. Moving on.
Tiny B decorated her boat and we discussed how to make sails. We also watched some short YouTube clips on boats sailing. I don't know that she had enough prior knowledge on sailing to truly understand how it works, and I think I was able to show her.
I then decided to combine two of the day's activities because they naturally fit well together. I had her go outside and find nature items that would make a good boat. She found some old leaves and twigs.
She finished up her own boat while I got the tub of water ready in the kitchen. Yes, in the kitchen. I regretted that before I even started. The May Gray here has made it pretty chilly.
She did need help with taping the sails and figuring out how to place them on a straw.
She took her sailboat and her nature materials for a boat and tried sailing all of them. She quickly learned that the sailboat floated initially, until it fell over in the water and her Little People fell over too. This made her sad but it led to a perfect discussion on what a boat needs to sail and how too much weight (including water weight) can cause a boat to sink.
Her idea was to get her blow dryer to dry it. (Please note that it is battery powered and I knew there were no batteries in it anyways). We talked about how if there were a way to dry it that it might work again. I allowed her to pretend blow dry the boat for just long enough for her to see that it wasn't going to work.
Oh, and those little legs in the picture mean that Strong B took a break from his campaign for a spoon of peanut butter in order to help Tiny B with ideas. (Also note: I would have just given him a spoon but hubby was insistent that we stick to our guns on this one because little man can't always have his way).
Strong B was interested in the big stick that Tiny B had brought in to use as a boat.
Tiny B decided the boat was non-functioning so she tried to float her dead leaves and discovered it did work. We followed the teacher guide suggestion and tried to come up with ways in which to move the "boats." On her own, she decided she could push the water and "make waves."
She also tried to blow the water and "make wind."
I offered up the wheel-thingy to try to move the water (it didn't work). We dumped the little boat manipulative in the water to discover if they floated. Then the sailboat went back in and some more dead leaves and even some cars. It was mayhem! But I suppose that that's the perfect end to a preschool activity that involves boats and water and the kitchen floor. And a three year-old with a hankering for a peanut butter spoon.
*I receive Mother Goose Time curriculum in exchange for my honest sharing of experiences, resulting from our personal use. All opinions/thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by others.
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