Along the theme of air we did some activities that involved examining the power of suction & gusts of air.  We started by feeling the different way it felt to breath in and out on our own hand.  We then used a cup to practice sucking & blowing with a straw.  Then we used our breath and the straw to blow make things such as balloons and bits of tissue paper move without touching them.

We tried to pick the same objects up by using suction through the straw.  (This was very tricky for my 2.5 year old).  We then used the vacuum to do similar activities (picking up balls and using the air out-put to levitate balloon).   Things that were too heavy for our straws were able to be moved by the vacuum.

Best of all we used air in a balloon to move a toy car.  After taping a piece of straw into a balloon we attached it to the top of  a small car (with tape).  We then inflated the balloon and watched as the air escaping the balloon make the car move across the floor.

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more activities and themes…