mwindair

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Wind/Air

Share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
*Kelli, in Oregon, kicks off the "Wind & Air" section of my website by sharing what she does for this unit:
Language/Science: We talk about the wind. I bring in a fan and turn it on at different levels so they can feel it blowing slow, medium, and fast. We read stories about the wind while the fan is blowing. We gather several items from our classroom to see if they blow in the wind.
Door Hangers: We use the saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." On one side of the door hanger, we make the head of a lion: A circle is the face, then children wrap strips of paper around a crayon to make them curl, then glue the curls around the lion face. The other side of the hanger is the lamb: We glue cotton balls to a black circle for the head and add black rectangles for legs. The children take their hangers home and hang them on their bedroom door and change it according to whether it's a Lion Day -- Windy or a Lamb Day -- Calm. This is great fun for the kids and it gets the parents involved too.
Music: I make a kite with a long string for a tail. Then I cut out paper bows. On the back of each, I write the title of a familiar song. Each child picks a bow, adds it to the kite tail, and we sing the song on the back.
Note from Stormie: Kelli tells me she does this with other themes too. What a great way to review!

*Try this great idea from Lisa F.
Hair Dryer Activity: One year I brought my hair dryer (blow dryer type) to preschool and let the children use it (with my supervision of an electrical appliance) to do their wind paintings. It worked well and they were able to see how their paintings dried faster.

*Here's a wonderful idea from Miriam Dunne, in Dublin, Ireland that allows children themselves to create wind:
Tissue Blow: We give the children pieces of tissue paper to blow with straws.
Blow Football (or Blow Soccer): (This is an extension to the activity above if children are ready for the concept): Draw a line down the middle of the inside of a shoe box or the box lid (or use a box/lid of similar size). Draw a goal area at each end. The object of the game then is to try and blow a tissue ball into your goal area while your opponent attempts to stop you by using his straw to try and blow the ball into his goal area instead.

*From Alisa, a pre-K teacher in Texas who is also certified in speech therapy:
Cotton Ball Races: We have the children blow cotton balls across a table or floor. (Blowing through a straw is very good for oral motor skills!) We use masking tape to mark out a start and finish line. The children love it!

*From Mary Horsley:
Plastic Bag Kites: We make kites out of plastic grocery bags ( the ones with handles). They are easy to make: Give each child a plastic bag and help them tie the handles together with a piece of long string or yarn, then staple streamers to the bottoms. The children can then fly them outdoors.

*What a truly great little rhyme from Terrie, in Buckner, Missouri:
Stormie, One morning, while still in bed, I was trying to think of a way to teach the children about the month of March (lion and lamb/coming of spring). Suddenly, this song popped into my head. I hope you can use it:

March Is Here
Written by Terrie
(Tune: "When Johnnie Comes Marching Home")

March is here, let's give a cheer
Hoorah, hoorah.
March is here, let's give a cheer
Hoorah, hoorah.
When March comes to town, the winds will howl!
She'll sound like a lion when it starts to growl.
Oh the winds will blow, "It's March! It's March!"
Blow winds blow.........

March is here, let's give a cheer
Hoorah, hoorah.
March is here, let's give a cheer
Hoorah, hoorah.
When March goes away, the lion will stray
The lambs will come and want to play
Oh spring is here when March goes away.
Let's play, let's play, LET'S PLAY!

*From Stormie:
Although I'm posting some of my own ideas below as soon as I can, my very favorite "Air/Wind" activities have been reserved for my "SPRING" booklet (see the "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers" section of my website).

Favorite Books:
From Stormie:
# Hello Kitty's High-Flying Day, Written by Robin Harris; J. M. L. Gray, Illustrator: I love this story about the joys and difficulties endured as a kitty learns to fly her new kite. >^..^<
# The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing, by Maxine Trottier: This is a story about a little boy who is too poor to buy a real kite so he flies a pretend one.
# Curious George Flies a Kite, by H. A. Rey: As usual, Curious George gets into trouble, and gets pulled up into the sky by a huge kite.

Making a Multi-Cultural Connection:
To provide a frame of reference, show children where countries are located on your classroom globe or map, and if possible, provide related pictures and books:

From Heide & Gwen, in Wyoming:
China
The Emperor and the Kite, by Jane Yolen: This is a story about an Emperor in China who is taken prisoner but his tiniest daughter's courage and a little help from her kite save him.
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Reminder from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here to check them out.

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My website address: http://www.preschoolbystormie.com