Welcome to the classroom! We love to play, learn, create and sing together in the classroom, and we’d like to encourage our classroom friends to keep learning and playing at home once Caitie’s Classroom is over. We’ve put together activities and resources so the playing, learning, creating and singing doesn’t have to stop once Caitie says goodbye. Try these out at home or in your own classroom, and have fun!
In this episode of Caitie’s Classroom, we are exploring the wonderful wind! Wind is a powerful part of the weather and can do many things from making things blow away to creating electricity for our homes. In the classroom we do our own experiments with the wind, learn about wind turbines and create some wind monsters! Read on for tips on how to recreate our classroom activities at home, as well as more ideas for learning and wind with the wind!
Windy Movement Game
Throughout this episode, Caitie pretends there is wind blowing in the classroom and moves around like she is blowing in the wind. Make this into a fun movement game with your little ones, similar to Red Light, Green Light.
- Pick a song to play. When the music is playing, pretend to blow around in the wind. When the music stops, so does the wind. Then we stay very still until the music starts again.
- Instead of playing music, try finding wind sound online to use, or make wind sounds on your own. The stronger the wind gets, the more you have to move!
- Let your little one have a turn making wind noises and the grown up can move in the wind. Little ones will love to see the silly movements start and stop with their sounds.
- Next time you are outside, place a leaf somewhere where the wind might catch it. When it moves in the wind, try singing a simple song. When the wind stops and the leaf stops, stop singing. Then start up again when it begins to move.
Wind Tunnel
In the classroom we experiment with a wind tunnel from Lakeshore Learning. Unfortunately the wind tunnel toy is no longer available for purchase from Lakeshore Learning, but you might be able to find a similar option elsewhere. There are other ways you can learn and play with this experiment at home.
- You can try making a wind tunnel with a fan or hair dryer. Be careful with the heat of the hair dryer.
- Watch as Caitie puts things into the wind tunnel in the classroom. Ask your little one what they think will happen when we turn on the wind. You can pause the video if they need more time to think about it.
Over The Deep Blue Sea
Over The Deep Blue Sea is a great song to explore weather and wind! As we sing, blow this way and that way in the wind with the pirates!
- Watch the Over The Deep Blue Sea music video.
- Create our Popsicle Stick Pirate Craft and make your pirate puppets blow in the wind on their pirate ship along with the song, or any which way!
Will It Blow Away Experiment
In the classroom, Caitie tests a number of items to see if they will blow away when she blows into a straw. This is a great experiment for different age groups, even really young children might enjoy watching it take place.
- Search through the house for a few items that might blow away by blowing into a straw. Pick some that will easily blow away, some that won’t, and some that maybe you aren’t sure about. Encourage your little one to pick some items, too. They will be more excited to test them in the experiment if they chose the items themselves.
- Once you have your items, try blowing them away one at a time by blowing through a straw. Before you blow, make a guess of what will happen.
- For items that don’t blow away, try making the wind stronger. You can have two people blow through a straw to make a stronger wind, or try something even stronger like a hair dryer or a fan.
- You can recreate this experiment using the real wind as well. Put a few of your items outside and leave them there for a period of time. When you come back, note which ones have moved and which ones stayed in the same place. Ask your little ones why they think some items moved but not others.
Wind Turbines
In this episode we go on a field trip to a wind farm and speak to our friend Brian the engineer from Boralex. Brian explains to us how wind turbines work to create energy for our homes.
- When you are driving in your car, keep an eye out for wind turbines and power lines!
Wind Monsters
We can also use the wind to make beautiful art! The neat thing about wind monsters is looking at the blown paint and imagining what the monster will look like! They will be different every time! You can make lots of wind monster friends who all look different.
- Step by step instructions to make your own blow paint monsters!
We hope you have fun singing, playing, learning, and creating! We love to see photos of our friends having fun in the classroom and of their wonderful creations! You can share them with us a few different ways:
