Curious Kitties: Measuring Your World

Curious Kitties–the math and science storytime! Or, mainly science. In the past I have done programs that are more science-focused than math. I’ve done my body, weather, and animal adaptations. Math is definitely used in these programs as it is applied to science by measuring and comparing numbers, quantity, and space. For these preschool programs, this is where math is its strongest, particularly for this age group where intangible equations aren’t their hot spot (kids these days). But, I wanted to create a program strictly focused on the act of measuring and comparing data.

1. Opening Song: Hello Blocks – This actually went more smoothly than I thought. A few 2-year-olds put their blocks up before I called their name. Some of them listened when I told them to wait, while those that didn’t I made them leave storytime forever. No, I’m not serious, but their participation was thanked and we moved on.
2. Importance of scientific observation—make predictions, test, discuss
3. Intro to measurements book: Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert – I LOVED this book for describing weight. I didn’t read all of the text (remember, I have 2-year-olds in this class) but the repetition and images allowed me to picture walk through several of the pages.
   
4. Flannel: Opposites (In order to compare measurements a good first step is understanding opposites)
   **Note: set up flannel before the program starts. You’ll thank yourself right around now**

   Source: unknown
   An elephant is big, a mouse is small.
   A flower is short, a tree is tall.
   A kitten’s fur is soft and fine,
   But prickly is the porcupine!
   The clouds are up, the grass is down.
   Happy is a smile, sad is a frown.
   A rabbit is fast, a turtle is slow.
   You’ll see opposites wherever you go!

5. Book: Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
   
6. Activity: Dinosaur Footprint measurement–How big is a dinosaur footprint? Let’s see how many of our footprints fit inside one dinosaur footprint!
   
7. Flannel: Polka Dotty Monster (identifying, comparing, contrasting)

1. Activities
   1. Station 1: Comparing weights
      Supplies: Pan balance scale, animal figurines, playdough and ping pong ball
   2. Station 2: Measuring size with cut out footprints & 1 inch papers for fingers
      Supplies: construction paper, markers, scissors, rulers, construction paper
   3. Station 3: Learning quantities
      Supplies: three cups, pasta