Our MOST Favorite Topic! GERMS!!

The Touch and Feel pool was filled with pom poms this morning. There were different colors and different sizes, which gave us plenty of opportunities to talk about basic concepts!  After we told them the topic for the day...GERMS....they all tried to guess how we were going to use those pom poms. We told them they would have to wait for science to find out.

During morning circle we talked some more about our theme for the week. The kids shared different ways they are healthy. We also practiced our birthdays and the date.  Everyday they surprise me at how much they have learned since the beginning of the year. 

Ms. Michelle was back today! The kids completed an obstacle course first. They balanced on a board, jumped on the numbered stones, walked over big blocks and balanced while counting to 10 on a squishy ball. It was great fun....but you could see the concentration on their little faces!  Then Ms. Michelle had finger fun activities. Each child received a task that they had to complete before passing it to their neighbor.  They used different tweezers and pinchers to put bones in the dogs mouth, jewels in the treasure chest, peanuts in a bag and pom poms on the star fish.  Their fingers were so tired when we finished....but all the kids agreed that they need strong fingers so they can all be really good writers!  We did some special stretching activities before we left, so our fingers wouldn't be sore!

Germs! Germs! Germs! by Bobbi Katz was our book for the day.  We learned that germs are very small so we can't see them with our eyes. The new vocabulary word:  invisible!  The kids all liked saying that word....and now they know what it means!  The story told us germs like to hid in dark damp places and make us sick. We can find germs everywhere! Germs do not like hot soapy water because it makes them disappear!



After the story we made a list of ways to protect ourselves from germs. We can use our cough catcher, wash our hands with soap, brush our teeth, take a bath and put food away in the refrigerator.

 

We had two science experiments today to show the kids how germs spread. First, we showed the kids how germs spread when we do not use our "cough catcher" (your elbow). It is important to cover our sneezes and coughs with our elbow so we do not spread germs to our friends....and so we don't get those nasty germs all over our hands. We pretended pom pom balls were germs and when we sneezed or coughed without covering our mouth the germs went everywhere! They were all over our friends...and all over our classroom!  We were spreading germs everywhere!  We talked about how when you use the "cough catcher", you keep your germs to yourself and they only get on your clothes. 

Then we used glitter to show how germs can spread from our hands to our friends hands to objects in the classroom. Even though the germs started on just one friends hand, by the end of the activity everyone had glitter on their hands. It was even on the table and the door handle!  We all agreed that germs spread very easily so we need wash our hands and cover our mouth to keep us safe and health!

We ended the day with the kids favorite germ video. It was a great way to show how germs spread very easily and can make us very sick!  Our Transitions friends have been wanting to watch this video for a while now.....so their excitement was contagious!  Not sure what it is about these videos....but they are an instant hit!