Center #1 – Levers

• We practiced using several levers like hammers (both ends) , can openers, bottle openers, nut crackers and paint can openers.

• We also experimented with the fulcrum of a lever placed in different spots to see at which point the lever was easiest to move and how much work the lever was able to do at each point.

Center #2 – Wedges

• We had a nail with a sharp end (wedge) and a nail with a blunt end and tried hammering both to see which wedge was easier to go through the wood.

Center #3 – Inclined Plane

• Using a stack of books with string tied around them, we pulled them up a simple ramp made from a piece of scrap wood, then we pulled the stack straight up into the air.  Since we don’t own a spring scale, we tied a rubber band to the string and measured the stretch for each of the attempts to get the books to a certain level.  Upon seeing that the rubber band didn’t stretch as far when the books were pulled up the ramp, we concluded that less force was necessary using the inclined plane as compared to pulling the books straight up.  (Make sense??)

• Inclined planes were further studied as we took two screws  – one with threads very close together and one with threads far apart – and noticed how many turns it took to get each in the wood.  More turns were required for the closer threaded screw, but the job was much easier than the screw with threads far apart.

Center #4 – Wheel and Axle (along with Pulleys and Gears)

• Using the same rubber band trick as mentioned above, we determined whether or not less force was required to pull a piece of wood using wheels.
• For gears, we pulled out the gear set we have in our toy closet and closely observed how they work.
• For pulleys, we simply talked about how they work.  My children are around pulleys all the time on the farm, so they were pretty familiar with their function.  As a side note, you can find inexpensive pulleys for experiments at a tractor/farm supply store.

I had a discovery booklet made up with leading questions for each of the centers.  Since I used so many ideas and clip art from various books I have around the house, I don’t feel comfortable placing the booklet on Homeschool Share.  I will, however, plan to post the test I give at the end of the week.  I’ll let you know when it’s up.

The time has come to keep the toddler busy during school.  I’ve always had to keep him occupied, of course, but now I’m finding the need for an arsenal of ideas so that school can flow smoothly.  Well, as smoothly as school can flow with a toddler in the house.

I hope you’ve noticed the toddler section I added to the far sidebar.  I found all sorts of great ideas from the links that should keep my active and inquisitive two-year-old busy for at least a little while.  Here are some of the things I’ve prepared.

A bookshelf full of books just for him.  Board books, hardcovers and softcovers.  Almost all of it living literature because there’s no sense in even reading twaddle to a toddler!

A list of fingerplays, nursery rhymes and songs posted on the wall so I’m not stuck when the time comes.

EFL Fingerplays

Dinosaur Fingerplays

NNCC Fingerplays Plus

Preschool Rainbow Fingerplays

Rhymes and Fingerplays

Wikipedia Nursery Rhyme List

Preschool Express Songs

Preschool Educations Songs

A CD player with preschool-friendly CD’s in the schoolroom.

Toddler Tunes

Preschool Songs

100 Singalong Songs for Kids

Action Bible Songs

Silly Songs

Toddler activity bags and boxes ready to go at a moment’s notice.  I’ve stashed them on a high shelf so he doesn’t have access to them.  It’s partly to keep the activities fresh and partly to keep him from destroying them!

I’ll probably do an activity bag post soon.  Remind me if I forget!

Imaginative toys.  For the moment, they are placed around the room in “centers”, but I’m sure they’ll all be jumbled in one big mess before the first week of the new school year is over with.  What sorts of imaginative centers could you put together for a two year old?

Easy dress up – hats, big shoes without heels, big shirts, old Halloween costumes

A toy barn with lots of animals and tractors (or any Little People set)

Toy cars with a little “town” to drive through

A play kitchen with pots, pans and play food

A wooden train set

Blocks of any sort – my favorite – foam blocks, wooden blocks and bristle blocks

A cheap toy electric piano and other simple instruments

Toddler-safe art supplies – including crayons, washable markers, finger paints, watercolors, paintbrushes, rollers, play dough & cookie cutters, safety scissors, glue sticks, lots of paper scraps, coloring books and two Christmas gifts her received that I’m very excited about – a Aquadoodle Wall Mat and Crayola Color Wonder Coloring Book.  Just in case you’re wondering, the art supplies will always be supervised.  No (more) crayon colored walls for me!  By the way, Magic Erasers are a wonderful invention!!

Giggles computer games

I’ll be excited for you to add wonderful ideas to my list!  Homeschooling with toddlers is challenging, but I’m not defeated (yet!)