STEM I: Science week, suggestions and websites.

Hello everyone!

  Ja estem en plena setmana de la ciència, i reenganxem el bloc amb propostes orientades a combinar English i STEM.

 Entenem per STEM la ciència, tecnologia, enginyeria i matemàtiques ( in English Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). L'objectiu es promoure aquestes especialitats entre els petits i joves de la casa mitjançant jocs, activitats, manualitats,... En alguns casos trobareu també la variant de STEAM que inclou l'ART com a fil conductor.

 Us deixem amb un llistat de les nostres webs preferides per treballar aquest temes, a més de recomanar-vos buscar activitats STEM o STEAM a Pinterest, on trobareu mil i una opcions i suggerències!

 Ah! I no oblideu que tenim Supermoon this Monday!!

 Have a great week and enjoy English with your family!

EARTH DAY

I m in the middle of celebrating Spring, Nature and Earth day at our English activities this month.

I have come accross some fantastic ideas and inspiring units and wanted to share with you some of them!

Younger students love learning about Spring, nature and specially BUGS. Check out Crafts by Amanda where you can find some beautiful and fantastic ideas to do with kids. We were inspired by her to do our own twirling ladybirds and children loved it!

Another fantastic set of ideas comes from Renae at Every Star is different . You will find a fantastic flower unit, inspired by Montessori.

At the helpful Garden you can find some amazing material, It was great to come across a Montessori Botany nomenclature set for primary 3 to 6 years. We used it in our activities and children loved listening and learning about parts of plants and trees.

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a fantastic Earth Day!

Handmade mug holders or glass mats

Hi everyone!

 Although this would have been a great idea as a Christmas gift, we actually just made the mats for fun, as I had the woden mats around for some time and was trying to find an amusing way for Aleksandar and Pau to use them.

 Vam comprar les bases de fusta en un basar, a molt bon preu. Crec que feia prop d'un any que les tenia per casa sense fer-les servir.

 Els reis ens han portat pintura i pinzells nous, o sigui que un més un, i let's go!

 Basics such as playdough ( plastelina), paint ( pintura), scissors and paper, are a must at our house. Stickers and bits and pieces are always welcome, and will eventually find a way to be used.

Aleksandar choose to paint one colour each mat. 

Pau on the other hand, was happy to experiment and mix!

L'únic que ens falta es potser posar una capa de vernís a sobre les bases per tal d'allargar la seva vida útil.

 As the weather gets a bit cold, and we tend to stay at home more often, I will be posting more indoor activities.

 Have fun and enjoy!

Homemade Christmas Crackers

Hola!

 Heu sentit a parlar de Christmas crackers??? They are a fun tradition in the UK for Christmas. For more info about the origin and what it is click christmas cracker link

 Although you normally buy Christmas crackers, this year we thought it would be fun to make some of our own. We got to choose what to put inside and how to decorate them. 

 This is the simple process we followed with Aleks!

 Vam utilitzar rotllos de paper de cuina i WC, paper de seda i cinta. A més a més d'uns caramels per ficar dins. Com veieu, l'estètica sembla un caramel gegant. La tradició diu que dos persones han de tirar banda i banda i fer petar el cracker ( els originals porten un petard a dins que sona). Els nostres són "childfriendly" i no fan soroll peró si són divertits.

Tot i ser una tradició nadalenca, potser us podeu animar i preparar-ne per cap d'any o reis!!

Have fun and enjoy!

Walking water experiment

SALT DOUGH CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATIONS

Hello everyone!!

 We have been extremely busy these last two weeks, specially this weekend getting ready for Christmas. We enjoyed our Kid's Club on Saturday and spent Sunday getting some things ready for Christmas.

 We have still not put up our tree, but we have been preparing some decorations to go on the tree.

 Salt dough, està feta amb 1 got de farina ( substituïu per Maicena en cas d'al·lèrgies), 1 got de sal comuna i mig got d'aigua ( a discreció, heu de veure que queda una masa compacta com de pizza o pa). Com veieu a les fotos, els dos petits de la casa van ser responsables tant del procés de fabricació, com de l'elaboració i posterior decoració. Es pot coure la massa per endurir-la més ràpidament. Nosaltres ens esperem un parell de dies.

Podeu afegir colorant a la massa per fer motius com arbres, o podeu deixar el color natural.

 Hope you like it and enjoy it!