Kindergarten

Problem Solving & Innovating

K: Problem Solving & Innovating

As children progress through the Kindergarten program, they:

1. communicate with others in a variety of ways, for a variety of purposes, and in a variety of contexts

4. demonstrate an ability to use problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts, including social contexts

6. demonstrate an awareness of their own health and well-being

9. demonstrate literacy behaviours that enable beginning readers to make sense of a variety of texts

10. demonstrate literacy behaviours that enable beginning writers to communicate with others

13. use the processes and skills of an inquiry stance (i.e., questioning, planning, predicting, observing, and communicating)

14. demonstrate an awareness of the natural and built environment through hands-on investigations, observations, questions, and representations of their findings

20. apply the mathematical processes to support the development of mathematical thinking, to demonstrate understanding, and to communicate thinking and learning in mathematics, while engaged in play-based learning and in other contexts

22. communicate their thoughts and feelings, and their theories and ideas, through various art forms

23. use problem-solving strategies, on their own and with others, when experimenting with the skills, materials, processes, and techniques used in drama, dance, music, and visual arts

24. use technological problem-solving skills, on their own and with others, in the process of creating and designing (i.e., questioning, planning, constructing, analysing, redesigning, and communicating)

Nature Journaler: Aspen Orr

Nature Journaling: I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of...

IF YOU ARE NEW TO NATURE JOURNALING PLEASE LOOK AT OUR NATURE JOURNALING PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Nature Journaling is an incredible tool for helping students to observe the natural world and learn new ways to enhance their natural curiosity. Learning to ask questions and coming up with "could it be" answers allows them to dive into the problem solving and critical thinking strategies.

At this age children will have a greater focus on the statement "I Notice..." & "It reminds me of...". Depending on the age and ability of the child, words, pictures and numbers will be used more than others to make their observations. For deeper conversations educators will engage in back and forth conversations with the children and can help scribe their thoughts and feelings to their journal pages. With permission Bethan Burton has allowed us to link to her website as she has written a blog post for Teaching nature journaling at all ages.

Here are some more of Bethan's ideas to get you started.

It is going to be MESSY at this age and there will be lots of play!
- - Engage the fives senses (whenever possible)
  - Make leaf prints ( paint the leaf and press the print into the journal)
  - Make leaf rubbings
  - Trace the items they are looking at
  - Make hand prints with mud
  - Add leaves into the journal using tape
  - Count the birds/squirrels/insects etc. - make a graph
  - Use chalk to follow an ants path on the ground and then have them transfer that into the journal.

Here is a downloadable lesson from John (Jack) Muir Laws and Emilie Lygren book: How to Teach Nature Journaling. All resources shared with permission. "I Notice..., I Wonder...?, It Reminds me of..."

GIVING FEEDBACK here is a fantastic resource from Jack and Emilie

NOTE: You are encourage to spend time in the outdoors Nature Journaling. However, you can also bring nature inside, look out your wonder window, have a refrigerator Safari or even observe a house plant or pet.

Photo by: @billiejooutdoors

Safety/care rules

- Make sure you are following the safety/care rules
- Be gentle with the insects, the idea is to catch them for a few minutes, observe them and then let them go
- Be cautious when catching insects that can sting
- Make sure the whole animal is on the inside of the container so you do not squish it
- Do not shake the container with the animal inside
- Be stealthy and quite
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE FUN!

Catch a Bug!

Have you ever wanted to get up close to an insect and investigate all of it's cool adaptations? Well now you can! For this activity you will make your own bug catchers out of recycled materials.

Step 1: Construct your catcher:

- Collect 2L pop/drink bottles and the lids from sour cream and yogurt containers
- Clean the lids and bottles
- Cut the tops and bottoms off of the containers along the ridges of the bottles. This will leave the right amount of space.
- Leave the lid on the top section
- Make sure the edges have been smoothed out to ensure no one gets cut on the plastic
- Once that is complete pair it with a lid (sour cream or alternative) and you are done
- If you do not have 2L pop bottles be creative and use what you have

Step 2: Consider the following:

- Head outside and explore for bugs
- While searching/catching can you identify what animals are Insects (six legs and three body parts) and which are not?
- Which ones were hard to catch and vice versa which were easy? Why?
- What do you notice about the animals you are catching? Think about the following:
  - Are they big or small?
  - What colour are they?
  - Do they have wings? If yes what do the wings look like?
  - What do their mouths look like? Can you guess what they might eat?
  - Anything else you observe
- Make a note about where you are finding your insects, for example: on the ground, a tree, a plant, flying or anywhere else
- What role do they play in the environment, do they:
  - Eat dead plants and animals?
  - Eat the leaves of plants?
  - Drink from a flower?
  - Eat other insects?
  - What other roles might they have?

NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity above

Check out the virtual choice board to give you more fun facts about some of the insects you may find!

Click on the insect pictures as well as the field journal to see some amazing videos and information!

Insect Virtual Choice Board

Photo by: @baxterperson

Flower Fun

Find a space to explore that will allow you to see flowers. These can be flowers in a garden, wild flowers on a lawn, trail or in a forest, flowers in pots in your home, or flowers you find in a book or magazine. Start with one flower. Can you make the petals of the flower? Use anything you would like to do this, some examples might be to draw, paint, sculpt, use lego or even pieces of nature. Be creative!

Can you add a stem and leaves (if you can see these)?

Don't have any flowers? Look for leaves, pine cones, seeds or even blades of grass!

Making Natural Paint Brushes

Start by watching this video about how to make your own paint brushes by using natural materials. You will also learn the importance of respectfully harvesting live plants. Once you have made your paint brushes it is time to get creative!

Materials:

White glue
Yarn, twine, string or any other materials similar to this that you have
Acrylic paint
Scissors
Paper (thicker) to paint on

NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity above

Photo: source

Music Wall

Bring on the sounds of music in an outdoor space.

Collect materials while on a local walk that can create sounds - pebbles, sticks, crunchy leaves, hollow logs, ridged bark and other materials
Collect materials from your home that adults have approved to use for making noise. Examples: cans from the recycling, plastic toys, sand paper, tinfoil, old cooking tray, etc.
Connect them to a string and hang them, connect them to a fence or just spread them out
Is there another way you could make music with objects outside - run a stick across a rough tree, rub crunchy leaves together, make drumming noise with your feet on the ground or in a puddle - keep the creative sounds happening!
Explore sounds that you like and sounds that are unpleasant. Imitate the sounds and rhythms you hear outside. Try to create a rhythm that is nice to listen to and put on a short concert

Photo by: @baxterperson

Mystery Story Bag

Go outside, go for a walk or explore near your home. Be sure to bring a bag with you and complete the following:

Collect a bunch of items from outside - nothing sharp
Place them in a bag
Blindfold a partner or ask them to close their eyes
Have them grab one item from the bag
See if they can guess what it is
Take off their blindfold and work together to create a story about the object or if you want to play alone, close your eyes and pick an item

The story can be about where the object comes from. The story can also be about where the object will be going in the future.

Photo by: @baxterperson

(Sur)faces Walk - Texture Rub

Go outside for a walk. Look for “faces” of all kinds. What (sur)faces do you encounter on the walk?

What do the surfaces feel like? How do they feel different to the touch of a finger? How do they feel to the touch of your forearm instead of your finger?
For each surface place a white piece of paper against it and then rub some dirt against the paper to reveal and document the texture of the surface
Try using a variety of mediums (dirt, crayon, pencil or pencil crayon)
Use these different textures to create a piece of art for display in your home

NOTE: This can be used with the Nature Journaling activity above

(Sur)faces Walk is an activity that originated from Gillian Judson's A Walking Curriculum. Source

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