Up, Up and Away!

The students are learning about air and things that move in and with the air. Students decided to take interest in machines that fly so our focus has been on hot air balloons, airplanes, helicopters and rocket ships.
Students learned the terminology for each machine like the envelope, burners and basket for the hot air balloon. We watched videos about the machine ascending and descending and talk about where we would like to go on a ride.

We learned about weaving patterns, how they make baskets for hot air balloons. This is a great fine motor skill. We also learned how sound travels through the air and string in string can telephones. In a provocation on rocket ships, students watched videos of the launching of the space shuttles and learned about they are similar to the flying machine we already learned about.


We even made our own hot air balloon for dramatic play!

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Some activities you can try at home:
Build your own hot air balloon
Weaving baskets - Plastic baskets found at the dollar store and different colored ribbon
String can phones - Make a hole in the bottom of two tin cans, thread heavy twine through and knot
Lay in the grass and look at the clouds or passing airplanes
Visit the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Plainville, CT in August!