Right next to our driveway lives a colony of ants. Some days, they can be seen busily working. On those days, all three of my boys will squat down, in a row, and just watch the lines of ants, fascinated.

 
Learning how to observe is a very important science skill for children. By making observations, we learn about the world around us. Our observations help answer questions. We use observations to make predictions. Observations lead to further questions and investigations.

 
Here are four tips to help children develop strong observation skills:

 
{ONE} Teach children that to observe something is to pay close attention to something. Use their five senses where appropriate: seeing; hearing; touching; smelling; tasting. Children must be taught they should only touch or taste something if an adult says it is safe.

 
{TWO} Remind children that observing something well means to see things from different angles, places, times and over time. The longer the time you have to make observations, the better the information will be.

 
{THREE} Provide different observation tools like magnifying glasses, microscopes; rulers and measuring tapes; weights and scales; thermometers; stopwatches, clocks, etc. Through practice, children will learn which tools will best help them in their respective observations.

 
{FOUR} Emphasise that recording observations is just as important as making them. When recording observations, use words, numbers, pictures, photos and videos. Experiment recording observations on different types of graphic organisers. It is important to be neat and organised.

Reference:
BrainPOP. (1999-2013). Available from: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/scienceskills/makingobservations/grownups.weml

 
We recently discovered the Backyard Safari Outfitters collection. They are perfect for encouraging observation skills in young children.

 
My boys spotted the Backyard Safari Outfitter Lazer Light Bug Vac at Target. When I saw the price (around $20), I couldn’t resist purchasing it. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s a Lazer Light Bug Vac. It sucks up bugs and catches them live. There’s a built in magnifying lens that kids can flip over once they’ve sucked up a bug. They can then observe the bugs up close with the built in magnifying lens.

 
Totally awesome right? What I absolutely love about the Backyard Safari Outfitter Lazer Light Bug Vac is that it’s so easy catch and release bugs. All you need to do to release the bug is to flip over the magnifying lens, and let the bugs out.

 
One of our best buys to date.

 
Tell me, what has been your best buy to date? I would love to check it out!

The post Observation: Science for Kids by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

 
Kids don’t need much to create their own real-life play scenes. With the simplest props and costumes, inspire them to create their own stories and experiment with being in someone else’s shoes.

 
After a Mothers Day gift or adding special finishing touches to your Mothers Day gift? Snap some precious photos of your kids playing Mum.

 
To help celebrate Mothers Day, here are some props to help your children play Mum. These props will also be useful for other play scenes.

• Board, pens, eraser
• Brushes, combs, mirror, hair pins, hair bands
• Play tools 
• Play food set 
• Play phone 
• Shop register set
• Toy laptop

 
To all the Mums out there, you’re simply amazing. Thank you!

The post Mothers Day: Playing Mum with Target by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

This is a Target sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.

 
Pretend play toys are my best friends in the wee hours of the morning.

 
In an odd twist of circumstance, it came to be that two night owls produced offspring, who are early risers to their core. At the crack of dawn, sometimes even before, I can hear my children grab their pretend play toys and in a joyous frenzy of free play, pretend play, (in the dark?!).

 
While the night owl within me gasps in disbelief the fact that my kids are up so early in the day, as I hear and watch them play (through my sleepy haze), I can’t help but concede how wonderful pretend play is.

 
My brood are superhero crazy. We have more than our fair share of Spiderman and Batman costumes, simply because my kids are love them to bits and beyond. I’m more than happy to let them pretend play with their favourite characters, but as a mum and teacher, I believe it’s also important to challenge them to extend their repertoire of pretend play.

 
Here are some simple pretend play toys for four pretend play scenes, inspired by nursery rhymes.

 
Pretend play toys for Little Miss Muffet
• Cushion
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Toy spider

 
Pretend play toy for Jack Be Nimble
• Candle

 
Pretend play toys for Little Bo Peep
• Girls Hat
• Umbrella with hook

 
Pretend play toys for Little Jack Horner
• Bowl
• Duplo blocks (including blue blocks)

 
As children act out nursery rhymes, their rhyming skills are reinforced. Rhyming helps children read and write because rhyming helps children see and hear the relationship between letter clusters that represent the same sounds in different words.

 
When children act out stories, they are building up their understanding of narratives, that stories have a beginning, middle an end. While they are playing, they’re growing and reinforcing their listening, speaking and vocabulary skills.

 
Here are 2 play scenes inspired by well-known stories:

 
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Bowls x 3
• Chairs x 3
• Beds (pillows/cushions/blankets) x 3

 
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pillow Pal
• Various food props

 
Pretend play doesn’t require a stage. All you need is a little floor space (just let me put those clothes into our never-ending dirty laundry basket and we’ll be sorted); some simple pretend play toys (yep, in a few small boxes in our hallway); and imagination (tick, tick, tick).

 
Happy playing!

The post Pretend Play Toys: Nursery Rhymes & Stories with Target by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.