The SUN and
SUMMER
Compiled by Robyn, South
Africa ~ © Jan 2005
We began the year with this Summer Unit filled with lots of outdoors fun
and learning. If you’re doing this unit
in January (Southern Hemisphere), this may be a good time to introduce calendars
~ months of the year and days of the week.
Here are some songs and poems that may help you from Can Teach on months
and days.
INFORMATION
The Sun is a star that appears in the sky during the daytime. It is a huge ball of hot gas, which breathes
life into our world by sending out heat and light. Without it, the Earth would be cold, dark and lifeless. The Sun rises every morning in the east,
climbing higher in the sky until it reaches its highest point at midday. In the afternoon, the Sun sinks lower until
it finally sets below the horizon in the west.
The Sun is not really moving though, we are. The Earth spins round like a top on an imaginary line called an
axis. The Earth takes 24hrs to spin
around once. It is daytime when our
side of the Earth is facing the Sun and night time when we face away from the
Sun. The Earth also orbits or moves around the
Sun. It takes 365¼ days to make a full
orbit. As the Earth orbits around the
Sun, it also spins on its axis. The Earth spins at an angle, so the seasons change as the Earth moves
around the Sun. A season is a time of the
year that has a particular kind of weather.
In many parts of the world there are four seasons ~ Autumn, Winter,
Spring and Summer. It is summer in the part of the world that tilts closest to the
Sun. Summer is the hottest season of the year. Summer begins on the day when the Sun is at
its highest point in the sky. In the
Southern Hemisphere summer begins on December 21st (Northern
Hemisphere is June 21st).
The first day of summer is the longest day of the year. The Sun rises earlier and sets later in
summer, so the days are long and warm. Summer is full of bright colours.
The grass grows thick and tall, butterflies flutter, bees buzz and the
fields are full of flowers. It is
perfect for long outdoor walks, days at the beach, ice creams, watermelons and
outdoor fun.
The way I explained spinning and orbiting was by using a little
drama. We took turns in acting out the
Sun and the earth. I stood in the
middle of the room with fingers splayed while Ruby would walk around me holding
the globe and spinning it at the same time.
It’s better to see how things happen rather then trying to just imagine. As we did this, I discussed the Sun, day and
night and the seasons. It was absorbed
really well!
RECOMMENDED READING
from Kalahari Books
Summer (I Can Read it All by Myself, Beginner Books) by Alice
Low (Ages 4-8) >>See Amazon Reviews>>
A classic from the Dr. Seuss "Beginner Books" series. This newly re-coloured backlist provides a nostalgic look at a carefree season through the eyes of a boy, a girl and their dog. They share the joys of summer ~ swimming, fishing, gardening, watching fireworks, chasing butterflies, and toasting marshmallows.
Summer’s Vacation by Lynn Plourde (Ages 3-7) >>See Amazon
Reviews>>
Summer enthusiastically spends all her time shaping sand castles, jumping in the waves, picking berries, and camping. Mother Earth reminds her not to neglect her chores but she is having too much fun. It's not until she sees the dull, parched land from the top of a mountain that she realizes what she has done. She grabs her sprinkling can and gets to work. The golden illustrations radiate off the pages to warm your heart.
A Kid's Summer
EcoJournal: With Nature Activities for Exploring the Season by Toni Albert (6-12) >See Amazon>
Invites children to explore, read and write about nature. It offers nature activities like making a map,
growing a giant flower, baking a potato with heat from the Sun, collecting
fireflies, making a mushroom spore print, following snails and dozens of other
activities that teach them to love the world of nature.
IN THE KITCHEN
Make
Your Own Ice Cream
Put ½ cup milk, 1 T sugar & a few drops of vanilla into a small zip lock bag and seal well! Put about 1 tray of ice and add 6 T salt into a large zip lock bag. Place the small bag into the large bag, and seal. Shake the bags for five minutes until thick like ice cream. Pop into the freezer for a few minutes if you need to.
Sun Tea
Fill a large glass jar with cold water one glassful at a time, measuring how
many glasses you put in. Add Rooibos or
any herbal tea bags, 1 for every two glasses of water used. Seal jar and place in full sunlight. Predict what is going to happen. When the jar has a rich colour (about 4-6
hours) it’s ready. Document what you think has happened. Add honey, lemon and ice to your liking and
enjoy drinking your sun tea.
Watermelon
Bowl
Cut a watermelon in half
lengthways. Scoop out all the
watermelon with a melon-ball scoop. Add
other types of melon if you like. Serve
as a tasty cool afternoon snack for the whole family. Save pips for crafts.
Yoghurt Lollies
Mix some plain yoghurt with the same amount of fruit juice or pureed fruit
(orange juice works well). Add honey to
taste. Pour into paper cups or empty
yoghurt containers and freeze. Insert
wooden lolly sticks when mixture is partially frozen so that they stand
upright. Takes at least 24hrs to
freeze. Enjoy these healthy lollies.
Frozen Bananas Lollies
Cut a banana in half. (Optional - roll
each half in a little brown sugar.)
Insert a lolly stick almost to the top, wrap in foil and freeze. Makes a very popular, healthy frozen treat
for the next day. For impatient
helpers, make another sugar banana to eat right away.
Homemade Lemonade
Collect the juice of 3 lemons in a jug. (This can be done by liquidising three skinned
lemons and then putting them through a sieve to obtain the juice.) Dip a plastic spoon into the juice for
tasting. Is this lemonade? Add 1 litre of water and honey or sugar to
taste. Try taste
testing again. Makes a refreshing
summer drink.
SCIENCE,
CRAFTS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
Glass Prisms
Hang a glass prism in a sunny window and investigate the sun’s rays
through the prism. What happens? Many educator shops or flea markets sell
prisms that can be displayed near windows for children to explore.
Sprinkler Rainbows
Another way to investigate the Sun is by going outside and running
through the sprinkler. Can you see a
rainbow in the sprinkler? Explain that
the water is the window that lets the sun’s colours in just like the prism!
If there's no pool to keep you
cool íí The sprinkler's spray is a very
good way íí To wet your feet on a summer day
Colour Spectrums
For another must-do sun colour experiment
see the water rainbow experiment from Sun-Sational
Science
Pavement Chalk Drawings
Colour a paving or bricked area in your
garden using white or coloured chalk and create your very own masterpiece. Play games together such as noughts and
crosses, hopscotch or hangman if you like.
Paint the Pavement
Put out a bucket of water and some large paintbrushes and paint the
pavement, bricks, house, or fence.
Watch how quickly the sun dries up the water
on a hot summers day! After children have created
their pavement chalk drawings as above, they can then ‘paint’ over them and
watch them disappear.
Car Wash
Fun for hot summer days. Either your
child can help you wash your car, or they can wash toy cars, bikes or scooters
using huge sponges and a bucket of soapy water. Rinse with hosepipe or bucket of clean water.
Bubble Pool
Add bubble bath to an empty kids pool and fill with water. Add various toys like empty plastic bottles,
straws, or cups. Create a bubble
wonderland, right in the garden and there’s no need for bath time!
Tracing Shadows
In the sunlight, people and trees throw dark shadows
on the ground. Shadows move as the sun
moves across the sky. They shrink and
grow throughout the day. They are at
their biggest in the morning and again in the evening. Prove this by standing in exactly the same
spot several times during the day. Each
time, get someone to do a chalk drawing around your shadow and make note of the
time. When is your shadow the longest,
or shortest?
Sun’s Strength
Cut out a paper man chain from dark coloured
recycled paper. Dress each man with a
cut out item of clothing made with fold-over tabs to keep in place. Put your people out in the hot midday sun
for a few hours. When you bring them in
and ‘undress’ them, you will see how the strong sun has affected the parts of
the body that weren’t protected and what the Sun is capable of doing. Talk about how strong the sun’s rays are and the importance of using sunscreen protection
on our skin. The Sun radiates invisible
ultraviolet (UV) rays causing burning and other skin damage.
Summer Collage
Look through magazines and travel brochures and cut out pictures
of your favourite summer things. Using
glue and paper, make a collage.
Talk about the things you like to do in summer. Ask the children to tell you about the
pictures in their collage and write down their words on the paper.
Paper Plate Sun
Paint a paper plate yellow. Use scissors to snip triangles out around the edges
of the plate to make the Sun’s rays.
Bend rays, some in and some out, for contrast. Draw a happy face on the Sun with marking pens.
Sunset Watercolour
Use a spray bottle to dampen a sheet of white paper with water. Paint the sky using sunset colours. Hang up to dry allowing the colours to blend
and run. When dry paste a half orange
circle at the bottom for the setting sun.
Discuss sunrise and sunset.
Sunshine Handprint Craft
Make yellow paint handprints going around in a
circle for the Sun’s rays.
Alternatively you can trace around and cut out handprints from yellow
and orange construction paper and glue them around a cut out circle. As a lovely gift idea, write one of these poems in
the centre of the handprint Sun and give to granny!
Watermelon Wedges
Cut a large circle out of green paper and a slightly smaller circle out of
pink paper. This is excellent for
cutting practice. Stick the pink circle
on top of the green circle and glue real watermelon seeds all over the pink
circle. Cut in half for two beautiful
watermelon art slices.
Watermelon Seed Counting
Write a number on each section of an empty egg carton. Provide a container of watermelon seeds. Count out the required number of seeds and
place in each section to match the number written on the section.
Bubble Prints
This is VERY messy but makes beautiful pictures. Lay out lots of newspaper! Mix some dishwashing liquid into a small
amount of water in a dish. Add powdered
or liquid paint until the colour is intense. Blow bubbles in the mixture
with straws until they rise up over the edge of the dish. Gently place
paper on top of the bubbles to make amazing bubble prints. Keep doing this
until you have covered the piece of paper.
Continue the process using different colours if you are brave
enough. This makes very nice wrapping
paper or cards.
Make Your Own Bubbles
1½ cups warm water, ¼ cup dishwashing
liquid, 1t sugar (add 1t of glycerine to make even better bubbles)
Mix all ingredients together. Combine well, but do this gently. Using funnels, straws, fly swatters or
blowers, blow or wave through the air like wands to make bubbles. Store in a plastic container with a tight
lid.
Bubble Art
Mix a little kool aid powder into some bubble mixture. Go outside and blow bubbles. Children run around and catch the bubbles on
a piece of paper to create a stunning bubble art picture. This really works well!
Blow Painting
Using a watery paint, put a few drops of
different coloured paints onto a piece of paper. Using a straw, blow the paint around to make a pattern. Add more drops and blow until you are happy with
your design.
Kool Aid Art
This is messy, but fun and makes an interesting picture! Sparingly sprinkle different colours of dry
kool aid onto a piece of paper. Using a
spray bottle, spray water onto the paper and watch your picture come alive. Another idea is to use the left over kool
aid powder mixed with a little water as a non-toxic paint and paint some summer
pictures! These smell lovely!
Fence Painting
Hang a big piece of paper on an outside fence or wall. Squirt the paper with bottles of coloured
water. This is fun and a great way to
see how secondary colours are made. For
example spray blue and red water on the paper to make a beautiful purple
design. Hose down the fence or wall
with water afterwards.
SONGS AND RHYMES
The Sun makes the outside a warm place to play ä
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ä In the morning the Sun is low; Have children bend low to left, Stretch arms up high and stand on
tiptoes, Then bend low to the right.
Mister Sun
(arms above head in circle)
It makes the flowers grow each day
(holding up hands wiggling fingers)
The Sun hides its face during the night
(cover face with hands)
But during the daytime it shines so bright
(arms above head in circle)
At noon he's high overhead.
In the evening he dips again
Before he goes to bed.
This is a good stretching exercise.
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Hiding behind a tree..
These little children are asking you
To please come out so we can play with you
Oh Mister Sun, Sun, Mister Golden Sun,
Please shine down on, please shine down on...
Please shine down on me!
Hello Mr. Sun
(tune
~If you're Happy and You Know It)
Hello, Mr. Sun, how are you?
clap, clap
Hello, Mr. Sun, how are you?
clap, clap
We're so glad you're out today,
And we hope that you will stay.
We just love to see you shine, yes, we do!
clap, clap
WORKSHEETS
Make Patterns with these cut out ice-cream
scoops
Circle the things you wouldn’t need in Summer
Easy Preschool Shadow Matching
Sample Worksheets from
LearningPage.Com - Sun Facts – Kindergarten and Grade 3
(Register with LearningPage.com for free
to get access to hundreds more excellent worksheets
including fact files, maths, science and
language worksheets, lesson plans and more…)
LINKS
Summer Crafts from Enchanted Learning
Pre K Fun’s Summer Unit
with great ideas
Sun-Sational Science -
Excellent
The Virtual Vine ~ Wild About Watermelons Unit
Introduction to the Sun
from Enchanted Learning
SUMMER SAFETY
Wear Sunglasses - Warning: Never look at the Sun directly with your
eyes. It is so bright that it will damage
your eyes and may even blind you!
Summer Tips from Lana Kids including bees, mosquitoes,
ticks, poisonous plants, sunburn, jellyfish, water safety.
OUTINGS
For your summer outings, go to the beach or for a
special ice-cream family outing. Go for
a walk in the country and have a picnic.
Have a scavenger hunt. Go for a
bicycle ride.
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