Preschool Science Lesson Plans - Shiny Pennies

One of the traditions during the Chinese New Year celebration is to give children red envelopes containing brand new money.

Try making pennies shine like new again with this classroom activity. Make this into a real science experiment by trying 4 different ways to shine the pennies and see which one works best. Ask the children what they think will happen. Encourage them to observe and describe what happens after dipping each penny into one of the bowls.

Need:

1 bowl vinegar

1 bowl salt

1 bowl salt and vinegar

1 bowl salt and water

Fill 4 bowls with the ingredients listed above and see what happens when you dip in a penny.

Combine 1/2 cup vinegar with 4 tablespoons salt in the third bowl.

It is such fun to see the reactions of the kids as they watch the shine come back to their "lucky" penny! Let them take their lucky pennies home as their Chinese New Year's gift.

Preschool Winter Lesson Plans - Panda Paper Bag Puppets

Everyone loves the giant panda bear! I like to start by telling the children a little about the panda. They are considered a national treasure to China.

Basic Panda Facts
* Pandas are mammals
* They live in the bamboo forests of China
* They eat bamboo, a kind of grass that grows where they live. In zoos they eat bamboo, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots and other vegetables.
* They are black and white
* They are endangered wich means people have to protect and take care of them and their forests so that they can survive.


Very simple Panda puppets can be made from small paper lunch bags.

Panda Paper Bag Puppets

Supplies needed:

* Paper bags
* Black construction paper
* Glue
* Scissors
* Markers or crayons

Fold the two square edges of a paper bag under (see dotted lines), to form the animal's chin.





Cut out shapes (you can uses just circles of different sizes) to form the ears, eyes, a nose, and paws. Glue them to the panda.


Puppets are always great ways to stimulate imagination and enhance story time.

Try this for one of your Chinese New Year's ideas.