Click here to read Weight Activity: Weighing and Comparing With A Balance Scale on Hands On As We Grow®
Weighing and comparing objects with a scale made simple a fun for preschoolers with this easy weight activity you can do at home.
Kelly is the director of a Daycare and Preschool. Starting in education in 1984, she has many years of experience.
Kelly had retired when her family started a new daycare and preschool. She knew they needed her and hung up her retirement hat for a few more years.
Starting a new business has been quite the learning curve for all of them.
But that’s not the only learning curve Kelly has had lately.
When Kelly came across information for The Activity Room, this wasn’t exactly something she was looking for at that moment.
“I’m definitely old school. I am definitely all about worksheets. Love worksheets. Can’t get enough of worksheets. So when I actually saw [The Activity Room] on Facebook, I was like, that’s for those young people that just do all those crazy things. And they don’t mind a mess. Because I don’t like a mess. I have 15 – 17 Kids, and so I don’t want to clean it up.”
Kelly was not a fan of mess as you can see.
And she likes things to be organized and planned out well.
When Kelly decided to give Room a try she figured she would do the ones she liked and let the other teachers take all the messy, complicated, or artsy ones.
“Art is my least favorite thing. Everyone who comes to intern with me or does a practicum with me from the college in Valley City, North Dakota, that’s my first question. I always ask them. Do you love art? And almost everyone I’ve had says, Oh, it’s my favorite thing. I’m like, Oh, you’re a gift. Just a true gift from God. But I will say that doing these activities, it’s changed my whole teaching style.”
Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
“The problem I was trying to solve was the deficiency I felt that I had [as a teacher]. That this was not an area I love. And so I thought if I had a little assistance, maybe with Room coming up with an idea, even if I had to modify it, it still was a basic thing that I could do. And it would make me better as a teacher and help them as students.“
When Kelly first joined Room her goal was to do one a week.
“I thought I could do this for one year. And I’m just not going to do any of the ones I don’t like. And I would say my goal was one a week. But, easy, I did two. And now it’s easy three or four.”
To her surprise she found herself doing at least 2 a week right from the get go.
Kelly was also concerned she may have to go out and buy all kinds of supplies. But in fact she had almost everything she needed in her cupboards already.
She was really starting to like what she was seeing about The Activity Room.
“The biggest reason I want to do activities with them is because they love it. They love every part about it! And they don’t even realize that they’re learning as they go. They just don’t even realize it, but they are. In grabbing things and holding things and helping them to hold a pencil. Their fine motor skills and gross motor skills. All they look at is, how is this gonna work?”
Kelly shows us this in action with her super simple and fun weighing activity at the end of the post! You can’t deny the focus and smiles on her kids faces during this weight activity.
Give daily activities a try for a week too! Download our FREE pdf Sample Week for Preschoolers here!
Tips For Doing Activities with Large Groups of Kids
Kelly has a unique perspective on doing activities since she is a preschool teacher.
“I don’t follow an order, I take the whole month and run it off. And between me and my girl that is from the college, she does half and I do half. Of course she loves them all but I get to pick first. And so I’ll do half messy and half not messy.”
She shares with us some very helpful tips on doing activities with lots of kids.
Divide and Conquer
First tip Kelly shares with us is to divide the kids into smaller groups. This allows you to make sure each child gets the most out of their hands on experience!
“I’m a planner. So I like to still plan. But I have 17 kids. So I have them in four different groups, it really helps with these activities to not have more than five. With more than five, if I have one that’s a little bit slower in each group, they just don’t get that attention that I’d love to give them. So I try to do four kids at one time.”
Keep it Short
With worksheets, Kelly used to just split the group of kids in half.
But with Room activities she finds she can do smaller groups and just move them along a little faster than she did with worksheets.
This way it doesn’t take longer than the planned time for that theme, lesson or subject.
“I just rotate them quicker, because it doesn’t take long to do [an activity.]”
Keep Cloths Handy
Make sure each child has a cloth or wet wipe handy.
You never know when a kid could be nervous about the texture or mess too.
“Kids just love anything hands on. Not all of them love to get dirty. I’ve even learned something though. I have those little baby wipes and I just have one by them at all times. Those who need it, we don’t talk about it, we don’t discuss it. They just know if you ever need this, this is here. And they just look at me like, Okay, I think I can do this. I think I can get my hands dirty.”
Leave it Out
Kelly has kids that attend only for preschool hours. And she also has kids that stay before and after for daycare.
Kelly loves to take advantage of the simple Room activities by leaving them out and available for kids to explore further later on.
“I have daycare kids that do preschool in the morning, but they’re with us till five o’clock. And so later in the afternoon after rest time or whatever, they’ll go to do [the activity] again. Just like those families that are home, when you do it, they go back to it. My other kids can’t in the morning, they’re gone. But I do love that it’s a little bit like home, that they can go back and do it and rediscover it and even add to it. So I like that. That they keep doing it.”
She uses all these tips in her fun object weighing activity below. Try her activity at home and explore weight with your kids.
If It’s a Mess, You Just Clean it Up
Kelly tells us that she is so glad she gave herself the challenge to try activities with her class.
She never thought she would be so comfortable with activity time. Or messy play!
She tells us it has changed her teaching completely and made her better in so many ways.
“The Activity Room helped me to look forward to doing things differently. And not being like, I wouldn’t say afraid, but almost disrupted by it. I would say before I was a little bit disrupted [by anything messy].”
“And now it’s not bothering me at all. And so I think that’s what [Room] did. It just helped me to embrace it and realize that if it’s a mess, it’s a mess. You clean it up and you’re still done. You still got a lot more accomplished, I think. So I like that.”
“As a teacher, it’s made me more aware that even though it may be messy, that it’s all whether you got to clean that up or clean lunch up or whatever. It’s not as important to me anymore. So it’s made me look beyond what I used to set as kind of guidelines of what I did in my classroom. Those are gone. And you know, if it works, and it’s fun, even if I have to moderate it or change it, it’s worth it.”
“I just love seeing them so excited.”
Let’s Meet Kelly
How many kids do you have and how old are they?
13 4-5 years old kids.
Why do you love doing activities with your kids?
Because they love it and are learning at the same time.
How long have you been in The Activity Room?
Since October 2020.
What is your favorite activity you’ve done in The Activity Room?
Shaving cream sensory. Great for all kinds of learning fun.
(Don’t miss the Weight Activity Kelly shares below where the kids are weighing toys with candy corn!)
What’s your favorite thing to do with your kids when you get a few moments?
Ask about their dreams and wishes.
What’s your best tip for doing activities with your kids?
Be prepared and ready, even though I’m not all the time.
If you were to tell a friend about The Activity Room, what would you say to them?
The Activity Room is inspiring to me. Before The Activity Room I did more worksheets. Now with the activities my kids have more fun.
Share your favorite quote
Pretend a parent is beside you at all times and you will always speak with kindness to a child.
Weighing Objects Activity:
Weighing objects on a scale.
I love having the kids guess which object will weigh more or less.
Weight activities are always a win in my class.
To Do This Weighing Activity You Will Need:
- A balance scale
- if you don’t have a balance scale then you can try this simple DIY scale for weighing objects using string, plastic cups and a hanger!
- Large quantity of small objects
- i.e. candy, pennies, marbles, bouncy balls, peanuts, raisins, beads, etc.
- Bowl or container
- Variety of toys and other items to weigh
- Paper
- Pen or pencil
Preparing Your Weighing Activity
Bring out you scale.
Have a paper and pencil handy to keep track of weights.
Have a bowl of small items to measure weight of toys and objects the kids choose.
Weighing Objects Activity for Preschoolers
We did our weighing activity with candy corn!
First I showed the kids the scale.
I asked each preschooler to find an object in the classroom that would fit on the blue platform.
“How many candy corn does your object weigh?”
Each of the kids got to consider the weight of their found items before starting the activity.
When it was their turn, each kid was asked to guess how many candy corn their object weighs?
Then they counted candy corn all the way to their number they guessed to see how close they were.
They loved this weighing activity!
Then we would compare the number they “predicted” to the number it weighed.
What are some fun ways you have used a balance scale with kids?
We are always looking for new activity ideas to teach kids about weight!
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