Fun Magnet Activities

Do you guys ever feel like you need an IV installed and caffeine dripped straight into your veins?  Yes, I get the fact that Coke (a.k.a. Coca Cola) isn't the best thing in the world for me, but I seem to be able to live off of PB&J, popcorn, and Coke right now.  We are six weeks into school and I am running in so many directions at once.  I have blog ideas, TPT ideas, freebies, projects for class, and one hundred other things running through my mind.

Anyway, last week I promised you guys to blog about studying about magnets and here I am to try to deliver.  Well, that is if I can focus for more than two minutes.  I did turn Facebook off.

Alright, here are the activities I did and one or two that I didn't get around to doing, but that I know would be awesome.

Introduction:
The first thing I did was magic tricks with the magnets.  You can read more about that HERE.  The lead in went great and really seemed to hook my kiddos.  I'm not kidding.  All I have had to say the last two weeks is, "If you don't quiet down, you may not get to do the next magnet activity" and my kiddos have settled down immediately.

Activity 1: Magnet Fold & Learn Craftivity
We did an activity that I called the Magnet Fold & Learn Craftivity.  It was a huge hit with my kids.  I made an example first so that they could see what it looked like once it was cut out.  Then, they had to match the pictures to the correct side.  We have a "No Glue" rule.  This way, I can check it first.  I started that last year and it makes in much easier.  Obviously, if it's a grade the "No Glue" rule is canceled.  The author has an awesome picture on her page.  I kind of forgot to take a pic of this activity before I sent it home.

Activity 2: Pipe Cleaner Bottles
I saw this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it looked like fun.  The original author is Preschool Play.  I saved up water bottles so that every kid could have their own.   My first piece of advice is take the tops off several days before so the insides of the bottles can dry.  I took mine off of them the day before and they didn't dry completely.  Then, I thought "I'll stick them outside in the hot, Georgia sun".  Um, yeah, that actually caused more moisture to enter the bottle.

Now, back to the original story.  I gave each of my kids their bottles and they took pre-cut pipe cleaners and put them in their bottles.  You can get pipe cleaners from Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  I also gave each kid 30 or 40 little beads to drop in their bottles.  The beads were not magnetic so that my students could explain magnetic and non-magnetic to their parents.

After all of that, I passed out their magnet sticks.  Well, unfortunately the black magnets I got for my kids wouldn't work through the bottle.  I went back to Michaels and got the little, silver magnets.  These magnets were extremely strong.  We hot glued them to sticks and they worked like a charm.

Friends, I have to tell you, I think I had as much fun as the kids.  We were trying all sorts of things with our new magnet sticks and bottles.   This was definitely a hit!

Activity 3: Mini Book
I know it's horrible to post a picture when I can't offer you a freebie or tell you where to get the book, but I thought you still may be able to use the idea.  This is a little magnet mini book that my kids put together.  It tells you what a magnet attracts and what it does not attract.  It has the students do 3 examples of each.  I got it out of a Kindergarten Mailbox magazine from Oct/Nov 1998 in case you happen to have one around your house or classroom.

Activity 4: Magnet Sorting Trays
One of my favorite things to do is to put a lot of random things on trays.  For example, I usually include feathers, small nails, thumb tacks, pencils, crayons, kid scissors, dice, pennies, keys, paperclips, staples, and several other items.  Then, my kiddos have to use their magnets to sort the items into non-magnetic and magnetic.

Activity 5: Magnet Sort Activity
After we did the sorting trays, we did this little activity.  I purchased if from April Wolfe.  It's a pretty cute activity and it makes a good grade.

Activity 6: Magnets Writing Activity
I know I posted my freebie last week, but here are pictures of how they turned out.  The kids loved this writing activity and it was a nice way to tie in everything we have been learning into another subject.  I really heart opportunities to integrate subjects!

Activity 7: Hungry Hounds

I needed one more activity to complete my two weeks of fun and ran across this when searching for magnet ideas on the Internet.  This was a HUGE hit with my kids!  I brought gallon-sized baggies for my kiddos and we loaded up all of their activities for them to take home.  You can click on my picture to go grab this one.

So, these are just a few of the things I did the past two weeks.  We also did read a little from our science books and watch one science video, but I leaned heavily on projects for the last two weeks.  I have to say, I think this is the most fun I've ever had teaching science.  I hope you guys can use some of these ideas.  I know a few of them you have to pay, but I also know sometimes seeing a picture can spark an idea for me.

Talk to you guys tomorrow!