Volcano materials for Early Childhood

I was saying how many files I have that are not available on this blog and think it is about time to get some of them uploaded to share with everyone.  We have been studying plate tectonics in our Early Elementary class over the last few weeks and we are finally prepared to move onto volcanoes and their types.  I have files and suggested materials for both the Early Childhood and Early Elementary classroom.  My next post will deal with Elementary files and suggestions.

Volcanoes are so fun no matter what age the child.  It doesn't seem to get too boring to study every year from age 3 to 9 and even older.  To begin with it is great to show the children a video of an erupting volcano.  This is a good route to go simply because we cannot take the children to a live volcano unless you have the great opportunity to live in a place like Hawaii or Iceland where active volcanoes can be seen up close.  These are a couple of suggested videos from the web here and here.  After they have seen the video you can have a conversation about what they noticed about video.  This is a great time to show the children a volcano demonstration.  I have created several volcanoes from kits.  I've usually found one at Michaels and used my 40% off coupon.  There are several to choose from and here are some great choices with a link to Amazon:

Learning Resources Erupting Volcano Model

Smithsonian Micro Volcano

Create-Your-Own Volcano Kit by Lakeshore

4M Volcano Making Kit 

NSI Smithsonian Giant Volcano Kit

Shylling Volcano Kit

I simply use vinegar, a couple drops of orange food coloring and some baking soda to create the demonstration.  In order to give the children a hands-on experience in erupting their own volcano it would be best to choose something made of plaster or plastic.  The plastic volcano kits are the easiest to clean independently.  I actually love this volcano for the on the shelf independent work because of its small size and easy clean up.  When it is set up there is just enough baking soda and colored vinegar for one eruption.  Once finished, including the child has cleaned it up for the next person, they can put it on the replenish shelf for the assistant to add more colored vinegar and baking soda.

I add to a second basket these photo cards to give children a chance to see great pictures of lots of different kinds of volcanoes.  This is a great primer for the elementary grades where they will learn about the types of volcanoes.

Volcano Photo Cards

After the children have had plenty of experience erupting the volcano it is a great time to introduce the Volcano Nomenclature Cards.  Sometimes you will have someone who knows a lot about volcanoes in your group and other times you might not.  The ones who know so much can really enrich the conversation.  This is the Early Childhood set of nomenclature cards and the blackline master to go along with it.  Older children should ALWAYS write the words independently by looking at the booklet while the littlest ones could trace the words.  I make my control booklet from this blackline set as well.  I trace over the letters with a thin black Sharpie marker so that children could place their paper over the booklet and trace the letters if they wanted to.  I want my letters to look nice so the children learn the correct formation.

Early Childhood Volcano Nomenclature Cards

Early Childhood Volcano Blackline Masters

There are so many great books about volcanoes that are very appropriate for the Early Childhood classroom.  Here are a short list of these books but you can find many, many more:

This Magic Tree House book is a great one for your advanced readers

Volcano Photo Cards Set For Early Learning

Our classroom has been learning about volcanoes.  In my experience, little children who are not yet reading are always wanting more to see (they have not usually had a lot of exposure to these great things).  They enjoy the books about volcanoes, but they are really excited to see and talk about pictures of volcanoes.  These are big forces that are awesome and a little scary to them.  This year I created this Volcano Picture Set Cards for them.  The reception by everyone in the class has been warm.  I cut them out and laminated them, then I put a hole in the top left corner so they could be on a ring.  One of the children in my class has been struggling with dry and itchy skin and how bad it gets sometimes.  She will take these cards, sit in a reading chair, and rub her itchy tummy while she peruses.  It helps her somehow.  These things are always so interesting and thought provoking for me.

Volcano Photo Cards Set
click on picture to link to file