Materials
Plastic 35-mm film canisters, black or gray but not transparent Sticky dots of two different colors
Markers
Pennies and other objects, as described below Balance scale
Instructions
Try these challenging experiments!1. To make sound shakers, separate 10 to 20 film cans into two sets. Mark each set with its own color dot on the top of each can.2. Arrange the cans in pairs, one from each set. Fill each pair with small objects of matching quality and quantity. Examples might be two paper clips, five buttons, one penny, two marbles, etc.3. Shuffle the pairs on a table. Challenge the children to shake the cans and place them in pairs by matching sounds.4. Once they have arranged the cans, the children may remove the lids to see if the contents match.5. To play a Penny Puzzler game, use 11 film cans and 55 pennies. Fill the cans with any number of pennies from 1 to 10. Label the bottom of each can with a sticky dot indicating the number of pennies inside.6. Shuffle the cans on the table. Challenge the children to guess how many pennies are in each can by shaking and weighing them in their hands. Let the children arrange the cans in a row from 1 to 10, according to how many pennies they guess are in each can.7. Once they have arranged the cans, the children can peek at the labels or remove the lids and count the pennies to check the results.8. Use the balance scale to compare the weights of the penny cans.More to doMath: Use the pennies for counting activities. Place a jar of pennies next to a balance scale to invite self-discovery.
