Learning About Magnets: Tot School Unit Theme

This week in tot school we did things a little bit different. We didn’t have a daily topic because we were simply learning about magnets! We enjoyed so much fun and play time each day with fun magnetic activities that enriched the mind and encouraged exploration.

Supplies and Books for Learning about Magnets

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What Makes a Magnet? is a great book for older kids or for activities for younger kids. Our idea to go magnet fishing was partly inspired by this book. We love any book that has extension activity possibilities and this one definitely fits the mold.

Jeff’s Magnet is another book that allows for some extension play. We loved reading about how Jeff experimented with his toy cars!

We also enjoyed a lot of open ended play this week. We used Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnets of all kinds (animals, letters, numbers, etc.) and played with them on the refrigerator and some other magnetic surfaces around the house (washing machine, dish washer, chalk board, and more).

Learning Resources educational toys is one of my favorite education companies and they have some great magnetic boards that can be used with letters to spell out words or just as lap boards.

We also LOVED playing with our Djeco Magnetic Wooden Shapes Set. It not only is great for at home play, but everything is self-contained so it makes an easy portable game. And, because it’s basically a magnetic carrying case, we even took out the shapes and included other fun magnets for on the road and away from home.

For some fine motor skill play, we also played with the Magna Doodle. While it was a little much for my 15 months old to grasp, she did understand that if we tried to write on it with something other than the attached pen that it wouldn’t work. One extra way we played with it was we brought out some shape magnets to help her make the correlation between magnets and the images on the Magna Doodle.

Other Ideas and Activities for Learning About Magnets

• Visit a recycling facility or a junk yard that has a massive electronic magnet. Watch how it can pick up huge pieces of metal.
• Keep a magnet handy to test all metal surfaces to see if they contain tin or not.
• Make a magnetic busy bag/fill an Easter egg with small magnetic items and a small magnet. This is great for on the go and can even turn into a game of fishing when you’re not at home.
• Explore the house and make lists of things in each room that are magnetic.
• Go Magnet Fishing! Be sure that you include all kind of materials in your box. We had everything from plastic to wood to of course tin items. We also included some metal items that didn’t contain tin so that the girls could see that they didn’t “stick” to the magnets.
• Explore how magnets not only PULL but that they also PUSH!

Bible Verse of the week James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

 

Find more information on themes we have already completed and download the calendar & planner to start today! And KEEP an EYE ON US! We have more tot school ideas every week!