Are You Ready for Back to School?

Here is the south it's only July, but that means the shelves are full of school supplies and kids are getting excited to head back to class. Even though we'd rather spend a few more days laying by the pool, I guess it's time to starting thinking about that first day and week. If you are anything like me, you know it is a MUST to keep elementary kids entertained that first week with lots of brain breaks and fun activities. That is why I LOVE to do some fun candy themed experiments!

One of my all time favorite experiments involves Pop Rocks, Coke and a balloon. The challenge is to see if you can blow up a balloon only using the materials provided, and that doesn't include your mouth! Don't forget to use these candy experiment experiences to introduce the scientific method!

Another one of my favorite candy themed activities for the first day or week is the "Can you blow a bubble?" graph. First, pass out a piece of bubble gum to each child. At this point you have already won the hearts of the kids in the room... I mean bubble gum from the teacher on the first day? How cool is that!?!? After you have challenged the kids to blow a bubble, pass out the graph. The students should follow the directions to ask 15 kids in the room if they can blow a bubble. Here's the catch... the kid must PROVE he or she can actually blow a bubble. This is where it gets funny. With my experience most of the younger kids can't actually blow a bubble. At first they feel embarrassed, but when they realize most of the class can't it becomes really funny. 

The bubble blowing graph always leads me into a fun how to tutorial. I try my best to teach the kids how to blow a bubble and then prompt them to write their own how to paragraph. 

Seeing all this candy makes me want to head to the candy jar! These graphs and experiments and many more are included in my tpt Candy Back to School Unit.