Encourage your child to compare and contrast a wide variety of autumn-themed items as she learns to weigh the various objects and record her findings.
What You Need:
- Autumn-themed objects such as acorns, leaves, sweet gum balls, small pumpkins and gourds Include something that is deceptively heavy or light, such as the gourd
- A postal scale or kitchen scale
- Paper
- Pencil
What You Do:
- Don’t let your child handle anything yet because some of the weights might be surprising. Start this activity by reviewing what you’ve gathered with your child. Does she know what everything is? If not, name the items and explain to her what they are.
- Which item does she think is heaviest? Place that on the far left of the table. Which does she think is the lightest? Place that on the far right. Now, help her organize the remaining items from heavy to light.
- Have her help you zero the scale as you explain that the scale is a tool that measures weight. Now it is time to weigh the item she thought was heaviest and write down the weight, including the unit of measurement. Working from heavy to light, weigh each item and record the results.
- Once all of the items have been weighed, look at the numbers. Are there any surprises? What items weighed more than she thought they would? Which weighed less?
- Help her arrange the items across the table from heavy to light, this time working from the measurements themselves. Are the heavy items always bigger than the lighter items? Why does she think that some things weigh more than others?
Expand on this activity by comparing the weights of her favorite snacks (apples vs grapes) or any other small items.
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