Toddler Theme: Simple Machines

Most of our weekly toddler themes are going to be really basic.  Like Colors or Feelings.  Under the Sea or Up in the Air.  But this week I wanted to share a seemingly difficult toddler theme -- Simple Machines -- and show you how easy it is to introduce your toddler to some advanced science concepts.  First a quick refresher...A simple machine is a device that changes the magnitude or direction of a force.  There are 6 types: Wheel & Axle, Screw, Lever, Wedge, Pulley, and Inclined Plane.

We did our biggest exploration into Simple Machines at the playground.  Think about it.  A playground's target audience is the toddler crowd.  Little people still honing their gross motor skills but looking for a thrill (a force amplification, if you will).  Slides & ramps are inclined planes.  Does your playground have a spiral slide?  Good, because a spiral slide provides the perfect model to explain a screw (it's just a slide, er inclined plane, wrapped around a cylinder).  If you're lucky enough to have a seesaw on your playground, then you've got a lever.  And even if yours doesn't, I bet it has a sandbox and you can use a shovel as a lever.  Mia brought her own wheels to the playground and we had fun racing the cars down the slides.  I should mention that not once did I stop Mia and try to give her a simple machines vocabulary lesson.  Instead, I conscientiously tried to help her solve her toddler problems with the use of a simple machine.  Here's a perfect example.  She's still scared to climb a ladder to get to higher playground platforms, but our playground has this spiral pole (screw).  I showed her how to get on and shimmy herself around in circles.  It was slow progress but she eventually made it up to the height of the platform and jumped across.  Classic simple machine application.

We also made a trip to our local science museum, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and played in the Discovery Zone.  Mia made ball chutes with magnetic half pipes on the wall and played with gears on a huge pegboard table.  The museum also has a kid-powered machine that sends colored golf balls whizzing around on tracks.

At home, we made a cardboard car ramp to mimic the fun we had with the cars on the slides at the playground.  I used washi tape to make it look more official.  We got out the Duplo set and made 2 cars.  We put a wheel base on hers but not mine.  You guys, I didn't win a single race.  Not one.  Those wheels & axles sure are important!

A summary of all Simple Machine week activity ideas with links:

ACTIVITIES: Watch Rube Goldberg machine videos on YouTube (like this one), Play games like Mousetrap or GoldieBlox & the Spinning Machine, Pretend play with a tool set (screw, hammer as a lever), Take something apart with your older child and try to find simple machines

ART PROJECTS: Make tire track paintings by running your favorite cars & trucks through paint and then over paper (You could also do the same but make the tracks in play dough), Play with the Playdoh press...it's a lever  

OUTINGS: Simple machines scavenger hunt around the neighborhood, Free play at the Science Museum, Go sledding, Check out all the simple machines at your local playground

BOOKS: Rosie Revere Engineer by Andrea Beaty