Super Scientists

Our Super Scientists learned about the three states of matter today:

Solid and liquid:

And gas:

To illustrate the concept of gas, we made boo bubbles with dry ice, water, and soap. When you touch them they turn into "smoke". Everyone wanted a chance to touch them. It was a hit! And we even learned about chemistry, gas, and carbon dioxide in the process!

Smiles all around during science today!

Creative Open Studio

Besides offering wonderful enrichment classes each week, we also have a variety of toys and manipulative's for the kids to enjoy during our open studio time. Here are a few of our favorites this week:

This building set equipped with one power tool and one screw driver invites cooperative play and sharing.

Our most popular building set (besides legos) is our straw and connector set that lets you build larger than life models:

Join our dramatic play kitchen, where our cooks are enjoying a feast:

Cozy up in our book room where the magic of reading begins:

Enjoy creative play? Come by our learning center today!

Sea Art

Inspired by our story time book, Swimmy and other scientific books about the ocean, our amazing artists got to create some sea scapes this week.

They made bubble wrap paintings by cutting bubble wrap into fish and seaweed and painting it. They loved pushing the bubble wrap on the paper to see the creative spotted designs emerge.

Look at their creative sea scenes:

Our amazing artists also made their own foam and sequin star fish:

What a treat it was for them to hang on our Christmas tree:

What talented artists we have! We look forward to having you create with us again!

More underwater explorations...

We continued our water exploration with an observation of different objects that float and sink. Our older boys were introduced to the concept of "density" through use of a submarine that sinks when the chamber is filled with baking powder, then rises as it fills with air--ask them why it works!
L: "Some of the stuff is up, that means it's floating..."

We also explored "aqua beads"--clear polymer balls that are slippery and fun to play in. L thought they looked like fish eggs! He decided to put them in the water to see what happened and was amazed when they seemed to vanish!

L: "It feels like I'm holding something invisible. How can this be holding water when it's invisible?"
W: "They're invisible in the water. You definitely can't see them."
L: "I'm trying to get it all in, I can feel all of it but I can't see anything. It's not magic any more 'cause they disappeared again."


W demonstrated a tricky science experiment he'd learned about in a book--how to make water stay in a cup when it's upside down!
"I can flip it over without the water coming out...air pressure is stronger than the water pressure."

We read the book Fidgety Fish about a fish who has a hard time staying still (much like some of our boys!) and looked at several books on coral reefs and underwater habitats.

Then we made underwater habitats of our own! This habitat included fish, rocks, and an undersea diver (green "person" at the bottom of the bottle).

Even our littlest learners got to join in the fun as they explored underwater plants and animals in our sensory exploration station!

Aquarium Field Trip Fun!

Today we went on a field trip to The Living Planet Aquarium to further explore and observe some real underwater adventures. Our little scientists had fun learning.

We learned that green sea turtles can stay under water for up to five hours:

We learned that shrimp and hermit crabs shed their exoskeleton and shortly thereafter, for a few days, their new exoskeletons are soft.

We enjoyed touching the sea creatures. They each had unique textures. The star fishes endoskeleton felt bumpy and bony. We also learned that star fish can regenerate.



We learned that madagascar giant day geckos are insectivores and they are brightly colored for camouflaging with the native plants. Geckos are the only lizards that can produce more than a hiss or other simple sounds.

We learned that some of the native Utah fish are rainbow trout and kokanee salmon:

We learned that the green anaconda is the largest snake in the world, when both weight and length are considered. It can reach a length of 30 feet and weigh up to 550 pounds.

We learned that seahorses are poor swimmers and they are most likely to be found resting with their prehensile tails wound around a stationary object. They also turn bright colors when in social moments or unusual surroundings.

We got a great show from the penguins. They were very active running, jumping, and swimming very enthusiastically. We were told that we had witnessed the best show they ever put on. Lucky for us!

We had a great day diving deeper into science with our aquarium friends!
We hope you will join us for more underwater adventures.

(Pictures on this post are copyrighted by: Heather Ingalls,
Please do not use without permission, Thank you!)

Underwater Adventures

Digital scrapbook customized with Smilebox

Join us at Wundergarten Learning Center for a new project topic, "Underwater Adventures!" We'll spend the next few weeks exploring the ocean, learning about the characteristics of water, identifying and describing ocean animals, and more! Each of our classes will have special activities focusing on these themes!

Toddler Time
Mondays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Join us for finger painting fun, age appropriate books and songs relating to ocean adventures, sand and water exploration, and underwater animals. Directed toward children ages 6 months-3 years, but anyone is welcome.

Learning Objectives
*Actively explores and experiments
*Responds to and asks questions, contributes to discussions
*Works collaboratively with others
*Describes details or descriptions of what has been seen
*Uses measuring tolls informally

Field Trip Fun
Mondays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Join our older children (3-12) for fun-filled, educational field trips! Activities will include visits to the Living Planet Aquarium, a local pet shop, a water treatment plant, and a trip to the library to research and explore!

Learning Objectives:
*Knows how to access resources, describes resources in the community
*Understands, interprets, and analyzes narrative and informational texts
*Analyzes, draws conclusions, and makes predictions based upon data
*Describes the interactions between living and nonliving things in the environment
*Describes how the water cycle relates to the water supply in the community


Lego Learners
Tuesdays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Join us to explore the ocean using an all-time favorite manipulative-LEGOs! We'll learn through play as we create models of animals, boats and submarines, bridges and more! Open to children ages 6-12.

Learning Objectives
*Works collaboratively with others
*Approaches tasks with organization
*Participates in shared research
*Communicates effectively using science language and reasoning
*Describes and represents common animals


Super Science
Wednesdays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Our super scientists will go deep while exploring ocean-related topics! We'll learn about ocean and sea life, environmental conservation, properties of water and the water cycle. Open to children ages 3-12.

Learning Objectives
*Asks questions for further information
*Collects data, draws conclusions, and makes predictions from data
*Understands that water changes state as it moves through the water cycle
*Identifies and describes a variety of natural sources of water
*Investigates living things--observes & summarizes information about microorganisms



Math Masters
Thursdays from 9:00 to 11:30 AM (12/1, 12/20)
Join us as we sort, classify, measure, and count ocean creatures! We'll tie in geography by exploring world maps and identifying each of the major oceans.

Learning Objectives
*Develops counting skills
*Sorts, classifies, and charts objects by observable properties
*Uses measurement words and tools to observe and measure characteristics of water
*Uses simple classification systems to classify plants and animals
*Compares objects that float and sink in water


Literacy Learners
Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM (12/8 & 12/27)
We'll incorporate literacy by reading ocean-related books, then writing and illustrating our ocean animal reports! Open to children ages 3-12.

Learning Objectives
*Connects information and events with real-life experiences
*Increases in vocabulary development
*Demonstrates knowledge of elements of print within text
*Produces informational text
*Understands, interprets, and analyzes narrative and informational grade level texts

Amazing Artists
Fridays from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Our amazing artists will explore representational drawings of sea creatures, build models representing the water cycle, paint using watercolors and tempera, and finish up with acrylic ocean scenes.

Learning Objectives
*Expresses self in different roles and mediums
*Creates works of art depicting depth using secondary and tertiary colors
*Describes how weathering and erosion change Earth's surface
*Practices using skills for beginning drawings
*Observes objects in detail and portrays theme with accuracy in works of art
*Constructs a model to show how water continuously moves through the water cycle

The Hundred Languages of Children

Nurturing a love of learning...

At Wundergarten Learning Center we believe children learn by doing, and preferably by doing what they love the most! Our focus is on educating children not simply by drills and worksheets that teach content, but instead by hands-on, interactive learning activities that engage each learner on their individual developmental level. What we are striving to develop is a community of learners who are able to problem solve and think creatively, express themselves effectively through a variety of "languages", and work cooperatively with other members of the learning community. We believe each child has much to offer, and much to receive. We invite you and your child to join on our learning journey.