Celery, Daisies, Food Coloring, and Capillaries!

A good way to teach kids about the capillaries in plants as well as humans and how it all works is a simple experiment using white flowers such as daisies , carnations, or Queen Anne's lace and celery! All you need is some food coloring and water!

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We tried celery and daisies after a few days their petals and leaves changed colors. My 4yr old kept checking them to see if it worked and when it work she ran in announcing with delight. They turned colors mommy, they turned colors.

When it was done we had a little science lesson on veins, and capillaries, and how plants and people work. I've included this scholastic/magic school bus link to help you better explain what is happening!

http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/simplescience/archive/labs/capillaries.htm or here is another good one as well! http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/celery.html

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Baking Soda Volcanoes

Baking soda volcanoes are always a big hit with the kids. I've tried it with kids of all ages it never fails to win them over! My kids will make their volcanoes erupt until they run out of ingredients. I remember when I was a kid one of my first science projects was a baking soda volcano. This is one of my fondest memories with my father as a child. He was always so excited to help me with science projects and I really appreciate the memories and the time he spent making them with me!

All you really need to make a volcano is baking soda, vinegar, and a container to put them in. To make ours we first made a play dough volcano with a small measuring cup from a children's Tylenol bottle pushed into the top. We then poured the vinegar and the baking soda into the cup and walla a mini volcano!

Here is a play dough recipe you can use. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/PEP/playdo.htm

Another really fun thing to do is mix colors. Watch the clip above to see my daughter mix yellow and blue to make green.

Creature Capsules - An Lesson in Absorbtion

My little girl has been begging me to get these Creature Capsules for a prize her daddy promised her for doing a good job putting. She was so excited when she brought them home!! I thought oh good another experiment with absorption and dissolving I can post!!

Not only did we have fun watching the capsules dissolve and the dinosaurs emerge we were able to match the little sponges to the dinosaurs on the back of the package and learned their names.

Wiggly Worms - Another Experiment in Absorbtion

This experiment in absorption is excellent for eating out! All you need is a wrapper covered straw and some liquid!

After you're done you can turn your straw wrapper into a spit wads of sorts by placing them in your straws and blow them at each other.

Another straw wrapper activity you can do is tear off only one end of the straw wrapper and blow air into the straw to send the straw wrapper flying across the table.

All this fun before you even touch your food.

Here's a little video of a growing wiggly worm for your viewing pleasure!

Spark in the Dark - Create Lightning in Your Mouth With Wintergreen Livesavers!

This experiment is fun even for adults. The idea is to make lightning in your mouth by crunching wintergreen Lifesavers with your teeth. This is accomplished by going into a dark room and really chomping down while opening your mouth. I chose our bathroom because it was dark and we could view our own light shows in the mirror.

A full explanation of why these spark in the dark is provided in the following link!

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question505.htm

I just told the kids we were making lightning in our mouths and left it at that for my four year old. If anyone has any ideas on how to explain this better to a four and two year old please leave me a post I'd love to hear your ideas!

I will try my hand at taking pictures of the sparks but I can't promise anything! OK all attempts failed so you'll just have to try this one on your own!!!

Have fun Sparking in the Dark

Colored Water Experiment

Food coloring, some glass jars, and water is an easy way to discover what happens when you mix the primary colors! I liked this project not only because it was easy and inexpensive but also because it applied to both my four and my two year old. She learned what that blue and yellow make green, and yellow and red make orange and so forth and he had a little color name review. It was a project right on their individual levels and accommodated both of their learning needs!

Making Rainbows

We learned about light today and how it is made up of lots of different colors. This is an excellent activity for a preschooler! All you need is some dish soap, water, a straw and a container to put them in. Then go outside where it is sunny and blow bubbles and look for rainbows.

Daddy came while we were conducting the experiment and asked my 4 yr old. Is light straight when it comes from the sun? Apparently they had already had this conversation because she immediately answered no it is wavy. I was pleasantly surprised. Chalk one up for daddy!

When it gets a little warmer I plan on making some more rainbows by spraying water with the hose and seeing if I can make it work! My kids love this kind of thing! I didn't know that science projects could be so easy!

Here is a link for more on why you see rainbows in bubbles.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/light13.htm

After we were finished blowing bubbles we headed inside and my 4 yr old drew this picture of a rainbow. I told her that rainbows always have the same colors and they come in the same order. Below is the a picture of a rainbow showing the colors in order. She also drew a picture of mommy and told me a story about it. We then listened for the first sound in rainbow and she wrote it in the corner. All in all it was an easy and enjoyable afternoon of colors, rainbows, and letters and we were both happier afterwards!



I liked this article on how to explain to your child why the sky is blue and thought it went well with the rainbow and colors experiment we did here. Maybe one day I'll find a better place for it. http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/0806-why-the-sky-is-blue.html