Science

Quicksand Sensory Play

Quicksand Play Recipe:

  • 1 box of Cornstarch

  • 3 Cups of Play Sand (25 pound bags available at Home Depot for under $5)

  • Water

Part of the fun of this play recipe is mixing the ingredients. We explored all sorts of textures on our way to getting the perfect quicksand. We started by combining one box of cornstarch with three cups of play sand. Have fun playing with these dry ingredients to get them good and mixed.

Then it was time to add water. Add the water a little at a time, and each addition created a whole new play material. Adding a little water gives a hard, almost porcelain type of sand. Adding a bit more gave us a moon sand type consistency. Just a little more and we had the perfect quicksand.

HOMEMADE GIANT BUBBLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6 cups water (distilled is best but tap water is fine)

  • 1/2 cup blue Dawn dish detergent I used “ultra concentrated”, but Dawn original is even better.

  • 1/2 cup corn starch (corn flour in the UK)

  • 1 tbsp baking powder (not baking soda)

  • 1 tbsp Glycerine (or personal lubricant)

How to Make Homemade Giant Bubbles Solution

  1. Dissolve Cornstarch
    Dissolve cornstarch in the water, stirring really well.

  2. Add Remaining Ingredients
    Stir in the rest off the ingredients, being very careful not to create a lot of froth.

  3. Let it Sit
    Allow your bubble mixture to sit for     at least an hour before using, stirring occasionally when you see the cornstarch settling to the bottom.

HOW TO MAKE A GIANT BUBBLE WAND:

You can buy huge bubble wands like this one, but it’s really easy to make your own. This is how to make one:

Used two drinking straws, and a length of yarn that was 6 to 8 times longer than the length of one straw. Thread the yarn through the straws, tie a knot, and you’re good to go!


Flower Dying Experiment

Place white flowers into water dyed different colors. Check back every few hours to see the petals changing colors! What colors appear first? Which colors take longer to appear?

https://www.3dinosaurs.com/wordpress/index.php/coloring-flowers/

DIY Toilet Paper Roll Seed Starters

Fill old toilet paper rolls with soil. Help your child plant different seeds in the soil and water them. Place them somewhere in your home and give your child the responsibility of starting to grow the plants! Remind them to water the plants and make sure they are in the sun.

Growing Seeds in a jar

SEED JAR SUPPLIES:

  • Paper Towels

  • Water

  • Seeds (Pea and bean seeds grow quickly)

  • Large jar

We also enjoyed the book, How A Seed Grows by Helene Jordan which inspired another seed activity with eggshells!

HOW TO SET UP YOUR SEED EXPERIMENT:

Our mason jar includes sunflowers, peas, and green beans!

STEP 1: Fill the jar with paper towels. Kids can fold them and push them down into the jar. This is also great work for little hands.

STEP 2: Gently water your seed jar to wet the paper towels. DO NOT FLOOD IT!

STEP 3: Carefully push seeds down into the paper towels around the edge of the jar so they can still be seen. Make sure they are firmly held in place.


WHAT DO YOU SEE IN YOUR SEED JAR?

  • You are looking for a root to pop out of the side.

  • Next, you are looking for root to push down into the soil.

  • Then, you are looking for root hairs.

  • Next, you are looking for the seed to push up while the root hairs push down.

  • Lastly, you are looking for the shoots to come up!

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/seed-jar-science-experiment-kids/


Supplies Needed:

  • Club Soda or another clear soda (7-Up, Sprite, etc.) (Unopened is best)

  • Raisins (fresh works best)

*Tip: You will want to separate the raisins first. If they are stuck together they won’t dance. Small/medium raisins worked better as well.

  1. Fill a glass with soda.

  2. Drop raisins into the glass. What happens? Do they sink or float?

  3. Then sit and watch what happens. You may need to be patient. It can take a minute or two for them to start moving.

The kids got a huge kick out of this! They loved watching the raisins get lifted up and then pushed back down in the soda. It was really cool to see the bubbles attach to the raisins and lift them up.

How does this Science Experiment work?

When you first drop the raisins in the soda they sink to the bottom of the glass because they are more dense than the soda. But the carbonated soda releases carbon dioxide bubbles and these bubbles love to attach to the rough surface of the raisins. They act like tiny floatation devices that lift the raisin to the surface of the water. This is due to an increase in buoyancy.

Once the carbon dioxide bubbles reach the surface of the soda they pop and the gas is released into the air. This makes the raisin lose buoyancy and fall back down to the bottom of the glass.

This continues until all of the carbon dioxide has escaped and the soda is flat.

https://funlearningforkids.com/dancing-raisins-science-experiment-kids/

Lemon Volcanoes

Supplies

  • Lemons I recommend 2 lemons per volcano

  • Baking Soda

  • Liquid Watercolors/ Food Coloring

  • Craft Stick

  • Dish soap

  • Tray

  • Cup & Spoons

  • Step One (Adults only) Prep your lemon by slicing the bottom off to make them sit flat. Flip the lemon over and slice out the core. If you are making an open faced volcano, slice the lemon in half.

  • Step Two Prepare extra lemon juice by slicing a second lemon in half and juicing it. Pour juice into a cup and set aside.

  • Step Three Place your cored lemon on a tray. Use your craft stick to mush the center of the lemon and bring out the juices. Be sure to keep the juice in the lemon!

  • Step Four Place a few drops of food coloring or liquid watercolors (do not dilute) in the center of the lemon.

  • Step Five Add in a good squeeze of dish soap to the lemon. This is not necessary but causes the bubbles to ooze and froth more and longer.

  • Step Six Add a spoonful of baking soda into the lemon. It should start to fizz. Take your craft stick and stir the lemon and lemon juice. It should start foaming really well as you stir it!

  • Step Seven To keep the reaction going alternatively add more baking soda, coloring, dish soap and the reserved lemon juice to the reaction. Squeezing the lemon to release the juices also enhances the reaction. Or if you are like my kids, just stick your whole hand in there and give it a good squeeze…ha!

The Science Behind Lemon Volcanoes

Lemon juice contains citric acid which when mixed with baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) reacts to form carbon dioxide and sodium citrate, which causes the liquid to fizz and bubble. Citric acid is a common food additive used in soft drinks as a preservative and flavoring.

https://babbledabbledo.com/science-activity-kids-lemon-volcano/

Science Choice Board Week 3

Baking Soda Experiment

  1. Line a pan with baking soda

  2. Pour vinegar into multiple bowls and mix in food coloring

  3. Using a dropper (eye dropper or turkey baster), collect vinegar and squeeze it into the baking soda.

  4. Watch as the baking soda fizzes!

  5. Talk about what is happening and watch the colors mix together.

Air Pressure

  1. Simply place the two kitchen sponges, one on top of the other, inside the plastic zip lock bag.

  2. Place the drinking straw between the two sponges so that one end of the straw is inside the bag and the other end is sitting outside the bag.

  3. Seal up the bag.

  4. In addition to closing the zip lock seal on the bag, you will also need to seal it with adhesive tape. The tape is not showing in the photo above. We first tested it out by just closing the zip seal but the bag burst open during the experiment. So, seal up your bag with adhesive tape and then you are ready to play!

  5. Blow into the straw to inflate the bag.

Jelly Bean Building

  • Jelly beans

  • toothpicks

Create 2 and 3 dimensional shapes and create structures.

Talk about how tall they are or how short.

Can you create letters? Yes? Spell your name using candy and toothpicks.


Plastic Egg Building

  • Plastic Eggs

  • Play-Doh

  • Simple Tape Measure

1. Show children how to connect the eggs using playdough spheres

2. Encourage them to build 3 dimensional structures.

3. Measure how tall the structure is before deconstructing it!


What happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar?

Supplies you will need

  • Plastic eggs

  • Egg tray

  • Eyedropper, squeeze bottle, or meat baster

  • Baking soda

  • Vinegar

  • Food coloring

  • Glitter (optional)

1. Set up a tray with an egg carton (clear plastic or Styrofoam will work best) and set up your eggs.

2. Add several drops of food coloring to each egg.

3. Add a spoonful of baking soda. You can add a pinch of glitter on top (optional)

4. Give a small bowl of vinegar for you eyedropper, meat baster or bottle.

5. Add vinegar to the eggs and watch what happens?

Magic Milk

  1. Pour a thin layer of milk in a shallow pan.

  2. Have the kids add drops of food coloring all around in the milk.

  3. Then the kids will pick up a cotton swab and dip it in the dish soap.

  4. Then put the cotton swab in the milk – pressing it down in one spot and holding it there for about 15 seconds

Watch what happens!


Here are some questions to ask the kids:

  1. What did you notice?

  2. What happened when you put the cotton swab in the milk?

  3. Why do you think that happened?

  4. Why do you think it stopped moving around after a period of time?

  5. What else did you observe?

Milk is made up of minerals, proteins and fats. When the dish soap enters the milk the fat begins to break up. The soap molecules run around and try to attach to the fat molecules in the milk. Normally this process would be invisible to you, but the food coloring helps you to see all of the movement taking place.

Science Choice Board

Try Rainbow walking water science experiment

Supplies you'll need

  • Small plastic cups or glasses

  • Paper towels (The pick-a-size paper towels are best because then you just use half sheets for each cup. If you only have full sheets, then cut them in half.)

  • Food coloring in primary colors, Red, Yellow, Blue

  • Water

1. Print out the recording sheets and make copies, if needed.

2. Place 7 cups in a row and pour water in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th cup. My cups were about 3/4 full. I have since heard that fuller is better.

3. Add 5 drops of red food coloring to the 1st cup and the 7th cup.

4. Add 5 drops of yellow food coloring to the 3rd cup.

5. Add 5 drops of blue food coloring to the 5th cup.

6. Take a half sheet of paper towel and fold it in half lengthwise and in half again lengthwise.

7. Trim off some of the length so that there isn’t too much excess paper towel that will stick up in the air between each cup. This will make the water walk more quickly.

8. Place one half of a rolled paper towel in the 1st cup and place the other half in the cup next to it. Then another paper towel from 2nd cup and into the 3rd cup. This continues until you have placed the last paper towel that drapes over from the 6th cup to the 7th cup.

9. Stare at the cups and watch what starts happening. You should quickly be able to see the colored water begin to crawl up the paper towel.