Science is Cool!

How great was Bill Nye the Science Guy? I seriously want to archive all his episodes so my kiddos can watch them when of age. (If you don't know who Bill Nye is check him out here)

Bill Nye

Channeling my inner Bill Nye, the kids and I engaged in some good ol' science. Well mostly science, plus a little fun too! All experiments were based around the BALLOON. I wish I had thought of taking pictures of my little scientists at work. We had so much fun today.

THE FIZZ INHALATOR

Supplies Needed:

a empty plastic bottle

1/2 cup of vinegar 

balloon

Baking soda

What to do:

Carefully pour the vinegar into the bottle. Bow the balloon up once, then let go while still grasping it. This loosens the balloon up for maximum size. Fill the balloon about half way with baking soda. (The easiest way to fill the balloon is with a funnel) Carefully, wrap the neck of the balloon around the top of the bottle WITHOUT spilling any baking soda in. Lift the balloon up, so all the baking soda enters the bottle mixing with the vinegar.

How does it work:

The baking soda and the vinegar create a chemical reaction.The two chemicals work together to create a carbon dioxide, which is a gas. Gasses need a lot of room to spread out. The carbon dioxide fills the bottle and continues spread by inflating the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY CAN ROLL

Supplies needed:

empty soda can

balloon

a head full of hair :)

What to do:

Put the can on a smooth surface, like a table. Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fast on your head o'hair. Hold the balloon close to the can without touching it. the balloon begins to come toward the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY WATER BEND

Supplies needed:

indoor facet

balloon

a head full of hair :)

What to do:

Turn on the faucet just until you have a very thin stream of water flowing. Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fastly on your head o'hair. Now bring the balloon close to the flowing water. Do not touch the water. The stream of water will bend towards the balloon.

STATIC ELECTRICITY TISSUE JUMP

Supplies needed:

tissue tore up as small as possible (super small)

balloon

head full of hair

What to do:

Rub the balloon up and down, back and forth, fastly on your head o'hair. Hold the balloon close to the tiny pieces of tissue. If the pieces are small enough they will jump off the table to the balloon.

How does it work for ALL static experiments:

When you rub the balloon through your hair, invisible electrons (with a negative charge) build up on the surface of the balloon. This is called static electricity, which means "non-moving electricity" The electrons have the power to pull very light objects (with a positive charge) toward them - like the soda can, water, and TINY tissue pieces.

TEXTURE BALLOONS

Mainly for my three year old, I filled four balloons with liquids. Warm noodle soup, cold water, liquid soap and ketchup (had a bottle of knock off brand, something HAVE to be name brand). Each kid hypothesized what the substance inside was. If was fun they all guess the water right but none of the others. My neighbor got close to the soap by guessing gel. We discussed size, weight, texture, look in the light, sound, the way it jiggled. . . . and what a hypothesis is.

Lastly, for a little fun, all the kids that ended up joining in on the science (6!) grabbed a side of a blanket that I placed water filled balloons on. All the giggles and squeals were contagious as they popped the balloons up in the air. 

Next science day theme....WEATHER! And lab coats, I must buy them all lab coats!

Our Version of the Sucker Valentine *UPDATED*

Lately on Pinterest, I have seen some super fun homemade valentines. I have been dying to make some of our own but T-bird really enjoys to pick out his favorite store bought character valentines. He does love crafting too, though.

 I asked T if he would like to make his own Valentine's this year. He said yes with two demands:
1.They had to be AWESOME
2.We had to make a girl friendly one. 

 

T-bird picked out all the outfits himself. I honestly didn't think we would make a Valentine from each costume, but since all the scenes turned out perfect that he I  insisted. We uploaded to Picnik because I thought it would be an easier editor for T to use. He picked out everything, the photo effects, clip art, and text. Together with a little help from Google, we came up with the sayings for each.

It only cost $5.36 to have 26 photo valentines printed one hour at Wal-Mart. While waiting T picked out suckers and a special marker to write on the back of them. Once home, I cut two slits, with an exacto knife, above and below his hand. T-bird stuffed the suckers. But be careful with this part, he demolished a valentine on the first try because they rip so easily. 

Making these was way easy and super fun. The cost all together, valentines and candy, turned out to be less than $10. Which is about how much it would have cost to buy them. Plus we got some good quality Mother-Son bonding time in there. Not to mention, T-bird informed me these were the COOLEST valentines ever!

I thought I would mention PICNIK is sadly closing soon. But I heard Google owned the photo editor and just moved it to Google+!!! So all you out there wanting to edit photos for free, try Picnik. It is sooo easy and does not close until April 19. Then if you love it, which you will, open a google+ account if you don't already have one!!

  If i want a super easy and fast photo editor similar to PICNIK, I now use PicMonkey.

 Now we have to make a special Valentine for a visually impared boy in Tanner's class. Tanner has requested he gets a special one with braille. I dont think I can DIY braille, but I am thinking lots of texture. Like a bear cut out of faux fur. Any ideas??? Oh, his party is tomorrow too. Nothing like a last minute deadline.

Mustaches with Martha

     Recently while perusing the craft store, I stumbled upon a new multipurpose paint from Martha Stewart Crafts.  The back reads:

                   Use on wood, glass, metal and fabric. Indoor/Outdoor. Water based.

                 Non-Toxic. Weather Resistant. Shake. Dry 1 hr between coats. For Glass:

                   Clean surface with alcohol. Cure 21 days. Top-Rack dishwash.

     Glass? I couldn't believe it. I have always used Pebeo Porcelaine Paint. This would not only simplify the process, but also add a wide range of colors to use. What could I test the new miracle paint out on? Mustache mugs, of course. I have seen a variety of these babies floating around, and have been dying for an excuse to whip some up. Here are my clever mugs 21 days after painting.

And they made it through the dishwasher. Yipee! Oh Martha, how you continuously knock my socks off.

Mustache Freebie Printable

Also that night, T-bird needed a class treat. So we quickly through together 26 mustache suckers. So cute!