Water Play...

It's no secret, kids love water! They love to squirt and splash and pour and spill! Knowing this, I quickly put an activity together that kept my little guy quite occupied for a long time! When the big kids came home from school, they too wanted in on the fun! I pulled out an ice cube tray (Dollar Spot at TARGET) and added water into each of the spots (half full), then I added food coloring into some of the spots and let it sit. I handed my little guy some eye droppers and let him play to his hearts content! There was squirting, squeezing and mixing and a lot of exclaiming! "MOM! A NEW COLOR!" "MOM LOOK AT THIS!" "OOPS, I spilled, BUT I SLURPED IT UP WITH THIS!" You get the idea!

He was having so much fun doing just this, I thought he would never tire of it, but eventually it was lunch time and he knew we were baking cookies, so he was able to leave it behind. As he headed to the kitchen, I grabbed the tray and tossed it into the freezer for part 2!

After eating and baking and cleaning up after our mess, I pulled out the ice tray and YAY! Colored ice cube play. I handed him a large set of Science Tweezers and he had a blast; playing, melting and even scooping them back in to the tray!

 As the ice melted another activity was set in motion! He took his bowl to the Science Lab and began pouring, mixing and playing! He added some more colors, some fresh water and used cups, spoons, funnels and test tubes! He used tubing and eye droppers and beakers. 

When he was done, big sister Autumn decided that she wanted to keep this liquid in hopes of using it in another future Science project! She poured the liquid in to a test tube and labeled it very scientifically "Red Stuff"! What fun we had with 1 little project that just kept multiplying!

Science and Little Ones

My children absolutely love Science, everything about it makes them excited and happy. This Christmas my daughter asked for all Science items and unbelievably enough, so got almost all that she wished for. Her room is home to 4 different microscopes a laptop and various other items. When she began to unpack her goodies, she asked for 1 additional thing. "Can we turn her room into a Science Lab so that she doesn't have to keep putting it all away?" CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! My husband and I got to work first with the things we had on hand and plan to add more once we make it to IKEA this weekend!

1 white coffee table offered the best sized table for her to still be able to sit and work. Her various test tubes, tubing, scale and 3 of the 4 microscopes are on constant display. The 4th is considerably larger and needs a separate table. Her favorite piece is the pocket sized travel microscope that she takes with her everywhere. The 3 kids love to sit side by side (with big sisters permission) and work together creating concoctions and testing out new mixtures.

We needed to stop quickly and get some hooks for a few things, so we ran to TARGET. While there, we noticed that their DOLLAR SPOT had a few Science Goodies on hand! We were so excited that we just grabbed the things that looked cool, but of course now I realize we should have just scooped it all up! (We're headed back there after the school pick ups.)

We plan on putting up a large shelf along with some small framed photos of her Science Experiments (her request) and then a small file cabinet next to the table that will hold the larger microscope and her notebooks with her drawings and such in them. Hanging on the hooks she has:

Rag, Active notebook, goggles, measuring tape, measuring spoons, thermometer. On the hook on the other side of the table (not shown) is her lab coat.

TARGET carries several science kits in their dollar spot as well. We are in the process of growing crystals. We also purchased multiples of the kits, so that we could keep the chemicals and other goodies that they came with. We have labeled everything and she knows the importance of keeping everything in the proper area. She is in Science Club and is also in the process of taking another Science Class put on by local scientists. This truly is her passion, that she loves to share with her brothers and together they have the best time!

We added a few fun books to her laboratory and she has had so much fun laying under her bed (she has a castle loft bed) in her clubhouse and marking exactly what she plans on doing and trying out!

After lunch one day, my daughter had saved her apple seeds in her lunchbox and brought them home to be planted! I had to perfect pot on hand! It's a cleaned out KEURIG coffee pod! Coffee grounds are already good for plants, so the remnants left inside are perfect for this! She is keeping a notebook with notes of her daily watering schedule and any observations she has! 

A project my youngest and I have going in the lab is a potato plant! The boys wanted in on the Science Lab too, so I told them that WITH PERMISSION from Autumn & Mom or Dad, they can do some things. They wanted to try and grow something like the Apple Tree, so we are trying a potato plant! They say that this can take a few weeks, so they are having fun keeping the water level high and taking notes like big sister!

She has her little experiment corner with her celery, our potato and her apple tree working there! During the day before going to school she takes them to the window sill and then removes them for observation when she gets home at the end of the day! How cool is that?!

We have new storage containers and loads of lab equipment, now we just need to get a label maker for her, so that she can label her own goodies and get a few shelves going up. She is having so much fun and we are loving watching her!

update 1/5/12

We added in 2 storage containers to hold vials and tubing and small specimen containers, slides and prep stuff, mixers, spoons, knives etc. With that move, we moved in a small book case that holds ONLY Science related books for easy reference (have to organize that better!) and moved her microscopes and scale set over there. I had an extra shelf in my studio and I gave her that temporarily until we can make it to the store to get the shelves we really want in here.  I added a couple more Command hooks to hold some beakers that have handles and keep them out of the way for now! A trip to the Science Store this weekend should get our hands on a periodic table of elements and some other goodies! Hmm...who is having more fun with this??? I LOVE projects!

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Exploring in Nature

After a full day of staying inside and studying, we wanted to do something fun! We opened up our Nature Guide and picked a page at random and then picked a date. We ended up with a hunt for wild mushrooms! We packed into the van and headed off to the nature center in search of some mushrooms.

On my last trip to the science store in town, I picked up these specimen dishes, which were perfect for this up close look into the different types of mushrooms we found! I used the green coasters to add a little color to the background, so the mushrooms were not the same color as the tray! (Coasters from Ikea .49).

Placing mushrooms in a variety of containers, allowed each child to explore on their own time and not have to wait for their turn. This definitely helped the project last longer.

I set up the station on a 'tray' which is really just an old wooden puzzle frame that had lost all it's pieces! We also used large magnifying glasses and tweezers from the Teacher Store. Everything had it's own place where it belonged and this was perfect for the kids to realize that everything had to go back where it came from.

The kids easily played in this Science Station for over an hour. They traded samples, broke off pieces and even looked up information! It was an AWESOME learning experience.

Afterwards, I handed this worksheet and had them fill it out (I helped the youngest one!) and it was AWESOME reading what each child thought of the day we had! Hands On makes such a difference, than just seeing pictures of mushrooms in a book!

What do you like to do out in nature??

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