Fun Projects/Experiments To Do With Kids

I love, love, love browsing people's blogs and seeing how creative everyone is.  I also love, love, love my Grand-kids!  I am lucky enough to live close to one of them & get to spend so much time with him.  I love looking for projects & fun things for him & I to do.

Boy, did I find some cool ones...

Before I post them I just want to say, children should never do any of these without proper supervision and safety precautions.  Now having said that.....

GLOW WATER

Materials:

Water

Yellow highlighter (other colors will work but will not give off the glow like yellow does)

Black light

Break open the yellow highlighter (I found the big ones are easiest to pop open... found a pack of 3 at the dollar store) and remove cylinder ink pad.  Soak the ink pad in water for about an hour or until it loses it's color. To break them open just squeeze the end with a pair of scissors and the back will pop off.  If you have a hard time getting them open just soak the whole highlighter in water, tip down.  It will take a little while longer but will work just as well.  You CAN dilute this quite a bit and it will still glow.  We filled a decent size tub half way up with water only using one little yellow highlighter, and I'm sure we could have diluted it more.  Off to the fun part!  Shine your black light where you will be using your glow water and watch the magic happen.  Here are a few activities that we have tried.  

more ideas:  http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/2011/07/glow-water_08.html

Exploring Gas w/Balloons, Baking Soda & Vinegar

What You Need:

baking soda

vinegar

plastic bottle

balloon

funnels (we used 2)

What To Do:

1. Using your funnel pour vinegar into your bottle. You only need to fill about 1/3 of the bottle.

2. Using another (dry) funnel pour baking soda into your balloon.  Fill the balloon approx. 1/2 way.

3. Cover the top of the bottle with you balloon. Make sure you don't let the baking soda spill into the bottle prematurely.

4. When ready, lift your balloon and let the baking soda fall into the vinegar.

5. Watch as the mixture fizzes, bubbles & expands your balloon!

6. Discuss how the baking soda & vinegar produce a gas which fills the balloon.

7. Repeat! Believe me, your kids will want to do this more than once.

The science behind it - Baking soda and the vinegar create an ACID-BASE reaction. When combined/mixed they create a gas - carbon dioxide. Gasses need room to spread, so the carbon dioxide fills the bottle and then moves into the balloon inflating it.

** This experiment does not produce helium. Carbon Dioxide gas will inflate the balloons but they do not "fly" like helium inflated balloons as it is not the same kind of gas. This is meant to be a fun science experiment/demonstration. **

Go ahead have fun inflating some balloons!

How to make Elephant Toothpaste:

1.  Set a soda pop bottle in the middle of a pan to catch the toothpaste.

2. Mix these in a separate container and swirl together for a minute.  The yeast will catalyze (or speed up) the reaction.  Woo hoo!

** 2 Tablespoons warm water
** 1 teaspoon yeast


3.  Mix these in your soda pop bottle:

** 1/2 cup 6% hydrogen peroxide.  It is important to use at least 6%.  You can use 8% or more (available on Amazon), or you can Salon Care Professional Stabilized Formula.  20 Volume Clear Developer from Sally Beauty Supply works fine too. 3% from the grocery store will NOT work as well.  :)
** 4-5 drops food coloring
** squirt of dish soap


4.  Pour the yeast mixture into the soda pop bottle...and be amazed!

If you're working with older kids, you may be interested in how it works:

The reaction is summarized by this formula: 2 H2O2  -->  2 H2O + 02.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) naturally breaks down into water and oxygen.  It is stored in opaque containers to help slow down this process.  Catalase (an enzyme in all living things, including yeast) speeds up the reaction.  Dish soap catches the oxygen and makes bigger bubbles and the food coloring makes it look cool.  The foam and bottle feel warm because the reaction is exothermic--it releases energy as heat.

Storm In A Cup

Well, technically speaking it's a volcano in a cup, or a glass coffee mug, but let's not split hairs here. It's a cup, it's storm and I had fun making it.

This is a model re-enactment of how volcanoes work.

Put some wax in the bottom of a fireproof glass container.

Add some sand.

Fill it up with cold water.

Now carefully heat the bottom.

Eventually, the wax underneath starts to boil (representing the moulten rocks under the Earth's crust) and it begins to lift the whole landscape above in a dome shape.

Then, the moment of truth - the pressure becomes too much and at the weakest point, where the sand has bubbles, the hot wax shoots out in a lovely volcanic explosion. The entire wax reservoir empties and you get a lovely effect of a flattened top as well, representing how material from the volcanic explosion forms a layer of ash in the atmosphere.

Great fun to do, and it's true - I've always want to make a storm in a cup!

Crystal Egg Geodes

2. STEP 1
   Start by blowing out a large white chicken egg and splitting it in half, lengthwise. The egg can be cracked by striking it against a surface or cut with a small pair of scissors. Make sure the inside of the eggshell is clean and dry.

   Technique: How To Blow Out an Egg 
3. STEP 2
   With a small paintbrush, apply white glue to the inside and cracked edges of each half of the eggshell and sprinkle with alum powder until completely coated. Set eggshell halves aside to dry overnight.
4. STEP 3
   The next day, prepare your growing solution in a glass or plastic container by using a craft stick or spoon to mix 2 cups of very hot water (almost boiling) with an entire packet of powdered egg dye. Be sure to wear latex gloves to protect your hands from the dye.

   Tip: Liquid food coloring can also be used to dye the geode -- 30 to 40 drops will adequately saturate the solution.
5. STEP 4
   Add 3/4 cup of alum powder to the hot dye bath and stir until completely dissolved. If there are remaining crystals in the bottom of the container, place the solution in the microwave for a few minutes to dissolve them. This will prevent alum from being drawn away from the geode.
6. STEP 5
   Once the alum is completely dissolved, let the solution cool slightly (for about 30 minutes) and then submerge one of the dried, alum-coated eggshells in the growing solution, allowing it to rest on the bottom of the container with the inside of the shell facing up.
7. STEP 6
   Set the container aside in a safe place overnight to allow the crystals to grow undisturbed. The longer the eggshell is in the solution, the larger the crystals in the geode will be. Twelve to 15 hours will usually result in a perfect geode.
8. STEP 7
   The next day, remove the geode from the growing solution very carefully (as wet crystals are quite fragile), being sure to wear latex gloves to prevent the dye from staining your hands. If you are not satisfied with the size of your geode crystals, return the geode to the growing solution and wait a day or two. As water evaporates from the solution, more alum will be deposited in your geode, increasing the size of the crystals.
9. STEP 8
   Place your geode on a drying rack or newspaper and allow to dry completely before handling.
10. STEP 9
    To grow a second geode in the other half of the eggshell, simply re-dissolve the crystals remaining at the bottom of the growing solution in the microwave and follow the instructions above starting at step 5.

    
    

    hint: Wonderful project-- my boys LOVED the crystal eggs!! I used the Granulated Alum made by Spice Trend ( green label). Each egg used about 4.5 of the small containers. I think next time I'll try ordering in bulk... We used food coloring and with 50 drops the eggs turned out great. Also, I added the hot water (microwaved to boiling) 1 cup at a time-- this was only because my measuring cup is small-- but it seemed to really dissolve all the alum very well. We also let them process for 22 hours.

    
    

    
    

    I myself as of the date of this blog not tried any of these....but I cannot wait to start!  I am sure my captive audience & helper will love them, and I will as well.  I am gonna start at the top, and work my way through them.  I can't wait!  

    
    

    Thanks so much for visiting my blog...and enjoy!