Wednesday, August 13, 2008

experiments






My kids love doing experiments. They ask me almost everyday to do one. After turning to the internet, I found a few we really like and want to pass on. Most are really easy, but they're not always clean, so if you don't like a mess, then preschool experiments aren't for you. Here are a few favorites:



Volcano: good ol' baking soda and vinegar. We put a few TB of soda in a baby food jar and built a volcano around it using playdough. Add a little food coloring for effect, then pour a little vinegar in and watch it "explode." I suggest putting it on a cookie sheet to contain the mess.



Liquid layers: This one is really easy and the kids thought it was awesome. In a clear glass add 1/4 C water w/ a little food coloring. Then slowly add 1/4 C of corn syrup. Next slowly add 1/4 C of oil. Have the kids guess which liquid will go where and then tell them why each landed where it did. Then play around with other liquids; we tried vinegar, pancake syrup and dish soap. The picture is below. It's after adding the other liquids too which caused funky colors.



Slime: Mix equal parts water and white glue. In a separate container dissolve 2 TB Borax with 1 C of water. mix a few TB of the Borax solution with glue and stir quickly and it will become slime that the kids can stretch and play with. It will be a little wet at first, but the more you handle it the drier it becomes. The pic is below.

preschoolrock.com and education.com are good resources. Sometimes I just google preschool experiments and see what comes up.

3 comments:

Lynita said...

Those are awesome ideas! I wish I had the patience to do that with my kids right now. Unfortunately patience and pregnancy do not go hand in hand for me!

Lor! said...

So cute! I should be so cool and do that with the boys, oh wait, I can't do anything until I finish this blasted book. Its not good being addicted is it? You win the awsome mom award!! LOVE YA

NatalieHemingway said...

I can't believe you could let yourself let your kids make a mess like that!! Looks fun, just not something your neat freakiness could handle. You must be getting over it! I'll have to try these... maybe when Grayson is napping. He's too much trouble right now!