In our family, science times mean fun, exciting experiments and hands on learning. Here are some i would like to share with you and encourage to do with your children.
1. Milk, food colors, dish-soap and effervescent tablets.
I used a container to pour the milk, then food color drops all around and dish-soap to see the reaction. My son and his adorable friend have been watching it happening and had an amazing time steering the colors. When it all turned to brown they added the effervescent tablet and used their hands to mix it.
2. It was necessary to give them a bath after the above experiment and, to stay in the mood, i used Cool Gelli Baff in the tub. The first step of it turned the water blue and after a while most of the water had the gooey consistency. The second pack turned the water purple and dissolved it back to its initial, liquid, form. As per the manufacturer and the approvals received, the product is completely safe for children but i would only use it once every six months or so.
3. Science time continued another day. This time we wanted to see colors disappearing. We used a glass jar, blue food color, water and bleach. I was present at all times, never left my son alone even for a second and made a point to explain how dangerous this substance is, how it burns the organs just like the fire burns the skin. This kind of associations help them related to the concepts they already know (burning hot) and stay far from the danger. I would always choose to expose my son to such controlled dangers to ensure i satisfy his curiosity and help him learn to evaluate risks. I strongly believe( the research has been proven it) that by allowing our children to certain risky experiences we help enhance their risk evaluation skills and prepare them to make smart decisions when we are not around.
We needed water in the jar and about two drops of blue food color. Little Einstein steered with a stick and observed how the water gained color. It was time to introduce the bleach, a bit at the time. My son was now an observer. He was not allowed to touch but only watch what was happening. He saw the color slowly fade away. Next we added some red color and noticed the changes.
This is a great opportunity to introduce some new vocabulary so i mentioned the process is called: bleaching. I chose to take it a step further and explained that color has some chemicals too which are destroyed by the bleach. The color can not absorb light at this point and that causes it to vanish. Just a short, to the point, explanation and few words. I know i planted the seed and this is all i care about at this point in his life.
4. The forth experiment was to see what happens when we mix oil, water and an effervescent pill. We used water in a transparent recipient. My son added some cooking oil (the cheapest one) and then gave it a steer. I encouraged him to stop steering and notice what happens.
“Do water and oil mix?” His answer was as prompt as expected:”No!!”
I chose not to complicate things with the molecular explanation at this point. However, i did tell him that water wants to hug water and oil wants to hug oil, that is why they remain separate. The last thing to mention to him was that cooking oil has a lower density( some more vocabulary), it is lighter compared to the water, hence he dances up and sits on top.
It was easy to introduce some basic math as there were five pills on the counter but one by one they have found their way back into the tube. Five minus one equals 4; Four minus one…
My son used the effervescent tablet and enjoyed the volcanic reaction. He chose to add some green food color too. At this point i said nothing anymore allowing him to have fun with it for as long as he wanted.