Category: Science
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How to Make a Ziplock Fall Leaf Book
If you are lucky enough to live in a place where your leaves turn beautiful colors, your fall leaf book will be breath taking. If like me, you live in an area that does not have a change of season you can still do this project and get great results. For those of us living…
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October is a fantastic time to study owls and examine owl pellets. Don’t worry if you have never dissected an owl pellet before, just do it! It is so easy and fun. People have a lot of crazy ideas about what an owl pellet is. Basically, an owl pellet is owl barf. They look…
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Bismuth Crystals
Crystals seem to be a timeless classic. No matter how often we grow crystals my kids are always excited. When their friends come over they want crystals too. That’s just regular salt or borax crystals…you can just imagine the excitement we had when we made bismuth crystals. Bismuth crystals are beautiful. They have a metallic,…
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Cracked Marbles and The Science Behind Them
Cracked marbles are really fun and easy to make and are always a crowd pleaser. I have found that the marbles that look like cat eyes work best and have the most dramatic looking results. Simply bake the marbles in an oven proof dish at 350 degrees for approximately ten minutes. You want the marbles…
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Did you ever make a gingerbread house out of graham crackers and a milk carton when you were little? You use that same concept except this time it is a tasty treat for your neighborhood birds. All you need is a small box, graham crackers, peanut butter, a butter knife, and an assortment of different…
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How To Make Brilliant Blue Crystals
Copper sulfate makes the most beautiful bright blue crystals. This project should absolutely NOT be done with small children. Copper sulfate is extremely toxic. It is commonly used to dissolve tree roots in plumbing pipes. With that warning, you can make some amazing crystals. 1.) Begin by purchasing plumbing root killer. This can be found…
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Creating a Chain Reaction with Popsickle Sticks
I stumbled across this and absolutely love it! This would be a great rainy day activity. Older children can definitely weave the popsickle sticks themselves. Younger children will need a lot of help but will also delight in the result. I would recommend starting with a few short chains to get the hang of it…
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Tools of the Trade: Aven Microscope
I think I fell under a lucky star when our friends Jim, Jennie, and their son Ethan gave our family this microscope as a gift. Jim is a scientist/engineer and like me loves to look at slides under a microscope. I am very fond of my good old fashion microscope but there are some problems…
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Disecting a Grasshopper
Dissection can be very intimidating. I was honestly not too excited about dissecting initially but felt compelled to do it so my children had the experience. You have to just look at it like art, there isn’t a wrong way. Your mantra needs to be “we are doing this to explore and learn”. We all…