Kitchen Experiments for Kids

Make the most of your holidays with easily available ingredients from the kitchen. Slip on your aprons, take out your kitchen instruments, and get ready to experiment with regular kitchen ingredients for some incredible outcomes!

Science!! by Jinx!

DELICIOUS HOMEMADE ICE CREAM -

Making ice cream is one of those science experiments for kids that they will conduct with utmost sincerity because it’s difficult to find a kid who doesn’t love ice cream. You will need 2 sandwich bags, 2 gallon-sized bags, 1/2 cup half-&-half, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, ice, 1/2 cup of rock salt, and winter gloves for the fun science experiment. Pour half a cup of half-&-half into a sandwich bag.  Add 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag.  Place your bag into another sandwich bag and seal. Put the double-bags inside a gallon-sized bag and add ice and 1/2 cup of rock salt. Seal and place this bag inside another gallon-sized bag. Put on winter gloves and start shaking. Take turns with other family member to shake the bags for 15-20 minutes. When done, you will have nice, fluffy vanilla ice cream inside the sandwich bag to savor!

How does the ice cream form?

Salt is considerably known to bring down ice’s melting temperature. Instead of melting at 0 degrees Celsius, the rock salt causes the ice to melt at a temperature much lower, depending on the amount of salt.  This helps you freeze the ice cream mixture below the normal 32 degrees.

SQUISH, SQUEEZE GUMMY BEARS -

Gummy bears are our favorites! We love to eat them as much as we love to squish and squeeze them. Try putting gummy bears into shot glasses with different liquids and note how they react! You can experiment with the following liquids - water, salt water, vinegar, and a mixture of baking soda and water. Soak the gummy bears into these solutions overnight. Don’t forget to measure the height and mass of the bears before and after the science experiment. If the experiment was conducted right, then you will have the following results –

• Gummy bear in water will bloat up, but without any change in color.
• Gummy bear in salt water will shrink.
• Gummy bear in vinegar will grow the most and turn fragile.
• Gummy bear in vinegar will grow slightly and lose color.

Why do the gummy bears change shape and color?

All of the gummy bears grew or contracted due to osmosis. The gummy bear in vinegar dissolved its entire gelatin which made them fall apart! You can repeat the experiment with varied amounts of salt, a solution of diluted vinegar, or sugar solution and note your observations!

Science experiments for kids can be a wonderful learning experience as kids have always loved hands-on experiences. Try the simple science experiments at home with kids and help them learn with fun!

Reposted from https://funkidsgames.beep.com/index.htm

3 Activities for Father's Day

Father's Day is celebrated to honor fathers world over and the date might vary from country to country. In the US it's celebrated on the third Sunday of June from 1966 on, although it was officially recognized from 1972 by Presidential order. Generally mothers help out kids with buying a nice gift for their father unless they decide on a made-at-home-gift. Some kids give the gift a lot of thought and find just the right one for their father.

By Marines from Arlington, VA, United States (Father's Day) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Maybe this year could be all about bonding and spending time together. The kid(s) and the father could pick one from this list of 3 activities:

1. Enjoy an activity: Find a fun Father's Day Craft activity that the kids could get together with their father and make. At the end of it the kids could gift it to the father. The gift is taken care off, but most importantly the father can enjoy some quality time with the kid(s). Many fathers do spend a lot of time with their kids, but if they are the busy types, then this is time they will definitely put aside for their little ones.

2. Enjoy the outdoors: When the kids are younger it's an excellent idea to spend time with them outside the house just walking or cycling. These are simple pleasures which get the kids out into the open. A good dose of Vitamin N can do wonders for young kids. It builds hunger, gets them wonderful exercise, enriches their sensory system and helps kids build a bank of wonderful warm memories. This is what they fall back upon when they go through tough times after they are all grown up.

3. Have a cartoon or movie night: This can be fun especially if there is access to online content. The kids can pick some cartoons from their father's childhood with help from their mother or any other grownup. Help the kids set it up. Keep some popcorn and juice all ready. Once the father is ready to settle down, get comfy in front of the couch and start it rolling. Imagine his surprise when cartoons from his childhood start playing. Enjoy the evening.

Whatever the kids decide, do remember that as a mother you'll have to put in some effort to organize things. In the melee don't forget that the grownups need to wish their fathers!

Easter Worksheets and Easter Eggs

With Easter around the corner, families are getting busy for the celebration. Chocolate eggs are flying off the shelf in stores and families are planning meals and shopping for them. Although a religious celebration, many join in for its cultural aspect, especially if there are kids at home. The once homely celebration is now quite the commercial hullabaloo.

Easter Eggs from Tracy Hunter

Keeping Kids Busy

Most parents get busy around the holidays. They use the extra holiday to catch up on long pending chores and cleaning up the house. It's also a time when parents and kids can bond over some play and food.

Here are a few things parents can do to keep the kids busy while they wrap up their chores:

1. Get the kids to work on a simple craft on their own.
2. Start a drawing activity and let them finish.
3. Parents who want their kids to use their time constructively could print out some science worksheets
4. Give the kids some simple chores to help with the big meal.
5. Ask the kids to lay the table
6. Get the kids to put together some table decoration.
7. If your guests have kids, get the kids to come over early if possible, so they can hang out together.
8. If they like online games, let them play it for a while.
9. If the kids would rather just read, let them enjoy their time.
10. Ask the kids to put together some active Easter games.

Make sure the kids and the adults don't consume too much chocolate with all its sugar. Do make sure you do not waste the chocolate for it's a water intensive product. If kids are kept engaged, there is a lower probability of their getting cranky. It's a holiday. Bond with the kids. These are precious moments which will never come back. Happy Easter to all of you!

3 Valentines Day Craft Ideas from Nature

Valentines Day is a good time to get the kids to make gifts. There's something special about hand made gifts. They may not look as classy as store bought gifts, but they are personal and each piece is unique. When kids make them, each gift will definitely look different!

From historic times people have made gifts using materials from nature such as flowers, leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, natural colors etc. It's a good time to get the child to leave behind online games and get excited about Nature. Here are 3 gifts you could get the kids to try and make using easily available material from the great outdoors: 

1. Twig Figurine

13254b Grand Canyon_Split-Twig Figurine by Grand Canyon National Park

The figurine in the image is part of the oldest record of human occupancy in the Grand Canyon. It's supposed to be over 4000 years old. Anthropologists think they were part of the rituals ancient people performed to get the blessings of the spirits of the animals. Making a craft like this one is a great way to get kids interested in both a spot of history and in the variety of things nature offers to make things. Kids can learn about seeing form in twigs, using the strength of grass to tie things down or weave and understanding the nature of materials. All that kids need is collecting twigs, grass or some bark strips. 

2. Dried Flower Cards

hydrangea for drying by dogeared

This craft involves many parts of learning for a child when they go out into the outdoors. They learn about the plant they are collecting, colors, pigments etc. Kids can collect and dry flowers, twigs and leaves. Then they can figure out ways to use them. One of the simplest gifts is to make a dried flower card. People who receive them will happily keep the card for a long time. 

3. Twig-o-mobile

Kids like to collect twigs and small branches with or without leaves. They like to drag it on the ground behind them or just run with them waving it in the air. Take one of these gently branching twigs and dry it out well. Ge the kids to clean it up. If you have varnish, use it to give it a nice coat. Get the kids to tie dried leaves, feathers and some empty eggshells (with faces) on the twig. The egg shell can be attached to the thread using glue. Kids might need help tying these things to the twig. 

When you wrap it for gifting, make sure the egg shells stay safe. Valentine's Day is a perfect opportunity to gift something hand made - it'll be treasured. Happy Valentine's Day!