Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Misc.

Shadow Clock. The pioneers were able to tell time based on the position of the sun. Take each child out on your driveway. You're going to trace their shadow a few times (however many times YOU want to : ) Anyway, you have the child face the same direction each time. Using sidewalk chalk, trace each child's shadow. Have the child write their names by their shadows. (That was my children's favorite part - they love writing their names). We also wrote the time inside each new shadow. If your children are old enough, they could trace each other's shadows. Repeat every couple of hours. After it is all done, ask, Are the shadows mostly long or short? Why are some shadows in front and some are behind? Why are some small and some long? Have them think about where the sun is in the sky at different times of day. This is how the people were able to tell time back then.

More ideas I need to sort!

Science - Fun with ketchup. What you need: old grungy pennies, paper towels, ketchup, a plastic tray, placemat or cookie sheet, old toothbrush, soap and water. Wash your pennies first. I like to put all the pennies in a container with a lid, add warm soapy water, seal and shake. Rinse. Then, squirt a bunch of ketchup onto your work surface, add pennies and have the kids let them sit for at least 2 minutes to get the vinegar in the ketchup to start working on the copper oxide. Hand your children a toothbrush and let them scrub, scrub, scrub away. Toss the pennies back into the washing container, rinse and you're done!




Make snow globes here.


Make Glass Ice Balls and learn about mixing colors.

I want to make these chewy granola bars.

Chewy Granola Bars Recipe:

2 1/2 c. Oats - quick rolled oats

1/2 c. Rice Krispies

1/4 c. coconut

1/2 c. M&M minis

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. honey

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add all of the ingredients and mix together until combined. Press into a square 8×8 pan. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and score into bars. Let it set completely and then cut into bars. For thinner bars, press mix into a 9×13 pan. They seem to set a little better in the 9×13 pan. For additional topping ideas visit my Mini Chip Granola Bars post.


Let's recycle our crayons!!! Check this out.



This puffy paint made from self-raising flour and cooked in the micro looks so fun.

# 1 tablespoon self-raising flour
# a few little drops of food colouring
# 1 tablespoon salt

Then add some water to make a nice smooth paste.

Paint away on a nice thick sheet of cardboard (if you don't have enough paint brushes use cotton buds - they work really well).

Microwave the design on high for 10 - 30 seconds until the paint puffs and it's all nice and dry. We did ours for 30 seconds.

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