The spring is coming - let's explore outdoors

The spring is most certainly coming and it has been pulling us to spend more and more time outdoors! Not that we don't like spending time outside when its cold, Teddy really does not care if its windy, rainy or freezing, he wants to be out and there is always something to do and if you have the correct footwear and clothes it is sometimes even better to be outside in the rain.

 Spring is different in the way that we can go out and spend all day outside, taking a rest sitting on the fresh green  grass, and having picnic when we get hungry. There is no need to seek shelter to warm up and have something to eat you can just stay out and play.

The best thing about spring is that everything seems to be waking up from the long winter sleep, all the colourful flowers opening their petals making the world a brighter place, the singing of the birds alongside the humming of the bees which diligently work to collect all the pollen and the bugs and other creepy crawlies are starting to climb out of their shelters. There is so much to do and suddenly so much to see!

We just love exploring the outdoors and seeing what wildlife we can spot. Teddy is always keen to learn new names of animals we come across or even plants which makes me so happy. We also love foraging and spring is an ideal time to start collecting some herbs such as coltsfoot that makes great tea when you have a cold or the absolutely delicious wild garlic which flavours almost any dish!

Another thing we love to do is build dens in the forest. I can remember doing it as a child while spending holidays at my grandmothers cottage in the countryside surrounded by deep forests, meadows and lakes....absolute bliss! . I showed it to Teddy when he was really young and he loved it so now every time we enter some wood or forest and he sees some sticks lying around he straight away wants to build  a den. We always have fun while den building but its a good skill to have too, not that I expect him to need to know how to make a shelter in the middle of the wilderness anytime soon but you cannot go wrong with teaching your kids basic survival skills, can you?

Whenever we go for a day trip to the countryside I try to think of some activity we could all enjoy as I already mentioned we love foraging and if the season is right we collect fruit or mushrooms which are our favourites or we just collect natures treasures which we  take home. Our house is always filled with conkers, acorns, pine cones, sea shells, sticks and stones. Teddy just loves them, we use them in different activities and crafts...or just to have a little bit of nature, always with us. 

Sometimes I make a scavenger hunt game for Teddy which he also loves and helps him to really concentrate and explore the place we are visiting.

We did one today on our trip and instead of just writing down every thing he was supposed to find he started to collect the things that were on the list. I thought he might struggle to collect a cloud or a puddle which I helped him look for but I drew the line when he wanted to pocket a spider! We still had lots of fun and apart from finding a squirrel which we usually see on daily basis in our local park we found everything.

You can find a copy of your scavenger hunt  template here: 

English version

version en espanol
Ceska verze
Slovenska verze

Cely prispevek v ceskem jazyce: Jaro je tady

                                           

Science is fun - water density experiment

Science is just brilliant! Don't you think? If you had known me as a child you would have never guessed these words would come out of my mouth.  I never used to think that science was great at all. Well to be honest I think I couldn't stand it but I was never shown anything in the way that it is shown now to young kids to get them interested. When I was growing up there was no learning through play, learning wasn't fun at all.

Our science teacher was an old fashioned lady who spent the lecture writing definitions and lots of theory onto an old squeaky chalk board. I don't doubt she was a good at science, she certainly knew her stuff but she was not a great at capturing our imagination. There were no experiments, no hands on learning or visual demonstrations...there were just hours of tedious theory which I found boring and far from inspiring.

So now when Teddy started to show interest in various things there is now of course the Internet which is an absolutely marvellous thing where you can virtually find anything, just type it into a Google and wait for endless possibilities.  I feel like I’ve now got a second chance to learn and truly enjoy the beauty of science. 

So let’s have a look at our latest fun activities and experiments:

Experiments on Water Density 

1) what floats and what sink experiment

Today Teddy wanted to work with water and he told me he wants to see which objects float and which sink to the bottom. We have done this activity in the past and he always enjoys anything to do with water so I wasn't really surprised when he asked for it.

This is a great activity which does not require extensive preparation and you don't need to buy any ingredients just things you already have at home. All you need is some sort of dish to hold your water. I always opt for a clear one as I think it is much better for them to see the object sink all the way to the bottom and see that some sink rather slowly moving from side to side and some just plummet right towards the bottom depending on their weight. Then you collect miscellaneous items around your home to start the experiment.

 

 I always try to select a good variety of objects which will float and which will sin. You can see we used some nature items such as pine cone, an acorn, a walnut, a chest nut and some items from the home such as a bouncy ball, a marble, coin, clothes peg or Lego block) 

We also use a sheet of paper which is divided into 2 parts (on one side things that floats and on other those that sink) and after the object has been tested Teddy puts it to its rightful place.

You can use a little sifter to retreat the object back from the water but Teddy just loves to get his hands wet.

It was a joy watching him work today. He was so engrossed in the activity. Concentrating and working through all the objects and even saying before he placed the objects in the water weather they would float or sink. It was just great to sit back and just see him think and using his reasoning he has naturally acquired while growing up. 

Well, after seeing him getting every object right I thought that today I could make it more interesting for him and see what happens if we change the water density. We have been doing loads of work on the ocean lately so this little experiment ties in nicely.

2) Changing the water density experiment 

All you need is: 

• 2 identical see through jars (if you do not have identical ones, it does not matter, it just looks better)
• salt
• spoon 
• some lighter objects that will sink (we used olives but eggs or grapes work the same and we also tried glass bead and little glass gems out of our craft box)

We have exchanged the glass vase we were using for the sink/float experiment and replaced it with 2 identical jars which I both filled with warm water (salt dissolves faster in warm water). Then I asked Teddy to add some sea salt into one of them.

He added few spoons full (depends on the size of your jar) and then mixed it thoroughly waiting for the salt to completely dissolve.

When we couldn't see any more salt and water was clear once again I have asked him to place a hand full of olives into the jar which held just the water without anything in it. We have started with a bowl full of olives but even in warm water it took couple of minutes for the salt to dissolve, giving Teddy plenty of time to eat most of them. 

If you have seen our video on Facebook you know what happens, all the olives have sank to the bottom of the jar. Then I asked him to retrieve them all and place them in the saline water where they have all stayed floating at the surface. He was just amazed, he kept looking at me, at them, at the jar and kept saying: 'but they sank in the other jar?!' he just couldn't fathom what had happened. 

I told him to try and place some back in the jar without salt and see what happened and he started retrieve some and putting them back into the first jar. That was great to see them next to each other, floating in one and sinking in the other. He was mesmerised and spent another half hour transferring them from one to another watching what happens. 

Science behind it:

The first experiment is great to introduce the topic of density to your children and explain them how it works. Every object weighs a different amount and therefore some of the lighter ones float and some of those that weigh more sink. It works better if you have objects about the same size with varying densities so children can compare the weights. 

In the second experiment we look at water density and we know that by adding salt which will dissolve in the water we will increase the mass of it, making the water heavier and makes it possible for some objects that would normally sink to the bottom to float. You could talk to them about the Red sea for example which has rather high salinity making it almost impossible to sink there. 

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Thank you for reading us,

Teri & Teddy

Magnetic slime

Do you love playing with slime? We do! there is something really therapeutic about it…the squishy texture or the way it stretches, one minute its runny and stringy and another firm and bouncy. We also love experiments that have an element of surprise and even magic (if you haven't already check out our HOT ice experiment or erupting volcano) so when I came across the magnetic slime, I knew instantly that we have to try it! It was amazing, we were both astounded by it as was the rest of the family!! It was quick to make, once I figured out how much stuff to put in, I have never made a homemade slime before so first two attempts ended up in a bin! so if you are an experienced slime maker you will have this ready in no time!

I need to stress that this is not an activity for little children who still tend to put things in their mouth as the magnets and the magnetic powder are not safe to inhale. I do not want to scare you as it is amazing experiment and you will have loads of fun playing with it and finding all the different ways it moves, just be vigilant and wash their hands after play. Teddy is 2.5 years old, he does not usually put things into his mouth but I always let him play with it only under my supervision.

Magnetic slime

If you know how to make slime, I'd recommend to stick to your trusted recipe and only add the magnetic powder when still in liquid phase but this is what we used.

•  2 tbsp full of magnetic powder (ferrous-ferric oxide, Fe3O4), we got it here:UK USA Ceska Republika (or have a look on ebbay)

•  100 ml of school glue / PVA glue  (Czech readers Herkules) we used PVA glue from a pound shop but you can get some here:  UK  USA

•  2 tsp of Laundry starch, we used powderm, this one: UK , USA you can substitute with liquid starch USA 

• neodymium magnets (you need these as normal ones are not strong enough) we got ours on eBay, there is loads of links for different prices 

You will also need couple of bowls, a spoon and warm water if using powder starch:

Lets get started!!

Empty the 100 ml of glue into a bowl and mix in the magnetic powder

In another bowl mix in the starch (we used way too much 2 tsp will be enough) with warm water, you want to get a runny, liquid consistency resembling milk


Then start adding the starch mix into your glue mix, we started with couple of tea spoons at first adding another one if needed. you wonder how will you know when you haven't made slime before? Well, here is when I went wrong at first, I have followed a recipe and added all the starch mix and it went very hard, unable to move towards the magnets. 

 You want your slime runny but not sticky so here is what to watch for! when you start adding your starch mix (or the liquid starch) add just a little bit and watch if it changes consistency and starts to becoming stringy and sticky. Mix for a minute and if its still too runny add another spoonful and mix again.

The best way to make it is to just get your hands stuck in and knead it like you would knead a dough, you can add little bit more starch if its still too runny but do not over do it, it takes time to make it. Here is a video of me making it and this is exactly how it should look like, it looks still very sticky but in the same time I'm able to take it off my hands easily, it only took another minute of working it before it was ready:

To see its ready you will be able to mould it into a ball but in the same time stretch it long way as Teddy is doing on this picture!


But if you are just like me, very impatient, get the magnets out and see the slime move!!

We had loads of fun making the slime rise toward the magnets, move in different directions, almost like dancing. If you haven't seen already, have a look at our video on Facebook: Mama and son time Facebook page



Lets see it stretch as far as you can, without breaking it!

Or Teddy's favourite! Let the magnet be eaten by the slime!! just place it near it and watch the slime quickly wrapping all the way around it!

The best think is the slime will keep for ages if well looked after! Just put it in a air tight container or zip seal bag after playing and it will keep fresh for up to a year!

If you like what we do follow us on Facebook for more fun experiments and children activities: Mama and son time Facebook page

Pro navod v Ceskem jazyce kliknete zde: Magneticky sliz

Animals of the world

If you have been fallowing me, or reading my previous post you will know that Teddy has been starting to show more interest about our planet, the continents and animals that reside in them. It started with reading the book MAPS more in detail and looking at the migratory journeys of whales (you surely must know by now that we just love the whales!...anyway so we have been looking for whales and of course we have spotted different animals so we started to talk where they live and why.

 Teddy already knows quite a few Australian animals as one of his favourite book characters travels to Australia on holidays, seeing loads of different animals during his adventure so it was only natural for us to expand on this topic so I decided to pull out our old atlas mat.

This mat with animals of the world is actually a  piece of fabric I got maybe a year ago from Etsy and made into a mat. (Unfortunately I cannot provide you with a link as the fabric has been sold out and no longer made in the same design. I try to search for something similar but found only paper maps, which could do the job too, I suppose. I will keep my eyes open for one and if I find it I will update with a link)

I have left him to use the mat before (at 18 months) we looked at it and we did some animal matching, that used to be  his favourite activity so he did not see it the for the first time when presented with it but as I said he used to just look for the animals and match his toy models to it whereas now he looks at an animal and thinks which continent it resides and then looks for it on the map.

He has been really enjoying this work the last couple of days, I can't believe I did not introduced it earlier.   It helps that we have over the last 2 years accumulated quite a large collection of animals which he loves. Unfortunately we have realised while putting them all out on the map that we only have 2 south american animals and only one representing Australia, a lonely kangaroo ( well two if you count the joey in its pocket) so I have decided to make him some more animals

He always likes to learn about different animals so he was really excited when I offered him the cards I made.

You can download them here:
 English version
Version en español
česká verze
slovenská verzia
(if there is any problems, please contact me and I can send them via e-mail)

You can fallow us on Facebook to find out about more free printables
Mama and son time Facebook page 

There is 10 cards for each continent, well 8 for Antarctica as due to to the harsh weather conditions the choices were bit limited, I thought 2 species of penguins are more than enough for now and the other sea birds do resemble Albatross a lot so I did not wanted to make it confusing.

 They are colour coded according to Montessori which makes it easier to separate them and place them on a map. We are still working on our Montessori globe so I have opted for a quick felt puzzle so please be kind, I know its not perfect but I needed a map with Montessori colours to make it easier for him to understand and most of our books have different colouring in every one of them.

As it might look just like another matching activity, it wasn't just that for us. I won't lie to you he did a great deal of matching animals to the mat, and his models to the cards or just the cards to the felt map but it wasn't all, at all. This activity has sparked a new wave of curiosity. He did already know loads of animals shown on the cards but some of them were new or he couldn't recall the whole name which made him more inquisitive. We went through them all, talking where they live and why and using our books and the internet to find additional information which was brilliant.

Teddy seemed to be really interested in south America predominantly in the animals living in the rain forest. So looks like we will be looking at them in more depth. We have a great book about them which we have been reading this week before bed time so it might be what ignited his interest...who knows I'm just happy that he is keen on finding new information and we can learn about it together.  

We have loads of books about animals but these ones are our favourite and those are the one we have been using last 2 days rather frequently:

This is fab book showing part of animals in their actual size, or some whole as the atlas moth on a cover or a pygmy lemur next a gorilla's hand. We love it!

 you can get it on here: UK , USA also available on Book depository with free post world wide

Another book Teddy loves to read, featuring different animals and very interesting facts about them

you can get it on here: UK, USA or book depository again

This is very old and massive books about animal life, I actually got it for free from a charity shop

Both these books I have already introduced in my previous posts but we just love them!!

Here are the links again: UK, USA and book depository for the rest

Let it freeze - Hot Ice experiment

Can I create Ice by boiling it? what would your children say if you asked them this question? I did ask Teddy  and I don't know if its because he is only 2, 5 and has not a clue what I'm talking about or he just firmly believes that mammy can do absolutely anything, his answer was yes, yes you can mammy! Bless his little heart but I bet if you asked your kids most of the answers you will get will be NO, am I right? Well actually you CAN!!

but here is when I  have to be honest with you and admit that I am not talking about the frozen water but about sodium acetate trihydrate commonly known as hot ice. Don't get scared by the big name its actually very cool chemical (no pun intended) which you can make from 2 house hold items you are most likely to already have in your cupboards and your kids will love it!

The process of making it is a bit fiddly, well it was for us as we tried dozens of times and failed but you don't have to worry we did all the mistakes for you so now if you follow our instruction you can get your hot ice from the first batch!

HOT ICE experiment

So what will you need:

• 1 ltr of white/clear vinegar (acetic acid) - it has to be weak solution 5-6% acidity and the vinegar has to be clear no brown as it would not work. So get to the store and get the cheapest clear distilled vinegar you can get, every supermarket has its own brand (UK readers we used Sainsburys and Tesco both working fine, we tried Wilko's white vinegar meant for cleaning and no success there!)  US readers you can get one for example at the Market Pantry or at Costco, Czech readers you can get Destilovany sladovy ocet in Tesco.

• 4 spoons full of bicarbonate soda (baking soda) 

• a large pan to boil it so it should hold at least 2 ltr 

• a spoon

• a  glass beaker (can be any other material which withstands hot liquid)

Now you have all you need so lets get started!!!

Empty the  vinegar into the pan and then slowly start adding bit by bit. All the volcano lovers here will know already that soda and vinegar react together so this has to be done slowly or you will get lava instead and you loose most of your liquid at the side of your pan

This was an activity for Teddy on its own, he loved it and I must say was really careful adding a spoon full and always waiting for the liquid to stop fizzing before adding another one.

When all the soda is in stir it thoroughly until it all dissolves and you have a liquid resembling water. then you put it on a stove and let it gently boil.

Don't fuss around it, don't stir just let it be!

(Here is when I went wrong the first time by giving it an occasional stir and probably contaminating the liquid with the soda crystals which will start to slowly appear on the side of the pot or who knows what else.  SO just set it to boil on slow heat and leave it occasionally checking it. You want the liquid to reduce by 75% and it takes just little bit over an hour.  If you cook it on higher heat, it will be done faster but the liquid will go darker. It will work but your ice will just have brownish colour.

This is how your pot will look like during cooking:

Don't worry its just a powder from the sodium acetate solution you are making and it will actually work as a catalyst for your crystals to start forming and growing.

And If you worry about damaging your pan, don't! It will be all washed with just a rinse of water, no scrubbing required, BONUS!!

When you see the liquid has reduced almost the the bottom of the pan and you start to see a sort of film starting to form on top of the liquid like you can see on the picture beneath, the solution is ready!! Just add a spoon of vinegar and stir so all the crystals inside the liquid dissolves. This is very important! You don't want to have any crystals in the liquid or it will freeze before you get a chance to use it! (Yep here is where we went wrong again too!)

So, you got rid off the crystals now pour the liquid into a glass beaker and place the liquid in the fridge to cool. It takes about 45 min maybe longer. The liquid has to be cold to instantly turn into ice that is hot, mind blowing, isn't it?!!

You will end up with about 150 ml of liquid

Another warning! do not put your finger in to check as the liquid will start freezing and it will be frozen before you take it out! (Yep, me again!!) Just check if the jar/beaker is cold.

Before you wash the pan gather some of your sodium acetate powder and keep it at the side to use later as a seed to help the crystals to grow. If you forgot, don't fret and just use a little bit of baking soda!

When your liquid is cold enough, place a little bit of sodium acetate powder in the middle of any dish and get your liquid ready and here comes another warning: be careful not to bum the jar as it is can start of the freezing process! It happened to us too, Teddy was keen to try and as he grabbed it from me it instantly froze!

You now wonder why you even need the powder to start the crystals to form, am I right? well if you want to build a really cool ice tower as you saw in our video on Facebook:Mama and son time ) you need them as a base if not just touch it and feel like Elsa from Frozen for a minute!

If you want to have a tower just start very slowly to pour the liquid out onto your base and watch the magic to happen!!

Let your kids touch it!

Its absolutely amazing. Its hard as ice but its hot at the same time (not too hot to cause any harm to them!)

The solution of sodium acetate is non-hazardous but it could irritate skin and eyes so be careful if your kids are too small or if they have any cut on their hands.  We both loved it and didn't have any reaction.

and here is one of the best things!!

Did I not mention that you can re use it again and again?? just melt it and let it cool down again. 

You don't have to use a pan to melt it, microwave works just fine, just make sure it all dissolves and there is no crystals or it will freeze up again soon! You can add little bit of vinegar to help to dissolve the crystals.

I found the best is to use a different container to melt it and then pour the liquid once it is clear into a clean beaker as if your beaker has some dry crystals on the rim, doe's not matter how small it can freeze before you pour it out.

Science behind this:

The sodium acetate solution is not just cool, its actually called a super cold liquid when it is in the fridge. In its liquid form the solution is below its usual melting point and once it comes in a contact with a crystal, your finger or it is bumped as mentioned before it will start the process of crystallisation and the liquid turns into a solid, super cool, isn't it?!

 I'm not scientific but my understanding of science behind it is that when the molecules of the sodium acetate are in a solution they are surrounded by solvent or water molecules which helps them to break apart if they from time to time meet and stick together...but if enough molecules sticks together (and we already covered what can cause this - finger, bump, crystals) they can fight against the force of the solvent which would normally keep them apart and in a liquid form and a nucleation site is created which helps the crystals to cling to each other and start the process of crystallisation which is what we want to see!!

We found it really interesting as it was super cooled  when it was a liquid in a fridge and as soon as you started the reaction it solidified and started to release heat. For releasing heat the sodium acetate is actually widely used inside the hand warmers. 

If you made it all the way down here and did not fall asleep I salute you!! 

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