Q is for Questioning: Does an egg crack every time you drop it?

II had already researched and planned to do a simple science experiment when my son saw the out off date eggs on the side and asked if he could crack the egg. So I said I posed a question ( which we are doing for the A-Z science series )

Does an egg crack every time you drop it?

So we decided on the four surfaces to drop the four eggs on . The pavement,grass, mud and the trampoline . We reused an egg to roll down the slide as an extra activity.

I got Dylan to predict whether the egg would crack or. It for each surface. He predicted right for each . 

You may of noticed I put a bag down just incase to help clear the mess up easily .

So we concluded that no the egg doesn't always crack when you drop it. Dylan described the surface that cracked the egg as a hard surface and that the egg bounced a little on the grass. 

I am going to do the egg in vinegar demonstration which I have never done where the egg is meant to be fairly bouncy . We will see.

Sarah and Dylan (3.5)

Easter Sensory bath

When my son and I were looking for Easter craft items at Sima warehouse we came across window stickers. I have bout these window gel stickers before for Halloween and never used them. But I bought them and though that they might work on tiles in the bathroom and they did.

We also had plastic Easter eggs to fill with water (they had holes in) and a Tomy egg set which teaches about colours and shapes.

So here Dylan is telling Zac what the gel stickers are showing and making up a story but he mainly described what was there and how many there were.

Dylan lined up the Tomy eggs and identified shapes and colours then matched them in the egg carton.

Zac mainly ate bubbles

And splashed.

They were really excited about going in the bath especially without water . I need to do more bath activities minus the water.

Dylan moved all the pieces to make new objects mainly monsters I think.

Zac played with the eggs.

Here is the monster on the right.

Here is my clown. Dylan wasn't as impressed as I was.

I didn't keep the plastic they came on but placed them in a bag. I think the colours run so I'm not sure if will keep this way. NOTE KEEP PACKAGING FOR GEL WINDOW STICKERS.

I am pleased with my first themed bath

Sarah, Dylan( 3.5) and Zac (8months)

TMNT body parts measuring

 

We are following the challenge and discover series from inspiration laboratories 'fun measuring with rulers'. So we got different measuring equipment and measured body parts of his TMNT. We didnt record at this stage but he did read the numbers out and we talked about who had the longest legs and arms.

 

I left the ruler out and Dylan used it several times to measure his fingers and other toys.

 

This is an idea that I probably wouldnt have considered to do myself thats why I love following this series.

 

Sarah and Dylan (3) 

St George's day fun

Happy St George's day!

We started off watching mike the knight and a programme on cbebbies about st George .

I then googled where to go to celebrate. Unfortunately the parade was two days ago but a local museum was hosting some themed activities. These included a fact find, dragon hunt, craft, magic show and balloon making. The museum also has two parks and two duck ponds plus lovely scenery and picnic areas.

So off we went. First was the magic show followed by the balloon selection( a sword was a good choice). We walked around the museum and my son slayed all the dragons and we counted 19. We read the information about st George and answered the quiz which we entered into a prize draw. The craft workshop was next to decorate a knights mask and sword. We later at nanny's made a shield to match. Then we had a play in the park, a visit to the duck pond and a quick picnic as it started to get cold and rain.

A lovely morning and my son got to make some craft items too. There are some activities at Weoley castle 26th where ther are some castle ruins we might visit. I think we will definitely go to the parade in birmingham city centre next year and maybe Warwick castle.

So here are the pics 

The magic show with a dragon puppet called Percy.

Oh yeah Dylan asked for bananas first time round.

Slaying his first dragon.

Talking to Percy the dragon

Decorating his sword and mask

Now he asked for a sword.

To slay his brother the dragon

Aunty Coley helped make the shield out of cardboard.

Playing with Sellotape to attach a handle.

The full set.

I thought it was a great morning and many ideas can be done at home.

Craft sword

Craft mask

Craft shield

Dragon picture hunt 

St George fact finding

Quiz

Puppet show

Role play

Balloon swords

Challenge and discover weather science : forest fires

I started off thinking of a fire experiment to do to link to st George's day and dragons but then noticed the 'Challenge and discover : weather series from inspiration laboratories .

So I thought up a simple science experiment and then researched to find many others have done the same . I wasn't sure if my son of three was too young but others have tried it with his age before.

The Science 

Fire is a chemical reaction that creates light and heat from oxygen and fuel. A lit candle needs the oxygen from the air in order to continue burning. 

A fire triangle is a good way to teach kids the three things needed.

What can we investigate?

If you limit the amount of air available, the candle's flame eventually goes out once it uses up all the oxygen. 

A. science experiment that gives your child a chance to see this concept in action, with a little numeracy and literacy practice thrown in.

What You Need:

• Tea candle
• 4 glass jars in different sizes 
• Matches
• Permanent marker
• Pen or pencil
• Paper
• Stopwatch

What You Do:

1. Begin by explaining to your child that fire needs oxygen from the air in order to burn. Ask her what she thinks will happen if you limit a candle's oxygen supply.
2. Light the candle and place one of your jars over it. Watch and wait until it goes out. Was this what she expected to happen? What does she think will happen if you place a larger jar over the candle? How about a smaller jar?
3. Put the jars in a row from smallest to largest, and help your child write the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the sides in permanent marker.
4. Ask her to estimate how long it will take for the candle to go out as you place each jar over it. Make a table like the one below to record her estimates.

	Time Estimate	Actual Time
1
2
3
4

5. Light the tea candle, and place the first jar over it. As you do so, have your child start the stopwatch. How long does it take for the candle to go out? Record the actual time next to her estimate.
6. Repeat step four with the three remaining jars.
7. Compare your child's estimate to the actual length of time each candle burned. Did she predict that the candle would burn longer under larger jars? If not, point the pattern out and explain that the more air inside the jar, the longer the candle is likely to burn.

If you run out of fuel then the flame will go out.

You can time how long a tea lighter and a birthday candle lasts . Little ones may get bored watching so a recording that the time frame can be altered maybe useful. 

If you remove the heat the fire will go out.

To demonstrate this you can spray water onto the flame.

You can also talk to them about what to go in an emergency.  Introduce the 'stop , drop and roll' advice and ask why does this work ? linking back to the triangle. 

You could also tell them the emergency services number 999 in the UK. Then role play what to do /say in an emergency. 

Remember to reinforce that today's activities were not a game and fire isms dangerous and not to play with matches .

You could also talk about fire fighters, fire extinguishers and usefulness of fire. 

Remember not to leave the flame unattended and supervise children with this experiment all the time. Have a bucket of sand near by incase it gets out off control.

I will add pics of our experiment . 

Sarah Shan 

This is the equipment set up. We only had three jars and I think two were the same volume by the results but never mind.

We started off talking about safety and I asked Dylan what we were going to do. He said add water to the jars and blow out the candles.

I turned the jar over and Dylan had to press the green button on the ipad stopclock when I said go and press the red stop button when he saw the candle had gone out.

 

After the first experiment we used water to remove the heat.

Then I showed him bush fires in Australia and explained why they happen .

Then back to fire saftey and what to do if his clothes catch fire. Then showed him a clip on youtube stop, drop and roll. Then we found the smoke alarms and talked about the emergency phone number to call 999. We role played this. I was the operator and Dylan was in need of the fireman Sam lol.

Im not sure if I planted ideas in his head of making fire fun but I tried not to and was quite serious and controlling around the flames to emphasise the danger. I will probably revisit this again in a couple of months to reinforce it.