Puffy Paint Shamrocks
Materials:
1 cup
3 spoonfuls of flour
3 spoonfuls of salt
3 spoonfuls of water
Food coloring
Fingers or sponges cut in shamrock shapes
Paper
Directions:
Add flour, salt, and water to the cup. Stir well. Add food coloring to the mixture.
When the color and consistency are right, either have your child dig in and finger paint, or dip the sponge into the mixture, to create a field of shamrocks on the paper.
Science Drops:
The paint is a mixture (a combination of different substances).
When combined in the quantities above, the two solids and one liquid create a paint.
If you use less water, you’ll create a dough. If you use more water, the “paint” will become runny instead of puffy. Experiment – what can you and your child create?
Make a Rainbow
Materials:
Glass of water
Sheet of white paper
Direct sunlight
Windowsill
Directions:
Place the glass of water on the windowsill. Be careful it doesn’t fall and break!
Put the sheet of paper on the floor, a few inches from the wall.
Adjust the glass and paper until you see a rainbow.
Science Drops:
Sunlight, although it appears white, is actually made of all the colors in the rainbow.
The water bends the light so that you can see the rainbow. Did you find a pot of gold?
Pot of Gold Rock Candy
*requires adult help
Materials:
4 cups sugar
2 cups water
Yellow food coloring
Small saucepan
Wooden spoon
Clean glass jar
Thick cotton string
Galvanized washer or other weight
Waxed paper
Pencil
Directions:
Ask the adult to heat the water in the saucepan over medium high heat until it boils. The adult should then dissolve the sugar in the boiling water and stir until the solution is clear and reaches a rolling boil.
Once the adult removes the pan from the heat, add a few drops of food coloring. Let the solution cool slightly.
Meanwhile, cut the string so that it is about the same length as the jar. Tie the weight to one end. Tie the other end to the pencil so the string will hang about ½ to 1 inch above the bottom of the jar.
Wet the string and roll it in sugar. Straighten the string and allow it to dry.
Pour the solution into the jar and place in an out of the way location. Hang the string in the solution for several days – up to a week – and cover the jar with wax paper.
Allow the crystals to grow until you are happy with their size. (Don’t let it grow too much, or you may not be able to get it out of the jar!)
Note: you should see crystal growth within a few hours. If you don’t see crystals after a day, re-boil the solution and add another cup of sugar.
Science Drops:
The sugar and water solution is supersaturated. This means the water is holding more sugar than it should/can hold. Heating a liquid is one way to make a supersaturated solution.
By dipping the string and allowing it to dry, you are starting the growth of tiny sugar crystals on the string. These crystals will allow the rock candy to stick to the string later on. This is called seeding the string.
Rock candy grows in the same shape as sugar crystals. It helps you see what the sugar crystals look like, only at much larger sizes. |
