Dry Ice #10: Poppers!

This is the tenth segment in a series on dry ice experiments. CLICK HERE FOR SAFETY INFORMATION.

While the bubble volcano was the most impressive experiment we did, the poppers were the most fun. Each child got a small container; we used cocoa boxes, raisin canisters, anything that could hold liquid and had a semi-tight fitting lid.

Using sharp scissors (be careful, kids, don't run!), we cut a small (like in the lid. I then placed a small piece (1" long or less) piece of dry ice in the container and fill it with warm water. The lid was placed back on. That was cool enough because
the mist would shoot up through the hole. It looked like a steam engine (it's the Hogwarts Express!).

Then a child placed his finger over the hole. Pressure would build up and POP!! the lid would burst off enough to release the pressure. Once refitted, the entire sequence could begin again. The kids LOVED it. They each got their own, so there was no need to take turns.

Some kids even took the glycerine solution and made their own mini bubble volcanos.

Dry Ice #9: Bubble Volcano

This is the ninth segment in a series on dry ice experiments. CLICK HERE FOR SAFETY INFORMATION.

The other experiments were fun, but this one was by far the favorite! We made HUGE bubbles of mist that would then pop and shower and the table in clouds of vapor.

Combine in a small bowl or jar: 1 cup of water, 1/4 cup dish soap, and 1/4 cup glycerine (this can be petrol or vegetable based). This solution lasted us the entire day, and we did this experiment a LOT because it was so cool.

Place a sizeable chunk (at least 3-4 inches) in a large bowl. I used my baking bowl which is approximately
14" across. Pour warm water over the top. I did not measure how much water I used, I simply poured it from a pitcher until the mist was copious.

Dip a strip of cloth about 2 inches wide by the width of the bowl plus 8 inches long into the glycerine solution. Saturate it. Don't let it waste solution, but it should be slightly drippy.

Hold the strip taut and run it over the edge of the bowl. A bubble layer will form over the mouth of the bowl and begin to fill with mist. When the bubble layer reaches it limit, it will erupt with mist. It's very impressive to watch!

Dino Diorama and Fossil Cookies

This post contains affiliate links. 

There's just something about studying dinosaurs that inspires the imagination. Huge, lumbering beasts. Enough teeth to crunch a car. And then *boom!* they're gone! We spent some time studying these guys back in Cycle 1 and made a few crafts for the little kids to go along with our schoolwork.

One of the items we made was a diorama. This was pretty simple. A box on its side was covered in paper to show a generic habitat and then the kids put their little plastic dinosaurs inside. Nothing fancy (and nothing very accurate), but it was fun.

Everyone loved the next activity: fossil cookies! I made a gluten-free shortbread base, rolled it into balls, and flattened them. Then we pressed those little plastic dinosaurs into the dough. When I pulled the cookies from the oven, we had cookies with fossil impressions. 

The kids then sat at the table and used pastry brushes to brush cocoa onto the their cookies. Okay, so this part was backwards. Usually
paleontologists brush dirt *off* fossils, but we were brushing the cocoa *on*. However, they understood the concept here of using brushes to be careful with fossils, so I think it all worked out. 

GLUTEN-FREE SHORTBREAD

1 stick of butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs

3 cups of brown rice flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and stir. Add flour, salt, and baking soda.

Bake at 350° for 12 minutes

Favorite Card Games

This post contains affiliate links. 

(December 28) Today is National Card Playing Day! I taught my kids how to play rummy. After one round of playing with everyone's cards on the table, they picked up the idea and ran with it.

I have very fond memories of playing cards with my sister and friends while growing up. Games just seem to bring everyone together (even if it gets intense!).

Here are some of our favorite games:

Star Wars Snowflakes

December 27 was National Cut Out Paper Snowflakes Day, so we have decorated our enchanted ceiling, windows, and a garland with snowflakes!

We made Star Wars snowflakes from the patterns found HERE.

THIS SITE has more designs and shows how to fold the paper base.

My children needed help with the folding, and some only cut out the basic outlines, but all had fun. A few even created their own characters!

Life Hack: Marker Box

Where has this been all my life?

I used to LOVE it when my kids did markers, and by LOVE I mean I'd rather listen to What Does the Fox Say? for the three millionth time... *twitch*

They would lose the marker tops.

Or the markers.

Or miss the paper and draw on the table

('Mommy, I didn't notice!'
'You can see that your sister has 46 molecules more cake than you,
but you didn't notice drawing on the table?').

Or miss the paper and draw on themselves

('Are you ready to go daddy's office?'
'Yes, Mommy! I'm an Amazonian Warrior Princess! See my tattoos?').


Yes. Markers.

Then I saw this:

A MARKER BOX!

Big Box + Kid + Markers =
Contained Mess + Cool Drawing Surface + No Lost Markers

Sweeeeeeeet.

Ok, so I will still end up with an Amazonian Warrior Princess, but at least the marker tops are safe.

Building a Model of Stonehenge: Materials, Sand Dough Recipe, and Construction

After our prototype, we gathered our materials.

We used sand dough to make our model, but it can be used for so many more things. What about a Colosseum? Or models of famous sculptures? Perhaps your child will make his own sculpture! So many possibilities!

After we gathered our materials, we set to work building our model!

We used: 

Several diagrams of Stonehenge

(1) large sheet of plywood for a mobile working area

(1) sheet of poster board as a base for the model

(1) can green spray paint (grass)

(1) batch of sand dough

(2) cookie sheets

(1) white glue

(2) hot glue set-up

SAND DOUGH 

8 cups all-purpose flour (Allergen note: this was before we eliminated gluten. Even though we obviously don't eat this, some children may have issues with using wheat flour in crafts.I have not tried it with GF flour) 3 cups water
14 cups sand
1/4 cup white glue (just take the top off and dump a huge gloop in)
Honker squirt of black paint (this makes it look like stone)
Mix with hands in a huge bowl

As you can see in the picture, we mixed all this up on the front porch—a goooood idea! The children then formed sarsen stones, trilathons, lintels, etc. We placed them on a cookie sheet and baked them in the oven on low until they were dryish. Because there is paint in the sand dough, we did not have to paint them when they were finished.

My eldest spray painted the posterboard green, and then we followed a diagram to lay out the basic design of stonehenge. You need to decide if you will build it how it stands today or how archaeologists think it used to look. We went with how they think it used to look.

For the most part, we were able to use white glue to secure everything. For the parts that were kept falling apart or required more tackiness, I used hot glue (be careful with that!). Once all the pieces were ready, and supplies in order, and the hot glue gun warmed up, the model went together quickly.

PROTOTYPE

YouTube Connections: Stonehenge

Building a Model of Stonehenge: Prototype

In our ancient cultures unit study, we learned about Stonehenge. We read books, watched YouTube videos, and built a model of Stonehenge.

For the prototype, I mixed up a recipe of date fudge, and we shaped them into triathlons and lintels and blue stones.

This helped the children learn the basic shapes involved in the structure.

And then ate them. Yum!

Afterwards, we gathered our materials and made our model!

DATE FUDGE 

1 cup peanuts
1 1/3 cup dates
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/16 tsp salt (1/8 + 1/2 of 1/8)  

 Mix in a food processor

MODEL CONSTRUCTION

YOUTUBE CONNECTION: STONEHENGE

Cave Painting Activity

Chauvet!

We study ancient history during Cycle 1 of Classical Conversations. For a few weeks prior to the start of classes, I teach a unit on pre-history. One of our activities is making cave paintings.

The activity is very simple. Crumple paper bags to make the walls and then paint. Easy, inexpensive, and fun. What could be better than that??

Learning Treehouse Studies Toulouse

Learning Treehouse recently studied the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. After a short class by Holly Daughtry, including instruction and videos, they went outside and painted signs in Toulouse fashion.

Their shoes were tightly tied. After all, you can't can-can if your shoes Tou-louse.

Animal Cell Pizza

Pizza Supplies

Cell Parts

THE CELL!!

Loading it up with the extras

What was leftover...

CELL PARTS--
Nucleus- Turkey slice
Nucleolus- Mushroom
Endoplasmic Reticulum- Onion
Ribosomes- Corn
Golgi Bodies- Bell Pepper
Centrioles- Green Onion
Mitochondria- Black beans
Lysosomes- Tomatoes
Vacuoles- Black olives
Membrane- Rice Flour Crust
Cytoplasm- Rice/almond milk rosa sauce