October 7: Color Changing Milk

This science activity originally comes from the Steve Spangler Website, but it's no longer posted.  It is very cool, though, so here's what you do.  Take a plate and pour milk to fill it.  Drip one drop of a few different colors of food coloring in the middle of the milk.  Try to keep the drops fairly close together.  Take a q-tip and dip it in the middle of the colors to see what happens (do NOT stir it).  Then put a drop of dish soap on the q-tip and place it in the middle of the colors again (for 10-15 seconds) and watch what happens.  Ty and Brielle were both excited about the movement of colors!  You can repeat that last step and place the q-tip elsewhere in the milk and watch what happens. 

Food coloring drops in milk.

Food coloring reacting to the soap in milk.

So what makes the food coloring move? 

     "Milk is mostly water but contains some vitamins, minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended in 

     solution.  Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes in the surrounding solution (milk)."  (Steve Spangler)

Apparently, the soap molecules weaken the chemical bonds in the milk's fats and proteins and then the soap molecules "chase" the fat molecules to connect them them.  I didn't explain all this to Ty and Brielle...maybe someday.

We decided to try this same experiment with food coloring in water.  I didn't expect much to happen based on the Steve Spangler website's information, but I was wrong.  It wasn't as dramatic as when it was in the milk, but still fun!

Food coloring in water.

Food coloring reacting to the soap.

Ty wanted to try something else for an experiment, so I pulled out the water color paint books and told the kids to see what happened when they painted with water.  They spent the next 30 minutes painting with water!  So fun!

April 22: Resurrection Set

The risen Christ!



Part of the finished set.

 Our Good Friday project was making a Resurrection Set.  I'd never heard of a Resurrection Set, but it makes sense...we put out our Nativity Scenes at Christmas, why not a Resurrection Set for Easter?  I stumbled upon the idea while searching for Easter crafts to do with the boys...you can find the details and the templates at http://catholicicing.blogspot.com. 

Ty only had interest in coloring the tomb and one of the soldiers, so I colored the rest since Koen was in school.  I used cardstock to print the templates just to make it a bit more sturdy.  We used up our supply of saved toilet paper rolls, but it was worth it!  The boys love playing with this set!  We read the Easter story while moving the characters around, and it helped the boys remember the story just a bit better.  In their reenactments, they were more excited about the angels arriving and the soldiers falling down. :)  I doubt this set will last a lifetime, so I did save the idea in hopes of using it again in the future.



Ty's soldier.



Hard at work.







Apparently we often use toilet

 paper tubes as trumpets...

poor Mary Magdelene!





Playing with the finished set.



We used rubber bands to hold the
paper in place while the glue dried.



November 26: Coloring Christmas Pictures & Setting Up the CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

I asked the boys if they wanted to do a Christmas project with me today, and after a resounding "yes!" I asked if they had any ideas or if they wanted me to find something to make.  Koen pulled out the Christmas coloring/activity book Grandma had giving them and suggested we color pictures.  Simple, but perfect.  We each tore out a picture to color and began using the new crayons, also from Grandma.  We spent 20 minutes or more sitting at the kitchen table just coloring, talking, and laughing together. 

It had been a long time since I'd colored with crayons; I'd forgotten how relaxing it can be.  I tried to research online to see if there was anything about stress relief and coloring, or something of that sort, but the only things that popped up were specific calming colors or coloring mandalas -- pictures meant to focus your thoughts.  I'm pretty sure the kid's Christmas pictures I was coloring weren't designed to focus my attention and calm my spirit, but in a way, they did.  I supposed just slowing down to sit and color something that can be completed in a short time frame (as opposed to never-ending laundry or even my scrapbook which is 3 1/2 years behind our current life) was the perfect relaxing activity.  We (or maybe just I) may need to do this activity more often.

Later that evening we hauled out the fake tree (I've never had a real one...maybe some day I'll be brave enough) and all the Christmas decor.  The boys were beyond excited about setting up the tree and couldn't wait to hang the ornaments...really, they couldn't wait.  They began unpacking them before I could do it in my organized fashion.  Praise the Lord for an excited Christmas spirit!