Dear moms,
My son, who will be turning 4 later this summer, has discovered the wide world of science. I'm delighted by this, of course (though, sometimes, honestly, it's exhausting to be constantly providing the material, supervision, etc.), but we're rapidly running out of new, interesting, *safe* experiments to do. I'm also trying to avoid running to specialty stores and spending hundreds of dollars -- we can't afford it, and I really want to be consistent with the message that you don't have to spend a lot of money to learn and have fun. My son is also cognitively quite advanced (socially it's a different story, but that's a topic for another post) -- anything geared to 4-6 year olds would be great.
His favorite experiments so far have been:
Baking soda and vinegar "volcanoes" (we've also tried all sorts of variables -- baking powder, lemon juice, etc.)
"Raisin run" -- raisins in seltzer water
"Runaway pepper" -- pouring pepper in a bowl of water and adding a drop of dish soap
Any other suggestions would be great!
And -- unrelated -- any suggestions on how to keep up with a growth spurt? I am *constantly* preparing protein dishes (another source of exhaustion for me) and my son is constantly hungry. He's much more goofy, moody, etc., when he's growing at this rate, and I feel like I can't keep up.
Thanks so much!
Mira
try: condensed milk in a small glass bowl (maybe only 3/4 of an inch of milk). add a couple of drops of food coloring into the center of the milk. don't mix! then drop one drop of dish soap and watch the colors swirl!
my daughter is eating like a maniac, too. she gets a lot of snacks in between meals - cheese sticks, lunch meat, crackers, fruit. I usually have something easy to give her ll the time.
I would like to suggest the book: The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Science ... by Rachel Firth, designed by Helen Wood, Illustrated by David Hancock
I got it from my daughter's Scholastic book order form. The book is recommended for children 5 and up, my daughter is almost 4 years old and we have been reading & doing experiments in this book for 6 months now. This book touches on many bases of science like what it is, scientists, universe, seasons, living things, your body, atoms, energy and so on (seriously that is the first 10 pages). Great simple explanations that even my science minded mechanical engineer hubby likes the explanations (half the time he finds what is wrong with a simplified science definition). Also through out the book they have easy to do experiments and they use every day items that you either already have at home or are very cheap to get from your local store to do the experiment. Then on top of all that they have special links to check out online to find even more information and experiments. I really love this book and so does my daughter, she learning things that I learned in 8th grade and high school!!!
You can find it on amazon.com...
http://www.amazon.com/Usborne-Internet-Linked-First-Encyc...
Here it is from their website...
http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/results.asp?sid=F0230&...
Totally understand the growth thing... my daughter is the same way but I have no adivice besides I have been keeping bowls of fruit, nuts, cheese and sandwhich meat in the fridge so my daughter can got snack between meals without me always in the kitchen getting her something.
We made slime:
2 parts cornstarch to 1 part water (put food coloring in the water) before mixing together with your hands.
Super fun.
I won't have nearly as many ideas as a book, but a couple "long term" science projects -
Get a water gauge for rain and keep track. Do the same thing inside, but with evaporation. Write lines on the glass once a week so you can watch the water "disappear."
You can make rock candy lollypops. Look up how to do it, but I'm pretty sure it just takes string, water and sugar (and food coloring, if you'd like).
You can do "baby ducks" v. "baby chicks" - get a big basin of water. Dip cotton balls in oil (ducks) and cotton balls in colored water (chicks). See which ones sink and which ones float. What other liquids sink and float?
You can also do cooking experiments - what makes popcorn pop (on the stove). How does an egg change when you cook it different ways, etc.
Have fun!
With a BS in Biology, I'll speak from a different point of view. I don't wear wool socks and Birkenstocks and hug trees. I just really wanted to be a doctor and love science as well.
Literally anything can be related to science. Yes, it's cool to do the things that blow-up, but it can be just as much fun to build rivers in our yards (buy a bag of river rocks at Lowe's, some sand, and a plastic box. Move rocks around while the hose is running and help him understand currents, etc). Go to the library and get Audobon field guides to things like birds, trees, fungus - I know it sounds geeky, but you can find things (leaves, bugs, etc) and look at the pictures to try to figure out what you've discovered.
Something like a frisbee will help him understand things like physics. Help him guess how far it will go. Same with bubbles - how many can you blow before the solution is gone.
Get chairs, step stools, etc. and play with gravity. See how long it takes for big vs. small objects to fall, heavy vs. light, wadded paper vs. flat paper, use water balloons to make it fun, etc.
One thing we're looking for to entertain kids at our son's birthday party next weekend (he's also 4 - today, actually) is a 3 person slingshot - get a small sling shot, find a boomerang, etc. and teach about distance, wind, lift, thrust (physics).
You can also take plastic water bottles, put oil in one part, water in another (color with food coloring) and show solubility. You can also shake them up and create tornadoes. Kind of fun.
You don't have to focus on chemistry. Seek ways to integrate other scientific disciplines (biology, zoology, physics) into the day.
There's also the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment if all else fails.
Good luck.
Check out the 4 dozen free science labs at www.topscience.org. Many are things you can do with a young child, and all run on simple stuff that you may have at home already.
your local librarian is your best friend! there are a lot of cool books out with simple, inexpensive home-based science experiments. and while you're there check out some dvds of bill nye the science guy, most amazing science dude EVAH! my kids did most of their homeschool science with bill nye!
stop cooking constantly for your ravenous kid and keep lots of fruit and whole grain snacks (muffins, pretzels, snack bars) on hand to tide him over between meals. peanut butter on a whole grain bagel will go a long way.
:) khairete
S.
There are several good books about science experiments for kids. My son checked one out from the library but I can not remember the name of it. He also has one that is called Magical Experiments for kids. He loves it. I found some good experiments on-line as well. There is one where you blow up a balloon on top of a bottle by putting baking soda and vinegar into the bottle. The gas created blows up the balloon. I would check the internet and your local library for age appropriate ideas.
We have also purchased several kits for our son. They were around $20 but included several experiments in each kit. They generally are for ages 6 and up but if you are helping him then he should be fine.
Good luck and have fun!
C.
your local librarian is your best friend! there are a lot of cool books out with simple, inexpensive home-based science experiments. and while you're there check out some dvds of bill nye the science guy, most amazing science dude EVAH! my kids did most of their homeschool science with bill nye!
stop cooking constantly for your ravenous kid and keep lots of fruit and whole grain snacks (muffins, pretzels, snack bars) on hand to tide him over between meals. peanut butter on a whole grain bagel will go a long way.
:) khairete
S.
My son likes to take two Dixie cups, put water in O. and a paper towel rolled up from that O. into a separate cup...the water will level out.
Your son might also enjoy making a terrarium, an ant farm or growing seeds.
He has a book called 500 Science Experiments which is great--they rate the age, level of difficulty, etc.
