Summer is almost over, time is
running out, what ELSE can I do
with my kids?
Visit the zoo. Check!
Have a picnic. Check!
Visit the grandparents. Check!
Go to summer camps and day camps. Check!
Play board games. Check!
Finish those pesky summer reading lists. Check!
Back to school shopping. Check!
Have a lazy movie day. Triple Check!
Summer is wrapping up and all of those fun summertime trips and ideas are coming to an end. They’ve seen all the movies and beat all the video games and if you’re being honest, you would really like them to learn SOMETHING this summer so that summer wasn’t a complete loss of all that knowledge they store up during the school year.
But what else is there? You are adamant about not breaking the bank so they can be entertained but you still want your kids to have as many great summer memories as possible.
As cheesy and cliché as it could sound, but have you tried kitchen science experiments?
You know, the ones that everyone always talks about doing but never gets around to it?
The ones that parents start to cringe over thinking it will be utterly messy or stain the carpet?
Well, cringe no more…here is one of the many fun, kid-tested & mother approved, awesome activities to do with your kids that will break up the day of tv and video games and give those kiddos a great way to actually learn something useful!
- Let’s Get Slimy!
Materials:
- Clear glue (No, not the white Elmer’s glue. It absolutely must be clear!)
- Liquid Starch (They make that? Yes, yes they do. If you can’t find it, use Borax powder)
- Food coloring (If you want to get really fancy, get the neon colors.)
- Plastic drop cloth (This part is optional, but if you are worried about staining something or you want more room to play, this part is essential)
How to:
- Grab a large bowl and mix equal parts of the glue and liquid starch
- Separate out the mixture and let the kids go nuts with the colors
- Enjoy your slime!
Education bit:
This experiment has made a polymer which is a fancy way to say that it acts like a solid and a liquid concurrently. Woah! How does that happen? Well, this lovely slime is made of molecules. In solids, the molecules are pushed tight together while in liquids, the molecules are all spread out and are easier to break apart. This is why food holds its shape and water forms drops. In polymers, these molecules act as both because they act like a chain linking each other together so that they can bend and move but don’t even break completely to form drops.
How is it a liquid?
- Can you put it in a container and it forms to that shape?
- If you hold it in your hand, does it slide through your fingers?
How is it a solid?
- Can you pick up the whole thing without it gushing everywhere?
- Will it stay in your hand if you want it to?
Side note: If you’re kids want to keep this, you can store it in a plastic bad in the pantry for future use.
