Or…

You could take a few of those turkey bones and create a science experiment with your kids. This is a lot of fun and kids are always amazed by how it works.

What you need:

• Turkey Bones (the thinner the better. If the bones are too thick this experiment will take the better part of a week and you lose the excitement for it before it has even finished.)
• Vinegar
• A jar or glass. (I prefer a jar since I can close it.)

Directions:

Day One:

1. Clean off all the excess meat from the chicken bone.
2. Talk to your children about the bone, have them touch the bone and discuss if it is hard or if it is soft. Discussion is key to every experiment.
3. Pour vinegar into the jar.
4. Place in the bones and leave overnight. If they are thin enough, the experiment should only take a day but if they aren’t really thin, it will take about two or three days.
5. Make sure everyone washes their hands.

Day Two:

1. Remove the turkey bones from the vinegar. They should be soft and bendable.
2. Discuss what has happened to them. Allow your children to touch them and bend them.
3. Tie the bones into knots. You can tie them together or simply place knots in each bone. Sometimes the bones will slide out of the knot so I find just placing a clip on either end keeps them secure.
4. Place in a high cupboard out of the way (especially if you have any cats that might be tempted by a bone)
5. Leave the bones overnight (this should only take one night but check the bones before you pull them out for the last stage.
6. Make sure everyone washes their hands.

Day Three:

1. Take out the bones and explore them.
2. Remove any clips if you used them.
3. The bones should be hard, and back to normal except that they are now knotted.

The science behind it all:

Like everyone knows, when you become a parent all the secrets of the world are not revealed to you, although at times you wish that they were, and you might be just as stumped by this experiment as I was the first time I did it and my kids asked, “why?”

So just so you can explain to your child(ren) what has happened, let’s look at the science behind this experiment.

Obviously, the main answer is that we are dealing with a chemical reaction when we do this experiment. Bones contain a substance called “calcium carbonate” and it is this substance that causes the bones to remain hard. When you add vinegar, which is a acetic acid, the chemical reaction occurs.

Carbon dioxide is created and you should see it in the vinegar as tiny bubbles. The carbon is taken from the bones and they begin to soften. When there is no longer any carbon in the bones, the bones can be bent and tied without fear of breaking them.

Now for the really interesting part. Since carbon is in the air around us, it is very easy for the reverse reaction to occur. When you leave the turkey bone out for the night, the calcium that is still in the bone takes the carbon back into the bone. This makes the bone hard again and since you had reshaped it, it will harden into whatever shape you created.

So in essence, you get two reactions in one experiment and a whole new way to look at turkey dinner.

Sirena Van Schaik

photo credit

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Before you begin any science experiment, whether you do it at home or in a classroom, you should really take the time to make some predictions. Explain what you will be doing, i.e. putting pepper in the water but let them have time to explore the possibilities. Do they think the pepper will float or sink? Is the water hot or cold? Do you think the pepper would float if the water was cold?

Next ask them what would happen if you put dish soap into the water. Write down what the kids are saying for prosperities sake, or if you are in a classroom, and if you want, you could have the kids draw pictures of the bowl of water before and after you add the dish soap.

What you need:

• Pepper
• Water
• A bowl (it doesn’t have to be large but you want it large enough for all the kids to be able to see into it without pushing)
• Dish Soap

Directions:

1. Fill the bowl with water. Ask the questions, let the kids test the water and comment on it.
2. Have your child(ren) add pepper to the water. Discuss what is happening.
3. Place a drop of dish soap in the center of the water and discuss what is happening and why.

And that’s it. A 5 minute activity that you can do over and over again. This experiment actually deals with water tension and how it is affected by the dish soap. Generally, water has a very strong surface tension that pulls the water together. The pepper, which weighs less than the surface tension, floats. When you drop in the dish soap, the surface tension changes, becomes weaker, and the pepper is pulled away from the soap with the water. For kids, it looks like magic.

Sirena Van Schaik

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Okay, maybe it isn’t quite that great but around here, the kids love this time of year. Not because they are bored or they enjoy torturing me, although I wonder about that sometimes, but simply because this is the time of the year when the toads become very plentiful around my house.

On any given day, we can catch between 3 to 7 toads of various sizes. Today, we had the opportunity to not only catch a huge toad, about the size of my hand, but we also found a Northern Leopard Frog in our field. A very cool looking frog with leopard like spots on its bright green body.

Since we have so many warty visitors right now, I decided to start a mini project, remember those, and create a terrarium for the toads. We currently have 7 toads living with us for the next few days and we will swap them out every few days so no toad is hurt during this project.

I would like to mention that it is important to know what species you are dealing with when you bring anything into the house. Even if you know the species, handling should be kept to a minimum since they can carry parasites and most toads have a mild poison. Hands must be washed thoroughly after touching a toad.

Since some species are disappearing, it is important to not take too many species from their natural habitat. The Northern Leopard Frog came to visit for about an hour and then was released back into the field since this is a disappearing amphibian. The large toad also had a short visit before sauntering back into the field.

Another point that I would like to mention is feeding. Some animals will not eat while they are kept in captivity, although it is said that American Toads will adapt to eating.  Still, mini projects need to be kept short for this reason to ensure optimal health for your little amphibian visitor.

Now that I kind of preached about properly studying these animals, let’s look at building a toad terrarium for short visits. If you would like a cheat sheet on Toads, please visit this article.

What you need:

• A large container. I originally used an old baby bathtub for this when the toads we had were very small. Even though toads do jump, they do not jump as high as frogs. If the toads are small, a baby bathtub works well but any bigger in size and they will jump out.
• Coconut Fibre: You can get this at any pet store that has lizard supplies.
• A water dish: not too deep since toads can drown if they can’t get out of the water.
• Rocks: some rocks and stones for decorating and providing places for the toads to sit (this is more for your kids than for the toads)
• A container for the toads to hide under. Cut out a little door where they can get into it.
• Plants: one or two plants to provide more hiding places.
• Spray Bottle
• Mesh wiring (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the Coconut Fibre into a washed (without soap or chemicals) baby bathtub or other large container. I upgraded to a rubbermaid container.
2. Wet it down but don’t soak it completely.
3. Place the container for water in one area and the hiding container in another. Try to sink them into the fibre for stability.
4. Place in a few plants and the other decorations.
5. Add the toads.

It is pretty simple to set up a terrarium for a toad. You don’t need a mesh lid for the container if it is deep enough but if you have cats, protect the toads and your pet by attaching a mesh lid.

Check the water every day and spray the habitat with water to keep it moist. Usually you can tell if the habitat is too dry because the toads will sit in the water. Make sure you refill the water daily and if possible, let the water sit in a clean bottle to cut down on harsh chemicals in our tap water.

And that is all there is to it. Keep a toad, or toads, for a few days is a great opportunity for learning. Children can learn about animals, how to care for them, about the world around them and about the animals habitat. You can also teach about conservation and caring for our earth.

All the best and happy toad hunting.

Sirena Van Schaik

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If you are only planning on doing this activity once, then you can easily make a temporary one with only a few items.

What you need:

• 2-2 liter pop bottles
• Water
• Food Coloring (optional)
• glitter and confetti (optional)
• 1-1 inch washer
• Duct Tape (the handyman’s secret weapon according to Red Green)

What you need to do:

1. Fill one bottle with water. Usually the half way mark or just below three quarters is more than enough. Don’t fill it to the top.
2. Place in food coloring or glitter if you are using any.
3. Place the washer on the opening of the bottle and invert the second bottle, placing it on top of the first so that both bottle openings touch with the washer between them.
4. Duct tape them together securely to prevent leaks from happening.
5. Turn the bottle so the one with water is on top. Give a circle shake to the bottle and a tornado will form in the water as it drains into the bottom bottle.

And that is all it takes. Children love watching the tornado twist around the bottle and it has occupied many children that I have taught for hours on end. My own kids love the cyclone tube and they will turn it repeatedly just to see that tornado.

You can use this activity to teach about weather or you can simply use it as an enjoyable rainy day activity.

Sirena Van Schaik

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I would give you start to finish photographs but when I made my volcano I didn’t think to do that, since it was a few years ago but I will sign off with a few pictures of the volcano erupting.

What you need:

• a box lid or box cut in half. (this is for your base)
• Large piece of card stock or thin cardboard
• scissors
• paper mache paste (see Paper Mache Paste Recipe)
• strips of newspaper
• small plastic container (a margarine container works)
• paint
• masking tape

Directions:

1. Cut out a circle from the card stock and slice one side of it to the middle.
2. Make a cone from the card stock. Tape it to represent the height of the volcano that you want.
3. Cut off the tip of the cone so the margarine container can fit in it loosely (don’t go too snug or else the container won’t fit after you do the paper mache. I like to use a margarine container since you don’t have to use as much vinegar and baking soda for the eruption and you can just lift the container out to empty it.)
4. mount the cone to the base with tape.
5. Crumple up newspaper and tape it to the cone to create cliffs and ridges on the volcano.
6. Mix up the paper mache.
7. Cut or rip 1 inch strips from the newspaper and cover the volcano, make sure you leave the opening at the top.
8. Allow to dry completely once the entire volcano is covered. (This can take a few days depending on how wet the volcano was. Make sure to check the inside too)
9. Repeat paper mache and allow to dry completely each time. (You may have to do this 2 or 3 times)
10. When it is dry, paint it to look like a volcano. You can add some scenery, such as Pompeii like we did, although the paper buildings disintegrated after the 20th or so eruptions.
11. Erupt the volcano once the paint is dry.

To erupt the volcano, go to the post on Fun with Science: Baking Soda and Vinegar.

And now for the eruptions (in these pictures the “lava” is white but usually I color it with food coloring).

Sirena Van Schaik

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Well, it has finally been decided that my experiment with the Praying Mantis egg sac has failed. We didn’t get any Praying Mantids running around and I think the kids were a little disappointed. I mean, this has been an ongoing project for over 6 months.

Still, even with the failure of the experiment, there are many new things where I can go from here. The egg sac can be handled, pictures can be drawn of it and rubbings can be taken from it. We can discuss reasons why it failed and what are some things that we could have done to prevent the failure.

This is an excellent opportunity for any parent. If an experiment, project or a recipe fails, don’t feel that the learning experience ends. Simply shift it and allow the learning to take a new direction. Sure you aren’t left with the expected result but you may find something even more amazing than you originally imagined.

Not only that, but you also show your children to not give up, even if something doesn’t go right. You teach them that things happen and there is no reason to get overly upset if it doesn’t work but to think “outside the box” and figure out new ways to make it work.

In my case, there really is no way to make it right and after a few more weeks, we are going to be dissecting the egg sac to see what went on inside. Maybe we won’t find anything but we just might. I’ve decided to give it a few weeks, just in case I didn’t give it enough time, I would feel really guilty if I destroyed the egg sac when there was still life to it.

Next time, if there is one, I think I will put the egg sac outside in the garden and let mother nature take care of it. So, it is pretty obvious that we won’t be seeing this (a video of Praying Mantids hatching, actually this is an excellent video and covers the life cycle of a Praying Mantid) but we have a whole new angle of learning to explore.

Sirena Van Schaik

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I think everyone has those thoughts, well, except children. To them the world around them is filled with wonders. Adventures that we have forgotten in the daily press of adulthood. I remember being so content each summer as I scoured the woods for adventures or pulled fresh water clams out of a cold clear stream. I hated travelling and preferred to stay tucked into my own yard (mind you my yard was a town), and explore to my heart’s delight.

Now you are probably wondering why I am rambling about my childhood and forgotten adventures and it is simply that I have been reminded of the many wonders in my own backyard and all the opportunities for learning that takes place almost under my nose.

Spring is here after all and the world is full of new sounds, new sights and new life. It is a great time to start a growing project with your children or to start mapping out the backyard and all the animals that are making a home in it.

For my own yard, I have a Kildear pair that have laid four speckled eggs (right on the ground) for all to see. It is an amazing experience and it has opened up the door to learn about how other animals protect themselves and their young. (If you aren’t aware of it, Kildears are birds that will pretend to be injured to lure predators away from their nest.)

I also have a red fox that raids the compost and a raccoon that does as well. They offer opportunities to look at tracks in the mud, and discuss animals and how to take care around them. I also have a Turkey Vulture that loves to sit on a post across the road and watch me. I probably look tasty but I have taken some amazing pictures of him and answered a thousand questions about him and the Hawk that is nesting in a tall spruce in our yard.

There is an eco-system just waiting to be explored and I don’t have to travel to the Caribbean (although that would be nice too) to experience wonders and adventure.

So today was just a reminder to take a few minutes and explore your backyard with your child. You will be pleasantly surprised, as I was, at how much life is teeming in your back yard.

Mini Project

Since I am sending you out in your backyard, why not take the time to have a mini project.

What you will need:

• Twine
• 4 sticks
• graph paper
• brushes
• shovels
• magnifying glass
• containers

What you should do:

1. Section of a square in your back yard with the sticks and twine.
2. Allow your child to explore the space and show her how to mark the item on the graph paper.
3. Explore with all the different materials and save some things that can be saved, such as seeds, stems from plants, soil.
4. Label the containers and the graph to remember where you took the samples from and when
5. Spend the next week or so going back to the spot and checking to see if things have changed or if they are the same.
6. Also take the time to exam the items you took from your backyard. This is great for rainy day activities.
7. If you happen to find something really interesting, start a mini project on the topic, i.e. snails (which I will go into the proper care of snails at a later date.)

Sirena Van Schaik

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Although the whole landing and Mars stuff was a huge hit in my home, what was even bigger was a new World Wide Telescope that launched this weekend. I stumbled across it at 4:30am on Sunday morning, unable to sleep so I decided to work…ugh.

This is a great program that you download onto your computer. It has features where you can explore different planets and different parts of our night sky. It covers planets, solar systems, galaxies, stars, black holes, and many many more topics. When you click on a section of the map, say Mercury, you can pull up the basic information about the planet; size, ect., ect. You can also hit a button for more information and it will take you to websites with more in depth information about the topic and will also upload telescopic images of the object that you are studying.

The big draw for me, more than the self discovery, although I love that too, are the guided tours. In these, a scientist is talking about a certain topic, i.e. black holes. On the screen, they show you where you can find the black hole with a proper telescope, i.e. beside the constellation sagitarius and they talk about the research and information that they have gathered from it. It is very informative and they are short enough to keep the attention of young children.

Parents can also connect to an online telescope but the downside of this is that after a few hours of trying, I gave up. I couldn’t get the programs and drivers to work so I am not sure what I need to get the telescope to work or what it is like when it is working. I couldn’t find any helpful information on the site for loading but it may have been the hour and my state of mind by that point.

So if you are looking for ways to learn about the solar system, I would strongly recommend this site. It is an amazing program and can really help older children with their science projects.

Sirena Van Schaik

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This is an excellent activity to teach children about cause and effect and also about predicting outcomes.  Before you do the actual activity, ask questions like, “What do you think will happen when we mix baking soda and vinegar?”  You can also mix it up and have different types of powder and liquid and ask for predictions for each.  Use flour and water, vinegar and flour, water and baking soda. 

After that it is just a matter of testing the theories (cause and effect).  All you need is the ingredients you listed in your questions and a cookie sheet for the overspill.

What you will need:

• a cup or water bottle
• vinegar (usually about a cup is enough for the experiment)
• baking soda (usually about one heaping tablespoon but you can add more or less depending on the size of the container)
• food coloring (optional)

What to do:

1. Pour the vinegar into the container.
2. Let your child add the baking soda and watch it bubble up.
3. Talk about what you just saw.

And that is it.  You can have your older child record your results so they start laying the foundation of documenting their research but it isn’t necessary.  

*Alternate: place the baking soda into an empty balloon and fasten the balloon to the top of the water bottle already filled with vinegar.  Be careful when you do this so the baking soda does not fall into the vinegar.  Have your child tip the balloon up so the baking soda falls into the vinegar while you hold the mouth of the balloon to keep it from slipping off the bottle.  The balloon will fill with gas and inflate.*

I hope you enjoy this activity as much as I do.  I will post directions to making your own volcano and a volcano cheat sheet in the next few weeks but until then have fun.  Oh, if your child wants to know what the chemical reaction is, all you need to know is that vinegar and baking soda combined makes the gas, Carbon Dioxide.

Sirena Van Schaik 

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As a mother, I have said that sentence a million times and every time I feel a sharp pain behind my eyes, a reminder that maybe I’m letting my kid’s down because I do not know the surface gravity of Mars and how many Earths will fit into the Sun.  When I do admit defeat and end up saying those dreaded words, I end up explaining for 15 minutes how I couldn’t possibly know everything there is to know in the world.  My kids are always surprised by this and argue with me that I probably know it but I just can’t remember. 

At times like that, I wish that I had a little cheat sheet handy with all the little tidbits of knowledge that my children are trying to glean from me.  “Surface gravity of Mars, no problem, it’s 0.4 times the Earth’s surface gravity.  How many Earth’s fit in the sun? No problem there either, a million earths would.”  These answers would be accompanied by me shuffling through my cheat sheets but I would feel great answering the questions.  Of course, knowing my luck, my kid’s would then ask a question that no one else has ever thought to ask and I would be stuck answering it the same way as I always do, with a sigh and a “I don’t know.”

So I thought I would provide you with some cheat sheets for a new feature on That Parent Place and since spring is here, I thought it would be great to start with Butterflies. 

To start, I am going to tell you ways to determine the difference between moths and butterflies.  I’m sure that you will have to spend your days identifying every butterfly and moth your child is fortunate to catch so why not have a cheat sheet to determine what it is you are looking at.

Surprisingly, there are only four things you need to know to determine if you are looking at a butterfly or a moth and those are:

• The Antenna:  Butterflies have long thin antennas that have a club at the end of them.  Moths usually have antennas that look like feathers or their antennas are long and thin but do not have the club
• The Thorax: Moths have a larger, plumper body that is usually fuzzy where butterflies generally have a thinner body that is smooth.
• Wings at Rest: If you have ever watched a butterfly rest on the petal of a flower, you may have noticed that it rests with its wings together.  This is a common trait of all butterflies.  Moths on the other hand, rest with their wings open.
• Time of Day:  The general rule of thumb is that butterflies are out during the day and moths are out at night.  There are some periods in the day, usually early evening, when you can find moths and butterflies and there are some of both species that can be seen both day and night.

And that is it for differences between butterflies and moths but what now.  What if your child suddenly wants to know the life cycle of a butterfly?  Although I have always been a big fan of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, it isn’t the most accurate book on the life cycle of a butterfly.  Let’s face it, very few caterpillars have the opportunity to eat chocolate cake. 

For the cheat sheet you should know that Butterflies have a 4 stage life cycle:

• Egg
• Caterpillar where it will loose several layers of skin until it eventually prepares for the next stage
• Pupa or Chrysalis
• Butterfly

It is very simple and kids love to learn about the life-cycle.  If you are looking for some great sites about butterflies, I would suggest visiting Enchanted Learning where they have many activities that are centered around learning about Butterflies.  They even have an anatomy coloring page that is wonderful. 

I would also recommend the Butterfly Website for information and pictures of butterflies. It is not geared towards kids but with a little browsing, you can make it. 

If you have any other cheat sheet facts about Butterflies, please feel free to share them or let me know what other cheat sheets you would like.

So enjoy the season and happy butterfly hunting.

Sirena Van Schaik

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