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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Over the next few months, I will be sharing some Halloween crafts and some Thanksgiving Crafts.  Today is for Thanksgiving and it is a very simple craft that any child could do from infants up to school-agers.  You may change up a few things for each age group but that’s up to you.

What you need:

• construction paper (several different colors but make sure you have brown and green)
• large piece of construction paper (a fall color)
• glue stick
• scissors
• markers
• (optional: beads, sticker or anything else that can be glued down and has a Thanksgiving theme)

Directions:

1. Help your child draw out a Cornucopia in the brown construction paper.  Cut it out.  Older children should be able to cut it out themselves but you will want to do the cutting for them.
2. Draw out fruit and other items that you would like to put in the Cornucopia. Cut them out.
3. Have your child glue the Cornucopia to the larger paper (leaving enough room for the fruit on the page)
4. Glue down the fruit and other items inside the Cornucopia.  Don’t fix the fruit if it doesn’t land anywhere near or even on top of the Cornucopia. Remember art is an expression of self so it does not have to fit into the cookie cutter crafts.  If she wants to stick the Cornucopia under the fruit, then by all means, allow it. 
5. With markers, a pencil or a pen, have your child write something that he or she is thankful for on each piece of fruit.  You could have the child write it on a separate piece of paper that she folds and glues one side to the fruit to keep the “thanks” hidden until Thanksgiving or it can be there displayed to all.
6. Finish decorating if you are using optional items.

With younger children, you probably won’t put on things that they are thankful for but you can make it into an excellent cutting and gluing activity for them.

If you are not artistically inclined, you can always print out a Cornucopia to color with markers or to trace the outline onto the paper.  Below are a few sites where you can find printouts.

Cornucopia

Fruit

Veggies

Sirena Van Schaik

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