Colorful Celery: Kitchen science; AND Weekly Kid's Co-op

I've always thought that the science experiments looked super cool where cut stems are put in colored water and the plant itself eventually changes to that color.

Since my son has gotten so into gardening this year, I thought this experiment would be perfect to illustrate to him how plants incorporate water into their body.

We poured about an inch of water into 3 glass jars. My son added red, yellow and blue coloring.

Then we stuck in celery stalks. I thought the stalks with the leaves still intact would be more effective for this experiment.

 Then we waited.

We noticed that the different colors started showing up in the leaves within only 2 hours time!

 24 hours later the stalks and leaves were very noticeably colored.

 Here are the 3 together.

We talked about the term "capillary action", which is in essence the plants ability to pull water up through its stalk and into the leaves and flowers.

Thanks for stopping by! We had fun!


If you liked this post and you want to stay informed of more kid activity ideas I post or find around the blogosphere, remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page! Thank you! Have a wonderful day.

Also it is Weekly Kids Co-op Link-up Party time!  I'm linking up the above post and our post on Painting like Jackson Pollock. Enjoy!

Tee shirt craft using freezer paper; Weekly Kids Co-op

I have had this MASSIVE role of freezer paper on the shelf of my art studio for probably more than a year...untouched, and waiting, waiting, waiting to be used. (Note: you can find freezer paper in big supermarkets alongside the wax paper, parchment paper, etc. - this is what it looks like in case you don't know and are curious).

I have wanted to explore freezer paper stenciling on a tee shirt ever since reading about it in Deb Soule's book, The Creative Family. The Creative Family is by far one of my favorite family activity books, and I highly recommend it to anybody who loves to craft with their children. Also be sure to check out Deb's inspirational blog, Soule Mama, which is full of beautiful photography as well as project ideas. 

Anyway, being that it was the 4th of July yesterday, and my son didn't have any festive tees to wear representing the day, I decided it was the perfect time to bust out the freezer paper and give this craft a whirl.

Using photoshop, I created the above star design for the shirt.

I then printed it out and laid the sheet over a piece of freezer paper cut to the same size. I placed these both on a cutting mat board and started cutting through both layers with my X-acto knife. *Note: the waxy side is the side that will eventually be ironed down onto the tee shirt. You want this to be facing down when cutting the design out, in general. Obviously for my star template it didn't matter which side was up or down.

After the stars are all cut out, I ironed down the paper (wax side down) onto a tee shirt. I made sure that the paper was completely adhered to the fabric before moving on to the next step.

Using a stencil brush, my son tapped (or "stippled") blue and red acrylic paint onto the cut-out shapes.

He worked meticulously on filling each star.

When all the stars were covered thoroughly with paint, we peeled the paper off. It was quite easy! I was sooo impressed with how easy this paper was to use, AND I ended up loving the result!

We were careful to not fold the shirt and lay it flat until the paint was dry.

How do you like it? My son was proud that he had a hand in its creation, and I think he looked perfect for the part of a 4th of July Festival goer!

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day.

And now for our weekly linky party! I am linking up this freezer paper post, and my fireworks painting post. Enjoy!

Patriotic Ice Cube Painting and Kids Co-op Linky Party

Yesterday my son and I made a trip to the Dollar Store and found star shaped ice cube trays for, of course, only A BUCK! What a score!

When we came home, I filled each star with red, white, or blue tempera paint, and stuck a dibble stick in each. Then I placed the tray carefully in the freezer.

Today we pulled the iced paint cubes out of the freezer, and took them out of the tray.

We (both!) had fun playing around with them , moving them around on a piece of paper and watching the marks that they left as they warmed up. Of course as time passed the iced paint melted more readily and more distinct marks were made.

Because I didn't dilute the paint with water (which I usually do when I freeze paint) I found the texture was creamy and moved smoothly on the paper.

This is a fun activity that I think children of all ages would enjoy!

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Thanks for coming by and checking this out. Remember to "like" me on my Facebook Page if you want to stay informed of more kid craft ideas I post or find around the blogosphere! Have a wonderful day! 

Now for our weekly link-up! This week Mama's Little Muse is linking up our Glittery Fireworks Craft post, our Seahorse post, as well as our Patriotic Ice Cube Painting Post.