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!

Make an Ocean in a Bottle & Kid's Co-op Link up Party

I personally love this craft! I made this with my son about 2 years ago, and thought that we would revisit it. The materials are easy to gather, and the bottle takes minutes to put together.

 First we gathered up the materials:

• Oil (I like to keep on hand the cheapest oil I can find at the store specifically for crafts like this, or playdough, etc)
• An empty plastic bottle with cap
• Blue Watercolor (ours is from Discount School Supply), food dye would work fine too
• Glitter
• Other objects that represent the ocean (sand, shells, a shark)
• Funnel
• Liquid measuring cup (only because it is easy to pour from, we didn't use it for measuring)

First, I had my son pour water into the bottle to about the half-way mark, and then I had him put in the watercolor.

 Then I had him add the glitter.

We squeezed the rubber floaty shark in, and then poured some oil in. Next time I will remember not to use ocean creatures that float, and use instead the solid plastic ones that sink to the bottom — that way the sea creatures stay in the ocean part.

Before the oil reached the top, we put the sand and the shells in. 

We then poured oil as high up as it could go to the top and capped it, turning it as tightly as I could. Last time I think I put special glue inside the cap to make sure it stayed sealed. I didn't do that this time, as I felt secure that I screwed the top tight enough that it wouldn't come loose.

Voila! My son had fun putting it up to the light and watching the waves tumble back and forth. Such a gratifying easy craft that I highly recommend!

Things Bode learned:

• Oil and water don't mix
• Oil is actually lighter in weight than water and floats to the top.
• The watercolor mixes with the water and not with the oil, because it is water-based.

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! Now onto the Link-up Party! Have a wonderful day!

Designing a Garden from pictures; and a gardening blog hop!

One of my favorite crafts to do with preschoolers this time of year is to have them design, on paper, their own garden plots. Children from 2 years up to 6 years of age enjoy this activity. The materials used are easily accessible — just construction paper, scissors, glue and pictures of garden plants are all that are needed. It is a great way to recycle garden catalogs (I use them for my Rainbow Collage images also, see the post here).

This craft is beneficial to children in that:

• it is an opportunity to practice and develop cutting skills
• it is an opportunity to practice and develop gluing skills
• it is an opportunity to categorize plant foods and to differentiate between fruits and vegetables

In addition, if the child will be planting in their own garden plot it will help them to have a clearer vision of what they would like to plant.

I did this project one-on-one with my son at home, as this year, he has his own "real" garden plot to fill. We had fun discussing what fruits, veggies, and flowers he would like in his garden. Of course the collage is more of an exercise to get him thinking about it, and design and choices are not set in stone!

First I had my son cut out all of the pictures of plants that he would like in his garden.  He is four years old, and I found that he at times needed help stabilizing the flimsy catalog paper, as well as reminders that the thumb on the cutting hand should be above the rest of his fingers. Younger children may require hand-over-hand positioning and cutting and verbal cues (open, close, open, close) as well as help in stabilizing the paper.

I then had my son apply glue to the paper. I told him that the brown paper represents the soil in his garden bed.

He then placed the pictures where he wants them. Easy "pea"sy!
Many of the plants that he glued on the paper we did in fact plant in his garden (corn, teddy bear sunflowers, and sugar snap peas).
A few days after he completed this collage we went to the nursery, and he had many of the plants that he viewed fresh in his mind. I believe this activity helped to mentally prepare him for the next step. I will be posting soon on how planting the seeds turned out!

Have fun and happy gardening!

If you like what you have seen on this blog and you want to stay informed of future posts I would love if you "liked" Mama's Little Muse Facebook Page here.

Check out the Gardening Blog Hop down below: the co-hosts are
www.momto2poshlildivas.com
http://www.kitchencounterchronicle.com
www.theeducatorsspinonit.blogspot.com
http://www.duckduckoctopus.com
http://livingmontessorinow.com
http://www.rainydaymum.co.uk
http://readysetread2me.blogspot.com
http://playfullearners.co.uk
http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/
http://glitteringmuffins.com