science experiments – Page 2 – Our Beautifully Messy House

Snow Candles

February 17, 2015January 12, 2016 Porter Leave a comment

Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to try making candles in the snow and today was the day!!! Such a cool experiment! I just love how they turned out! The sides of the SNOW CANDLES have this beautiful texture created by the crystals of snow. Just like snowflakes, each snow candle is unique!

This is definitely a craft that should be done with adult supervision, though it is a fun one for kids of all ages.

Materials needed:

snow
paraffin wax
crayons
candle wicks
med/large pot for water
tin can or candle pouring pot
stick

First, decide what color you want your candles to be. Pick out 5 or 6 crayons all similar in color. L chose purples for our candles. Using a knife, cut a slit down the side of the crayon papers and peel the paper off.

Fill your pot with water about an inch high. Next place your pouring pot or tin can in the water creating a double boiler. (If using a tin can, make sure it is clean and the paper has been removed.) Place 3 blocks of paraffin wax and your crayons into the pouring pot or can. Bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat down to med-low so it’s at a simmer. ***Never melt wax directly on the stove top without the double boiler! The high heat may cause a fire!***

Watch as the crayons and wax melt completely. Turn the stovetop off as you go outside to prepare your candle molds.

Outside you’ll need about a foot of snow. If the snow isn’t deep enough, you can use your hands to pile it up and lightly pack it down. Using a stick or a spoon handle, dig a little hole in the snow. We made ours about 4 inches deep and 1 to 2 inches wide.

Back inside, turn the stove back on for a couple minutes to heat up the wax again. Gather your candle wicks. When you’re ready, carefully remove the pouring pot or tin can (using an oven mitt) and quickly go outside to pour the wax into your molds. After a couple minutes, insert the wicks into your candles and hold in place until the wax hardens a bit…about 4-5 minutes.

Leave your candles in the snow for an hour to harden completely. As the wax hardens, the candles take on their funky shape and texture. So cool!

Once they have hardened, carefully dig the candles out of the snow with your hands. Inside, use a knife to shave off some of the bottom of the candles if needed, so they will sit flat. Using scissors, trim the wicks to 1/2 inch high.

Arrange on a dish or in a large bowl, add some decorative “fairy stones” if you like and enjoy!!! Beautiful!!!

DIY Planetarium for Kids

January 21, 2015September 27, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Have your kids ever daydreamed about going to the moon? To Mars or the Milky Way? By making a PLANETARIUM FOR KIDS you can take them to outer space without even leaving your house!

Last week L and I turned our dining room into a PLANETARIUM complete with the all the planets of our solar system, constellations, “telescopes,” MOON DOUGH!, Glow-in-the-Dark Glitter Bottles, Sprinkle Star Sugar Cookies and more! Once you get going on this project the possibilities are endless…your kids will be entertained, playing and learning for days on end!

First, start by making the planets in our solar system. Find a good picture of the solar system, in a book or online, and talk about the planets. Depending on the age of your kids, you can keep the research brief or stretch it out, talking about the facts and properties of each planet. (I included Pluto when teaching L about our solar system…it was always my favorite planet and last I heard, it was back in the solar system!) Next, cut out circles of construction paper to resemble the sun and each planet. Have your lil one color them!

Tape your planets to the underside of a table! Depending on what your child is interested in, feel free to add the moon (made out of tin foil), some constellations…anything you all think is important and fun! Having a good time learning about outer space is the most important part here, so if your lil one wants stars all over in random places, go with it! Why not!? Among our randomly placed stars we included the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia.

Hang some foil stars from the sides of your table for a lil extra pizzaz as well. This was WB’s favorite part!

Throw a blanket and some pillows under the table, grab a flashlight and get ready to star gaze! “It’s a real campout!” L exclaimed.

Having a flashlight is a must! You can put some SENSORY BAGS (click here) over the flashlight to change colors.

Make some sparkle bottles as well! The GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLES (DIY here) were a lot of fun with this activity! How many stars can you count? Can you see any constellations in the bottle?

Make a “TELESCOPE” too!

Materials needed:

paper towel tube (or paper rolled up)
clear plastic (sandwich bag works well)
star stickers
rubber bands

Cut the plastic sandwich bag into a small square. Stick some star stickers on top. Place the plastic over the cardboard tube and secure it with two small rubber bands. Looking out the window or at a light with the “telescope,” your child will see stars! Maybe even a constellation!

You can also do the reverse…punch some holes out of construction paper (best if they are in the form of a constellation), and shine the flashlight through! The stars will appear upon the wall!

Getting hungry? Make some SPRINKLE STAR SUGAR COOKIES (recipe here) with your kids! It’s a quick and easy sugar cookie recipe and perhaps you’ll find more constellations as you snack!

Another fun mess to make as you’re exploring outer space is MOON DOUGH! (recipe here) One of our favorites…the silky powder can be molded into shapes and forms and only includes 2 ingredients!

Have fun with this one!!! What else will you all come up with as you venture out, past our atmosphere???

Moon Dough!

January 19, 2015September 26, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

There are lots of recipes out there for MOON DOUGH or, as some like to call it, “cloud dough.” This recipe is one of our favorites! It’s one of the easiest things to make, consisting of only 2 ingredients, and, if stored properly, it will practically keep forever! The consistency of MOON DOUGH is amazing…similar to sand it holds its shape when molded, though at the same time it easily crumbles back into its silky powder form. I have to warn you, it does make a mess…but a glorious, entertain-the-kids-for-an-hour mess! Just put a blanket down on your kitchen floor first or, when the weather is nice, take MOON DOUGH outside!

Ingredients:

1 cup baby oil
4 cups flour

Simply put the baby oil and the flour into a large bowl or plastic container. Using a whisk, spoon or your hands, mix the ingredients together. Easy peasy!!!

Fun tools for the kids to play with are spoons, forks, small measuring cups or bowls, a muffin tin, sand castle molds, plastic jewels, straws…

L enjoys building castles, searching for “treasures,” making pretend cakes, and pretending her lil fairies and dinosaurs are walking on the moon. So much fun!!!

To store MOON DOUGH just put it in an air-tight container…any plastic container with a lid should work just fine…and keep it in a cool, dry place. Enjoy!!!

Sensory Bottles, Sparkle Bottles, Glow-in-the-Dark Bottles, and an Ocean in a Bottle

January 18, 2015September 26, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

We love SENSORY BOTTLES at Our Beautifully Messy House and have been experimenting with them for years! There are so many things to do with sensory bottles and sparkle bottles…some people use them as “time-out bottles” to help calm down their toddlers when they’re having a meltdown. We like to play with our SPARKLE BOTTLES outside in the summertime, pulling them around in wagons, burying them in dirt…and inside in the play areas of our house. (Okay, I admit…that’s every room of our house!) We take SENSORY BOTTLES with us on long car rides for simple, quiet entertainment. The kids love to bounce them around in the bathtub as well! The GLOW IN THE DARK BOTTLE is great for helping kids wind down at night and drift off to sleep. So much fun and so many possibilities!!!

I find the best, smoothest and cheapest bottles to use (esp. if you don’t drink soda regularly and have a collection already) are the soda water bottles. Just look in the water or beverage aisle of your grocery store, seeking out the cheapest option…usually only $2-$3 for a pack of 6. Instead of dumping the soda water down the drain, entertain your kids with the fun “Raisins + Soda Water Experiment” while you’re mixing up the SENSORY BOTTLES.

SPARKLE BOTTLES

Materials needed:

empty plastic bottle
Elmer’s glitter glue
glitter, sequins, and/or beads
water
superglue

First, put a small pot of water on to boil. When you add the water to the bottle you will want it to be hot, but not boiling. I like to bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool.

Meanwhile, add the Elmer’s glitter glue to the empty bottle…enough to fill the bottom inch or so of the bottle. Next, add some glitter, sequins and/or beads.

When the water is ready, carefully pour it into the bottle as well. I like to use a measuring cup or a funnel to make this step easier. Once the bottle is filled, use superglue to secure the lid. Now it’s time to shake, shake, shake!!! Shake the bottle for a few minutes, until all the glue melts into the hot water. You shouldn’t see any globs or streaks of glue once the bottle is complete. While the bottle is warm, the glitter and sequins will fall very quickly to the bottom. Once it cools down completely over the next hour or two, the glitter will fall much slower. So relaxing… I’d like to put myself in “time-out” with one of these bottles, wouldn’t you?

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLES

Materials needed:

empty plastic bottle
Elmer’s glitter glue
glitter paint
glow-in-the-dark paint
glitter, sequins, and/or beads
glow-in-the-dark stars
water
superglue

Meanwhile, add the Elmer’s glitter glue to the empty bottle…enough to fill the bottom inch or so of the bottle. Next, add a squirt of glitter paint and a squirt of glow-in-the-dark paint. Add some glitter, sequins and/or beads.

When the water is ready, carefully pour it into the bottle as well. I like to use a measuring cup or a funnel to make this step easier. Once the bottle is filled, screw the lid on tightly, but don’t superglue it yet. Now it’s time to shake, shake, shake!!! Shake the bottle for a few minutes, until all the glue melts into the hot water. You shouldn’t see any globs or streaks of glue once the bottle is complete. The bottle will be a milky color compared to the SPARKLE BOTTLES because of the glow-in-the-dark paints. Once the bottle is shaken and cooled a bit, add the glow-in-the-dark stars and superglue the lid in place. I guarantee your little one will be excited to go to bed tonight with a GLOW-IN-THE-DARK BOTTLE in hand!!!

OCEAN IN A BOTTLE

Materials needed:

empty plastic bottle
oil (vegetable oil or baby oil)
water
food coloring
superglue

First, fill the bottle about 1/3 of the way full with water. Add a few drops of food coloring and screw the lid on tight. Shake the bottle a bit until the food coloring is evenly dispersed throughout the water. Next, fill the bottle the rest of the way with oil…using a funnel is best. Superglue the lid onto the bottle. Complete!

Have fun swishing the bottle from side to side or shaking it all up, just to watch the bubbles of oil pop while the water settles at the bottom and the oil at the top. This is a great time to talk to your kids about the density of liquids as well! It may be a bit over their heads if they’re really young, but you’ll be surprised at what they will comprehend and remember! Basically, the water weighs more (has a higher density) thank the oil and will sink below it in the bottle, no matter how much you shake your OCEAN IN A BOTTLE and attempt to mix the two together. So cool!!!

Giant Ice Marbles

January 9, 2015December 3, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

How cool are these GIANT ICE MARBLES!? I’d seen pictures of something similar before, but never a “how-to” on making them. Figuring it couldn’t be too hard to do, we gave it a try! There is definitely a list of things not to do we quickly found out. Haha! Hopefully I can help you avoid such mistakes! These GIANT ICE MARBLES are just beautiful in the snow!

Materials needed:

regular sized balloons
food coloring
warm water
below freezing temps

First, put 5-10 drops of food coloring in a balloon. Next, fill with warm water and tie off with a knot. Do not try putting food coloring in last…your hands may become dyed blue for a day or two if you do. Make sure to use warm water instead of cold…it helps the coloring spread evenly around the entire balloon. If you fill the balloon to only mid-capacity it will help make the marble round as a ball. Before tying the knot, very carefully let any air residing just above the water line out of the balloon…simply do this by loosening your grip on the mouth of the balloon until a bit of water starts to leak out.

Now, it’s time to put the balloon outside. Placing the balloon partially on its side (like the balloon pictured on the far right) and in snow is best…helps it keep a nice round shape rather than flattening out.

Leave the water-filled balloon outside in below freezing temps for 36 to 48 hours. Even if the temperature is in the single digits, one night is not enough for the entire balloon to freeze. As you can see with this one, the water in the center will flow right out.

Finally, after the water is completely frozen, cut and remove the balloon from your GIANT ICE MARBLE. Beautiful!!!

DIY Peppermint Play Dough

December 17, 2014January 12, 2016 Porter Leave a comment

While you escape to the bathtub to enjoy your Candy Cane Sugar Scrub you need something to occupy the kids, right? So, here’s my recipe for PEPPERMINT PLAY DOUGH!

This play dough takes only a few minutes to make, but stored in a gallon-sized bag or an air-tight container, it’ll keep for nearly a year! Whenever L has friends or cousins over I love whipping up a batch of play dough…it keeps them happy and busy for at least an hour and I can split the dough in half and send the other kid home with some. This recipe makes plenty for 2 or 3 kids to play with!

A tip to keep your kids entertained playing with play dough for longer: Start off with plain play dough. Let them play 15 or 20 minutes, then throw some glitter into the mix. Once their attention starts to drift, add some colorful beads or buttons. Add some measuring cups and kitchen utensils, some lil plastic dinosaurs or army men. Just don’t give them everything at once, instead add to the play dough in intervals…works every time!

Ingredients:

2 cups + 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 cups boiling water
food coloring
1/2 – 1 tsp peppermint oil

First, put the water on to boil. Add about 10 drops of red food coloring to the water. As the water is heating up, mix 2 cups of flour, salt and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl. Then add and mix the vegetable oil into the flour mixture. Once the water is boiling, add it to the bowl and mix with a spatula. The dough will be a sticky mess while warm. Mix it as best you can, then let it cool off. After a few minutes cooling off, sprinkle your working surface with some of the remaining flour. Dump the play dough onto the flour, adding more flour to the top, and knead the dough. Continue working with the dough, adding a bit of flour as needed, til the dough is not sticky anymore and you’ve reached the desired consistency. Once the play dough is made, fold in the peppermint oil to make a fun smelling PEPPERMINT PLAY DOUGH! Enjoy!

DIY Soap Crayons

December 9, 2014October 22, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

Here’s another fun craft for your kids to help make and to play with…L had a ball with her DIY SOAP CRAYONS! They’re a little different than the bath crayons you’ll find at the store…these ones wash off the bath and shower walls easily with water. L likes to color with these ones in the shower before I turn the water on, then she makes a nice soapy, colorful mess once the water is on. They’re fun for coloring on your skin too…just add warm water and it washes right off!

Materials needed:

bar of white soap
cheese grater
food coloring
2 to 4 tablespoons hot water
fork and spoon
ice cube tray, muffin tin, paper cups or candy mold

First, grate the bar of soap into a large bowl. Grate the entire bar, making about 2 cups of soap shavings.

Add 2-4 tablespoons of hot tap water to the soap and mix-mash with a fork or spoon. Continue mixing until the soap has formed a semi-liquid consistency without any big lumps.

Spoon the soap into your molds. Add about 5 drops of food coloring to each one and mix carefully with a spoon. We found that a baby spoon worked great for this step!

Once your soap crayons are all mixed and colorful, carefully push the soap down evenly into the molds. Set them aside to dry for a full week.

After a week has passed and the crayons have hardened, carefully turn the molds over and pop the crayons out. If their underside is still a little soft, let them finish drying for a few more hours.

(We saved all the little colorful crumbs too…added to a bubble bath or some shaving cream, they will make a beautiful rainbow mess!)

Now for the fun part…time to color and play with your own homemade soap crayons!!! Enjoy!!!

Water Lens

October 22, 2014September 28, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

I don’t know a kid (or an adult) who doesn’t love playing with a magnifying glass. They’re just mesmerizing! The “water lens” experiment is such a fun activity that allows kids to not only play with a magnifying glass, but it shows kids how to make one too. So much discovering going on here!

Materials needed:

a plastic bucket (we used a large coffee container)
marker
knife and/or scissors
clear, plastic material (a dry-cleaners bag is best, but plastic wrap would work too!)
large rubber band
water
small objects

First, draw three large circles on your bucket or plastic container. They need to be big enough to get one’s hand in-and-out easily. Our coffee container had a funky handle part, so we just drew and cut a rectangle shape around it. Modify your circles however you need to to make it work!

Using your knife and/or scissors, cut the circles out. Try making smooth edges so no little hands get cut going in-and-out.

Next, lay the plastic material loosely over the bucket and secure it with the large rubber band. If you don’t have a rubber band big enough, you could always cut and tie a couple together to make it work.

Since water is involved, it’s best to do this activity outside, in the bath tub or in a water-safe area. We put a beach towel down on our kitchen floor and put our water lens inside a baking pan to catch any splashes…worked great!

Pour warm water onto the plastic material…as much as will fit without spilling over. And now your water lens is ready for play!

Have your kids take turns holding various objects underneath the “magnifying glass.” They can experiment by moving their hands up and down, and by adjusting the amount of water in the lens. So simple to make, but so much fun!

Make sure the water you use is warm…if you use cold water the lens will fog up quickly! We made that mistake for you! Ha!

L had a ball with this one today! Tomorrow morning we plan to venture outside and collect more flowers, sticks, snail shells, leaves, etc. to examine up close with our homemade magnifying glass! Where will this discovering activity take you? Enjoy!!!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Color Fun

September 16, 2014September 29, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

This is by far our favorite science experiment these days at Our Beautifully Messy House. It’s incredibly simple and quick to put together and L loves it! Whenever she has a friend over and there’s a lull in the action, I usually pull this one out to keep the hooligans entertained.

Materials needed:

food coloring
baking soda
vinegar
medium-sized container
cup
medicine dropper

First, put some drops of food coloring around the bottom of the container. Remember that the colors will eventually mix, so place the colors accordingly.

Next, pour some baking soda over the little, food-coloring puddles until the colors are completely hidden.

Now, pour some vinegar into a small cup. This is a great place to stop and talk a little bit about the science behind this fun and fizzy experiment. Even though L is only 2 years old, we still talk about how it’s an acid-base reaction that causes the fizzing. She loves tasting the baking soda and talking about how it’s salty versus the vinegar that smells and tastes sour. (Bottom picture is after tasting the salty baking soda.)

Now for the fun part! Using the medicine dropper, squirt vinegar onto the baking soda mounds and watch the concoction fizz while the colors appear and mix together. It should continue fizzing as long as baking soda is visible and your child continues to squirt vinegar into the container.

Not only is this experiment easy to put together, but clean-up is a cinch too! Just dump the mixture down the drain and toss the cup and container into the dishwasher. The vinegar-baking soda concoction will help clean your sink too…an added bonus! I hope your kids love this one as much as mine do! Enjoy!

Sunshine Experiment

July 23, 2014September 29, 2015 Porter Leave a comment

We call this one the “sunshine experiment”…it’s an oldie, but a goodie. It’s a great experiment to help kids learn about the harmful effects of the sun and why it’s important to always wear sunscreen. L is only 2 years old and was surprised at the outcome, but didn’t understand it 100%. I imagine a 4-year-old would get it and even a 10-year-old would have fun with the experiment!

Materials needed:

construction paper
old cardstock or thin cardboard (just look in the recycling bin!)
scissors
a handful of rocks
a sunny day

First, have your child dig through the recycling bin to find some pieces of thin cardboard or card stock. (We love any reuse-recycle activity!)

Next, cut out some big and basic shapes. We went with a night sky theme and an under-the-sea theme.

Take the cardboard cutouts and a couple pieces of construction paper outside. In a sunny spot, arrange the cutouts on the paper.

To ensure that they don’t blow away, put a few small rocks on top. Coins would work too! And now you have to wait and wait and wait…go for a walk, a swim, eat some lunch…wait a few hours.