Homeschool, Science/Math, Toys

Mind Blowing Chemistry Experiments

My sister bought Cooper and Finley the My First Mind Blowing Science Kit for Christmas. The kit has been calling to the boys for a week now: “Mix magic fizzing powders! Create a crystal sunset in a test tube. Make an underwater volcano!” We opened it Saturday and tried our first two chemistry experiments.

Unlike the primary science set we own (which I highly recommend), this one includes chemicals you may not have at home. The first experiment we did was called “Dancing Powders.” Essentially, Cooper combined baking soda (a base) and citric acid powder in water. The acid and base neutralized each other and produced fizzy carbon dioxide gas bubbles as a by-product. As you may recall from school, carbon dioxide is the gas we exhale. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale the oxygen we inhale.

If you don’t have citric acid on hand (and who does), you can still replicate this experiment at home. This same fizzing process is created when you mix baking soda with any other acid, like vinegar. In fact, baking soda and vinegar are the chemicals commonly used to create exploding volcanoes in elementary school. Just make sure to put a cookie sheet or tray under the container you are using to mix the two, as your concoction might fizz over. And never combine acids and bases in a closed container or they might actually explode.

As a side note: The Queen of Clean recommends pouring vinegar and baking soda down drains to clean them. When you are done experimenting, pour your chemicals down the drain. Two birds, one stone.

You can also replicate this experiment with Alka-Seltzer.  Remember “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is?” That “fizz, fizz” is carbon dioxide escaping as part of the chemical reaction. The Web site Fun Science Project Ideas discusses how you can control factors that might affect how quickly the Alka-Seltzer dissolves in water and stops fizzing. These factors include how much acid you use, how hot or cold the water is and how big or small the Alka-Seltzer tablet is.

Tomorrow, I’ll recount our “color changing liquids” experiment from the same kit and how you can reproduce it at home.


Handwriting Practice Place Mat

An early draft

My older son has developed some horrible handwriting habits, which I’m trying to correct. I have a few wipe-off writing practice books from the mid 1990s (published by Troll Associates), but it’s hard to get him motivated to use them except when we play the occasional game of school.

My friend Kaley, a homeschooler, had a brilliant idea: she has writing practice place mats, and her boys practice writing while she’s making their meal. Being thrifty, I figured I could make my own.

My mom is a former preschool teacher with far better handwriting than mine, so she put together the early draft (above) using white paper, colored markers and a ruler. My son can start with the basic lowercase “c” shape, then move on to “o” and “a” before using those same strokes to form ds, gs, qs and the like. We have been trying to help him remember that he always starts at “two o’clock” when forming those lowercase letters.

Once we have a design we are happy with, we’ll laminate the place mat. You could also try clear contact paper if you don’t have a laminator at home. For writing practice, we use Dixon Phano China Markers, which are waxy pencils that offer more resistance than dry-erase markers. You can find china markers at office supply stores or online.