Summer Science Fun

I try to avoid watching the news as much as possible, as it seems to be mostly gloom and doom and I prefer to just not know about the latest tragedy that could happen to me. But I did catch part of a briefing one day on how short America is on workers who excel in science, math and technology. We decided we should try to expose our kids to more science and math related projects and books, to hopefully spark an interest or give them some of the confidence that they'll need as they enter school. Plus it's fun. Honestly, if it wasn't fun, I probably would have just ignored the newscast.

So that brings us to our first summer science project...Ice Treasures!

I found this idea on http://lets-explore.net and I love it because it meets all of my criteria for a great project:
•Free or close to it
•Minimal prep/clean up time, maximum play time
•Can be done by more than one kid at a time
•So fun, I kind of want to do it too!
•Bonus if educational as well!!

Prep is simple and quick:
•Gather a bunch of small toys, beads, objects, etc.
•Put a couple inches of water in an ice cream pail and add some of the "treasures."
•Freeze
•Once that layer is frozen, repeat with additional layers until pail is full.

Micah was so excited to excavate his toys that he fetched the pail out of the deep freeze himself and hauled it outside. I gathered together some "tools" for them to use: hot water, scoops, funnel, tongs, salt, sugar, baking soda, and pepper. I wanted a variety of materials, including some I knew wouldn't work so they could make predictions and see which ones were the most effective.

Before they could start, I showed them each of the tools and had them raise their hands if they thought it would melt the ice. As they proceeded, they started to form their own predictions and test them out. Micah was making amazing connections like, "If we put the ice in the bowl of hot water, the ice will melt and the hot water will turn cold from the ice." Genius!

Best of all, it was a really fun way to spend a warm summer evening, and it kept them entertained for a long time! You know it's a great activity when they immediately ask to do it again and you agree!