backyard experiments...

For the pièce de résistance of my homeroom mothering career I decided to do a backyard (or kitchen) scientist theme. I gathered up supplies for a handful of kitchen science experiments we've all done over the years and then put together little manuals for the kids to take home with them should they want to recreate any of the awesomeness.



You can make one of your very own by printing experiments one through four and five. I bought the sparkly blue A2 booklets for 50% off at the Paper Source store at Northpark Center, but you could just as easily cut a piece of cardstock in half and score it at one inch from the top and again at 6½ inches from the top. I wanted to use the two inch variety of this type of fastener but my local store didn't stock them so I went with what I had on hand: 3/16th brads. The labels are just Avery 8163 mailing labels.

I failed to get any pictures of the kids doing any of the experiments at the party because I was up to my elbows in goo the whole time! Luckily I had a very willing and able crew to help me re-enact all the experiments at the house this afternoon.

Goo from the "Bag of Slime" experiment:



Cauldron bubbles in action:



Bubble Snake Maker making bubble balls instead of snakes:



And last but not least, Volcano Lava:



I sent everyone home with a baggie of Borax too. One of my classroom moms offered to paint faces for the kids and that was a HUGE hit as well. We had monsters, kitties, tigers, Spidermen, zombies and butterflies running around with bags of goo. I overheard a few of the kids talking over lunch discussing how they hoped they were in Logan and H's class next year. I guess it's a safe bet that everyone had a good time!