Projects and A Double Field Trip Day

We have been having so much fun with science activities these past weeks.  We've been including a small hands on project/ experiment every day and it's been really neat.  They've all been really simple, so they only take a few minutes each day, or else we've extended them over multiple days.  The kids really look forward to this time!

 

We did a density activity one day.  In this cup are syrup, green water, and oil. 

After the syrup, water, oil demonstration, we created some new liquids and made guesses about their densities.  The pink is sugar water, the yellow is apple juice, and the blue is water.

We tested their densities by putting strawberries and orange slices inside.  The strawberries floated in all three, but you can see that the orange slices did not! 

Then we attempted to layer the liquids starting with the heaviest.  Unfortunately it didn't work; they mixed as we poured.  The kids have been talking about density ever since, so I'd say the experiment was a success!

We've had a 'naked egg' experiment going on for the last week and a half, but I'm waiting to post about it until it's finished.  So stay tuned!

Another day we had a double field trip.  Annie is an incredibly heavy sleeper.  Despite the noise everyone else was making, I had to wake her up so we could go on our field trips.

The first field trip that day was to some botanical gardens.  We had a scavenger hunt through the gardens.

Abby had a nap in the stroller while we were there.  She's such an easy going baby.

Annie and Logan used a map to help them on their search through the gardens.

Alex wouldn't let me take a picture of him, so I snuck one.

They had a really neat kids' area at the gardens, so we stayed to let the kids play for a while after walking around.  There is also an arboretum there, so we're excited to go back and see more.

Our second field trip that day was to a tractor show at Jim's office.  He met us outside for his lunch break.  We did the same thing for a car show back in July, and have come to a conclusion.  John Deere chooses the HOTTEST days for their car and tractor shows.  We melted again, but it was neat to see the tractors and visit Jim at work.

Alex LOVED the little tractor toys.  He kept telling us that he wanted to ride the 'wittle tractors, NOT the big ones'. 

Alex really liked all of the tractors.  He got so excited when he saw this one because, "That one has training wheels!"  Then he wouldn't let me take his picture with it.

 

See the training wheels?  :)

 

Something else we've done is learned how to use an abacus.  It's pretty interesting the ways you can use it to help in math.  I took this picture because I found it amusing that we chose that for our Friday night family activity the day we got it.  Aren't we exciting on a Friday night? 

We've also been making a lot of cards lately.  I showed the kids how to make pop up cards one day, and they've been wanting to do it frequently since.  So they work on them during our read out loud time.  I took a picture of their first round of cards.

Last, we've been using the library to our full advantage.  Our first big round of library books lasted us quite a while, so we didn't need to go again until last week.  Then we stayed for three hours and brought home way more books than I'd planned on.  Come to think of it, that ALWAYS happens; maybe I just need to plan on more.  Abby was a champ.  She napped a little when we arrived, and then cheerfully sat on my lap for a long time.  When she got tired she ate and went right to sleep without a single whimper.  She is an amazing baby.