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Let's bid farewell to Summer in style by creating tie-dye beach towels with the help of the color wheel, rainbow order, mixing, and pigment strength. Set up the activity in the comfort of your backyard, and don't forget to grab some gloves and plastic coverings if you aren't on grass.
This activity works best with the widely available spray tie-dye kits. They dry faster, making the application easier for even the youngest beach-goers.
Grab white beach or bath towels (the fluffier, the more color-absorbent), lots of duct tape, hot water for mixing the tie-dye, and the spray kit.
Lay your towel out on a flat surface, smoothing it out. Spell out your child’s name across the towel using the tape and moving slowly.
Make it a Learning Experience
Keep the color wheel handy as a guide. It is a great visual tool for classifying spectral wavelengths from red to violet.
Depending on the options available in the tie-dye set you’ve purchased, look at your color wheel and separate your bottles into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.
Next, put on your gloves on a covered surface or grass and mix the tie-dye with the warm water. What colors are made from primary colors? Working from the color wheel, which colors will look best near each other on the towel?
Let the Fun Begin
With those gloves on, let the spraying begin! Be glad you have on gloves! The bottles can get messy fast. If you prefer the traditional route of tie-dying, try using Twisty Droppers! Pigment strength was brought up: how do we intensify the color?
It’s perfectly fine to get spray on the tape. Once the towel is pretty dry, flip it over to spray the backside! Flip back over and allow to dry completely. Wash the towels separately twice, alone in the wash.
The Benefits
Creativity: Tie-dyeing allows children to express creativity through color and pattern choices. They can experiment with combinations and see how they turn out, encouraging them to think outside the box and develop their artistic skills.
Fine Motor Skills: This activity involves handling small objects, such as bottles and droppers, which can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Science Exploration: Tie-dyeing also teaches children about science concepts like color mixing and pigment strength. They can observe how primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colors and experiment with different dye ratios to water to create varying degrees of color intensity.
Sense of Achievement: Completing a project, such as tie-dyeing a beach towel, can give children a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. They can use their monogrammed towels as a tangible reminder of their creativity and hard work.
Bonding Experience: This activity can also be an excellent opportunity for parents and children to bond over a shared creative project, working together to create a unique and personalized item that they can enjoy using for years to come.
Voilà! Monogrammed beach towels created by your color-wheel-savvy children. Enjoy the summer!
Let's bid farewell to Summer in style by creating tie-dye beach towels with the help of the color wheel, rainbow order, mixing, and pigment strength. Set up the activity in the comfort of your backyard, and don't forget to grab some gloves and plastic coverings if you aren't on grass.
This activity works best with the widely available spray tie-dye kits. They dry faster, making the application easier for even the youngest beach-goers.
Grab white beach or bath towels (the fluffier, the more color-absorbent), lots of duct tape, hot water for mixing the tie-dye, and the spray kit.
Lay your towel out on a flat surface, smoothing it out. Spell out your child’s name across the towel using the tape and moving slowly.
Make it a Learning Experience
Keep the color wheel handy as a guide. It is a great visual tool for classifying spectral wavelengths from red to violet.
Depending on the options available in the tie-dye set you’ve purchased, look at your color wheel and separate your bottles into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.
Next, put on your gloves on a covered surface or grass and mix the tie-dye with the warm water. What colors are made from primary colors? Working from the color wheel, which colors will look best near each other on the towel?
Let the Fun Begin
With those gloves on, let the spraying begin! Be glad you have on gloves! The bottles can get messy fast. If you prefer the traditional route of tie-dying, try using Twisty Droppers! Pigment strength was brought up: how do we intensify the color?
It’s perfectly fine to get spray on the tape. Once the towel is pretty dry, flip it over to spray the backside! Flip back over and allow to dry completely. Wash the towels separately twice, alone in the wash.
The Benefits
Creativity: Tie-dyeing allows children to express creativity through color and pattern choices. They can experiment with combinations and see how they turn out, encouraging them to think outside the box and develop their artistic skills.
Fine Motor Skills: This activity involves handling small objects, such as bottles and droppers, which can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
Science Exploration: Tie-dyeing also teaches children about science concepts like color mixing and pigment strength. They can observe how primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colors and experiment with different dye ratios to water to create varying degrees of color intensity.
Sense of Achievement: Completing a project, such as tie-dyeing a beach towel, can give children a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. They can use their monogrammed towels as a tangible reminder of their creativity and hard work.
Bonding Experience: This activity can also be an excellent opportunity for parents and children to bond over a shared creative project, working together to create a unique and personalized item that they can enjoy using for years to come.
Voilà! Monogrammed beach towels created by your color-wheel-savvy children. Enjoy the summer!
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a fun and engaging way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday. These activity mats feature different Valentine's Day-themed pictures, such as hearts, flowers, and cupids. To complete the activity, students can use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mats.
This activity is a great way to teach kids about shapes, counting, sorting, reasoning, symmetry, and even fractions. Students will use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mat, which will help them understand and recognize different shapes and combine them to create a complete picture. Additionally, students will need to count the number of pattern blocks required for each image; this will help to improve their counting abilities.
The activity also includes reasoning, symmetry, and fractions. Students must use their problem-solving skills to determine which pattern blocks to use and where to place them to create the desired picture. They will also practice symmetry by matching the pattern blocks to create a symmetrical picture. And finally, with pattern blocks, students can explore fractions and how they relate to the different shapes.
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a great way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday while keeping the activity fun and festive. These simple Valentine's pattern Block Mats are an awesome math challenge for kids. Just print them out and start building; it's that easy!
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a fun and engaging way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday. These activity mats feature different Valentine's Day-themed pictures, such as hearts, flowers, and cupids. To complete the activity, students can use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mats.
This activity is a great way to teach kids about shapes, counting, sorting, reasoning, symmetry, and even fractions. Students will use pattern blocks to create the pictures on the mat, which will help them understand and recognize different shapes and combine them to create a complete picture. Additionally, students will need to count the number of pattern blocks required for each image; this will help to improve their counting abilities.
The activity also includes reasoning, symmetry, and fractions. Students must use their problem-solving skills to determine which pattern blocks to use and where to place them to create the desired picture. They will also practice symmetry by matching the pattern blocks to create a symmetrical picture. And finally, with pattern blocks, students can explore fractions and how they relate to the different shapes.
Valentine's Pattern Block Activity is a great way to incorporate math and problem-solving skills into the holiday while keeping the activity fun and festive. These simple Valentine's pattern Block Mats are an awesome math challenge for kids. Just print them out and start building; it's that easy!
Mathlink Cubes are perfect for creating fun and engaging Valentine's Day themed math activities. Additionally, Mathlink Cubes can be used to create patterns and sequences, such as making a pattern of hearts and counting the number of cubes used. These activities will help students practice their math skills in a fun and festive way.
Mathlink Cubes are great for kids for several reasons:
Hands-on learning: Mathlink Cubes are a hands-on learning tool that children can physically manipulate and explore mathematical concepts. This can help to make math more engaging and interactive for students.
Multi-use: Mathlink Cubes can be used for various mathematical concepts, including counting, addition, subtraction, measurement, geometry, and more. This makes them a versatile and valuable tool for teachers and parents to have in their toolkits.
Develops fine motor skills: Using the Mathlink Cubes requires children to use their fine motor skills, which can help to improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Concrete to abstract: Mathlink Cubes provide a concrete representation of mathematical concepts, which can help children to understand and internalize these concepts. Then the children can apply what they learned in the tangible form to more abstract problems.
Fun and engaging: Mathlink Cubes come in different colors, making math activities fun and engaging for children. The fun and colorful aspect of the cubes makes children more excited to learn and practice math.
Differentiation: Mathlink Cubes can be used to provide different levels of challenge for students, making it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and provide support for students who need it.
Overall, Mathlink Cubes are an excellent tool for kids to learn and practice math in a fun and interactive way.
Mathlink Cubes are perfect for creating fun and engaging Valentine's Day themed math activities. Additionally, Mathlink Cubes can be used to create patterns and sequences, such as making a pattern of hearts and counting the number of cubes used. These activities will help students practice their math skills in a fun and festive way.
Mathlink Cubes are great for kids for several reasons:
Hands-on learning: Mathlink Cubes are a hands-on learning tool that children can physically manipulate and explore mathematical concepts. This can help to make math more engaging and interactive for students.
Multi-use: Mathlink Cubes can be used for various mathematical concepts, including counting, addition, subtraction, measurement, geometry, and more. This makes them a versatile and valuable tool for teachers and parents to have in their toolkits.
Develops fine motor skills: Using the Mathlink Cubes requires children to use their fine motor skills, which can help to improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Concrete to abstract: Mathlink Cubes provide a concrete representation of mathematical concepts, which can help children to understand and internalize these concepts. Then the children can apply what they learned in the tangible form to more abstract problems.
Fun and engaging: Mathlink Cubes come in different colors, making math activities fun and engaging for children. The fun and colorful aspect of the cubes makes children more excited to learn and practice math.
Differentiation: Mathlink Cubes can be used to provide different levels of challenge for students, making it easy for teachers to differentiate instruction and provide support for students who need it.
Overall, Mathlink Cubes are an excellent tool for kids to learn and practice math in a fun and interactive way.
Combining sensory play and art is one of our favorite ways to get creative. This star-themed craft will appeal to kids who love water play and making beautiful masterpieces!
With an activity like this, it’s always good to be proactive and avoid too much mess. I used a large silicone craft mat but then also had a deep oven pan to color the stars in. To prepare the materials I simply added water to the small pots and tore the bleeding tissue paper into small pieces (3 of each color). It really helps to have the Jumbo Eyedroppers in the stand for easy access and minimal mess.
How the Activity Works
The first stage of the activity involves inviting your child to add the pieces of bleeding tissue paper to the small pots of water- one color in each pot. The process of scrunching up the paper, dropping it in the water, and then using the toothpicks to squish the color out of the paper, is so much sensory and fine motor fun. As we did this, we spoke lots about the different colors, using descriptive words, and asking each other questions to stimulate the conversation.
After my little one had finished coloring her water, she picked out the pieces of bleeding tissue and got a blank coffee filter star ready. To add color to the white star she simply used the matching color Jumbo Eyedropper and squirted on the colored water. She loved seeing the color being absorbed by the star and gave out the cutest little gasps as it spread.
It was great to see my preschooler naturally experimenting with color mixing. She watched as the colors slowly seeped into one another and made new colors. Again, this was good for her sensory confidence and also her vocabulary. It is so important to keep the conversation freely flowing and to ask simple prompt questions during activities like this. For example, I would say to her ‘do you know what will happen if you squirt yellow on top of the blue’? You’ll be amazed at how much additional learning can happen through activity discussions with kids.
The Jumbo Eyedroppers are perfectly designed for little hands. The large handle means that the child has to engage those all-important fine motor muscles to transfer the water in and out of the tip. It is great that a fun hands-on activity like this can lend itself to building the hand strength needed for writing further down the line!
Once all three stars had been filled with the color we left them to dry on some kitchen towel. But the play was not yet over! My daughter continued to play with the water in the pots and oven pan for a long time! She mixed all of the leftover colors together and just enjoyed the simple act of filling, emptying, and refilling the pots… over and over again! What’s your favorite way to combine sensory play and art? We’d love some more ideas to try!
Combining sensory play and art is one of our favorite ways to get creative. This star-themed craft will appeal to kids who love water play and making beautiful masterpieces!
With an activity like this, it’s always good to be proactive and avoid too much mess. I used a large silicone craft mat but then also had a deep oven pan to color the stars in. To prepare the materials I simply added water to the small pots and tore the bleeding tissue paper into small pieces (3 of each color). It really helps to have the Jumbo Eyedroppers in the stand for easy access and minimal mess.
How the Activity Works
The first stage of the activity involves inviting your child to add the pieces of bleeding tissue paper to the small pots of water- one color in each pot. The process of scrunching up the paper, dropping it in the water, and then using the toothpicks to squish the color out of the paper, is so much sensory and fine motor fun. As we did this, we spoke lots about the different colors, using descriptive words, and asking each other questions to stimulate the conversation.
After my little one had finished coloring her water, she picked out the pieces of bleeding tissue and got a blank coffee filter star ready. To add color to the white star she simply used the matching color Jumbo Eyedropper and squirted on the colored water. She loved seeing the color being absorbed by the star and gave out the cutest little gasps as it spread.
It was great to see my preschooler naturally experimenting with color mixing. She watched as the colors slowly seeped into one another and made new colors. Again, this was good for her sensory confidence and also her vocabulary. It is so important to keep the conversation freely flowing and to ask simple prompt questions during activities like this. For example, I would say to her ‘do you know what will happen if you squirt yellow on top of the blue’? You’ll be amazed at how much additional learning can happen through activity discussions with kids.
The Jumbo Eyedroppers are perfectly designed for little hands. The large handle means that the child has to engage those all-important fine motor muscles to transfer the water in and out of the tip. It is great that a fun hands-on activity like this can lend itself to building the hand strength needed for writing further down the line!
Once all three stars had been filled with the color we left them to dry on some kitchen towel. But the play was not yet over! My daughter continued to play with the water in the pots and oven pan for a long time! She mixed all of the leftover colors together and just enjoyed the simple act of filling, emptying, and refilling the pots… over and over again! What’s your favorite way to combine sensory play and art? We’d love some more ideas to try!
Whether you live in a climate where blizzards are common, or those little white flakes are rarely in your forecast, snow and all it entails is a holiday dream for all little minds.
Whether you live in a climate where blizzards are common, or those little white flakes are rarely in your forecast, snow and all it entails is a holiday dream for all little minds.
I’m sure by now you have heard about how beneficial “STEM activities” are for children, but many of you may be wondering what that means or entails. STEM activities are anything that promotes curiosity and growth in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.
Although those topics may sound pretty advanced for a preschooler or young child, there are many easy ways to incorporate a love for these concepts in the early years! Curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking are at the heart of STEM! These are traits that the youngest child can be encouraged to explore.
One fun topic that we’ve been interested in lately is coding! I would have never imagined that my three and 5-year-old would be excited about something that I thought was so complex, but boy was I wrong. Their fascination began when we started playing with various imaginative play toys to teach them coding, our favorite being Botley the Coding Robot. They were instantly intrigued by the reactions that resulted from the commands they typed in!
I loved watching their little minds click as they realized that each command change would create a different outcome. To foster their new love for this concept, I began providing additional screen-free activities to help them become better at following patterns and various steps. Here is a fun, holiday-themed coding activity you can easily create for your little one.
Coding Candy Canes!
Supplies Needed for Coding Candy Canes
Pipe cleaners, pony beads, paper, and markers. Cut each pipe cleaner into three pieces and bend them into a candy cane shape. Next, select the colors or beads that you want to use. I recommend 2-3 colors for younger children, but you could use as many as you wish for an older child. Because the activity was for both of my daughters, I chose only red and green.
Putting it together
Lastly, take your paper and draw various candy canes on it, adding colored “bead dots” with your markers in the patterns or order you want your child to mirror.
Provide your child with pipe cleaner candy canes, beads, and paper. Ask them first to sort the beads into different color piles. Then, instruct them to create candy canes that match the ones on the paper. My girls loved this activity, and we hung the finished candy canes around our playroom as festive décor.
So there you have it: an inexpensive, low-prep, and screen-free way to introduce coding to your child! I hope that you found this informative and that it sheds some light on just how fun and easy STEM activities can be.
I’m sure by now you have heard about how beneficial “STEM activities” are for children, but many of you may be wondering what that means or entails. STEM activities are anything that promotes curiosity and growth in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.
Although those topics may sound pretty advanced for a preschooler or young child, there are many easy ways to incorporate a love for these concepts in the early years! Curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking are at the heart of STEM! These are traits that the youngest child can be encouraged to explore.
One fun topic that we’ve been interested in lately is coding! I would have never imagined that my three and 5-year-old would be excited about something that I thought was so complex, but boy was I wrong. Their fascination began when we started playing with various imaginative play toys to teach them coding, our favorite being Botley the Coding Robot. They were instantly intrigued by the reactions that resulted from the commands they typed in!
I loved watching their little minds click as they realized that each command change would create a different outcome. To foster their new love for this concept, I began providing additional screen-free activities to help them become better at following patterns and various steps. Here is a fun, holiday-themed coding activity you can easily create for your little one.
Coding Candy Canes!
Supplies Needed for Coding Candy Canes
Pipe cleaners, pony beads, paper, and markers. Cut each pipe cleaner into three pieces and bend them into a candy cane shape. Next, select the colors or beads that you want to use. I recommend 2-3 colors for younger children, but you could use as many as you wish for an older child. Because the activity was for both of my daughters, I chose only red and green.
Putting it together
Lastly, take your paper and draw various candy canes on it, adding colored “bead dots” with your markers in the patterns or order you want your child to mirror.
Provide your child with pipe cleaner candy canes, beads, and paper. Ask them first to sort the beads into different color piles. Then, instruct them to create candy canes that match the ones on the paper. My girls loved this activity, and we hung the finished candy canes around our playroom as festive décor.
So there you have it: an inexpensive, low-prep, and screen-free way to introduce coding to your child! I hope that you found this informative and that it sheds some light on just how fun and easy STEM activities can be.
This time of year bursts with discovery and wonder, so why not make the most of it? Take a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy this simple chemistry experiment that features everyone’s favorite scientific ingredients: vinegar and baking soda.
Kids never tire of seeing this classic base and solid reaction. No matter the shape it takes, watching those bubbles grow will always make your little chemist erupt with excitement. Here we make little “evergreens” to demonstrate this scientific standard of chemical reactions.
Supplies to make your trees:
Baking soda
Food coloring
A splash of water
Paper plates
Vinegar
Glitter
Eyedropper or pipette
Bowl, spoon, and tray
First, pour 2 to 2 ½ cups of baking soda into the bowl. Feel free to scale these portions for the number of trees you want to make.
Next, add green food coloring and a splash of water.
Stir the mixture well. Add glitter for added sparkle. The mixture should be crumbly but should be able to pack tightly (similar to kinetic sand). The last thing you want it to be is soupy or clumpy.
Grab a white paper plate, and cut it in half.
Twist the plate into a cone shape. Tape the sides to keep the form.
Then pack the baking soda mixture into the cones. Be sure to pack it tightly—level off the top.
Make another round of snow-capped trees without food coloring. Add confetti for a special reveal.
Place all the cones on a cookie sheet and keep them in the freezer for at least six hours.
When your chemists are ready, pull your trees from the freezer. Grab a pie plate or dish with sides high enough to contain the liquid but low enough for your kids to see the reaction up close.
Pour the vinegar into a cup and add a little green food coloring. Your trees will be a bit more brilliant green if you add food coloring to the vinegar.
Carefully unwrap your trees from the paper plate cone over the pie plate, so any crumbles are caught.
Create your “forest” on the pie plate. Then using the eyedropper or pipette, drip the vinegar over the trees. The fizzing begin immediately!
The vinegar reveals the hidden snowflakes and glitter.
Once the forest is melted down, grab a spoon and stir it up. It was decided that the mess look liked soup the Grinch would like.
Repeat with other trees – the excitement level remains the same for each melting, fizzy tree! Happy holidays!
This time of year bursts with discovery and wonder, so why not make the most of it? Take a break from the hustle and bustle to enjoy this simple chemistry experiment that features everyone’s favorite scientific ingredients: vinegar and baking soda.
Kids never tire of seeing this classic base and solid reaction. No matter the shape it takes, watching those bubbles grow will always make your little chemist erupt with excitement. Here we make little “evergreens” to demonstrate this scientific standard of chemical reactions.
Supplies to make your trees:
Baking soda
Food coloring
A splash of water
Paper plates
Vinegar
Glitter
Eyedropper or pipette
Bowl, spoon, and tray
First, pour 2 to 2 ½ cups of baking soda into the bowl. Feel free to scale these portions for the number of trees you want to make.
Next, add green food coloring and a splash of water.
Stir the mixture well. Add glitter for added sparkle. The mixture should be crumbly but should be able to pack tightly (similar to kinetic sand). The last thing you want it to be is soupy or clumpy.
Grab a white paper plate, and cut it in half.
Twist the plate into a cone shape. Tape the sides to keep the form.
Then pack the baking soda mixture into the cones. Be sure to pack it tightly—level off the top.
Make another round of snow-capped trees without food coloring. Add confetti for a special reveal.
Place all the cones on a cookie sheet and keep them in the freezer for at least six hours.
When your chemists are ready, pull your trees from the freezer. Grab a pie plate or dish with sides high enough to contain the liquid but low enough for your kids to see the reaction up close.
Pour the vinegar into a cup and add a little green food coloring. Your trees will be a bit more brilliant green if you add food coloring to the vinegar.
Carefully unwrap your trees from the paper plate cone over the pie plate, so any crumbles are caught.
Create your “forest” on the pie plate. Then using the eyedropper or pipette, drip the vinegar over the trees. The fizzing begin immediately!
The vinegar reveals the hidden snowflakes and glitter.
Once the forest is melted down, grab a spoon and stir it up. It was decided that the mess look liked soup the Grinch would like.
Repeat with other trees – the excitement level remains the same for each melting, fizzy tree! Happy holidays!
The shelves are bursting with candy corn confections this time of year. The mellocreme pumpkin is a treat made of honey and sugar, simply ripe with scientific possibilities. Grab your little goblins for this ghoulish experiment: dissolve candy pumpkins in different liquids. Stand back to watch the magic! This is an experiment of testing hypotheses. What does your little scientist think will happen in each liquid? Will the pumpkins float? Sink? Dissolve? Stay intact? What happens if you add a little heat? Let’s find out!
Supplies:
Candy corn pumpkins
Clear glasses
Water, warm and cold
Vinegar
Vegetable oil
Milk
Microwave
Timer
1. Label your clear glasses for each liquid. Fill your glasses about half full. 2. Drop in each pumpkin. Observe for any immediate reaction. Grab your timer and begin to measure your observations in five-minute increments.
3. 5 Minutes: There was lots of bubbling in the warm water and little difference to the other liquids.
4. 10 Minutes: The cold water and vinegar liquids began to turn orange as the sugar “skin” of the pumpkin began to shed, but not much change for the pumpkin in milk.
5. 15 minutes: The cold water, warm water, and vinegar pumpkins all began to shed their “skin,” providing a spooky element to the experiment!
6. 30 Minutes: At last! The theory that the pumpkins might float comes true as the pumpkin’s sugar skin lifts it to the top of the glass. This might provide giggles, as your experiment now looks a little haunted. Who invited the ghost?
8. To add a little interest, put the oil pumpkin in the microwave for 20 seconds. You’ll find it will bubble and then wholly flatten out.
9. Have an adult fish the flattened pumpkin out. You will find it is very pliable and is almost plastic-like in consistency. Your little scientists might be taken aback that this is, in fact, something we can eat!
Findings
The milk broke down the sugary pumpkin over time by dissolving it. The warm water made the reaction slightly faster, but the two water temperatures and the vinegar broke down the candy first, creating sugar “ghosts” from the outer coating. And while the oil had little effect on the pumpkin when resting in the liquid, adding the heat made the natural reaction occur. It was decided that time was the fundamental factor in this experiment: the more time the pumpkins sat in the liquids, the more chances to observe!
The shelves are bursting with candy corn confections this time of year. The mellocreme pumpkin is a treat made of honey and sugar, simply ripe with scientific possibilities. Grab your little goblins for this ghoulish experiment: dissolve candy pumpkins in different liquids. Stand back to watch the magic! This is an experiment of testing hypotheses. What does your little scientist think will happen in each liquid? Will the pumpkins float? Sink? Dissolve? Stay intact? What happens if you add a little heat? Let’s find out!
Supplies:
Candy corn pumpkins
Clear glasses
Water, warm and cold
Vinegar
Vegetable oil
Milk
Microwave
Timer
1. Label your clear glasses for each liquid. Fill your glasses about half full. 2. Drop in each pumpkin. Observe for any immediate reaction. Grab your timer and begin to measure your observations in five-minute increments.
3. 5 Minutes: There was lots of bubbling in the warm water and little difference to the other liquids.
4. 10 Minutes: The cold water and vinegar liquids began to turn orange as the sugar “skin” of the pumpkin began to shed, but not much change for the pumpkin in milk.
5. 15 minutes: The cold water, warm water, and vinegar pumpkins all began to shed their “skin,” providing a spooky element to the experiment!
6. 30 Minutes: At last! The theory that the pumpkins might float comes true as the pumpkin’s sugar skin lifts it to the top of the glass. This might provide giggles, as your experiment now looks a little haunted. Who invited the ghost?
8. To add a little interest, put the oil pumpkin in the microwave for 20 seconds. You’ll find it will bubble and then wholly flatten out.
9. Have an adult fish the flattened pumpkin out. You will find it is very pliable and is almost plastic-like in consistency. Your little scientists might be taken aback that this is, in fact, something we can eat!
Findings
The milk broke down the sugary pumpkin over time by dissolving it. The warm water made the reaction slightly faster, but the two water temperatures and the vinegar broke down the candy first, creating sugar “ghosts” from the outer coating. And while the oil had little effect on the pumpkin when resting in the liquid, adding the heat made the natural reaction occur. It was decided that time was the fundamental factor in this experiment: the more time the pumpkins sat in the liquids, the more chances to observe!
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