Fun With Science … The Jenners Way
by Jenners • 08/19/2009 • BB/The Little One, Writers Workshop • 38 Comments
This week, I chose Prompt 4: Hi, my name is ______ and I am a _______. (inspired by Emmy from Emmy Mom One Day At A Time.)
Hi, my names is Jenners and I am a super fun science camp director!
Ever since the Little One’s summer camp ended back in July, it has been him and me every day. Every single day. From 6:00 in the morning until 6:00 p.m. Play dates help, but that is still a lot of time to fill. It has been awhile since I’ve had him at home continuously for days and days in a row. To survive, I created a science camp that involved a lot of explosions, mixing, burning and goo. I came up with this idea because the Little One is always telling me he wants to be a scientist so I thought “OK. Let’s be scientists.” Here are just a few of the things we did in the past few weeks.
- Built volcanoes in plastic bottles using vinegar, baking soda, water, dishwashing liquid and food coloring. (A huge hit with the neighborhood kids, by the way. I went through two giant jugs of vinegar and two large boxes of baking soda in just a few days.)
- Made “snow” using a kit bought at Michaels. (Seriously, this was totally cool. You get this little white powder and when you add it to water, it explodes into this snow-looking stuff. I have a huge bag of it in my freezer.)
- Created slimy worms that smelled disgusting. (Kit bought at Michaels. By the way, the material used to grow these worms is used as a thickening agent in puddings and pies. ICK!)
- Grew crystals in a tank. (Kit bought at Michaels.)
- Mixed different food colorings together to see what colors you get when you mix them and then grew soft blobby crystals. (Another kit … this time from Target.)
My Little Scientist Hard At Work
Colorful Blobby Crystals
- Built wooden dinosaur skeletons and painted them. (Michaels again and it only cost $1.00!)
- Simulated how our lungs work by creating fake lungs with straws and balloons.
- Burnt a variety of items (metal, plastic, paper, scotch tape, pine cones, stones, leaves) using a candle then dunked them in water. (In retrospect, perhaps this wasn’t the greatest idea I’ve ever had as the Little One just loved it and woke up the next day and said “Mommy, let’s burn stuff.”)
- Built a solar system out of Styrofoam balls and wooden dowels. (Again, kit from Michaels.)
- Mixed a bunch of crap in a bowl. (This had no real scientific value but it ate up about 60 minutes.)
- Tested to make sure that oil, water, chocolate chips and Goldfish do not mix.
The Newest Coolatta At Dunkin Donuts- Built “molecules” out of toothpicks and gumdrops. Totally totally fun … I got into it in a way that I did not anticipate.
150 Gumdrops + 250 Toothpicks = A Big Mess and A Lot of Fun- Verified that if it pours rain for 30 minutes straight, it will flood in our backyard. (This wasn’t a planned experiment or part of our science camp. It was just a cool photo I wanted to share.)
View From Our Upstairs Window During the Flood of ’09
So what has the Little One learned from all this?
- That Michaels is a store where “scientists” shop.
- That he doesn’t like spiced gum drops.
- That it is fun to burn things … especially Scotch tape.
I’m sure he’s on his way to winning a Nobel Prize someday.
It actually sounds like you guys have been having a great summer! I always loved the magic rocks that grow in water – my son always loves the sea monkeys, lol.
You are such a good mom. This looks like a ton of fun…at least for the little one
I think we need to make a trip to Michaels!
i love these. i'm going to bookmark your page so i can come back and steal all your brilliant ideas.
OK. I give up. You do win the coolest mom award!
Wow – such fun! Can I come and live with you for a while? I love all the experiments you did!
Man, you are such a cooler Mom than me!
HOLY COW – you're the coolest mom ever
Geez?? Mom of the SUMMER award anybody!?!?! You're awesome!
Man, I now feel like the laziest mom on the planet!
So creative. I am impressed. I might have to steal some of your ideas the next time the niece and nephews are here!
Let me know when you get to the crystal radio set and the microscope…I can travel.
look at all those memories you 2 just made…you rock!
Can I please come to your house to play science camp? Please!!
Wow, you are super mom – and I think this should put you solidly back in the center of his universe! Good stuff. I may have to try some with my 6 yr old. Love the photgraphic evidence.
You took a page right out of my mom book. I was exactly the same way with my kids. We were constantly working on projects, activities, themes, and fun! I miss it so much!!!
I love your enthusiasm.
And on the 7th day, did you rest? You have been a busy little science camp director.
My favorite "mixed a bunch of crap in a bowl"
So awesome! I am going to have to go to Michael's, you have inspired me! Such great great ideas.
Wow, how cool are you! That sounds like so much fun (and so much work). I'm seriously impressed!
My daughter (she's in 8th grade) has to do a science fair project this year. Because she's in the gifted/talented program, it has to be a "high-school" level project. I'm already dreading it – isn't that awful. I'm not really into science unless it's something medical. I think this is a project for Dad to help her with. Or, maybe I could just send her over to your science camp for some inspiration;o)
I'm coming over to spend the next school vacation with you guys! You have so much fun.
My dad taught me how to make bombs with gunpowder and salts. That was a long, long time ago.
What a seriously great Mommy you are : ). Wow! I am sending Kaish and Naji over there right this second! : ) Please open the door!
Wow… you should start a Jenners Summer Science Camps franchise… I bet Michael's would sponsor it. Or at least give you some gift cards for all the free advertising.
Loved the yucky coolata. Go check out Jason Mecier's art for next week's activities. Maybe a lesson on fire extinguishers wouldn't be bad either.
Can I come to your house and play!? This looks like so much fun, what a great idea to do!!!
Oooh. Sorry, try a dash of salt and some baking soda in there, too.
Again. I have no ulterior motive. I'm just thinking off the top of my head. I'm creative like that.
Just for fun, put out the following and see what he comes up with:
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter
vanilla (as much as he wants)
a couple of eggs
about 2 and half cups of flour
a bag of chocolate chips
It's all chemistry. I've no idea what will happen but be prepared to heat your oven to 350 for about 10 minutes.
Let me know how it goes.
OMG that looks like such fun! I hope I can be into all that when my boys say the same thing…if not, I'll send them your way for camp!
Ok lady, that's it. You friggin' ROCK, hard core. This stuff looks like such a blast, and I can only imagine how much fun your little guy had. Crap, I would have had a blast doing this stuff. I giggled outloud at the comment where he woke up and wanted to burn stuff, but I nearly shed a tear when I saw the buried chocolate chips. That was sad. I hope I do cool stuff like that with Kaylee when she gets old enough to fun artistic/science stuff that doesn't involved drawing with her own poop.
Man … I am a lame mom. We just made lots of pudding and cookies. They're yummy but not very exciting. I'll try and do better next summer.
Wow! I am very, very impressed. I'm not one of those moms who is good at the hands on stuff and I'm always in awe of those who are. Great job!
I am SO impressed!! I always enjoyed doing crafts with my kids, but they had to be "neat" crafts; I never ventured into the "messy science" experiments. You are such a COOL mom
I am laughing! We spend a lot of time at Michael's too. We did the dinosaur too but no paint. And I think he's missing some vertabrae. I love the gum drop molecules! Very col. Have to try that. And I am seriously impressed at how large those goldfish swelled up. Sounds like you had a great time and now I have some ideas about how to fill the next three weeks until school starts. Oy!
How fun! Guess a trip to Michaels is in order!
busy bee!
No wonder you can't sleep. You mind is racing trying to come up with awesome science projects.
good lord, woman, did you get your hands on a bunch of amphetamines?
your back yard looks like my front yard.
Oldest child is obsessed with all things science. He even had a Mad Science birthday party! I may just have to copy a few of your ideas!
I wish I was playing scientist in your house with you guys! How cool:) I think I may steal some of your great ideas to keep my budding scientists happy too.
Wow, this is really, really cool. I got a little boy over here that would LOVE this. When can I send him?