Simple Anti-Gravity Water Experiment for Kids

This post is part of a #sponsored blog tour on behalf of GenZ Read Together. I received complimentary access to the online stories and compensation for sharing my experience with you. All ideas and opinions expressed are my own. Your experience may differ. 

The Oldest Diva (7 years old) has recently discovered a love of non-fiction. She has also taken to "looking things up" whenever she has a question or sees something that sparks her interest. She is like a sponge, ready to "soak up" information and knowledge. It's wonderful. 

I enjoy encouraging her pursuit of knowledge so when I was asked to be a Blog Ambassador for GenZ Read Together - an online website that creates non-fiction stories for children in K thru 12 grade, I jumped at the opportunity. 

We read quite a few of the short stories online before selecting one of our favorites - Anita and Arabella in Space - to share with you. 

Anita and Arabella in Space
Did you know spiders have been sent to space? I had no idea until we read this non-fiction story. They were first sent to space to see if they would be able to spin webs without gravity. It took months of preparation and hard work but the scientists got the spiders out into space. After a few days and some failed attempts Anita and Arabella spun their webs successfully in space. 

After reading the story we discussed gravity and how it keeps us firmly planted on the ground. Inspired by the story we decided to conduct a simple anti-gravity experiment with water. 

What You Need:
cardboard
glass
water

What to Do:
Fill your glass to the top with water.

Place a piece of cardboard over the top and hold firmly.



Flip your glass over, holding the cardboard firmly in place. Then, let go of cardboard! 

Note: We did this over our kitchen sink to catch any water flow "just in case". I would advise doing it in a place you don't mind getting wet. When working with kids you always have to be prepared for the worst, right? 

 

The Lil Divas were amazed that the water did not flow out!  

Here's a video of a similar experiment from Steve Spangler using a handkerchief for a greater "wow" factor. 

Reading about Anita and Arabella sparked the Oldest Divas interest in learning about what other animals have been to space. She was captivated by this NASA video of monkeys, chimps and mice in space. 

We found a few books on the subject that were really interesting:

Space Dogs: Pioneers of Space Travel - This book is about the training of the  early space dogs, their experiences on those early flights and their unfortunate tragic accidents.

First In Space - This graphic novel is about Ham, a chimpanzee the Americans trained for the first sub orbital flight.

About GenZ

GenZ Online was created by academic experts and educators to provide children with short factual text in an electronic format. As children read the non-fiction stories with their parents and complete the simple questions they earn Zoints towards prizes. It's such an easy way for parents to encourage literacy at home.

Want to know more? You can Try GenZ for FREE right now! 

If you love it as much as we do and want to subscribe you can get 20 stories for $3.99 using the Special Promo Code - SUM20.  You can also enter to win one (1) of three (3) 20 story subscriptions to GenZ in our giveaway below.

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This is a Blog Tour!

Monday, July 29           The Lost Atocha Treasure (PragmaticMom)

Tuesday, July 30          The Invention of Velcro (Artchoo!)

Wednesday, July 31      Christian the Pet Lion Returns to the Wild 

                                  (No Twiddle Twaddle)

Thursday, August 1      The Deadliest Diamond (KC Edventures With Kids)

Friday, August 2           Anita and Arabella in Space 
                                  (Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas)

Good Luck & Happy Reading!

Bern

Exploring Spring Weather with Kids

We have been having fun exploring some elements of springtime weather in preschool - wind, rain, rainbows, clouds and more. It's such an engaging and timely topic and the children have been very attentive and excited about our activities.

I started the week by telling the children that we were going to observe and chart the weather all week. It turned out to be the perfect weather watching week. We had a windy, rainy, sunny, cloudy and partially cloudy day. I could not have planned it better had I been able to manipulate the weather myself.  To chart the weather I made a large chart with the 5 school days of the week. I printed off some images for the different types of weather (I just googled clip art).  Each day, after observing the weather during our morning outdoor playground time, we added a picture on the correct day that the children thought best described the weather.


While learning about rain we did a simple and fun exploration that the children really enjoyed to simulate what happens to a cloud when it rains.

Exploring Rain Clouds

I filled a clear plastic container with water and topped it with shaving cream (our cloud). I provided the children with blue watercolor paint and pipettes. 

The children dropped the blue watercolor onto the shaving cream and observed what occurred. After a few drops the watercolor dropped through the shaving cream cloud, into the water and made visible blue rain.

The children were in awe. It was such an easy, hands-on and visual way to show them how it rains when clouds get overfilled with water.

Making "Magic" Rainbows

Ok, I must admit that we didn't "really" make rainbows but the kids were mesmerized by this color exploration nevertheless and spent a great deal of time on it. It's just a weather spin on the classic "Magic Milk" experiment. Many of you have probably done this many times over.

I put some milk on a clear plastic plate and then let the children add drops of food coloring directly onto the milk. They used red, green, yellow and blue food coloring. I also gave each child a toothpick and a  small cup of dish soap. The children dipped the toothpick into the cup and placed it in the middle of their plate. Then they oohed and ahhed as the "magic" happened.

The colors mixed and swirled, revealing a wonderful "magic" rainbow. It really is a visually neat experience. No two plates had the same reaction, yet they were all awesome. The children were intently watching their plate, glancing at their friends plates and so excited by the whole process.

It's wonderful how a few simple ingredients can ignite so much enthusiasm. If you haven't tried this activity - go for it! It certainly won't disappoint.

If it's not rainbow watching weather, you can always make rainbows with prisms. It's a fun learning activity for kids to try.

For some other rainbow themed activities for kids check out our Rainbow Posts and my Rainbow Pinterest Board. 

Exploring Clouds

While we were talking about clouds we explored cloud dough (8 cups flour to 1 cup baby oil). The children enjoyed the soft sensory feel of the dough but they got bored very quickly.

To make it a bit more inviting I gave them additional baby oil to mix in to the dough as they pleased. My class loves exploring concoctions so I knew this would grab their attention.

They poured and mixed to their hearts content (until I ran out of baby oil).  We ended up with a super soft dough that had a play dough like consistency.  The children, especially the girls, loved this dough. I have no measurements or recipe for reproducing this. It was completely their's and they were free to add baby oil and mix as they pleased. 

Ivory Soap Clouds

My preschoolers love microwaving Ivory Soap so I knew I wanted to reproduce this favorite activity to make "clouds".  It's pretty awesome to watch the soap go from bar form to a puffy white cloud in seconds. For more info on what to do you can visit my previous Ivory Soap Exploration. 

Easy Spring Windsocks

In order to explore wind we made windsocks and (of course) flew them. My class loved this activity. I didn't get any photos of our wind day because I forgot to take them. I will share a quick photo of the Lil Divas doing the same activity. I have to fit them in here somehow don't I? Here's our Windsock post if you want to see how we made them.

Spring Windchimes

These easy to make spring wind chimes combine art/painting with some fine motor/stringing fun for kids.  Here's how the Lil Divas made their spring windchimes. 

To explore how wind moves things we did a fun experiment using straws and various items from around our classroom.  It's an easy wind exploration children can do at home or school. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera on hand so I didn't get to snap any photos but the Lil Divas did this experiment at home last year with items from around our house -

For more spring themed activities be sure to check out our Springtime Fun Pinterest Board.

Have fun exploring spring weather with your kids!

Bern

Disclosure: Provided links are Amazon affiliate links and are provided for your convenience.

Farm Fun: Udder Painting for Kids

Last week we explored The Farm at preschool. We enjoyed many activities including making dirt paint pigs, chalk paint roosters and milk paint cows. We had lots of farm animal small world play, animal card lacing, counting and sorting of farm animal toys and animal stamping and writing.

The kids' favorite activity by far was our version of Udder Painting. It was lots of squishy, messy fun.

Here's what you need to try udder painting:
latex gloves
pin
paint
paper

You need one latex glove for each paint color you would like to use. Carefully prick a hole at the bottom of the fingertips of your glove. I used 4 fingers and left the thumb to help tie the glove together. In order to paint the children had to "milk the cow" - squeezing the paint out of the udders (glove).

I can not tell you how many giggles this activity caused. The children loved pretending to milk a cow as they painted. It was lots of sensory, squishy fun and a huge MESS!

This is not the kind of activity where you will end up with a particular finished product. It's all about the process.

We ended up with huge puddles of paint that took days to dry but it was definitely a fun and memorable experience for my preschoolers.

We also enjoyed lots of fun farm themed books over the course of our Farm Week.

Have fun udder painting!

Bern

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for the books showcased. 

Kid Art: Painting with Cotton Balls

In my preschool class I like to change things up and give the children unexpected tools to paint with. It always makes things more exciting when you hide the paintbrushes and add something new.  During our Nursery Rhymes Week we were learning Mary Had a Little Lamb so I thought it would be fun to put out clothespins and cotton balls (lamb - wool, get it?!) to paint with versus paintbrushes.

Set-up for this was minimal. Provide paint, paper, cotton balls, clothespins and smocks. Then just let the kids explore the materials.

Some of the children used the cotton balls and clothespins like a paint brush. Others used the cotton balls with their bare hands - enjoying the feel of the paint right on their fingertips.

I encouraged them to try "pinching" the cotton balls with the clothespins because it was also sneaking in some valuable fine motor practice. All that pinching is actually fabulous pre-writing practice for those little hands. Sneaky, I know!

There is no wrong or right way to use the materials. It's all about exploring. There was no end product in mind. The children just freely enjoyed the process.

Of course we ended up with some cool looking paintings which we proudly displayed but most importantly - the kids just had fun and enjoyed using the cotton balls to create art.

If you enjoyed this be sure to check out our other Painting Fun ideas and our Kids Art Pinterest board.

Have fun cotton ball painting!

Bern

Wet Chalk Tape Resist Easter Egg Painting

My preschoolers love drawing with chalk - on our chalkboard, on the pavement outside, on our classroom writing table and of course on paper. I just knew they would enjoy drawing with wet chalk. So, when I was planning some Easter activities I decided to combine two (2) things they enjoy - chalk and tape!

Wet Chalk Tape Resist Easter Egg Painting

I cut out large egg templates from card stock. Then I provided the children with the template, tape, scissors, chalk and some water. The children used the tape and scissors to make a design on their egg template.

Once they had their desired design, they began using their chalked dipped in water to paint.

I loved all the colorful eggs that the children made. Some separated colors by sections using many colors, some used 2 or 3 colors and others just happily scribbled many different colors all over the eggs. Whatever their chosen method - they all enjoyed the process and each egg was unique.

We let the eggs dry before taking the tape off because with the wet paper and tape I was worried about rips and tears. Once the eggs were dry, the tape was relatively easy to peel off. 

Lovely! Isn't it?

Have you given wet chalk painting a try?

Bern

If you enjoyed this activity be sure to check out our other Easter activities, our kid crafts and our Easter Pinterest Board for even more fun ideas and activities to try with kids.

Kids Art: Colored Glue Heart Art Valentines

My preschoolers love glue. Correction - they love squeezing out all the glue from our glue bottles. Which is why they always enjoy when I mix up our glue with liquid watercolors to make colored glue for them to paint with.

They had so much fun making

  Colored Glue Heart Art

To make our colored glue I add a few drops of Liquid Watercolor to our Elmer's white school glue and shake so that it mixes well. Then I just let the children paint and create to their hearts content.

They enjoy making designs, mixing colors, swirling and squeezing out as much glue as they possibly can. It's a great fine motor workout for those little hands!

Once the masterpiece is complete, put it somewhere safe to dry. Depending on how much glue is used it might take awhile to dry.

Once dry, the glue is shiny and has such a neat look to it. It makes for a lovely piece of art.

Happy Colored Glue Painting!

Bern