Simple Straw Noisemakers

These are so unbelievably easy to make and with few supplies. We found this idea here from ScienceBob.com.  I didn't even think my daughter would think this was that great,  but it turned out to be a hit.  One never knows with kids, so with my experience I would say to just try things even if you think it won't have success. These straw noisemakers are something you'll want to bring outside.

Supplies Needed:

plastic soda straws

scissors

First flatten out one end of the straw on the edge of the table.  On the same end cut the straw to a point (as shown below). Experiment with different cuts and lengths!

Then flatten it a little more and then blow on the pointed end of the straw. Blow closer to the end where the point is for best results. ScienceBob.com describes it as a duck call noise that it makes. You may need bigger lungs, so an adult may be able to do it easier. 

Try cutting the straw into different sizes for different sounds. Experiment! The science behind this is that the the two ends cut at points vibrate very fast to create a sound.

Making and Playing With Slime

I cannot believe we never tried this until now.....so worth the wait though. Find out how we created this slimey Fun. The pictures speak for themselves.

To create stretchy and oozing slime all you need is:

Slime

(2 Recipes for Slime found here in my last post)

a strainer, colander, sieve, or anything with holes in it (we used a tennis racket!)

Basically all you do to create this AWESOME experiment is to place the slime on top of the item with holes and let it slowly ooze out.  You could hang a strainer up high or we placed a tennis racket on top of two kid stools on either side. Then let the slime do its trick.  I walked away for a minute or two and my daughter came yelling, "Come quick.....NOW!" This was ultimate excitement!

Looks like a brain.

SO Slimy and FUN.....

Hope you try this....do not wait as long as we did!

Patriotic Coffee Filters

Happy 4th of July! This is a simple project to go along with the Summer holidays. They can either become a garland or become stand alone festive paintings. We got the idea from katydidandkid.com here.

All you Need:

White Coffee Filters

Tempera Paint 

Paint Brushes

String/yarn
glue
newspaper

Paint your coffee filters. Make sure to lay down newspaper because the coffee filters bleed through. Let them dry.

Then either keep them as is,  maybe create patriotic flowers, or string them up into a bunting or garland!  All we did was fold them in half and glue them on to string.

Happy 4th of July!

Making Two Kinds of Slime

As I said in my last post, we've been reminiscing about old projects, experiments, and recipes in my blog books from Blog2print. This time my daughter wanted to make slime again after seeing the post here.  Not only did we make that kind of slime, but we also made a different kind of slime too. Keep reading to find out the 2 types of slime we made.

Recipe #1 Slime:

Mix in one bowl:
3/4 cup warm water
1 cup white glue
few drops of food coloring

Mix in a second bowl:
1 1/3 cups warm water
4 teaspoons Borax
(Borax is found in the laundry section.  ****Borax should not be ingested and can cause skin reactions with some... so use your discretion!)

Pour contents of first bowl into second bowl and let sit for one minute without stirring. Then explore Slime #1!


Recipe #2 Slime:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white glue
1/4 cup liquid starch
few drops of food coloring

Pour all glue in mixing bowl and then add water.  Stir water and glue together.  Add food color.  Then lastly add starch. Then have fun with Slime #2.


Making the two kinds of Slime was fun in itself and this time my daughter could actually read the recipe, so making it a great reading activity and science experiment too.

We compared and contrasted the two kinds of Slime as we were playing with them:  Slime #1 was
more rubbery and Slime #2 was smoother and more squooshy.

Then very soon after, both slimes were mixed together....which ended all comparisons. (But it did prove that yellow-green and blue make green!)  Plastic bugs made a great companion for the slime play.

C covered the bugs with slime, tore it into tiny pieces, stretched it, and pressed bugs into it to make impressions. Slime makes for such creative and FUN play with endless possibilities.

Hope you are inspired to try out both recipes for Slime. 

 Do you know any other recipes for Slime?