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| Tenderheart's oobleck looks like Bartholomew's! |
We love Dr. Seuss around here! Since his birthday is Friday, we are celebrating all of his funtastic stories and reading a children's biography of him this week. We will end our celebration on Friday with some other homeschool friends and some very Seussical foods! (Followed immediately after by a celebration for Smiley, since her birthday is Thursday!) Today, we read the first two chapters of his biography. It has 10 chapters...perfect for 2 a day for a school week! We also read two of his books today,
If I Ran the Zoo and
Bartholomew and the Oobleck. We, of course, had a discussion about magic words and how they don't really exist, (except "Please", as Little Man was quick to remind me), and how only God can make things fall from the sky. We then proceeded to go outside and make oobleck. It is a glorious day here! Shorts and t-shirts in late February! The kids have made oobleck before, but they do not remember. Genius that I am, I thought it would be a good rainy day, cooped up in the house activity a couple of years ago. WRONG!!! It created such mess that I have not ventured to make it again since, until now! It was something I enjoyed immensely as a kid, and so, weather being what it is, we took our oobleck outside. The Bru Crew is loving it too! What is oobleck, you ask? Well, I can't really say what Bartholomew's oobleck was, but ours is a simple mixture of cornstarch, water (that's what's in the orange soda bottle) and food coloring. Mixed to the right consistency, it will resist pressure and be a solid when a force acts upon it, and turn back into liquid as soon as the force is released. What is the right consistency? I don't measure the ingredients, sorry! I just put some cornstarch in a bowl, add water and stir. Then we add more water or cornstarch based on how it stirs. If it's barely a liquid even as we swirl, it needs more water. If it doesn't clump when we stir, it needs more cornstarch. You can probably google how to make it, and find someone's site with measurements. It is quite fun to roll it into a ball, then let the ball sit in your hand and run through your fingers back into the bowl. The Bru Crew struggled to mix in their food coloring. How do you stir something that turns solid and breaks into chunks every time you stir it? Well, they figured out that if you swirl the bowl, there is no force acting upon the oobleck and it remains liquid. It takes a while to get the colors mixed in that way, but it works. Ms. Quality Time is most perplexed! "How does it do that?" she wants to know. You can tell by her expression in the pictures that she's trying to figure it out. :) I spent half-an-hour working with them and it, and then I came in to post and take care of household responsibilities. They are still at it, and having a blast!
We love Dr. Seuss around here! Since his birthday is Friday, we are celebrating all of his funtastic stories and reading a children's biography of him this week. We will end our celebration on Friday with some other homeschool friends and some very Seussical foods! (Followed immediately after by a celebration for Smiley, since her birthday is Thursday!) Today, we read the first two chapters of his biography. It has 10 chapters...perfect for 2 a day for a school week! We also read two of his books today, If I Ran the Zoo and Bartholomew and the Oobleck. We, of course, had a discussion about magic words and how they don't really exist, (except "Please", as Little Man was quick to remind me), and how only God can make things fall from the sky. We then proceeded to go outside and make oobleck. It is a glorious day here! Shorts and t-shirts in late February! The kids have made oobleck before, but they do not remember. Genius that I am, I thought it would be a good rainy day, cooped up in the house activity a couple of years ago. WRONG!!! It created such mess that I have not ventured to make it again since, until now! It was something I enjoyed immensely as a kid, and so, weather being what it is, we took our oobleck outside. The Bru Crew is loving it too! What is oobleck, you ask? Well, I can't really say what Bartholomew's oobleck was, but ours is a simple mixture of cornstarch, water (that's what's in the orange soda bottle) and food coloring. Mixed to the right consistency, it will resist pressure and be a solid when a force acts upon it, and turn back into liquid as soon as the force is released. What is the right consistency? I don't measure the ingredients, sorry! I just put some cornstarch in a bowl, add water and stir. Then we add more water or cornstarch based on how it stirs. If it's barely a liquid even as we swirl, it needs more water. If it doesn't clump when we stir, it needs more cornstarch. You can probably google how to make it, and find someone's site with measurements. It is quite fun to roll it into a ball, then let the ball sit in your hand and run through your fingers back into the bowl. The Bru Crew struggled to mix in their food coloring. How do you stir something that turns solid and breaks into chunks every time you stir it? Well, they figured out that if you swirl the bowl, there is no force acting upon the oobleck and it remains liquid. It takes a while to get the colors mixed in that way, but it works. Ms. Quality Time is most perplexed! "How does it do that?" she wants to know. You can tell by her expression in the pictures that she's trying to figure it out. :) I spent half-an-hour working with them and it, and then I came in to post and take care of household responsibilities. They are still at it, and having a blast!
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