Theory Thursday: Dry Paper Underwater

Jake and I came back from soccer practice Thursday night and Erika had the Amazing Science DVD playing. Jake spotted this little trick and knew what he wanted to do.

All you need is a dry piece of paper, a glass, and a bucket with enough water to completely submerge the glass. Crumple the paper lightly, not too tight. (You want the paper to fit in the bottom of the glass but not fall out when you tip the glass upside down.) Simply tip the glass upside down and steadily submerge the glass in the water. You gotta keep the glass level so that none of the air is replaced with water. If it does you will have wet paper underwater.

Check out our attempt.

 

So how does it work? The air in the glass is lighter than the water. Because of this the air remains in the glass and acts as a buffer between the paper and the water keeping the paper dry.

Well, now that you know how to do it and why it does it go and try it. Try it with your friends. Just tell them, "I bet I can submerge this piece of paper in that water and it won't get wet."

 

Make It Monday: Paper Strip Pumpkins

Want to decorate your house with fall decorations that won't break the bank? Try these pumpkins that are not only super cute but frugal too!

Supplies:

cardstock                                   wood

scissors/paper cutter                string

hammer                                     tape

nail                                             pipe cleaner

 Start by cutting strips of paper out of card stock. Ours were 8.5" x .75". We used 14 strips for each pumpkin.

Using a hammer and nail, puncture a hole near each end of the strips. It was really easy using a piece of wood that already had a hole in it. (My hubby's so smart!) The kids had no trouble using a toy hammer and popping the nail right through. Of course, you could use a real hammer and punch more holes at a time, but where's the fun in that?

 Zac loved being included in the hammering. Smiles all around!

Lace the string (we used kite string) through the strips of paper and secure it with tape. To make it super easy, dab a little clear nail polish on the end to keep the string from fraying and to easily lace through. If you have a hard time, you can use the nail to feed the string through the holes.

String through the top holes. (Sorry, no picture.) Pull the string taut until the paper bows out. Tie a few knots in the top to keep it from sliding out.

Cut a piece of pipe cleaner and fold in two. Feed it through the holes to make a stem.

Fan out the strips evenly to make the pumpkin.

We made some in different sizes too. The smaller one on the right is two-toned to give it a different look. Zac even squished it a bit to change the look even more. 

Or maybe it's because toddlers are trouble and shouldn't have access to paper decorations.

To decorate a shelf, fan the strips half-way, leaving the back open.

And there you have it! Cute little pumpkins that cost a dime. To save them for next year, simply unfan and store. 

Happy Fall!

Make It Monday: Foot Painting

Have I mentioned that my kids love to paint???

Oh, I have?

Well, they really loved this activity!

I squirted some tempera paint in the colors of their choice on a large sheet of paper.

And a-painting they went!

We tried holding the edges down with rocks from Jake's collection. Tried being the operative word.

Zac was unsure about painting at first.

 Then, he was positive that he didn't like it!

Hey, Zac! Don't you want to paint??? 

"Noooo!"

The other two . . . ahem, we three (I couldn't let them have all the fun!) thoroughly enjoyed it though and painted multiple pictures.

We filled a big bucket of water to wash off. As always, the activity turned into a science experiment. Jake was choosing his colors of paint for his pictures based on which colors he wanted to use in the rinse water.

As each picture was finished, we hung it on our clothes line to dry.

The great thing about this activity (other than feeling the cool paint squish between your toes!) is that you can reuse the pictures as wrapping paper, cards, in frames, etc. 

A fun activity, a science experiment, a reusable craft, and a painted patio to boot? Sounds like a winner in my book!  

Make It Monday: Snow Flakes

I've mentioned before how much the kids like cutting paper. It must be the thrill of doing something "dangerous." Since the weather's gotten much colder recently, we decided to make snow flakes to decorate the house. They needed help cutting the circles, but did pretty well with the rest. And they certainly did a good job of making a mess!

Coloring her paper before cutting.

Cheese!

Hard at work.

Proud of his snow flake.

Helping tape them to the window.

Let it snow!

The perfectionist in me started to emerge when their flakes became more like rocks, and I wanted to "fix" them. Then I realized that they didn't need fixing. It showed me their personalities, their abilities. Their snow flakes were perfect.