Theory Thursday: Rain in a Jar

Some experiments are fun to do. Some are even more fun once the planned experiment is over.

This one falls into the second category.

I first saw pictures of this experiment on Pinterest (though the picture didn't lead to a link to credit) and knew that I'd have to do it with the kids. Then, last week they were asking me how it rains. When Thursday rolled around again . . . and it was raining outside. . . I knew exactly what to do.

Make it rain inside too!

All you need is a jar of water, shaving cream, food coloring + water, and something to squirt (eye dropper, syringe, pipette, etc.)

Spray the shaving cream in the jar to resemble clouds.

Get some of the colored water.

And squirt it on the shaving cream clouds.

You could also drip food coloring straight from the bottle directly on the cream, but
1) I didn't trust my kids with the food coloring, and
2) This way they got to play more without using too much coloring.


Once the "clouds" are filled with water . . .
 

It starts to rain!

Continue having fun filling your clouds and making them pour rain.

Try adding other colors to really make it storm!

This visual was a good way to explain the process of rain. The kids thought it was really cool and had fun.

But wait. There's more!

After our downpour, we dumped the colored foamy water into a bowl.

And added more shaving cream, of course.

And spoons.

And paper towels.

And made a mess.

Or two.

Or too many to count.

They squished and stirred. Smashed and squeezed. Splashed and sploshed. 

They played and experimented for nearly an hour.

Zac's favorite part was smacking his hands together and splattering the kitchen with bits of shaving cream. I had speckles on the walls, on the chairs, in between the window blinds, and covering the children.

I finally called it quits when they got too rowdy and tipped the bowl, spilling the concoction on the floor for the third time.

I placed the bowl in the sink and sent the kids to prepare for bed. As I was cleaning up the mess on the table, I noticed Zac.

The little stinker carried the step stool to the sink and continued with his experiment. I think he may have been having a good time.


Sure, making it rain in the jar was fun.

But  experimenting and creating by following their own imaginations was even more exciting.

And messy.

But mostly exciting.

Wordless Wednesday: 10/19/11

Their First Tigers Game!

The company that I work for, Blue Star Inc., has season tickets to the Detroit Tigers. Usually the bosses use the tickets for customers or for their own families, but every so often they offer the tickets to an employee. This was the case this past Tuesday. I got back from one of my runs and I was asked why I wasn't taking my wife and kids to the Tiger's game. My reply was simple, "I don't have tickets." The response was just as simple, "You do if you want them." So I was given four tickets to the Tigers vs. Blue Jays game. The seats aren't bad either; just to the outside of first base on the end of the ninth row. A couple years ago they gave me tickets to Tigers vs. Rays and we sat right behind third base. That time we invited another couple from the church to go with us, this time we took Jake and Alyssa.

If you don't live in the Detroit area you wouldn't know that it's been doing a lot of raining here lately. But the rain has usually been in the morning and clearing later in the day. The game was to start at 7:05 so I figured all would be well, just a little chilly due to the overcast skies. So we grabbed a couple blankets and three umbrellas just in case.

I waited a couple of hours after work to ask the kids if they wanted to go. When I finally did ask they both got really excited. Then Jake asked, "Do we get to play?" When we told him no he was heart broken and said he wanted to go to Grandma's house with Zac. We managed to convince him that he was gonna have fun. We did make the mistake of telling him that he could take his ball glove and might catch a ball. He was then determined that he was coming home with a ball from the park.

We dropped Zac off at Grandma's and headed for the D. When we got half way there it started pouring. I was convinced it would just pass over. And that is why I drive a truck and don't guess the weather. Only the pouring of the rain passed, it continued a heavy drizzle but we did it anyway. We parked at Ford Field and walked to Comerica Park where the Tigers play. Jake had his umbrella, Erika had her umbrella, and I had mine; along with the cooler and Alyssa. The not so short walk to the ballpark took even longer in the rain.

Once we got in the park we immediately had to stop to try and get what we were carrying situated. This we did in the rain, why? I'm not sure but we survived and the kids enjoyed it. Jake more than Alyssa I think. She had a little more trouble keeping the umbrella up.

As we worked our way around to our seats we stopped a couple of times to rest and watched a few of the side games going on. The first stop was right behind where the television cameras were. There was a gap in the fence that Jake seemed to enjoy looking out at the field.

This was in case you didn't notice the rain and were wondering why the game hadn't started yet.

At one point I asked Jake if he was having fun yet. He slowly began to nod his head then stopped and very definitively said, "Well, no." But when we asked him as we were leaving he had definitely had fun. The two of them had a blast umbrella-sword fighting and wrestling with each other. All while trying to avoid hitting anyone else who was sheltering from the rain. We ended up hanging out for about an hour after the supposed start time. We decided that they probably were not going to play so we headed back to Grandma's. Shortly after we left they called the game and rescheduled. So we will be headed back to Comerica Park on June 27 to try again to take the kids for their first Tigers game. But even without any pitches thrown or bats swung we had fun this time.

Make It Monday: Thunderstorms

April showers bring may flowers. We made the flowers last week and the rain this week. (Ok, so maybe we're a little dyslexic.)

We used a shower pouf to make clouds.

Finger prints make perfect little rain drops.

Jake insisted they add yellow lightening bolts. What a storm!

Painting with the pouf was so much fun! It was addicting dab-dab-dabbing it on the paper. And of course, finger painting is always a good time. Once they were done painting their storms, they moved on to the newspaper. Alyssa attacked the paper with the pouf and made swirls with her finger. Jake took the experimental route and spent time mixing the paint to make new colors. 

We started with the paint in juice caps and a coffee can top. (It's a good way to re-use things you already have. Plus, you don't have to spend time washing them afterward. Just toss them in the garbage and save on water too!)  Eventually, we squirted the paint right on the newspaper for them to spread around.

You really need to try painting with a pouf! They clean well and are tons of fun. Use your imagination and make sure to come back and share your creations with us!