Fun with accents

The subject of accents came up this weekend following an interesting discussion on world languages. The boy was interested in the idea that people could speak English in different ways (distinct pronunciations) and wanted to hear examples of this. YouTube was the ideal way to quickly explore a variety of regional accents, including Irish, Scottish, and Australian.

Since then, he can occasionally be overheard muttering phrases to himself in different accents as well as incorporating it into his play.

The British Library has an excellent resource for listening to UK-specific accents and dialects: Accents and Dialects of the UK.

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Social Studies: Characteristics of different environments

Dancing raisins

Okay, now this was just cool.

I've heard about the dancing raisins experiment many times and often wondered how well it really worked. Well, I can now heartily say, along with the boy, that it works really well!

We filled our glass containers with carbonated water, dropped a raisin in, and sat back to watch. Sure enough, the bubbles soon gathered around the raisin and carried it to the top of the water. Once there, the bubbles popped and the raisin sank back to the bottom until enough bubbles had once again clung to it to begin moving it upward again.

The kids asked great questions. "What if we put more in?" "Does it work with other things?" "What if we filled the glass with raisins?" "Will it keep doing it forever?" We discovered that it does indeed work with other things, including lentils, dried cranberries, and even beans! The beans were particularly interesting because, being smooth and heavier, it took longer for a sufficient amount of bubbles to collect on them and carry them to the top.

Who knew raisins and carbonated water could be so engaging?

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Science: Observation, description

Paper chromatography

We used coffee filters to do a basic chromatography experiment at a previous Science Club gathering, and the boy was so excited about it that he set up his own replica of the experiment at home. After colouring a picture with markers, he set it in a bowl of water and watched the ink separate as the water rose up the paper.

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Science: Observation

Grape construction

This week's Science Club adventure was a simple combination of grapes and toothpicks. The kids used them to create various shapes and objects, including pyramids, houses, tiaras, and even sea urchins!

Little brother snacks while big brother begins creating.

Making a grape-kabob fence.

His final creation!

Bonus? Instant snack time afterwards!

We will definitely repeat this activity with a more focused look at both two- and three-dimensional geometric shapes in the future.

(Thank you, Pinterest, for the inspiration!)

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Science: Observation
Mathematics: Shape and space

H_ngm_n

We went out to eat last week, a rare treat, and the boys were given magna doodles to play with while we waited for our food (thank you, child-friendly food establishment!). The boy wanted me to draw something, so I drew a pole, a few blank lines, and introduced him to the exciting game of hangman. It immediately became one of his favourite games, right up there with Uno and Lego Creationary.

Gotta love the classics!

His word was Fatburger. Don't judge. Their food is yummy.

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Language Arts: Reading, writing

Fun with magnets

One of our most fun purchases recently has been a couple sets of strong magnets. We used them to test which objects were magnetic and which weren't, to make "temporary magnets" out of other objects, and to see how long of a magnetic chain of objects we could make.

We also had a lot of fun moving magnetic objects around containers of water. We placed paperclips, coins, and other objects inside a container of water, and then used the magnet on the outside of the container to move the objects within.

Using a magnet to lift a paperclip out of a glass of water.

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Science: Observation, description

Underwater Fireworks

This was one of those projects that was the perfect combination of low prep and high engagement. The kids watched the "underwater fireworks" for a long time, and then requested that we keep the remaining mixture in the vase "just to look at" for a couple more days.

(Thank you, Pinterest, for the inspiration!)


Supplies:

Oil
Water
Food dye
Clear glass containers


Directions:

We began by pouring about a half cup of oil into a glass, then added two drops of each colour of food dye to the oil. We noted that the food dye remained in small round balls at the bottom of the glass. For comparative purposes, we did the same thing with a glass of water and observed that the food dye mixed with the water instead of staying in little balls. How interesting!

We disposed of the water mixture and turned our attention back to the glass of oil. The boy used a fork to vigorously stir the oil.

Stirring complete, we noted that the food dye was now in many many smaller balls within the oil.

The boy then poured the glass of oil and food dye into a vase of water.

In she goes!

And now we watch.

It didn't take long for the show to begin. As the little balls of food dye sunk from the oil down into the water, they "popped" into colourful underwater fireworks.

Aren't they pretty?

This one was my favourite. That reddish clump on the right looked like a little fishy swimming in our water!

When all the dye balls had sunk down into the water, we were left with a dark mixture of water on the bottom and a layer of oil on the top. We talked a bit about the why's but mostly just enjoyed the observation process. Looking forward to similar experiments in the future!

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Science: Observation, description