Ob Christmas Cute

Today's entry in "Cute Things My Kids Do."

Yesterday, Paidhi Boy got this from my mom. He got several other things (nearly all from Steve Spangler Science--any of you folks with little ones ought to ask for their catalog, IMO), but that one was his favorite. Six large plastic test tubes in a rack, each one with a different little thingy inside--energy beads (they turn colors in sunlight, but they're white under artificial light), a little alligator that grows when you soak it in water, etc. In the car on the way home, he clutched his test tube rack to his chest. When we got home, he soaked the alligator and looked at another thing or two, and I promised him that in the morning after breakfast we would put plastic down on the table and he could "do science" all morning. He was in some anxiety lest the cats should bother his science in the night, and I told him the alligator could soak out of their reach in the kitchen while he slept.

So off he goes to bed. And I walk by the table and see his test tube rack, with a sign taped on to a box behind them. "Paidhi Boy's Lab--KEEP OUT" it said.

Well, I thought it was cute.

Ob Christmas Cute

Today's entry in "Cute Things My Kids Do."

Yesterday, Paidhi Boy got this from my mom. He got several other things (nearly all from Steve Spangler Science--any of you folks with little ones ought to ask for their catalog, IMO), but that one was his favorite. Six large plastic test tubes in a rack, each one with a different little thingy inside--energy beads (they turn colors in sunlight, but they're white under artificial light), a little alligator that grows when you soak it in water, etc. In the car on the way home, he clutched his test tube rack to his chest. When we got home, he soaked the alligator and looked at another thing or two, and I promised him that in the morning after breakfast we would put plastic down on the table and he could "do science" all morning. He was in some anxiety lest the cats should bother his science in the night, and I told him the alligator could soak out of their reach in the kitchen while he slept.

So off he goes to bed. And I walk by the table and see his test tube rack, with a sign taped on to a box behind them. "Paidhi Boy's Lab--KEEP OUT" it said.

Well, I thought it was cute.

More Xmas Science!

Yes, we have been doing science all morning!

( cut in the name of good taste )

Quoth the booklet in the Yucky Science kit:

The real name for Clear Snot Goo is sodium alginate--commonly used to thicken foods such as ice cream and fruit-filled snacks. The Snot Activator Powder is a chemical called calcium chloride. This chemical is commonly used as an ingredient in some foods, especially pickles, to give a salty taste while not increasing the food's sodium content. The calcium ion in the calcium chloride solution actually cross-links the long chains of sodium alginate molecules together to form the clear snot.

Paidhi Girl is perfecting palming it, fake sneezing, and then...voila!

We also have a petri dish of gelatin that's been inocculated with whatever was on my cell phone, and a huge jug of superabsorbent polymer crystals, which were maybe a tablespoon in the bag but now fill a half gallon jug with no sign of stopping. Oh, and a bowl of Instant Snow (yet more superabsorbent polymer) that will probably take weeks to dry out so we can put it back in its tube...

More Xmas Science!

Yes, we have been doing science all morning!

( cut in the name of good taste )

Quoth the booklet in the Yucky Science kit:

The real name for Clear Snot Goo is sodium alginate--commonly used to thicken foods such as ice cream and fruit-filled snacks. The Snot Activator Powder is a chemical called calcium chloride. This chemical is commonly used as an ingredient in some foods, especially pickles, to give a salty taste while not increasing the food's sodium content. The calcium ion in the calcium chloride solution actually cross-links the long chains of sodium alginate molecules together to form the clear snot.

Paidhi Girl is perfecting palming it, fake sneezing, and then...voila!

We also have a petri dish of gelatin that's been inocculated with whatever was on my cell phone, and a huge jug of superabsorbent polymer crystals, which were maybe a tablespoon in the bag but now fill a half gallon jug with no sign of stopping. Oh, and a bowl of Instant Snow (yet more superabsorbent polymer) that will probably take weeks to dry out so we can put it back in its tube...