How To Make Glass Disappear

April 17, 2018January 1, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Last summer, my daughters and I enjoyed some programs at our local library as part of the library’s summer reading program.

At one science program we attended, a large clear glass aquarium was set on a table in the front of the room. The aquarium appeared to be filled only with a yellowish color liquid, which we later found out was vegetable oil. I was surprised when the presenter and a volunteer wearing gloves pulled numerous glass beakers, test tubes, and jars from the aquarium.

Apparently, Pyrex glass appears practically invisible inside other glass containers filled with vegetable oil. I had to try this at home!

My daughters and I gathered our vegetable oil and glass Pyrex bowls.

One of my daughters added the vegetable oil to the larger bowl.

Then, my other daughter filled oil in the smaller bowl. I can see why the presenter and his assistant were wearing gloves when they did this experiment!

Once filled, she placed it in the larger bowl.

After experimenting with the bowl facing up, we decided to flip the little bowl upside down and place it back into the large bowl. The top part of the bowl is visible where there is no vegetable oil, but the bottom part is not as easy to see.

It looks as though the little bowl has disappeared on the bottom of the large bowl. Just like magic!

Maybe your little one would like to be a “magician” like the girl in the book Jobs of a Preschooler and try to make things disappear with this simple experiment!

What can (s)he make disappear?

You can check out these posts for more science fun.

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler

Use Pipe Cleaners as Stamps

February 14, 2018February 14, 2018 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

I have been having fun finding crafts and activities for parents and teachers to do along with my book Jobs of a Preschooler. As I find projects, I add them to my Pinterest Board (link to my Pinterest board) entitled Jobs of a Preschooler, which I wrote about here.

Recently, I have been seeing pictures of people folding pipe cleaners into a variety of shapes to use as stamps. My daughters decided to do a similar project and turned some piple cleaners into hearts. Perfect for a Valentine’s Day theme!

Here are their colorful heart shaped stamps made from pipe cleaners:

Using their handmade stamps, they had fun painting their own little creations. Here is one project:

Here is the other:

Such a simple and fun art project to do with the kiddos. Just make sure to keep the pipe cleaners away from any kitties! My cat loves pipe cleaners for some reason, and he was eager to play with one of the painted pipe cleaners that accidentally fell on the floor. Needless to say, I had a little bit of paint to clean off his paws and the floor!

Happy painting! What are some other fun-shaped stamps you can create using pipe cleaners?

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler

Be a Builder by Building a Bridge

February 7, 2018January 1, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Be a builder by building a bridge…try to say that ten times fast!

In the book Jobs of a Preschooler, the little girl has a job as a builder on one of the pages.

Your little ones can also become builders by building a bridge.

Recently, I told my daughters to build a bridge with whatever supplies they could find in our craft supplies. The bridges had to fit across two stools that I set 8 inches a part and had to hold 150 pennies without breaking.

One daughter found a paper towel roll, which she cut open. Then, she taped craft sticks on the sides of the paper towel roll hoping they would make her bridge stronger. Once the edges of her “bridge” were taped to the stools, she began loading it with pennies. Here is the bridge with 150 pennies- it survived!

My other daughter decided to tape numerous craft sticks together like a large raft. It didn’t look as sturdy as the paper towel roll bridge, but it also succeeded. Here it is with 150 pennies still intact.

This project can be done with various distances, supplies, and weights. Although both of my daughters built rather flat bridges, they could be made with various sides and supports.

For more building ideas, check out a guest post I had on Hands On As We Grow entitled 25 Ways to Build Towers Without Blocks.

Happy building!

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler

Be a Scientist With an A-maze-ing Potato

January 30, 2018January 1, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

Your child may have fun being a scientist like the girl in the book Jobs of a Preschooler with a potato maze experiment.

To make the maze, follow the steps below.

Gather the needed supplies: potato with an eye, shoebox with a lid, cardboard, scissors, a knife, and tape.
Cut a large circular hole in one side corner of the shoebox. (I found the knife worked best for this.)
Tape two pieces of cardboard (cut to fit) inside of the shoebox on opposite sides to create a maze.
Set the potato with the eye in the shoebox on the side away from the cut hole.
Close the lid and put the shoebox in a spot where the sun can shine through the hole. (You want light to only come in where the hole is.) Have your child hypothesize what will happen.
After a few days, see if there have been any changes to the potato.

As you can see above, the eye of the potato sprouted and started to make its way through the maze to the hole on the opposite end of the box. It should continue to make its way through the maze as it grows towards the light. This is a fun experiment to show how plants grow towards light.

For another similar science experiment to show how plants grow towards the light, you may want to check out the shoe-box maze as seen on Plants for Kids with step-by-step photo instructions.

Here are more simple science experiments you may want to try with your little ones.

Crafts and Projects · Jobs of a Preschooler · Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles · Writing Appearances

Celebrate National Penguin Awareness Day

January 16, 2018March 14, 2019 Brigitte BrulzLeave a comment

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I may make a small commission at no extra charge to you if you make a purchase after clicking on a link. Thank you!)

There are many national days, which can be fun to celebrate. Last year, I had a lot of fun celebrating National Pickle Day with my book Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. You can read all about my fun Pickle Day celebration by clicking here if interested.

Did you know January 20th is National Penguin Awareness Day? A few years ago, my daughters and I had a lot of fun celebrating penguins. I hung up black and white streamers, we watched a penguin movie, read penguin books, and did a bunch of other crafts and activities. This year, I wrote a post for Hands On As We Grow about numerous activities you can do with the little ones in your life to celebrate penguins. You can find those activities on Hands On As We Grow here if you would like.

What are some interesting celebrations you have celebrated with your little ones?

My daughters and I decided to be little chefs like the girl in Jobs of a Preschooler by creating our own little snack to celebrate National Penguin Awareness Day.

Using cream cheese, black olives, carrots, and round crackers, we created little penguin treats. I found this idea on Fantastic Fun and Learning. Here are the finished penguin snacks that my daughters created:

They were almost too cute to eat. They received thumbs up reviews just like in Jobs of a Preschooler when the little girl was a taste tester.

What are some fun snacks you have enjoyed making with your little ones?

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