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Half Pint Peeps

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Educational Activites for Kids

How to Make A Kid-Approved Lava Lamp In 3 Groovy Steps

August 31, 2020 by Jessica Moore Leave a Comment

Science is one of my favorite activities to teach.  This surprises me because as a child, science and I did not play nicely.  I always felt one step behind or, sadly, just bored.  For as much as there are some who don’t like the Common Core as it is applied in public education, I personally find much value in these curriculum standards as a teacher.  I feel that they set a precedence in classrooms that helps bring learning away from worksheets and into hands-on learning.  One of my favorite science experiments to conduct with my students (and theirs as well!!) is to make lava lamps.  They are really simple to make and are a great way to get kids excited about science!  Here’s how to make a lava lamp in 3 groovy steps.

How To Make A Lava Lamp

Gather Materials

Before you get started, you’ll need to gather some (simple) materials:

  • Cooking Oil (Canola or Vegetable work just the same)
  • Food Coloring (liquid, not gel)
  • An Empty Water Bottle or Glass Jar (the more unusual the shape, the better!)
  • Water (of the liquid sort)
  • Fizzing Antacid Tablets such as Alka-Seltzer (as many as you’d like to keep you entertained)
 DIY Lava Lamp, Homemade Lava Lamp, Lava Lamps for Kids, Make Your Own Lava Lamp, Crafts for Kids, Craft Projects for Kids, Popular Pin, How To Make A Lava Lamp

Learning Topics

I don’t like teaching something in my classroom just to pass time or because it “looks fun”.  We always have a learning objective.  Here are some ideas of topics you can teach your children with your lava lamp experiment:

  • Use senses to make and record observations and interpretations of data.
  • Identify properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
  • Investigate and record changes to the properties of matter.
  • Investigate and record the interactions between liquids, solids, and gases.
  • Practice measuring and calculating math with metric units (HUGE concept for 3rd graders!).
  • Conduct “next steps” experiments.  In other words, what else could you do to this experiment to possibly change the outcome?  Have children record their hypotheses and outcomes/data.  (Suggested Next Step:  Use a glow stick instead of food coloring.  Crack the glow stick, cut off the top, and empty the gel into the water bottle).
 DIY Lava Lamp, Homemade Lava Lamp, Lava Lamps for Kids, Make Your Own Lava Lamp, Crafts for Kids, Craft Projects for Kids, Popular Pin

Image

Step 1

Fill your empty bottle or jar about 1/2-2/3 of the way with the cooking oil and the rest of the way with water.  BE SURE to leave about an inch of air at the top. Image.

 DIY Lava Lamp, Homemade Lava Lamp, Lava Lamps for Kids, Make Your Own Lava Lamp, Crafts for Kids, Craft Projects for Kids, Popular Pin

Step 2

Add 10 drops of food coloring.  Warning:  May require some patience as the food coloring makes its way through the oil and water. Image.

 DIY Lava Lamp, Homemade Lava Lamp, Lava Lamps for Kids, Make Your Own Lava Lamp, Crafts for Kids, Craft Projects for Kids, Popular Pin

Step 3

Break the Alka-Seltzer tablet(s) into quarters or halves.  We like to “go big” in my classroom so we go with half a tablet at once.  Then just watch and be dazzled!  The food coloring will start “erupting” all sorts of grooviness in your bottle!  Kids have so much fun watching the the food coloring as it bubbles and moves.  As soon as the Alka-Seltzer has dissolved, you can add more or more for as long as you’d like.  Image.

 DIY Lava Lamp, Homemade Lava Lamp, Lava Lamps for Kids, Make Your Own Lava Lamp, Crafts for Kids, Craft Projects for Kids, Popular Pin

Now that you know how to make a lava lamp, it’s time to get started! For more fun ideas to do with your kiddos, check out my post on seriously cool 5 minute science projects for kids!

Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Education, Kid Stuff Tagged With: Craft Projects for Kids, Crafts for Kids, DIY Lava Lamps, Educational Activites for Kids, Kid Stuf, Kid Stuff, Lava Lamps for Kids

Indoor Scavenger Hunts For Kids

May 6, 2020 by Jessica Moore Leave a Comment

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. It really is not hard to set up an indoor scavenger hunt, and there are so many ways to do it. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started!

Fun indoor scavenger hunts for kids to make boring days inside a whole lot more fun! Indoor scavenger hunts can be fun, educational and help your kids accomplish needed tasks. #halfpintpeepsblog #indoorscavengerhuntsforkids

Indoor Scavenger Hunts For Kids

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started!

Sometimes circumstances such as bad weather or illness require that we keep the kids inside. And we all know that kids seem to get bored quickly, especially when they’re stuck inside! So having an arsenal of fun, educational and engaging things for the kids to do is important for everyone in the family. Here are some ideas for indoor scavenger hunts for the kids.

Fun Indoor Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Puzzle Scavenger Hunts

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started! They kiddos will love it!

Do your kids enjoy puzzles? It’s easy to use a puzzle they already enjoy to build a scavenger hunt. Put the puzzle together yourself, write a clue on the backside, and take it apart again. The kids have to work together on the puzzle for their first clue. Or create your own puzzle clues by cutting written clues into pieces that the kids need to put together to solve.

Dinosaur Hunt

Do your kids own sets of small plastic dinosaurs, or even bugs or army guys? Gather a collection of these items and hide them around the house with a clue to find the next one. A fun idea is to write or print the clues very small so that the kids need a magnifying glass to read them.

Educational Indoor Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started! We even have some educational ideas too!

Task-Oriented Scavenger Hunt

One way to make the kids’ daily tasks more fun is to include them in a scavenger hunt. For example, if practicing the piano is a challenge, require your child to play a certain song or practice for 10 minutes to receive a clue.

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started and keep your kiddos entertained for hours.

Spelling Scavenger Hunt

Kids who love reading love spelling scavenger hunts! Use handwritten letters or small plastic letters for this idea. Decide on words for the kids to spell, and hide the letters for the words around the house for them to find.

Face-Timing Scavenger Hunt Ideas

Indoor scavenger hunts for kids are fun, interesting activities you can do when you have bored kids but need to stay inside. Take a look at the following ideas to get you started! You can even do some of these over FaceTime!

When stuck inside, your child may feel sad about missing grandparents, teachers, or other loved ones. Get these loved ones in on the scavenger hunt fun! Prepare a hunt that requires the kids to video chat with a loved one or friend for each clue. They’ll love it!

Need more ideas for bored kids? Try making your own “I’m bored” jar full of fun activities!

Filed Under: DIY, Education, Kid Stuff, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Activities for Kids, Educational Activites for Kids, Fun Activities for Kids, indoor activities, indoor activities for kids, indoor scavenger hunts for kids, scavenger hunts

10 Books for Kids Who Hate Reading

May 1, 2017 by Jessica Moore Leave a Comment

[Read more…] about 10 Books for Kids Who Hate Reading

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11

Filed Under: Education, Kid Stuff, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: Books for Kids, Educational Activites for Kids, Fun Books for Kids, Kid Stuff

20 Teacher-Tested Science Projects for Kids

October 15, 2016 by Jessica Moore Leave a Comment

[Read more…] about 20 Teacher-Tested Science Projects for Kids

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21

Filed Under: Crafts, Education Tagged With: Educational Activites for Kids, Kid Crafts, Kid Stuff, Science Experiments for Kids, Science Projects, Science Projects for Kids

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