If you’re like us, you’ve been waiting for summer to arrive for what seems like forever! We love summer and all the fun it brings, but it can be hard sometimes to think of activities to keep the children busy! So we thought we would share two of our most liked and super fun, educational summer activities that are also super easy to make! Both activities do require freezing time so a little patience is needed. Here are our two favorite fun summer science ideas:
BAKING SODA DINOSAUR EGGS:
This activity is soooo much fun for little boys and girls! The first time I did this activity was for my son’s birthday party. It was a huge hit and ever since then, it has been repeated a few times. The best part is, it is unbelievably easy!
What you will need:
For the first part of this fun summer science activity you will need:
- Baking Soda (depending on how many eggs you make and the size, you will need approximately 1 small box for 3 eggs)
- Water
- Small play dinosaurs
- Food colouring
- Bowls
- Vinegar
- Plastic wrap (optional)
For the second part of this activity you will need:
- Vinegar
- Spoons, droppers, measuring cups, etc.
- A shallow dish (optional)
How to make the Dinosaur Eggs:
- Put a little bit of baking soda into 3 separate bowls.
- Colour some water with food colouring. (Approximately 1 Tbsp.)
- Pour the water into 1 of the bowls. Mix it up. You want the consistency to be a little sticky but not too wet or runny. You want it to be easily moulded into a ball/egg shape.
- Repeat the same steps with 2 more colours into the other bowls of baking soda.
- Take a little bit of baking soda from each colour and start moulding it into a ball. Put a small dinosaur in the middle and put more baking soda on top to complete the egg shape.Wrap the “egg” tightly in the plastic wrap (if you skip the plastic wrap portion, make sure to pack it tightly.)
- Put the egg onto a pan and place it in the freezer overnight.
Now it is go time!
To implement this activity, take the egg out of the freezer and let your child unwrap it. For extra fun, you can do an egg hunt first!
Give your child a bowl with vinegar and all of the accessories that you have chosen and let them pour the vinegar onto the egg to watch it “hatch.”
Tip: You can add any little toys inside if you did not want to use dinosaurs.
ICE BLOCK EXCAVATION:
This activity is such a great one to do on hot summer days or for added fun at the splash pad.
What you need:
- Water
- Food colouring (optional)
- Little toys-you can use anything but here are some ideas! (cars, magnetic letters and numbers, dinosaurs, sea creatures, anything else you choose.)
- Bowls, containers, ice cube trays, etc.
How to do the Ice Block Excavation:
- Gather up all of your toys and fill your bowls, ice cube trays with water.Different sizes of containers will make more interesting ice blocks.
- You can add a drop or two of food colouring to some of the water.
- Add the toy items to the water. Put everything in the freezer.
And now the fun part!
Bring your ice outside and give your children some utensils or tools to excavate. Spoons work well! You can also give them spray bottles with water or turkey basters. Give them measuring cups and other fun things to add to the fun! This is a great activity for a hot summer day! Remember the thicker the ice, the longer it will take them. 😉
Both of these activities are great science experiments that will have your kids learning while they are having fun! Depending on the age of your child, you can ask your child questions about what they think will happen, ie: what they think will happen when they pour the vinegar onto the dino egg or what will happen to the water going in the freezer. This activity is a great way to show and talk about how ice freezes and melts. Most of all, enjoy having fun while they secretly learn!
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