Easy Science Project for Kids: DIY Lava Lamp

You need a funactivity that is equally impressive and inexpensive!  Yes?  This easy kid science activity is sure to make you and your kids happy!

Such simple items can be transformed into a cool activity that blends both science and art. If you have an empty water bottle, water, vegetable oil and food coloring, you can make this fascinating kid's activity! As a bonus, it also teaches kids about liquid density (and an explanation about that is included in this post!). Disney Cars coloring pages

I loved staring at my dad’s lava lamp when I was a kid.  I would anxiously wait for the lamp to heat up and stand mesmerized as the globules floated to the surface and then sank to the bottom.

Little did I know, I could create my own version and use science!

Being a former teacher, this activity gets extra points for the science element.  I’m a nerd that way. Go education! Woot! Woot! Woot!

By the way, if you are looking for more EASY activities like this, I’ve collected the most popular crafts on Whimsicle in this e-book right here! Everything from marshmallow launchers to light sabers, this is a great e-book to stash away for school breaks!  Click the magenta button below to get it.

YOU WILL NEED:
- an empty water bottle
- vegetable oil
- water
- food coloring of your choice
- Alka-seltzer tablets

Now that Phoenix temperatures are reaching 109 degrees (ick!), drinking lots of water is very important.  I made sure my daughter,  hydrated sufficiently by tasking her with emptying the water bottle we needed for this activity. ever free coloring

We also had a water fight where we sprayed each other with the garden hose before we began.  That helped a lot with the heat.

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: First, fill the empty water bottle about 2/3 full with vegetable oil.

Step 2: Fill the rest with water, leaving a little of space at the top.

Step 3: Notice that the water sinks below the vegetable oil.  Oil and water just do not mix.  The oil floats on the surface because the water is heavier (has a higher density) than oil.

Step 4: Now, add the food coloring. The food coloring will only mix with the water, not the oil.  We stirred our concoction with a chop stick to mix the food coloring well with the water.  I would not recommend shaking the mixture.  This causes a lot of little bubbles to form in the oil, which makes the effect of the lava lamp less stellar.

Now for the magic..

Step 5: When you are ready for the fun, break an Alka-seltzer tablet into four pieces.  Have your child drop in one piece at a time.

Have fun watching what happens!  The best part is that your DIY lava lamp will work over and over again.  You can even screw on the little plastic cap and break it out a few days later for fun.  All you need is more Alka-seltzer.

WHY DOES IT WORK?

When you drop in the alka seltzer, it sinks to the bottom and starts dissolving.  As it dissolves, it forms a gas which rises to the top and takes a little of the colored water with it.  The gas bubble breaks on the surface and the colored water sinks back to the bottom.

Now I get to relive the nostalgia of lava lamps and share that same joy with my two kids.  My six-year-old daughter asks me to do this activity again and again.  Some day, she will astound her teachers with her knowledge of liquid density.  That’s why people had these things in the 70’s… right?

Summer Kid's Craft Idea: Paper Plate Jellyfish

With Summer in our sights we’re turning our creative hands to some super cool under the sea themed crafting, kick starting our collection with this adorable Paper Plate Jellyfish Craft! My kids love fishy crafts and have a long list of sea creatures they would like to create, so watch this space over the next few weeks as we have a lot to do! Christmas tree coloring pages

Today’s paper plate jellyfish craft was the brainchild of Miss Cakes (3 years old) and she had some rather specific requests: The Jellyfish had to sparkle. It needed BIG eyes. And, most importantly, the dominant colour had to be green.

I love how it all came together and from an educational perspective, our Jellyfish craft encompasses lots of fine motor work with some very valuable cutting practice and lends itself to some fabulous creative play.

Sound good? Let’s check it out!

Materials:
- Paper Plate
- Washable Kid Friendly Paint
- Glitter Shaker Pots
- Ribbon
- Felt
- PVA Glue
- Scissors
- Stapler

To see all the fun Miss Cakes had creating these gorgeous Jellyfish check out our YouTube Video and Subscribe to see all our crafts in action! ever free coloring

Tutorial:

Step 1: To begin, arm the arty crafty kids with a paper plate and some paint, and take a BIG step back.

Step 2: Once they’re finished decorating their paper plates, offer a little glitter to add some seaside shimmer. If you don’t have any glitter or would prefer not to use glitter – as it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, try adding some shiny sequins and embellishments instead.

Step 3: Trim the paper plate to a ‘jellyfish’ shape and then turn the paper plate over.

Step 4: Cover the freshly cut edge with a generous amount of PVA Glue.

Step 5: Cut a number of strands of ribbon to various lengths.

Step 6: Add the ribbon to the paper plate, ensuring they’re nicely spaced out.

Step 7: Cut out a pair of white and black circles to create eyes and add them to the jellyfish.

Step 8: Finish of with a hanging hook using a small piece of ribbon and secure with a staple.

Step 9: As you can see by the video, Miss Cakes had a blast with this paper plate jellyfish craft and while she needed a little bit of help, older children will enjoy the independence of this craft.

Creative Easy Painting for Kids Using Tape

I have seen variations of this kind of project all over the internet. So, I decided to try it for myself. The kids loved it and it was super easy!

Break Down:
Total cost about: depends on what you have lying around
Total Time: Depends on each kid!

Materials:
2 piece canvas 11 x 14 in- Michaels $7 on sale
Crayola Washable Finger Paints- Walmart about $7
Frog Painters Tape- OSH $5
I happen to have all these on hand at the time so the prices might be a little off. ever free coloring

How to:

Step 1: Cut the Frog tape to width you want each letter. Then stick onto canvas in the design or letters you want.

Step 2: Then let your child go to town with the paint!

Step 3: Let it dry completly. It was 100 outside on this day, so I put it outside for about 15 mintues. Don't forget about it!!

Step 4: Carefully peel off the tape and like magic, a beautiful painting!!

You could even add glitter, sparkles or whatever you have lying around! Have fun!!

Easy Kids Craft Idea: Paper Plate Flamingo

Treat your child to some awesome craft time today with our Paper Plate Flamingo kid craft idea! Colorful, creative and “oh so cute” comes to mind when I think of this paper craft tutorial! It’s really easy, inexpensive and sure to stand up to the crowd this summer season! coloring pages for adults

So what are you waiting for? Gather those craft supplies, check out the full tutorial below and make a one-of-a-kind flamingo that will put a HUGE smile on your child’s face! Happy crafting, my friends!!!

Flamingo Supplies:
* Large Paper Plate
* Pink Craft Paint
* Paint Brush
* Scissors
* School Glue
* Stapler
* Pink Craft Feathers
* Tan/Orange Cardstock
* Black Marker
* Wiggle Eyes

Directions:

Step 1: First cut your paper plate in half. Set one piece aside and grab the other. Following the rim of the paper plate, cut out a neck/head for your flamingo. Use my picture as an example. Discard the inner paper plate pieces that aren’t part of the head/neck. ever free coloring

Step 2: Now grab your pink craft paint and paint brush. Paint your paper plate pieces completely pink. Set aside.

Step 3: Next grab your cardstock. Cut out a long nose from the tan {drawing on some black for the beak} and cut out flamingo legs from the orange.

Step 4: To finish off your Paper Plate Flamingo – staple your cardstock pieces, as well as your paper plate pieces in place. Then glue on some pink feathers on the body/head, as well as the wiggle eyes. Then add other embellishments you see fit before displaying proudly!

Fun Craft for Kids: Fish in a Bag Slime

I have a silly and fun little craft idea that is perfect for summer.  Kids love slime, at least mine do, and it is so simple and cheap to make.  Absolutely perfect for hot summer afternoons or for rainy days.  There is a new Finding Dory movie coming out June 16th and these would be so cute to make after catching that movie! fish coloring pages

I try to have a bit of quiet time on summer afternoons to get housework and blog stuff done and making the kids a bag of slime is perfect to keep them entertained.  This summer I am trying hard to come up with a lot of ideas like this for quiet time because I really want to start listening to some French language CDs for kids that I found at the library.

So when my 8 year old came home begging for a fish one day, I had an idea to create a fish in a bag for her from slime. (No chance I am getting her a real fish until she can actually pick shoes up off the floor and turn homework in on time.)

This is super, super simple to do and so fun!  I made these and set them out to photograph in the morning and the kids were begging to take them to school.  I even caught my husband giving the bags a poke when he thought I wasn’t looking.  (I am always looking darling!  Eyes in the back of my head you know.) ever free coloring

So here is how you can make your own cute slime fish in bag.  Give this a shot- the kids will love it for summer vacation.

Supplies Needed:
- Plastic fish (or mermaids or sharks or turtles)
- Liquid Starch
- Elmer’s Glue (I used blue glitter glue)
- Treat bags  (mine were plain bags but the shaped treat bags look like a fish bowl!  perfect!)
- Twine or ribbon

To make the slime you can use liquid starch or borax.  If you have borax on hand, find a recipe here for borax slime. Either way works great and actually one of my bags was with borax and one with fabric starch so you really won’t see a huge difference.  I think the fabric starch is just slightly easier to use but gives the slime a slightly stickier consistency that stretches better. The Borax seems to have a bouncier consistency. Please note Borax is a cleaning agent and should not be handled by children.

I am providing detailed directions for slime but not to worry.  This comes together really quickly and is very simple to make.

How to make slime

Add 1/4 cup of water to a bowl.  Next add one container of clear glue or glitter glue to your bowl (about 1/2 cup or basically the entire 6 oz container of glue). Stir very briskly or use a whisk.  Stirring gently won’t incorporate the water into the glue- you don’t want the water to remain separate as you can see above.  Stirring with a fork or whisk will bring both ingredients together.

If you use a clear glue or white glue you might add food coloring, watercolor paint or glitter to your mixture.  I used a blue glitter glue so I skipped this step. Stir well to get the color you want.

Now add 1/2 cup liquid starch to your mixture and again stir well to incorporate.  After stirring I like to let it sit for maybe 5-10 minutes and that allows the rest of the water to be absorbed and it also seems to harden the slime up just a bit to make it easier to handle.

Knead the slime with your hands until it feels bouncy and stretchy.  I placed the slime in my treat bag in a ball.  The slime will mold to a big blob at the bottom so I placed the fish in the slime in the front of the bag and on the top after putting the slime in the bag.  Tie with a ribbon and present your fish in a bag 🙂

So fun right?

PS:  I ordered these fish awhile back for another project and just got the ones that were cheap and looked cute.  Mine came with these creepy evil red eyes though.  I just used a Sharpie to color in the creepy evil eyes and now they are happy fish

Finger Painting Craft for Toddlers

Looking for toddler finger paint ideas? Try this fun toddler finger painting craft!

Finger painting is a great natural sensory activity for kids. You can also create a beautiful canvas masterpiece from this simple activity. I decided to create this toddler finger painting craft because I love kid made art and I wanted to create something our daughter could look at years from now! When we first started the activity, Izzy was a little unsure of the finger paint, but with exposure and practice she learned to love the messy craft. See more details below to make your own toddler masterpiece out of finger paint. fun coloring pages

TODDLER FINGER PAINTING CRAFT SUPPLIES:
- Finger Paint (homemade or store bought)
- Painter’s Tape
- Canvas  (We used a 1.5″ thick square canvas)
- Kid’s Smock

We purchased a few 12×12 canvases in bulk at a craft store last year. I love buying canvases and coming up with new craft ideas for our house. We had a few leftover so I thought why not let our daughter make her own canvas masterpiece.

I used painter’s tape and made the letter E along with a simple heart. Make sure all the edges are sealed to the canvas. I taped a garbage bag to our kitchen table to help control the mess, it also made clean up quick. ever free coloring

Then let your toddler get to work. I helped our daughter with some of the painting since she was new to the paint and not sure how to spread it across the canvas. You can also give your child a paint brush to create a brushed work of art.

I let the canvas dry for about 1 hour then I peeled off the painter’s tape. We were left with a beautiful creation! We have it displayed on the bookshelf in our daughter’s play area.

DOES YOU TODDLER LOVE PAINTING?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TODDLER FINGER PAINTING CRAFT?

DIY: Custom Valentine's Day Shirt for Kids

I am sure I am not the only person out there that LOVES to get their little ones outfits for whatever the holiday at the moment might be.  Most of the time I am able to buy a year ahead of time and just buy the size I think Josslyn will be.  I have done that some for Valentine’s Day but I thought it would be fun to make coordinating shirts for Josslyn and her cousin Josephine!  There is 9 years age difference between the two of them but when they are together you can tell they adore each other!  In fact I have been told many times that Josephine is glad Josslyn was a girl because she doesn’t want to help out of it’s a boy!  Haha yes, very good indeed! Ever Free coloring

Easy Custom Valentine's Day T-Shirt

Anyway back to what I was saying before, though I have some store bought goodies for Josslyn I wanted her to have a custom Valentine’s Day t-shirt.  I really can’t get over how easy it was to make!Toddler Valentine top

The process is pretty simple.

Go ahead and prewash your t-shirts while you are creating your design, this will keep the letters from puckering during future wears!  I created my design using the Silhouette software.  Once I had the look I was going for I made sure to MIRROR the words.  With the vinyl that you will be using you want to make sure that you don’t forget this step.  If you forget to mirror the words when you go to apply them to your t-shirt it won’t work.  I say this because the first time I cut the words out, I forgot to mirror them!  Whomp Whomp Whomp! Valentine's Day dot-to-dot printables

Weed away any excess vinyl around your letters.

The heart shape I chose allowed me to end up with 3 different sections of heart.  I used the outer portion for the big girls t-shirt and the inner most heart for Josslyns dress.

And that middle section?  I used it on the back of the big girls t-shirt.  How cute will that be when she pulls her hair up into a pony tail?

Once you have the proper placement follow the manufacturers recommendations on the glitter vinyl.  Place a cloth over the design and heat for 20-30 seconds pressing firmly.  Turn the shirt inside out and heat again for an additional 20-30 seconds.  Once the heating process is over the protective film comes right off and you are DONE!  It really could not be more simple than that!

It took me far longer to come up with the design than it did for me to execute the process!  I’m super excited about little bit’s new shirt dress, even if she’s more obsessed with her new hat!

Here’s what you will need for this project:
- Cricut Glitter Heat Transfer Viynl – Silver
- Solid Color T-Shirt
- Iron & Ironing Board
- Cloth
- Scissors