Toilet Paper Run...or is it a Drop?

You may be looking at this picture thinking, "What is that? And why do those kids look so happy about it?"  I have seen this invention at many places like a children's science museum or at a family member's house. Usually the others are made out of piping  and plastic, but my friend created one of these on her fridge out of toilet paper rolls a couple of weeks ago and my son thought it was so cool that we had to do it, too. It's simple, affordable, fun and gets their puzzle brains going!

 Just some of the basic supplies that almost every mother has lying around.

 What You Need

• Toilet paper/paper towel tubes
• Crayons (optional)
• Magnets
• An object to slide down the tubes
• Paper (optional)
• Glue (optional)
• Scissors
• A light box or cup for object to land in (optional) 

*See the additional fun section below


Directions

The best part of this is that you get to make it your own. Sit your children down and decorate the paper tubes. You can have them color on a sheet of paper and then glue that on the tubes for added color.

Use the scissors to cut one or two tubes open lengthwise. It's even better if you cut about half inch of the cardboard out. The idea is to have an open tube for the rolling device to drop in.

Next, glue or tape tubes to magnets. I only had alphabet magnets, so I taped the tubes on. I will be buying the magnet strips and replacing the current magnets. The tape on the magnets made it a bit to fragile for the kids to move it around on their own.

Arrange on fridge so that one tube leads to another. Get creative with the arrangement.

We also added a empty box with an open top to the bottom of the arrangement to catch what we dropped through the tubes.

Find a round object and start testing out what you have created.

We tried a bouncy ball at first.

It was a bit too heavy and way to bouncy. I racked my brain for something else that we had that was round and light and discovered these in the pantry...

It worked perfectly and it was a nice little snack!

My friend used mini jaw breakers and my son loved that, too, of course. What kid does not like sugar? Let me know how this works for you...

Additional Fun

• Try different shaped items like M&M's or beans, etc. to see what happens
• Try different weights
• Try rearranging and exploring how far apart you can get the tubes without dropping the item

Giveaway Month

April from April Showers Blog Design is going to be having a huge giveaway month starting April 1st. What a fun idea! Check out her blog Monday - Friday for a new giveaway everyday for the entire month of April for a chance to win.

And why am I posting about this? Well, if you make a post before midnight tomorrow (3/31) you will get an automatic entry for each item. AND another reason I am mentioning this...Fun On A Dime may be one of the sponsors giving something away, so keep your eyes peeled!

Pepper Chase

This is a fun little experiment involving pepper, sugar, water and soap. It quick and easy to put together and is fascinating for all ages!

What you need:

• Pie plate or large bowl
• Water
• Bar of soap
• Pepper*
• Sugar*

*See the "What Not To Do" secion


Directions:

Fill a pie plate with water.

Shake pepper on the water.

Dip a piece of wet soap in it. Make sure everyone is watching before you dip the soap in. It happens fast...

The pepper will run away from the soap.

Next, shake some sugar in to the clear area of the water and the pepper will come back. In my opinion, this is as dramatic of a reaction when it happens.


Other Variations:

• Try it in individual size bowls. The affect is not as dramatic, but my kids had fun playing with their own water.
• Try different types of soap. Liquid soap causes quite a quick/dramatic reaction, but it is difficult to redo the experiment without changing the water first.

What Not To Do:

• I tried cutting a couple of pieces of soap from a large bar. Since it was small, it was harder for the kids to hold on to when wet and the reaction did not occur as quickly or noticeably.
• Put the sugar and pepper in smaller and separate bowls if they do not already have their own shaker. My sugar is in a large container and while I was helping my son, my daughter put her soapy hands in it and now we have soapy sugar. I learned my lesson!

Just seeing the pepper scoot away so quickly was fun for my kiddos. I hope you, too, will have some fun with this!

Rock Candy

We had some fun making this rock candy! It's quick and easy to do and I've learned it is a good lesson in patience. My kids get to watch it slowly grow and get to practice their waiting skills!

There are quite a few different ways to make this. I’ll tell you what we did and at the end I’ll mention some variations.


What You Need:

• Glass Jar (We used a 32 oz jar)
• 1 cup water
• 4 cups sugar
• Food coloring (optional)
• Saucepan*
• A stick or other variation – something that will not go into the sugar concoction
• String or popsicle stick – i.e. floss, cotton string, pipe cleaner, etc.
• Optional – paper clip and tape

 *Warning – Parent supervision needed if you use the saucepan on the stove.


Directions

Add water to the saucepan

Add 2 cups of sugar

 Sometimes I let the kids scoop it up themselves with a little 2 Tlbs scooper we have. It's mess, but they enjoy it.

Heat on the stove to dissolve the sugar, but do not boil.

Once dissolved add a few drops of food color (optional) and then add the rest of the sugar. I had my kids squeeze my finger first before they squeezed the bottle for the food coloring and they did great at adding it by themselves.

Once all the sugar is dissolved, add the liquid into the glass jar. Place string/stick into the jar and attach to the stick that you will lay across the jar. Tape in place, if necessary. I used a popsicle stick we already had and the base was wide enough that it will not fall into the jar. I tied a piece of floss to the top of the stick and tied it around the stick inside of the jar. Make sure it is long enough to go into the liquid. The instructions I saw said that crystals should appear within a few hours….it didn’t quite work out that fast and it has now been 3 days and we have a few on the sticks.

The blue jar is sugar with no flavor and the pink we tried adding a little Crystal Light instead of adding color. I do not know if it will work as well, but we shall see.

From all the different recipes I have seen, it should take anywhere between 7 and 14 days to become a good size crystal. I will update when it is finished.


If I Did It Again, I Would…

I would make the string longer. Probably about 1/2 - 2/3 the length of the jar. I would also tie a paper clip to the end of the string to weigh it down. I had to stick a butter knife in to help guide the string down.

Other Variations 

I saw the recipes vary all the way to us 2 cups water and 4 cups sugar and from using warm water from the tap in a bowl to stirring it until it was at a rolling boil, so the water must not mater as much as making sure that the sugar was dissolved. My little sister has made these multiple times and she has never put it on the stove top.

You can add various flavors.

You can use borax and pipe cleaners to make different shapes. It sounds like it goes faster, but it is not edible.

Cupcake Ice Cream Cones

These cupcake ice cream cones have been a favorite of ours for birthdays and special occasions for a couple of years now. They are easy to make and all ages seem to really enjoy them. I thought this was the normal way of making them and discovered that there was another way of making them. The other way to make cupcake ice cream cones is to put the cake batter in the cones and cook them standing up in the oven. I then was told of how they tipped over or burned and as you can imagine, it was really messy. I will admit that I found the instructions for this version on the side of a cake mix box. I tried looking for it online and could not find it. So, for your enjoyment here is how you make them:

Items Needed:

• 
  
  Favorite box cake mix
• 
  
  Ice cream cone cups
• 
  
  Cupcake baking cups
• 
  
  Cupcake pan
• 
  
  Frosting/decorations

Directions
1.  Make the cake mix as directed on the box.

2.  Place cupcake wrappers in the cupcake pan

3.  Fill each cupcake 2/3 full of cake batter. (If you have a metal cupcake tin, you can pound it lightly on a hard flat surface (i.e. table, counter, floor) to help get any air bubbles out. This will help the cupcake cook evenly and prevent the cones from tilting. If you do not pound it, it will not make a huge difference but your cones when completed may have a little more personality to them! )

4. Next, place the ice cream cone upside down on top of batter. You don’t need to press it down, just make sure it is touching the batter (see picture below).

(Sorry, this picture is actually of the cupcakes after baked. I forgot to take a picture prior, but wanted to give you the general idea of what they should look like prior to putting them in the oven.)

5.  Then bake in the oven as directed on the box for cupcakes.

(Another fun activity...watching the transformation from dough to cake!)

6.  Let the cupcakes cool

(The batter was closer to half filled with most of these cupcakes in this particular batch and so the finished product with 2/3 full will look more like the front center cupcake. Sorry for the confusion!)

7.  Once the cupcakes are cool, you can remove the wrapping and stand them up on the cone. Then frost, decorate....

....and Enjoy!

Amazing Invisible Ink

Supplies Needed

• Paper
• Lemon juice
• Paintbrush, cotton swab, cue tip, or feather
• Salt
• Crayon

Directions

Dip the paintbrush in lemon juice and write a message (or draw a picture) on the paper. While the writing is still wet, sprinkle salt over the letters. Let it dry completely.

This is after the lemon juice has dried and they are ready to color. You can kind of notice that something is on the paper, but it is more noticeable through the eyes of the camera.

Brush the salt off the paper. To reveal the message, rub a crayon across the paper.

It didn't quite show up as good as I would like, but it was fun to do. I'm still perfecting the process!

For older children: I was not brave enough to do this with my kids, yet, but for older children instead of coloring you can hold the paper up to a heat source* (flame, light bulb, iron) and the message will appear.

*Be careful not to start the paper on fire with whatever heat source you choose to use.

Cornstarch Finger Paint

I never knew cornstarch had so many uses! Here is a fun and is way to make finger paint...

Items Needed:

• Small saucepan
• Measuring spoons
• Cornstarch
• Water
• Food coloring
• Small containers or bowls
• Paper
• At least 1 pair of willing hands to spread the goo around!

Directions

Mix 1 1/2 tablespons cornstarch for each cup of water desired into a saucepan (see What Not To Do below on why you should use the saucepan). I used 2 cups water to make 5 small cups of finger paint. Mix cornstarch with water to a smooth consistency. Cook until clear adn the thickness of pudding. I cooked it on medium-high and it took about 7-10 minutes.

Before cooking began

While it is cooking. It will start to get clearer, but you want to wait until there is no water boiling on top.

After - You can kind of see that it is clearer in this picture. It is hard to determine if it is the thickness of pudding while it is over the heat. It helps to take a spoonful of it out and then wait a few seconds to see what it looks like. If it looks like pudding or close to it, where it is difficult for it to drip off the spoon, then you got it!

Then let it cool and place into individual bowls for each color.

Add your color. One drop was plenty for each bowl. P.S. It did not color their hands when they were finished.

We made purple, blue, pink, green and yellow (the yellow is a bit brighter because it had 3 or 4 drops added because they squeezed the bottle too hard!)

Have fun! Trace numbers or letters, make pizza or some other picture (my son's idea. He wanted me to put each color down separately, as if he was making a pizza) and I am sure you can think of many other ideas. It is great way for them to get the sensory experience from pushing and squeezing. They can taste this and it will not hurt them.

Tips:

This is a tip for when you are adding the food coloring and brave enough to let your kids help. Most kids do not know how hard to squeeze unless they are shown how. Have them squeeze your hand like this...

... and then you will be able to tell them to squeeze softer or harder. A really easy and effective way for them to be successful and you not to stress out! I forgot to practice with my daughter for the first color and she probably squeezed 10 drops worth in there!



What Not To Do:

Learn from my mistake...Do not waste time on making them in individual cups and do it in the microwave.

It takes way too long to heat up every cup because it keeps boiling over like oatmeal does and makes a huge yucky mess! If you have to use your microwave do it in a huge bowl with lots of room for it to expand and keep a good eye on it.

Baking with Youth - Part 2

Now baking with your young children can be a lot of fun and a challenge at the same time, but I really enjoy baking with older children/youth. It is a great confidence builder when they are able to finish something with success and baking can be easy to create success in.


Let Them Take the Wheel

I like to let them do as much of it by themselves as possible. The adult just supervises ( I know, this is very hard for some of us control freaks!). Here are some ideas you can do:

• Let them read the recipe and tell you what to do. i.e “Mom, can you please go get the sugar?” (This reminds me of the “how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich” write up I had to do in 6th grade and then my teacher followed our instructions. It was pretty hilarious to watch your teacher try spreading the PB on the bread with his hand, because we forgot to add the bit about using a knife!) You can make this as fun as you want!
  
  Have your youth do it all by his/herself and then ask you when they need help. Make sure they gather all the ingredients, so they know where each item is located and what it looks like. The best thing about this, is that if they are old enough, they will be making cookies all by themselves soon enough because you know they can do it!

• Make sure they clean up and put everything away properly. Teach them that part of the baking experience is cleaning up. It’s no fun if the kitchen is left a mess for mom (or aunt) to clean up.

Math is Fun

Once they can add it opens up another avenue of fun! You can use baking to teach them how to add and do fractions. My children are too young to do math right now, but I do have younger sisters and many nieces that I get to bake with every now and then that are old enough to do all sorts of math with.

I’ll admit, at first they see this as torture because I make them use their brain while we bake. But I love math and I love to incorporate it into anything. I will have them figure out how many 1/3 cups they will need to add 2 cups of flour to the mix or how many teaspoons they will need to add 1 tablespoon of water. For added fun, I’ll switch the teaspoons into milliliters (ml). For instance, “you need 30 ml of water. How many teaspoons do you need to add?” (there are 5 ml per teaspoon). But, I only do this when the ml are already written on the measuring spoons and cups so they do not get too frustrated.

By teaching them math in the kitchen you are teaching them skills for later on. I had a job in my early 20’s where I needed to be able to convert ml into teaspoons or tablespoons for medication or formula mixtures. It was very helpful to know! Plus, I do find it easier when I am changing the recipe into 1 ½ batch and there is some odd measurement to change it into ml to get an accurate measurement. To me it is easier than fractions, especially when you are limited on your measuring cups because you only have a 1/3 cup, ½ cup and a full cup due to one or two of the others getting lost in a move!

Learning Life Skills

By taking the time to teach your youth how to bake and cook you are teaching them how to be self sufficient. If they can understand basic instructions and terms from recipes, they will be able to eat when they are on their own! When I was a teenager, I mentioned in Part 1 that I loved baking out of our Hershey cookbook. Well, my friend and I decided to make a cake at her house with this book. I left the room, leaving my friend to follow the instructions and add the next ingredient. When I came back I found my friend with her hands in the chocolate batter. When I asked her where we were at in the recipe, she told me, “where it says to mix the batter by hand for 1 ½ minutes.” We had a good laugh once she realized her mistake!


Compliment, Praise, Be Positive

Make sure you compliment. Tell them how great they are doing and point out the positives. They are going to make mistakes and they are going to make you laugh, but the most important thing is to have them to leave the experience feeling good about it!


There is something satisfying about making food that everyone else loves. I find great enjoyment in watching my nieces’ faces light up as they watch their family gobble up the cookies they made because they taste great! Share this satisfaction with the youth in your life and just enjoy the process and many avenues of learning.

How to Enjoy Baking with Little Helpers - Part 1

If you couldn’t tell already, I love to bake! I remember when I was around 13 my mom let me run free in the kitchen to attempt baking from a Hershey’s cookbook all by myself. I had a major sweet tooth back then, so it was the perfect cookbook to grasp my full attention. I’m sure I made plenty of messes, but I learned many lessons and I learned to love baking. Now that I have my own children and since they love to help out so much, I try to let them in on the fun as much as possible.

Here is a list of skills that you are teaching your children when you bake with them:

Following Rules –  Have a few rules and stick to them. This will help everyone know what is expected of them and make it a little more enjoyable.

My rules are:

1. Only Mommy (or Daddy) can turn on the mixer. (This is only because they are still young and we have had them start it when a spoon or someone’s hand was still in the bowl.)
2. No hands in the mixer when it is running.
3. And no licking the measuring spoons and cups – Mom will give you a little spoon to taste after it is all mixed together.

Listening – It’s a skill they will be able to enhance the more they get to do and try new things

Sharing/Taking Turns – I make sure that my kids take turns when it comes to adding ingredients. This will save you from arguments on who wants to do what. My kiddos have done it enough now that they even make sure I get a turn.

Counting – When you are putting the ingredients into the bowl you have your children help you count how many cups of flour you put in, etc. Sometimes I choose a smaller measuring spoon or cup just so we get to count higher

Follow Through – this is a great opportunity to teach them that the fun is not over until you have added all the ingredients. I was great for many years and making cookie dough, but horrible at baking it. I can blame that on the fact that most of the people in my family growing up were dough lovers! Now that I am married, my husband would rather eat the cookies, so I have my inspiration to bake the dough.

Cleaning Up – Teach your children that cleaning up is part of the cooking/baking process. So while your treat is baking everyone helps clean up. Teach them to leave the area better than they found it. All containers get put away, dirty dishes go in the sink, the mixer gets wiped down (my biggest pet peeve!) as well as the counter. I always expect a fight when it comes to the, but am always impressed by the eagerness of all my little helpers to help out. Sometimes we make it a game by having a race. You got to do what you have to do keep them motivated!

(This is how I first started baking with my son. I would keep the mixer on the table and then bring the bowl over to him to add the ingredients. He was much too helpful and it was not an enjoyable activity if he wasn't in his chair while the mixer was out!)

Remember to Relax and Have Fun – Messes will happen, but with your few rules and guidelines things shouldn’t get too out of control! If it is too stressful for you, find a way to reduce the recipe to fewer steps. Like, if you were making cookies, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, oatmeal, etc) together in a bowl before you start the project with your kids. Or even by a box/bag mix from the store. Those usually have only 1 to 3 ingredients to add and are a great starter “recipe” when you are just beginning to bake with your little ones.

 (This is how I first started baking with my son. I would keep the mixer on the table and then bring the bowl over to him to add the ingredients. He was much too helpful if he wasn't in his chair!)