Sciences – Raising A to Z

Fall Theme Microscope Science for Kids

September 16, 2019September 15, 2019

Stéphane has a fascination with looking at things under the microscope. And like father, like daughter, so does Alexie. These two love finding things, especially in nature, and examining them under the microscope.

Since it’s fall, he decided to do a Fall themed microscope discovery session with Alexie. He gathered a bunch of cool, autumn things and brought them inside. With our super cool (and affordable) digital microscope, they got busy looking at each item.

We also had a great little printable made up for our various microscope sessions. Here, Alexie can draw what she sees on the screen and “record her findings” like a real little scientist. This printable is great for a variety of ages and you can download it for free right here!

Microscope Observation Printable Download

Looking at some simple fall items up close with a microscope really helps us see them in a whole new light.

Leaf Identification Scavenger Hunt

September 13, 2019June 5, 2020

This month, we’ve been slowly getting into the flow of things. Stéphane is back to work, the girls’ groups, classes, and activities are slowly starting up again and we are really starting to find our rhythm. And part of our rhythm has become a daily walk.

So far this month, we’ve made it out almost every day, even rainy days. We’ve enjoyed walks around the neighbourhood, down to the park and through the various trails near our home.

During our latest walk, we decided to add a little activity. We made a fun scavenger hunt of leaves. Our Northern Ontario trees are unique and we wanted to spend a little time learning about them. We made a photo list to help us identify leaves and off we went on our walk.

Leaf Identification Scavenger Hunt List Download

The girls loved looking for the leaves and learning their names and more about them. And, the exercise and fresh air were great too!

Sink or Float

July 12, 2019July 12, 2019

We have finally been getting hot summer weather! That means we’ve finally been able to pull out our kiddie pool and enjoy it! Both girls love to splash around in their pool, pouring water, shooting water guns and throwing things into the pool to make them swim.

It was precisely the girls’ excitement at throwing things into the pool that sparked a question. What sinks and what floats? So, we set out to do an experiment and see!

We gathered a bunch of things from the house and the yard. They were things that I didn’t mind getting wet. And I made a point of adding a few items that I thought would be interesting, like a metal bottle.

Then, we headed out to the pool. We introduced Alexie to the idea of a “hypothesis”, making an educated guess. Before throwing each item into the pool, she had to guess if it would sink or float. Once the item met the water and we had the result, we sorted them by category (sink, float and later both).

This experiment was so much fun and was a great way to mix summer play and fun with math and science. If we got a little wet along the way, it was just a bonus!

Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment

July 10, 2019July 10, 2019

Alexie has recently watched Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph. One of the scenes involves some Mentos candies dropping into a lake of diet coke resulting in a huge volcano-like explosion. It was a hilarious scene, but she wondered if it could actually happen.

So we set out to see if it was possible.

Our first attempt didn’t quite go as we planned.

But it was a great lesson in failure.

Failure can be a great lesson. This time it gave us a chance to try again, revise how we dropped the mentos in and learn from our mistakes. Don’t let failure be a stumbling block to learning. It can actually be a great teacher.

We Planted a Garden

July 4, 2019July 7, 2019

We planted a little garden in some raised boxes in our yard. It was a super hot day, but we had fun and some popsicles along the way.

We planted several things including tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, carrots and mini pumpkins. We are also lucky that we have raspberries and apple trees that grow on our property, too. Hopefully we get a good little harvest and learn some great life skills!

Did you plant a garden? What did you plant?

Egg Catapult …and Splatter Art

April 19, 2019July 4, 2019

We love STEAM activities. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. Whenever you can combine multiple subjects into a single activity, you activate whole brain learning, meaning you are making more connections and are more likely to remember the lessons they learn. And, when we can connect an activity to a season or holiday, it makes it all a little more real for our kids. This Easter, we decided to do something fun and launch some eggs with a catapult and we added a messy touch to it.

First, we built a catapult. It was easy enough, especially with the instructions on Little Bins for Big Hands. We used some tongue-depressors, a few rubber bans, and a plastic spoon. And then we filled some eggs with paint.

Filling eggs isn’t really that hard, but it is a little messy. We got a dozen eggs, something pointy and sharp (I had a cake decorating tool) and a skewer. At one end poke a hole roughly the size of a chickpea. Insert the skewer and mix up the contents of the egg. This allows you to empty the egg into a bowl. You can still use it to make some yummy scrambled eggs. Then, rinse the shells with a little water and fill them with paint. We used water-based paint that was pretty runny. If your paint is too thick, you can add a little water to the paint to make it runnier. Now you have eggs that are ready to smash.

We took the girls outside with a piece of craft paper and we started launching eggs. It was so much fun and a little messy. It really was a good thing that the paint was water-based because it washed off very easily.

After a few eggs the girls got a little excited and just wanted to throw the eggs, which was a lot of fun too. This was a really fun activity that combined engineering and art. We love S.T.E.A.M activities and this was a great festive, Easter activity. You really should try it!

Birdwatching: How to Set-Up a Bird Feeding Station

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019

Alexie loves birds.

She always has. Especially flamingos. Not that we get many flamingos up here in northern Ontario, Canada. But a girl can dream, can’t she?

We decided that with spring approaching, it would be the perfect time to set up a bird-feeding station in our front yard, so we could do a little bird watching. It was simple enough to do.

First, we set up our front yard. To do that, we had make a few things first.

Alexie’s last birthday party was actually bird-themed (we said she liked birds, right?) and as guest favours we gave out these little wooden bird house sets we got from the dollar store. They cost a $1.25 and came with paint and a brush. It was perfect for the party and we happened to have 2 extras leftover. So we pulled them out and let the kids paint them.

Then we made some simple bird feeders. We used some old toilet paper tubes (yah for free craft supplies), peanut butter, bird seed and ribbon. They were super quick to make and easy to hang.

After hanging everything up in the trees in our front yard, making sure that they were in view of our picture window, we got to work setting up things inside.

It’s still pretty chilly up here, and will be for several more weeks. So we set up in our home so we can enjoy the birds, while staying warm. By the window we kept some kid-sized binoculars (Stéphane’s from when he was little) and a few bird books.

It’s really a simple set up, but the girls have really enjoyed checking the feeders and seeing the birds that have been flying by the windows. And the occasional squirrel.

Why We Plant Tomato Seeds on Valentine’s Day

March 22, 2019April 8, 2019

We have a bit of a strange Valentine’s Day tradition.

Every year we splurge on really nice steaks from our local butcher and make a fancy dinner for our family. Steak, garlic roasted potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, green beans and some kind of fancy dessert. We eat by candle-light and make a fun night out of it. And then we do something most people would consider strange.

We plant tomato seeds.

You see where we live, we have a super short growing season. Now that doesn’t mean that we can’t have an awesome little garden, just that we have to plan well and if we want to use our own seeds, then we have to start early.

So we start planting our tomatoes on Valentine’s day. It’s a little unconventional but it works for us and it makes a unique family tradition. We use our heirloom seeds that we collected the year before and start a whole bunch of tomato plants. We’ll use what we need, and give the rest to our family in the spring.

Watching the Lunar Eclipse

March 22, 2019April 8, 2019

One of the things that I love the most about homeschooling is allowing our kids to fully explore things that interest them. We aren’t restricted to what is grade-appropriate or to the schedule of a school day.

Take Alexie for example. She is facinated with space. Planets, stars, astronauts, rocket ships. She loves it all.

So when the 2019 Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse came around, we just knew that it was right up Alexie’s ally.

Actually, being totally honest, this started with a mistake that we made. We told Alexie about a pink moon around her birthday back in July 2018. But, that particular lunar event was visible only to the other side of the world. We missed it and she was super disappointed. Oops!

We found out about the next one, double-checked that it would be visible in Ontario and then we told her. She was super excited this time.

Well the night came and it was freezing (-40C….yup). But, Alexie was so excited. We put her to bed and woke her up around 11:30pm. Dad bundled her up and they headed outside to see the Blood Moon Eclipse.

It was an incredible learning experience. And then she went right back to bed and fell asleep. The nice thing is, she got to sleep in the next morning.

Friday Fun Day: Building a Fort

March 22, 2019April 8, 2019

It was a cold, snowy day and we had no interest in heading outside. So we stayed inside and got to work building a fort!

We usually get dressed every day, but every once in a while, we like to have a PJ Day and just relax. But that doesn’t mean that the learning stops.

Fort building is a great activity for little kids. It fosters creativity and imagination. It has all kinds of engineering aspects and it’s a great way for them to build something life-size.

Forts are a great way to make other activities exciting, too! Want to know what’s more fun than reading? Reading in a fort, of course! A fort is a great place to do puzzles, read or colour.