Scientists at work

Last week we mixed corn starch and water. The result was a ooey gooey substance that acts like a solid when left on the tray or when squeezed together and acts like a liquid if you let it melt between your fingers. 

The children want to see it, touch it, and work with it. The love to explore what happens next, and will add their own ideas.

The next day we squeezed vinegar into baking soda and watched the reaction. Lots of little bubbles as it fizzled like a little volcano.

This week we made our own fun and easy slime. we used beads, googly eyes and other materials to make our own interesting creations, like a man with a nose made out of an eye.

Shabbat Shalom from the KB Scientists. 

Feet Painting Outside

 Inspired by a video I saw online of children painting with their feet running across a huge canvas on the ground, I could not wait to try it out at camp. A large canvas was placed on our stage outside. There were two trays at opposite corners of the canvas - one with blue paint, the other with red.

 We took off our shoes and the children started to dip their feet in the paint and walked across. Everyone had a smile on their face as they watched the prints made by their very own feet.

 Sammy sat down in the middle of the canvas and took inventory of the many footprints that had already been made by everyone. Caleb: "More paint Morah, more paint!" We refilled the trays and took turns criss-crossing the canvas. Caleb: "I want blue."

 Avraham-Chaim got paint not just on his feet but also his face. Pretty soon the entire canvas was covered with foot shapes of varying sizes. Luckily the pools were ready for us to wash our feet off as needed.

 When we were finished we hung our masterpiece on the fence. The children were all very proud. "We did that!" - Sammy

Kitah Bet Makes Snow(ish) Globes

In an excellent practice of fine motor skills and impulse control, Kitah Bet made a keepsake with various fun items of their choice, water and a baby food jar. Before beginning we spoke about how a snow globe works, that in order to see our things swirl around in the water we'd only need to use a small amount. Then we discussed the best way to carefully choose them - by using pinching fingers and taking a few at a time. 

We could choose from colorful beads, shiny sequins, ABC beads and different-colored sand.

We also used pinching fingers to sprinkle the sand into our jars.

When we had finished putting in all our fun things, we filled our jars with water and closed them up tight.
(Morah super glued them afterwards)

Now you can shake as you please and watch as the pieces inside dance and swirl. Enjoy!

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work!

Sports and movement are important factors in a child's education. Some sports focus on individuals while others require us to work together. It's hard to resist any game when there is a parachute involved but even more so when we get to add more props. Everyone understands that in order to get the parachute to work right, we have to be on the same page so everyone can have the best time possible. 

Did you know that our parachute can turn into a magic carpet? First we picked a nice big space, one big enough for us to run back and forth while pulling the parachute. Then we picked a few lucky magic carpet riders. Everyone wanted to go for a ride first, but they were also okay with taking turns. Sometimes we just have to wait to have that caliber of fun!  

The best part about being pulled on a parachute is, of course, the excitement of sliding across the floor at top speeds, be we also get a really really good core workout because we have to balance our bodies so we don't tip over or fall off the parachute. We also doscovered that it is much easier to pull a seated child rather than one who is laying down. This activity could easily go on for minutes, hours and maybe even days; that's how much we love it! 

Faster, please!!

We like to finish it off with popcorn and rocket ships!!! What a blast! 

Bubble Mountain! KGDH

Eli K first discovering the magic behind Bubble Mountain...

Libi is trying to see how high her bubble mountain can get without it blowing away!

A suggestion was put on the table! Why not turn the swimming pool into a giant bubble mountain! We then got the container of soap and the children started pouring it into the pool. Once satisfied with the amount of bubbles, the children began to first get into the pool and slide on the soap with their feet in hopes of making the water bubbly.

 They soon realized that this idea was not going to work!

Suddenly, some children spotted a few noodles! Ooooh, the noodles are like giant straws! They took the noodles and started blowing into it to try to create the same effect used with the cups! Slowly, but very slowly, bubbles began to sprout. However, they were not sprouting out to the same extent as the straws in the cups.

The children then suggested that we change the soap to be dish soap! After finding some dish soap, we poured it into the pool! WOW! Now, when the children blew through the noodles, bubbles came! Then, some children who did not have noodles saw some pipes and tubes lying around! They quickly picked them up and started blowing in the pool to create a team work of bubble mountain! Some children who still had no utensils to blow into, grabbed some of the straws used for the cups and crouched down near the side of the pool and blew!

It was incredible to see how one small idea led to an entire class wide activity! The children did not want to leave--- they were having too much fun! 

Eli G thought that if the straws worked in the cups then they DEFINITELY could work in a pool!

Jules was having a GIANT bubble bath!

Eli K got some in his eye! Oh man! Fun!