Science Sensory Play

M & E exploring Rainbow Spaghetti

This week we had a lot of sciency fun at our house!  First we explored a tub of slippery, slimy multi-colored spaghetti.  It is very easy to make colored pasta; simply cook pasta as you usually would then grab a handful and put it in a large yogurt tub with food coloring and a tiny splash of vegetable oil and shake until evenly coated.  The girls loved the rainbow spaghetti and M kept exclaiming, "This doesn't feel like the Rainbow rice at all!"  E was very happy scooping large handfuls into the air and watching it cascade back into the tub.  I put an inexpensive shower curtain liner on the floor so as not to get it slippery too.  This also helped to visually mark off where the spaghetti was allowed to be. 

Ivory soap pre-microwave

Tonight we used describing words to explain what a bar of Ivory soap looked and felt like before being put into the microwave and after.  I asked M to draw what the soap looked like and then she and E felt it, knocked it on the table and added descriptors to M's drawing.  The pre-microwave describing words were hard, smooth and soft.  I then asked M to predict what she thought the soap would look like after it had been microwaved and to draw a picture of what she thought it would look like.  She predicted it would melt and maybe have black marks on it.  We placed the bar of soap (it has to be Ivory) in the microwave and waited for the show to begin.

Ivory soap post-microwave

At first it seems like nothing is going to happen but after about 40 seconds the soap starts to bubble and blow up like a pile of shaving cream but it still feels hard and not wet at all.  I imagine what is happening is similar to popcorn popping with a small amount of water inside heating up and causing the whole kernal to expand but I'm not really sure about this.  I left it in the microwave for a little over a minute, until it stopped expanding.  The girls then each felt it with their hands and decided to cut it using Popsicle sticks, breaking it into tiny pieces.  E was enthralled and kept breaking it smaller and smaller while M wanted to be very precise and only use the sticks to manipulate it.  I asked M to draw a picture of the soap after it had been in the microwaved and to add describing words.  Her new words included puffy and flaky.  At that point it was time for E to take a bath and get ready for bed but M asked if she could take a bath too and if she could bring in some of the "puff soap".  So we made another bar and brought it into the tub where M was thrilled to find out that it floated.  In the bath we added more descriptors including slimy and slippery.  The only draw back of having it in the bath was that we had to drain the entire tub and fish out the soap bits before the girls could rinse off but the exploration was definitely worth it.