March 2012 - momgineer

rainbow window catchers

Last year for St. Patrick's Day we made shamrock and clover window decorations, so this year we made rainbows! I had some rainbow ribbon/yarn and gave long pieces to the kids to cut up and put down on clear contact paper.

What you need:
  • contact paper
  • rainbow colors - ribbon, tissue paper, stickers, etc.
  • scissors to cut the ribbon/paper and to cut a rainbow shape
They are so bright and cheerful!

Materials.
After putting the ribbon down, put on another piece of contact paper face down, then trim.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

shiny pennies and copper plating

Our local children's museum had posted about doing a penny activity; it sounded like something my kids would like so I followed this one and it was very simple and fun! The write up for it was very straightforward and easy to follow. The pennies get shiny very quickly (part 1 of the experiment), but the second part takes a bit longer.
Setting up.
Starting the experiment.
Pennies right after they went in.
Shiny!

After the pennies were done, we removed them to dry and added other items for the second part of the experiment.

Wow! Watch the experiment carefully - check on it every 10 minutes or so.
The bolt was in the solution halfway - you can really see the copper plating.
One control screw, one copper plated screw.

What will you try to copper plate?