Glowing Radioactive Slime

This is the coolest thing we've done in a while!

After a chat with my friend Kate from laughing kids learn about glow play & UV lights, I was inspired to start glowing experiments with Dimples because its been a while since our last glow play (Glowing Dragon Eggs) and it just happened that I had a jar of glow water but wasn't sure what to use it on.

Something different!

Slime... 

I wanted to make a slime that worked both ways because not every one has a UV light globe handy. So this slime is great for all occasions; it looks a little like gak through the day. 

Keep it in the fridge and its shivery cold to touch. 

 

Works well with a potato mash, funnels and grates that the slime can ooze through. Fill up a cup and watch it flatten,  fill up a funnel and watch it slowly descend.

 

Turn on the UV light and its radioactive, it glows vibrant & bright! Add some bright white googly eyes and it gives it a crazy spooky look under the UV light. If you haven't got a UV light I highly recommend it, it makes everything look so much brighter and definitely puts the GLOW in glowing play. 

Turn out all the lights and it still glows.

A subtle mystical glow, very intriguing and just as slimy. 

 

Making slime is a great lesson in chemistry (for school age children) it shows how substances react, mix, how liquids can become semi-solid. How borax dissolves, how it glows & scientific exploration regarding how substances move, sink and gravity. 

This is a Great sensory activity, especially if you store your slime in a zip lock bag in the fridge between play. It will not only feel smooth, look slimy but be shivery cold and have a clean gak kind of smell. 

How to make Glowing Radioactive Shivery Slime. 

You need Elmer's glue or Pva glue mixed with water at a ratio of 1 cup glue to 3/4 cup water.

If you have a UV light- use glow water or glow paint (highlighter ink infused water or UV/Fluro paint).

or if you want it to glow in the dark add glow in the dark paint.

If you would like it coloured add food colour here.

Or do all three if you want it to be radioactive green, UV and night glowing slime. Like our is. 

Mix well with a whisk or fork in a bowl and keep separate for a moment.

In another bowl dissolve a table spoon of borax in half a cup of hot water. 

Mix the two together in a zip lock bag and pop it in the fridge if you want it to be shivery cold slime. 

 

Have fun.

 

Learning concepts:

Science/chemistry

Measurement

Mixing

Gravity

Sensory exploration

Experimenting

Extension: 

Cutting the snotty gak - scissor practice

Experiment with different colour

Use clear glue vs white glue

What else can you make glow?

Other textured slime - Monster gellatine Slime

 

Happy Adventures



Digestion Experiment in a bag : Exploring the Stomach

Lately Dimples has been fascinated with human Anatomy. We've been doing things focused on the human body & he's been doing lots of pretend doctor play. As usual, he has been asking lots of questions and telling lots of stories.

We started making a cardboard model of a human body and using his leapfrog tag human body book we explored and learnt about digestion, breathing, the heart, the function of body parts, the skeletal system and extending on this by developing his own "person".

One of the things he found interesting, as I'm sure many preschoolers do, is digestion and where the food goes before it turn to poo. Dimples uses the basics to explain the process "food goes in & my body uses the healthy bits for energy like petrol". We talk about how carrots help your eyes see good, fish makes your brain quick witted, beans are good for your blood and your heart, yogurt strengthens your Bones and so forth.

This digestion experiment was done to answer some of his questions about the stomach, food (& poo) and why food goes in looking lovely, where it goes and why it comes out looking like.... anything but pretty! That's putting it nicely, Dimples didn't say it quite that way :-)

 

 

We got a large zip lock bag to represent our stomach.
Then I laid out some different types of food varying in color, texture, a range of what someone may eat through a day and I asked Dimples what his 'stomach' would like to eat!
He added in some peas, cauliflower, cheese, scrambled egg, tomato sauce, potato chips, tomatoes, a biscuit, Vegemite on bread, juice, strawberry, banana & jelly into his "stomach". It looked fine for a moment.
 

We discussed how the stomach digests the food and how the stomach has acid in it, where the food travels before it enters the stomach and then where it goes before it comes out. Dimples pretended to be the stomach muscles; the stomach is a muscle with three muscle bands and it helps crush, mosh, and digest foods. Stomach acids work with the muscles to digest and pass in the food so as Dimples worked away like a muscle would he started pulling some faces 'gross' 'yuk' 'look'.
 

It ended up looking very gross, lucky we have strong stomachs because the sight of it looked like vomit. He poked at it and squished it inside the bag making sure it was fully digested.
It was very interesting for him and it did provide a fun way to visualize the digestive process and answer some of his questions.

Learning areas:
Sensory Activity
Linking Observation to Cognition regarding human anatomy
Basics of digestion
Exploring Healthy eating
Learning about human body processes
Experimenting and exploring
Cause and effect


Happy Adventures

Split Pea Funnel Tree

This "funnel Tree" was easy to throw together and the tactile tub full of split peas was so much fun for Dimples to play around with.  I had a couple of bags of split peas hidden at the bottom of the pantry, who knows how long they were hiding for, I may or may not have planned to make pea and ham soup a few winters ago, 2 maybe 3? shhhhh Instead of tossing them to the trash we utilized them in play.

What you need:
Funnels - or plastic bottles with the ends cut off like this one used in our Barley measurement Tub or the one used in our coloured rice play
Ingredients - Split peas, barley, soup mix, lentils, old cereal, or corn.
Cable ties or tape
A tub
A pole, stick or stand.

All I needed to do to make the funnel tree was attach my pole to the tub, I just used large tape.
Then using cable ties I fastened on the funnels (they usually have a hole) I added a few plastic bottles with the ends cut off, using a hole punch I put 2 holes in them for the ties to thread through.
Lining them all up over the top of each other I fastened the cable ties, the larger funnels needed one around the spout to hold them against the 'tree'. That is it, that is the funnel tree! Make it as tall as you like and space the funnels however they work best.
Make sure you do a test run so you can adjust any funnels, you don't want one to flip out side ways and all the fun to get poured on the ground.

Dimples grabbed a plastic cup and started pouring.
He was so inquisitive about how it work and the inner scientist was released, he instantly explored the ingredients and how the funnels worked. He experimented with blocking the large one, trying to pour it from the middle. He tried to tap it around and shake them to see if it poured through quicker.
Dimples watched from the top as the split peas swirled around in the large funnel and had to adjust some himself so that the funnels lined up above each other.

 

Learning Benefits:
Pouring & scooping
Exploring the ingredients
Experimenting
Observation
Principles of gravity
Tactile sensory play

 

Ways to extend play:
Barley Math & Measurement 
Water Wall using funnels
Rainbow Rice Sensory Tub
Coloured rice Play


Happy Adventures

The Butterfly Baby Room

I love decorating and designing, after doing Dimples Pirate bedroom I always dreamed of doing a little girls room. So when we found out we were expecting a little girl, miss cherub It was perfect! I also wished for 2 healthy babies, a pigeon pair would be perfect and so it happens I now have my 2 angels sent from above & decorating cute kids rooms is just another bonus that comes with the territory.

Miss Cherubs room is a butterfly theme featuring shades of pink purple and green.
We started with the base colors for the walls, light pink and a pale green. 

Green, the color in nature is meant to represent wealth, new beginnings and growth.
Pink, the color if love supports tenderness & comfort.
Purple, the color of spirit, is meant to connect you to a higher plane and experience compassion and a greater sense of humanity.

 

Butterflies mean grace, growth beauty and transformations.
On the feature wall there is a tree and flower border with fluttering butterflies every where among some funky 3D butterflies.

I found this cute diamanté chaise online and her Nanny crocheted a fluffy blanket throw to cover it. Yes, Her room is very girly indeed.  On the floor there are 3 spot mats/ circular rugs, I can see her jumping around from one to the other as if they are Lilly pads when she's older.
There's a cane toy shelf in the corner that I painted white to suit and a small toy cabinet under the window that has a caterpillar over it. Of course the curtains match, green pink and purple flowers with butterfly tiebacks.
It is such a girly room.

 

 

On the other wall there is a cherry blossom branch sticker and some more butterflies.
My favourite part of the room is above the bed, there is a canopy of lanterns in different shapes, sizes and patterns. Pom pom lanterns are really simple to make, I've done a DIY  tutorial Here, click to check out how easy they are

Among the lanterns are some more butterflies of course, clip on decorative ones.
She loves staring up at them.

 

My idea with the lanterns is that it is like a funky mobile, except it can remain there for years because Miss cherub can't reach it to pull it on her head. So there's always going to be an array of colors to look at. There is also a pretty pink chandelier fit for a queen, it's bright and sparkling, sure to capture her imagination and fantasy in years to come.

 

At the moment Miss Cherub is still in a cradle next to our bed and will remain there while I am still breast feeding her through the night so for the time being her bedroom is a play haven and she has her day naps looking around at all there is. She simply adores the 3D butterflies on the wall already and tried to swipe at them while I hold her close and the lantern canopy is definitely a hit, she is very content laying in bed staring at the array of colors.

Happy Adventures.