TURN YOUR KITCHEN INTO a science lab!
EASY AND EDUCATIONAL DIY PROJECTS FOR CURIOUS MINDS
GROW BEANS
1 Start by soaking 5-6 dried, white haricot beans overnight in a bowl of water.
2 The next day, place two squares of folded, dampened paper towel into a large Ziploc sandwich bag.
3 Put the haricot beans into the bag on one side of the towel. Zip the bag and, in a warm place, tape it against a window so that your children can see the beans.
4 Within a few days, the beans will germinate and roots will start to appear. With more days and some patience, the first leaves will be visible.
5 When the beans reach this stage, they can be planted out in small pots of soil to become mature plants. The excitement of germination never ceases to amaze me. Growing anything can encourage the gardener in your child.
WALKING WATER
1 Arrange six small plastic containers filled with water in a circle. Add red food colouring to the first one. Skip a container and add blue food colouring to the third one. Finally, add yellow food colouring to the fifth one.
2 Cut thick paper towel into strips, just long enough to dip from the middle of one container to the next.
3 Lay six strips across the jars so that the clear water is linked to a coloured water container on either side. Then see what happens! The cellulose in the paper acts like tiny tubules starting off a capillary effect. Primary colours from the jars will ‘walk’ through the strips to the clear water and create the secondary colours. It’s like magic!