Frozen Goo!

We made frozen goo! This is a great summer science activity, especially for the days when it's too hot to go outside (or take it outside to play with!). To make the goo, all you need is a container, water, food coloring and cornstarch.





To make the goo, I started with cornstarch in a container and slowly add water until all of the cornstarch has mixed with water. It will still be a liquid but all of the cornstarch should be mixed with water.

Next I poured the goo into small cups and mixed in food coloring. Some we did 1 color, others we added multiple colors. It is a little difficult to mix the food coloring into the goo, which is good for adding many colors since they won't really mix together.

Then we put the cups in the freezer. We left them over night, so I'm not sure exactly how long it took them to freeze. When we were ready to play we removed the frozen goo and put it in containers to play with (I definitely recommend putting it in a container because it gets messy as it starts to melt).

This is what it looks like as it starts to melt. 

Everyone (including me) had so much fun playing with the goo. It was fun to watch it melt, and to move the melted goo around. Plus once it as melted you can still play with it (and probably would be able to refreeze it but we didn't). Once ours had melted the colors really started to mix together, which was great to use to review our colors and what colors we can use to make new colors. 

I'm linking this science activity up with Monday Made It at 4th Grade Frolics! 

Sensory Bottles

I mentioned on a previous post that I was working on making sensory bottles for my pre-k and 1st grade classes. This set of bottles that I have finished will be used with both classes.I love sensory bottles. There are so many different things that you can do with them and you can make them for a wide variety of themes. Plus, you can put items in them that you may not always be able to leave sitting out in your classroom for students to freely touch.

With my pre-k class, they are used for observing and comparing/contrasting. They are available in the science center for students to use and it's a great way for students to work on verbal skills and vocabulary when they are describing what they see and hear. Plus they can explore the bottles by moving them all around, shaking them, putting them upside down, seeing if they are magnetic, etc. I also like to ask students to describe what they think the items would feel like if they could touch them based on what they see and hear.

With the first grade class they are getting multiple uses. They were first used during the magnetic unit when we made predictions as to whether the sensory bottles would attract (vocabulary word!) magnets. Then students had the opportunity to explore the bottles using magnets to see if they were attracted. The sensory bottles will also be used for writing activities for students to write about what they observe in the bottles and to make charts comparing/contrasting different bottles.

buttons (some are magnetic which made for a fun discussion about this bottle) and pom poms

feathers and beads

paperclips and pipe cleaners (both are magnetic)

Next set of sensory bottles that I'm working on: fall theme to go along with my month long fall/apples/pumpkins unit with my pre-k class.

Have you made sensory bottles before? What did you put in them (I'm always looking for new ideas)?