School-age

Are Black Markers Really Black? A Chromatography Lesson.

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What color is black? Is it one color or many colors combined to “look black”? Black is the absence of all reflective colors, and when the three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) are combined in just the right way, they give off the appearance of black. We set off to find out more about [...]

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How to…Invent a Recipe with Kids

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My house smells like pancakes. Which really means that it smells like cooking oil and caramelized sugar. Sort of a happy, greasy smell that has lingered for days. Every afternoon, for the past three days, my 3 year old turns into a kitchen alchemist as she gathers ingredients and invents her own recipes. She is in [...]

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Magical Plastic Bag Experiment

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Here’s a fun experiment that won’t take a lot of time, and it’s more than likely that you have all the “ingredients” around the house. I did this with my three and a half year old, and it would be relevant for preschoolers and elementary-age children. The idea that we’re testing here is what will [...]

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DIY Paper Bag Book with Japanese Binding {Free Download}

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You might know that I’ve been working on a fun project with the San Francisco Children’s Creativity Museum DIY Studio Space. Each month for a full year, we’re developing creativity-boosting invitations for children who visit the museum. If you visit the Studio this month you’ll find an assortment of interesting found materials and a host of ideas [...]

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Microwave Puffy Paint

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Who wouldn’t love a good experiment that combines mixing flour + watercolor paint, and zapping it into puffy magic in the microwave? When I saw this inspiring post by Rashmie at Mommy Labs, who in turn was inspired by Tammy over at Housing in a Forest, I knew it was something that my 3.5 year old [...]

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Is it Magnetic? Testing Objects for Magnetism.

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How was your weekend? We took a mini-vacation to play in the snow and I enjoyed a little computer break along the way. I thought I could get online with my phone, but it turned out that the reception was horrible and I’ve been completely out-of-touch! It was probably a good thing, as I could [...]

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Yeast and Sugar Experiment

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I’ve been baking bread just about every day for the past three weeks (nothing too crazy since it’s all done in the bread maker), but last week my 3.5 year old and I got into a discussion about the properties of yeast. We like to tinker and  experiment – big surprise, I know — and decided [...]

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Chalkboard Painted Canvas

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“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso Chalkboards…I love them. You? The texture, the dust, and contrast are oh-so-appealing. When I started to see them disappear from classrooms in favor of dry erase boards, I was a little bit shocked. Dry erase boards are wonderful too, but they’ll [...]

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Symmetrical Butterfly Prints

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When my 1 year old naps, my three and a half year old non-napper and I like to pull out some of our favorite messy materials that don’t normally surface when baby hot-hands is awake. The other day N wanted to paint, and we ended up making butterfly rorschach paintings. BTW, every time I have [...]

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