A little explanation before I get to that 'curious' title, wink!
Our home was built using that new fangled cement wall system. Now, Shawn was hooked on this idea from the get go. Although expense wise it isn't that different from traditional framing, the time line was considerably longer with cement walls. I was not happy about that!
I had had about as much delayed gratification as I could stand at that point.
But then came the clencher.
An after product of cement wall systems is that you get the really deep window sills like on older homes.
SOLD!!
I love deep sills, never mind that I now have to dust them constantly, shhhh, I'm in denial and loving them in spite of that glitch!
So here is a shot of how deep my sills are... ooohhhh... aaaaahhhhh, the little things are what thrill me!
They are 8-10" deep, just realized I've never actually measured them, but as you can see I can put substantial 'goodness' on them.
Oh Goodness, wonderful, glorious, goodness... then there is the 'sill' behind the kitchen sink.I had them extend the granite clear to the windows. I picture yummy herbs, gorgeous topiaries, lush goodness spilling out of pots here!
BUT what do I have here NOW?! Science Projects! Lots and Lots of 'things' to prove a lesson to Ty, object lessons if you will.
This was the HIT of our homeschooling last week. It is called a 'cootie potato'. Ty was learning about germs and how they are spread, and then attack our immune system.
We took a potato and cut it in half. Placed 1/2 of the potato in a ziploc bag. Took the other 1/2 and rubbed it all over Ty's hands, then placed it into a separate plastic bag.
Ty was to document the compared changes between the two halves each day for a week.
Gross!!
The 'cooties', aka germs and bacteria, transferred to the potato from Ty's hands were quite visible.
The 'clean' potato aged normally... getting a tad brown, but otherwise looking quite the same.
The 'cootie' potato changed immediately... getting real brown, dried out, wrinkly, in essence was deteriorating before our very eyes.
I did not get a final photo, one morning I could not stand the sight of it any further and tossed it in the trash and didn't think till well after that I should have documented the results, oops!
So go try this with your kids. It will really teach them the importance of washing their hands... often!!
And here's a classic... Celery Straws! Where you put celery in colored water and watch the celery 'wick' up the coloring and turn different colors... could also be done with a carnation.
This was also during the GERM lessons. Giving Ty a visual of 'why he should never drink after another person or put his hands/fingers in his mouth, eyes, nose (well, I just added this one to try and discourage the ever present 'pickin', grrrr).
So, Ty learned if he drinks after someone else and they are sick, their germs would then enter his body and 'travel' throughout his body just as the food coloring traveled through the celery stick.
Now this week, our experiment is Living Limas. Ty has a jar of dried lima beans and another jar of lima beans that he soaked in water for 24 hours, then has rinsed twice a day all week.
Lesson to be learned is how vital water is for living things to thrive.
So he is enjoying watching the beans sprout... although, the first day they started to sprout, he screamed, 'the limas have maggies!!!' Took me a minute...wait for it... still thinking... a mom's brain is a clever thing isn't it... cause I soon figured out he meant maggots!!! There's a glimpse into a 6yr old boys mind for ya, enjoy!! As of today, he is finally convinced they are NOT maggots but indeed sprouts.
And so goes the daily saga of my gorgeous kitchen sink window sill... that ONE day, I promise myself.... SELF.... you WILL have topiaries and other yumminess located here, and a view out these windows that takes your breath away, and birds singing you songs outside, and maybe just maybe... my windows will even be clean!! Ah... that will be the day!
BUT what do I have here NOW?! Science Projects! Lots and Lots of 'things' to prove a lesson to Ty, object lessons if you will.This was the HIT of our homeschooling last week. It is called a 'cootie potato'. Ty was learning about germs and how they are spread, and then attack our immune system.
We took a potato and cut it in half. Placed 1/2 of the potato in a ziploc bag. Took the other 1/2 and rubbed it all over Ty's hands, then placed it into a separate plastic bag.
Ty was to document the compared changes between the two halves each day for a week.
Gross!!
The 'cooties', aka germs and bacteria, transferred to the potato from Ty's hands were quite visible.
The 'clean' potato aged normally... getting a tad brown, but otherwise looking quite the same.
The 'cootie' potato changed immediately... getting real brown, dried out, wrinkly, in essence was deteriorating before our very eyes.
I did not get a final photo, one morning I could not stand the sight of it any further and tossed it in the trash and didn't think till well after that I should have documented the results, oops!
So go try this with your kids. It will really teach them the importance of washing their hands... often!!
And here's a classic... Celery Straws! Where you put celery in colored water and watch the celery 'wick' up the coloring and turn different colors... could also be done with a carnation.This was also during the GERM lessons. Giving Ty a visual of 'why he should never drink after another person or put his hands/fingers in his mouth, eyes, nose (well, I just added this one to try and discourage the ever present 'pickin', grrrr).
So, Ty learned if he drinks after someone else and they are sick, their germs would then enter his body and 'travel' throughout his body just as the food coloring traveled through the celery stick.
Now this week, our experiment is Living Limas. Ty has a jar of dried lima beans and another jar of lima beans that he soaked in water for 24 hours, then has rinsed twice a day all week.Lesson to be learned is how vital water is for living things to thrive.
So he is enjoying watching the beans sprout... although, the first day they started to sprout, he screamed, 'the limas have maggies!!!' Took me a minute...wait for it... still thinking... a mom's brain is a clever thing isn't it... cause I soon figured out he meant maggots!!! There's a glimpse into a 6yr old boys mind for ya, enjoy!! As of today, he is finally convinced they are NOT maggots but indeed sprouts.
And so goes the daily saga of my gorgeous kitchen sink window sill... that ONE day, I promise myself.... SELF.... you WILL have topiaries and other yumminess located here, and a view out these windows that takes your breath away, and birds singing you songs outside, and maybe just maybe... my windows will even be clean!! Ah... that will be the day! 
"Home is an invention on which
4 comments:
What fun science projects...a little gross with the cooties...but so great! I need to remember these for when little man gets old enough to understand. Right now, though, everything in the mouth. At least he knows now that if it's super icky, he can just throw it to the dog to eat up. Yummy.
Where do you find all of these great science ideas? I have been toying with the idea of homeschooling Addie... unless we move prior to when she turns 5.
This are awesome! I am going to do them with my son. He is also 6 and has a hard time with the hand washing, and the drinking water.
Where do you get these ideas!
First of all, I LOVE the window sills. Gorgeous. Second, what fun science projects! I'm going to have to remember these for my boys. I wonder if the potato thing would be good for Chase now because he hates washing his hands!
Post a Comment