ROCstar Moments in Child's Play

Testing out ideas pinned on Pinterest provides an excellent opportunity to teach kids an important lesson: IT IS OKAY TO FAIL.

Failure can even be fun!

The past few days have been full of "ROCstar Moments" for me. Have you seen those "Nailed It" photos on Pinterest, Facebook, et cetera? Yeah, kind of like those.

I pinned three ideas to try out with the kids. They looked like fun, and seemed to be simple enough:

1. Kool-Aid Rainbow Slime
2. Water Beads
3. Fizzy Ice Cubes

SLIMY ATTEMPTS

First up, we tried the slime. In an effort to save money, I bought the generic fiber supplement rather than Metamucil. That was a mistake. I mixed the ingredients, microwaved it as long as the instructions said, and was left with pink water. No trace of slime. Oh yeah; who's a ROCstar?!?

Lesson Learned: When trying out a new activity from the web, link back to the original source if possible. Occasionally, the original lists an important note that the second-hand blogger did not carry over. 

Example: When making Kool-Aid Rainbow Slime, it is important to either buy Metamucil or a generic fiber supplement with psyllium as the active ingredient. No psyllium? You're simply left with colored water. Colored water = not nearly as much fun as colored slime.

WATER BEADS

Second, we tried to make water beads. These looked so awesome, I couldn't wait to try making them! On Growing a Jeweled Rose, these looked like fabulous, colorful, squish-able marbles. Here's what our water beads looked like:

Colorful and squish-able? Yes. Fabulous and marble-sized? Not so much.

We still had fun with them. I had bought two packages of tapioca pearls because I wasn't sure how much we would need for this misadventure. While I cooked one package, my four-year-old had fun playing with the uncooked package.

                           

 
We scooped the cooked tapioca into bowls then added food coloring and different colors of Kool-Aid powder or sugar-free Jell-O. There wasn't a huge selection of Kool-Aid colors available, so I thought we'd give Jell-O a shot. (pun intended)

After they cooled off in the fridge for a bit, we started to play. TIP: Place a large drop cloth or plastic tablecloth in your play area, and keep a couple of old towels handy.

                                         
We added water so they were free-flowing, instead of gelatinous blobs.

You can store the Water Beads for up to three days in the fridge. However, once the colors are mixed together the beads look like a stand-in for brains in a zombie movie.

Lessons Learned: Follow the blog post and search for large, instant tapioca pearls. Small, non-instant ones take three times as long to boil. Plus they are miniscule.

NO-FIZZ CUBES

Lastly, we made a batch of Fizzy Ice Cubes. We mixed the water, baking soda, and spooned it into ice cube trays. Then we sprinkled different Jell-O powders on top and used a toothpick to mix in the colors.

The next day we popped the cubes out into a container of water and waited for the fizz…

There was no fizz.

I had lemons in the fridge and added a few slices to initiate a reaction. Nothing. So we added the water beads and just played until it looked like this:

Yes! Nailed it! I mean, doesn't that look like something you want your child sticking his or her little hand into, playing, and splashing?!? Definitely.

Determined, we tried once more. This time we poured the cubes right into a vinegar bath. We even spooned some extra vinegar on top of the cubes. Success!

TIP: Use a drop cloth or plastic tablecloth to protect your play area, and keep a few towels handy.

Lesson Learned: Fizzy Cubes (with baking soda) need vinegar in order to actually fizz. Duh! I knew that. After all, we only made a zillion volcanoes in the backyard last summer. Sheesh! Also, read directions carefully. Somehow I completely missed the "vinegar" part of the instructions. Oops.

I hope your adventures in Pinterest, crafts, and science experiments are much more successful. If not, Post a Comment and share your misadventures! As always, thanks for reading.

Messy Backyard Fun Day: Slime!

Do you feel as though you've taken your kids to the same places over and over this summer, and you're just itching for something new to break the monotony? Well maybe it's not that bad, but still new ideas are always welcome, right?

These past two weeks, we've actually gone to some ideas that have been around for ages, but they are new to my kids. The volcanoes and the shaving cream ideas have been done a million times before, and so has slime. But these activities were still novel to my boys.

To make Homemade Slime you'll need:

• 1 tsp. Borax (found in the laundry aisle)
• 1 1/4 c. water, divided
• 4 oz. white or clear glue
• food coloring

It took four stores before we found Borax. Two of the stores had a shelf tag for Borax, but were out of stock, one store just didn't carry it, and finally we found some at the Target in Penfield.

First, mix one teaspoon of Borax into 3/4 cup of water. Stir until dissolved and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the glue and 1/2 cup of water. Mix in a few drops of food coloring; my boys chose their favorite color: green.

Pour the Borax solution into the glue mixture and stir until it starts to solidify.

Keep stirring until you can scoop out the solids with your hands. There will be a lot of water leftover in the bowl, and it's time to get a little messy!

Start kneading the solids in your hands. It will start to become smooth and less watery...until it becomes slime!

Your slime is ready to go. Bounce it, shape it, stretch it, and have fun.

Why are you still reading? Go find some Borax and make slime! As always, thanks for reading.