Backyard Book Club: James and the Giant Peach Overview
The Backyard Book Club is back in action! For this month’s meeting, the kids read James and the Giant Peach, thanks to a request by one of our members. (Click here for the book spotlight with online resources and other ideas.) We started with a quick talk about what the kids loved best in the book, then went straight […]
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Rainbow Science
In this month’s book, James and his friends shatter a rainbow by flying right through it! (Not to mention all the other fantastical weather-related things that happen in the story.) Is it really possible to shatter a rainbow, or even reach one? Rainbows are made from light reflected off tiny droplets of water in the air. […]
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Homemade Gears
In this week’s book, some of the characters had body parts made of tiny, intricate gears. Today we’ll make our own gears and learn a little about how they work! Gears are wheels that turn each other. To start out, make some wheels by cutting different size circles in cardstock. (We traced ours from the bottom of […]
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Exploration and Observation: Balloon Rocket Launch
In Cosmic, Liam gets to go on “The Biggest Thrill Ride in the History of the World”–a trip to the moon! Let’s make some indoor rockets and see if we can launch them all the way to the ceiling. Materials needed: fishing line or string, drinking straws, balloons, shuttle picture, masking tape 1. Prepare the launch site. String fishing […]
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The Six-wise Symmetry of Snowflakes
This week’s book, Anne Ursu’s Breadcrumbs, is full of snow. In fact, Hazel watches the snow fall in the very first scene and admires its “perfect geometric patterns.” So let’s take a closer look at the geometry of snowflakes! Most snowflakes have hexagonal symmetry, which means that there are six lines you could draw through the […]
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Magnifying Glass Magic
In The Magic Half, Miri uses a magic lens to put things right. In this science activity, we’ll explore with a not-so-magic lens called a magnifying glass, then use our lens to turn a picture upside-down and backwards! Materials needed: magnifying glass white piece of paper or card stock computer or TV screen in a dark room First, examine your […]
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Weight and Mass
I have a feeling Ramona Quimby grew up to be a scientist. Here are a couple of reasons why: If Ramona drank lemonade through a straw, she blew into the straw as hard as she could to see what would happen. “Ramona, what did you have to go and do a thing like that for?” Beezus demanded […]