Wild and Wacky science art for beginners better than ever

We really stretched out this time to include new and different things for the kids and let them do many experiments with artistic involvement. You have to think about art being more than drawing and painting as we usually do. We included all kinds of home made potions and still managed to create quite a number of projects to send home.
The beginners got to do food color and celery changing color and loved it. We mixed homemade salt clay then made creations from them. The kids loved adding in the color and kneading the dough until it was ready to use. They were less sure about sharing their clay even to get a second color.
 
 RECIPE [ 1cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp oil, a little tempera powder]  

We drew hot air balloons and colored them by layering on tissue paper and spraying it with rubbing  alcohol. Turns out nice too. 


I brought leaves from my Turks cap to paint on the veined side and do color stamping with. Once the kids got enough paint on it really took off as they could stamp repeatedly with one leaf. The erupting paint was much more fun to make as everyone got to stir some of it up and add colors to it. It only foams for a few seconds but those were good seconds. RECIPE [ 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup or so water, food coloring]  


Our crystal painting got mixed without their help as it involved very hot water. RECIPE [1 cup HOT water, 1 cup+ epsom salts, food color or tempera paints] 
We tried out hand at making our own crayon scratch-outs and did not get them dry before the end of camp but the kid learned how to do it: RECIPE [heavily applied crayon on paper, tempera paint with dish soap applied heavily and let dry] 

we also did a magic milk experiment but thinned it a bit too much so we could not take prints RECIPE [milk, drops of food color, toothpick with dish soap on it] and lastly we made kaleidoscopes and straw airplanes that flew very well. Wish I'd cut the helicopters for the younger kids that we did in the older kids' camp. 

All about clay recipes

so many asked what the recipes were for the clays we used at camp this week and at the library program in addition to the polymer clay and fireable clays. I found all the recipes on the internet and am thankful for the thrifty moms who post.

No Cook Salt Dough Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups white flour 

1 cup salt 

1 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice  this makes it dry harder)

1 tablespoon oil ( this makes the dough easier to work with)

Instructions

1. Mix the flour and salt very well in a medium sized bowl.

2. Add half a cup of water, and the oil and lemon juice if using. Mix well.

3. Gradually add more water, bit by bit, until you get a workable, non sticky dough.

4. Shape to your heart's content. I had the kids make whatever their heart desired, while I made beads and buttons to use for a future activity. Lee made a "choo choo train", while Ike made... who knows? A sun? An octopus? A pile of mush? He kept on changing his mind.

5. If, while shaping, the dough starts getting a little too dry, add a sprinkle of water (but just a sprinkle!) and mix it in to the dough.

6. Let your salt dough dry for 3-4 days, turning over every 24 hours to help it dry faster. If you want it ready quicker, stick it in the oven on a low temperature for an hour or two.

7. When dry, paint as desired.bowls, salt, flour, water, wooden spoons,  

Cornstarch salt clay
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup salt
1/2-1 cup water
1 tsp oil
powdered tempera paint

Instructions
1. Mix all dry ingredients in bowl with spoon or fork.
2. Make a well in the center, add oil, and begin to add water until the clay starts to form a ball.
3. Turn onto surface and kneed until smooth. 
4. put into sealed bag if not using right away. If it seems to damp add a bit of cornstarch, if too dry a spritz of water.

Homemade Polymer Clay

• 3/4 cup white glue
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons mineral oil (I used baby oil but reportedly even vaseline will work)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Non-stick pot
• Wooden spoon

Steps

Add cornstarch to glue in a nonstick pot. Mix together and then add mineral oil and lemon juice. Blend well.

Cook over low flame stirring pretty much constantly (you can take a quick break or two if your arm gets tired, which it will) until the mixture resembles mashed potatoes.

Remove from heat! Squirt a little additional mineral oil around the top of your mashed potato mass and with your hands, remove it from the pot. Knead until smooth. It's best to do this while it's still as hot as you can handle.

Pull off a bit to work with and put the rest in a re-sealable plastic bag with the top about half-way open until it's cooled down a bit. Then seal the bag (with as little air in it as you can) and store in the fridge.

Let dry about 2-3 days, then paint, or not.

- See more at: http://thenewnew.blogspot.com/2011/06/homemade-polymer-clay.html#sthash.cPDpQEC5.dpuf

2 science camps keep everyone very busy and excited

fluid migration and color mixing

What explain we had this week. Both groups made all kinds of crystals, and delved in earth science, space science, and using household items to create a lot of fun. The kids were amazed that we were using table salt, Epsom salts, baking soda and vinegar, shaving cream, cornstarch, and water for so many of of their creations. I have links to many of the recipes I use this week and I will post them below. I will also add a link to all of the pictures that we took at camp in addition to some small selection here.

borax crystals

 http://chemistry.about.com/od/crystalsforbeginners/tp/Easy-Crystal-Growing-Recipes.htm --borax crystals on chenille stems

epson salt crystals

 http://www.hometrainingtools.com/quick-crystal-project/a/1687/--epsom salt crystals

http://candy.about.com/od/hardcandyrecipes/r/rock_candy.htm--rock candy-- thin wood sticks in test tubes

making goop or oobleck

snowball fight outside
http://www.playcreateexplore.com/2012/08/summer-snowball-fight-with-fluffy-stuff.html
goop--http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/ooze.html

clay landform and sand

clay #3 http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryactivities/a/modeling_clay_recipes.htm

erupting volcano

solution to launch corks--soda bottle 12oz works well, 4-6 oz vinegar, 1Tbs baking soda wrapped in tissue, cork, plastic wrap

erupting volcano--soda bottle 12oz works well, 4-6 oz vinegar, 1Tbs baking soda, 2-3 drops Dawn detergent, food colors
colored water experiment (jr)  http://wemadethat.blogspot.com/2013/03/water-transfer-experiment.html

Paper casting using white envelopes

snowball fight

space ship from tomato container

Pictures from camps:

imploding a can 

Day 1   Day 2
Day 3 jr
Day 3

Wild & Wacky Science art camp day 2

 we started our second day with a parks project to help understand a little about landforms. We used more of the salt clay and added sand, rocks, paper shred and gravel to give the project its 3D form. The kids were able to add a bit of paint to the clay to make the water areas blue and the grass or tree areas green. Lots of other structures appear in some of the parks including tables and bridges. Fun.
We reviewed some of the lighthouses around the world then made our own and checked them out to see if they would reflect light. We started with a 1/2 paper towel tube a a baby food jar. Each jar got a folded piece of foil inserted into it as the reflector. we then decorated the tubes with construction paper and made a conical roof for the top of the jar. The tube was then inserted into the jar and taped in place. Lastly we used flashlights to check and see if the lighthouses worked.
We switched to fimo clay for our last project of the day and used it to construct robots from spare computer parts, clamps, connectors and wire. Once the robots were completed I took them home and baked them to finish the projects. There was such a range of ideas and uses for the parts.