Our elementary school’s Science Fair was last Saturday. The two younger kids (Kindergarten and 3rd Grade) each had a project – while the experiments were a lot of fun, putting together those tri-fold boards proved to be a bit of a challenge. Their attentions spans waned, we ran out of glue sticks for the hot glue gun, and a foul mood was on the horizon. Fortunately, J saved the day (and my sanity!) with a 10pm trip to CVS for glue (and an emergency Snickers bar)!
They proudly displayed their boards at school, answered questions from the interviewers (not “judges,” this was an “everyone wins!” event), and received lovely participation medals and certificates. The only blip in the morning was when our six-year saw all the tri-fold boards displayed on tables in the gym and whined “Where’s the fair?!?” It turns out he was expecting carnival rides and cotton candy. Next year we’ll be more clear with the definition of Science Fair!
Here’s a photo journal of LW8′s project, Kitchen Science: Making Fabric Dyes from Plants and Vegetables:
"I gathered some old white t-shirts."
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"And a bunch of fruits and vegetables - onion skins, spinach, strawberries, blackberries, cucumber peels, and carrots."
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"I crumbled the onion skins."
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"Snipped up the cucumber peels."
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"And mashed the blackberries."
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"Mom added a little water and put them on the stove to simmer for 30-45 minutes."
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"We strained the fruits/vegetables, and poured the liquid dye over a square of cotton t-shirt in the bottom of a bowl."
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"In the morning I rinsed the cotton squares. The onion skins had a strong dye, so did the blackberries. Neither the cucumber peels nor the spinach gave much green color. The carrots barely left any orange color on the cloth."
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"The Science Fair was fun! I'm already thinking about what I can do for my next project!"
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For peeks into the kitchens of other bloggers, visit Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking, her weekly round-up of food-related posts. You may find cookbook reviews, a novel with a heavy foodie theme, a fun new kitchen gadget, or someone planning this year’s vegetable garden. As Beth says, if it’s even slightly food-related, you’re welcome to join in the Weekend Cooking fun!
I have a love/hate relationship with the glue gun. Nothing else quite gets the job done, but I have SCARS from the damn things. Nice job on the project!
watching the niece use the glue gun yesterday… between the screams and those long glue strings, very amusing…lol
Onion skins, known for great color for centuries..and berries..everyone know if you get berry juice on your shirt you may as well through it out.
Fun project! And a good way to subtly get rid of those old T-shirts! As Caite said, I’ve known about onion skins, tea, nuts, and berries as dyes. So interesting that the other vegetables left so little color.
And too funny about “Where is the fair?” — what a disappointment that must have been.
What a great project! Very cool! She’s adorable, cute pic with the cucumber peels
And funny story that it wasn’t a carnival! Snickers, good choice, LOL!
We used to enjoy those science projects…maybe my youngest will want to participate some day
I cannot even imagine her using a glue gun however…YIKES!
A glue gun always makes me think of Martha Stewart, lol. Looks like the kids had a great time
What a fun project! I love the idea of making natural fabric dyes.
Sandy – believe me, at 11pm on Friday night, I felt like *I* deserved a participation medal. I settled for the Snickers.
caite – yes, reminding ourselves to let the glue cool on fingers before peeling it off …
Beth – the school doesn’t require a hypothesis, so she hadn’t put her pre-conceptions in writing. She came up with the idea when we were in FL and she “smooshed” (the word she used on the board) a flower, then wondered if the petals could dye fabric.
Carol – he was so disappointed to realize there wasn’t a “fair,” and we had no idea that he was expecting more fun …
Patti – the experiments were a blast – messy and fun. Putting together that tri-fold board had a few of us close to tears
TheBookGirl – I’m NO Martha Stewart, that’s for sure!
Rikki – She’s already declared that home-made dye for tie-dye shirts will be a summer project.
Cool project!
This is so great, and interesting too. What a fun project. Loved the pics!
What a great job she did. A good learning experience I’m sure she’ll remember. I remember those science fair projects. I often felt I did more work than the child. But – it’s all for a good cause. Tell LW8 I consider her a Science Star.
Oh my gosh — I still remember the yearly science fairs from when I was a kid. I LOVED them with all my heart — so fun! Looks like your kiddos love them too, well except for the little one who was expecting a carnival
So cool, I’ve never actually dyed anything before. If you don’t count the tie-dye experiments in primary school, that is
How well does the color stick?
What a terrific idea and well-implemented! I had no idea that onion skins were a dye. That’s a fun little tid-bit of information to have. Thanks!
Absolutely adorable! I’ve always so admired those women who raise their own sheep, spin their wool, dye their wool, knit their wool. I’ve got the sheep, but that’s it!
What a great project! The pictures are award-winning! We’ve dyed scarves using Kool-Aid before but this sounds like a great summer activity for my groovy girl.
What a great job! I would have had trouble not eating those blackberries!
What a fun and interesting project. I kind of miss my kids science fair days. They were crazy making but I have great memories. Your story did bring back another memory though. When my son was about 5 we had a family dinner for my sister’s birthday and had made the mistake of calling it a Birthday Party. When we were getting ready to leave my son got very upset. When we asked what the trouble was he asked “where are the goodie bags?” “this is the worst birthday party ever!” So, your fair story made me giggle.
It looks like a great time!
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