Thar She Blows!

In my futile attempt to "schedule" our days, Thursdays have become our science days. We get alot of science through our nature study, but I still like to do simple science activities with the kids. Today, we did three activities from Science Play. I borrowed it off my sister and it's hands-on science geared towards 2-6 year olds. We experimented with air. I wanted to show Lillie that air is very important and is everywhere, yet you can't see it, only evidence of it. I also shared a spiritual truth with her too. God is real, he's important, he's everywhere, yet you can't see him with your natural eye, only evidence of Him.
Experiment One: Puffy Pillow
We took some colorful tissue paper and cut it up into small pieces. We put them down into a ziploc and sealed it up leaving only enough room to slip a straw in. Then, Lillie blew into it and watched it swirl around. I wish I could've captured the grin on her face.

Experiment Two: Waxy Water Race
I dropped two big drops of water (tinted with food coloring so we could tell the difference between mine and Lillie's) onto a piece of wax paper. Then we blew them with our straws to see who could get their blob across the finish line first. I cut Lillie some slack and let her win because I have more hot air than her. It wouldn't have been fair, you know. Thanks to my camera for taking such a good picture of Lillie and I all by itself!


Experiment Three: Sail Away!
We borrowed three of Jack's Hummers (Jack is very possesive of his cars)

I cut index cars in two and drove a piece of skewer (toothpicks would have been better, but I had to improvise) to make a little sail. I taped them onto the back of the cars and we tried to blow them around on the floor. Jack got mad because he only knows how to spit, not blow. Lillie did a fair job. But once again, I prevailed because of years of nagging and yelling to exercise my lungs.

It was very fun to join in with the Lillie. Sometimes I get so caught up in "teaching" her , that I forget to have fun with her. I will try to get Lillie's reading lesson in tonite. She shut down on me this morning and I know when she gets that "I'm going to play dumb because I don't want to do this" look to try and pick up on it later. We probably won't get around to math, as today I folded a massive pile of the kids laundry. I taught Lillie how to fold Jack's pants and her skirts and she almost has it! I've read several good blog posts about scheduling and homeschooling, so I'll link to them here.
Here is a post from Jacci over at The Educational Life explaining how she plans her days out to fit everything possible in. Dominion Family has a great post that gives the pros and cons of a schedule and the importance of atmosphere in educating our children.