The incredible folding egg

Posted on Categories Learning, STEM fun9 Comments on The incredible folding egg

Who is ready for some fun with science?

All of my boys are different and they each enjoy different things. But one thing I have found that pulls us all together to spend some fun times is STEM activities! the entire family seems to get involved somehow and they talk about it for weeks. So I thought it would be fun to share some of our activities and experiments with you all.

This first experiment is super fun! Your kids will be able to preform a magic trick for family and friends! Imagine the faces, when your child pulls a folded egg out of their pocket and proceeds to make it look normal, then fold it again and walk away!

The Folding Egg Experiment

The first thing that we did was put a small hole on each end of the egg. This could be a challenge for littles but also bring a lot of laughs, so make sure that you have extra eggs handy. we used a small skewer and started the hole on each side, before putting it through the entire egg.

After you’ve made the skewer go through, have the child blow on one end with all their might. This will make the egg insides go out the other end. My boys thought this was hilarious and they were all able to do it without help.

Once we had our 4 empty eggs, we poured white vinegar into mason jars and dropped our empty eggs in them. Since they are filled with air, they will try to float, you can have a talk with them about floating objects here if you want, and then we used spoons to carefully push the empty eggs down until they were covered.

Now for the fun part! Ok not really. Waiting is never fun! But we had to leave our empty eggs in the vinegar for a few days. We have a little one, so I put them on a high place that was still visible to everyone. That way they would see it every morning and the baby would not be able to have too much fun with it.

 

During this time we were able to observe and talk about what was happening, and what changes they could see, they were able to speculate why things were happening and then find out if they were right or not. We learned that the acid from the vinegar starts a chemical reaction with the calcium from the egg’s shell as soon as it touches it, and it can keep going for days. Each egg is unique, so there is no rule for how many days it will take, but it should not be longer than 12 days. Depending on the age of your children, you could always go deeper into this chemical reaction! One of my favorite things about STEM is that it can be for everyone, and each child can go as deep as they can or want into the knowledge and experiences that come with each activity.

On the next photo you can see how each day, the vinegar eats away more of the egg shell, until it will eventually leave only the inner membrane of it, which will be our folding egg.

After about 5 very long days, it was finally time to take what was let of our empty eggs, out of the vinegar! Imagine the eggcitement!…. See what I did there? 😉 We stole the baby powder from the baby’s room and took those babies out of the vinegar. Insert happy dance and super anxious laughs here.

 

Look at that concentration face! Remember, you have to be very gentle and careful, because if you go too crazy it will break 🙁 And then you will have to start all over again! One of ours actually broke, so I was very grateful that we had used more than one egg. After having the egg out, we rinsed with water.

Ok so we put baby powder on our hands and put our eggs on our hands. Then very carefully bounced it from one hand to the other, and blew softly on one end so that it would fill up with air, which made it look like a real egg. And there you have it! the kids had so much fun folding it, by pushing the air out of it softly with one finger and then folding if in half and then again. Their friends were super interested in trying it too.

You are now part of our amazing egg club. The boys are super into finding so many ways of experimenting with eggs that we have to buy extra eggs every week! we will make sure to share more of the fun experiments! Will you try the folding egg trick?  I think you should! And then come back and tell me about it! Did you discover something new? I think you will be happy with how STEM brings the entire family to the table and nobody will be missing the screen for a long time.

Dear mom of boys, you are not alone.

Posted on Categories Featured, Life18 Comments on Dear mom of boys, you are not alone.

Dear mom of boys,

I’ve seen your face when someone asks you if you are trying for a girl. I’ve seen you at the park, laughing nervously as you cover your boy and at the same time try to explain to others why he just dropped his pants and started to go potty. I’ve seen you wiping muddy tears and kissing boo boos, struggling not to cry even as they run away to play, because you wish you could just protect them from their clumsy selves.

I know about the books you read. I know about the questions you have. I know about the long nights when your mind just keeps going, trying to come up with the perfect things to do. I know about the long summer days when you are out of ideas and they are looking at you for more. I know about the doubts. Sleep training, cloth diapers, baby sign language, discipline, teething, and the list goes on. You’ve read about all of them but you still don’t quite know.

I know some times you think that if you had girls you would know what to do. But I know that you know that we would still wonder. Because that’s how we think.

I’ve seen you when you lose patience and react too soon. I’ve seen you wiping kids faces with your sleeve and then wiping your sleeve on your pants. I’ve seen you yelling, begging, negotiating, bribing and threatening. I’ve see you feeling stupid afterwards. I’ve seen you realizing that you wore that shirt for the last three days and you definitely need a shower.

I’ve seen you praying and crying as you drive to the emergency room. I’ve seen you up all night rocking bouncing wishing he would just be alright.

Maybe you always wanted boys. Maybe you never did. maybe you always wanted a girl. Or a girl and a boy. Maybe you kept trying for a girl. But maybe you just wanted more boys. it doesn’t matter how it came to be, I still know you, the moment I see you, and I see the look in your eyes, the love and adoration for those little boys. I see how you hold on so tight, and you don’t want to let go. I know because I do it too. Because that’s what we do.

The fact is, as soon as I saw you, I knew you right away! It didn’t matter if I met you at the store, the park, online, the airport, the library, or if I just saw you passing by. I recognized the power, the resilience, the heart muscle, the nonchalant reactions when your child is about to throw a giant rock up in the air, with his eyes closed. Because you’ve already seen so much more! baseballs through windows, broken bones, intense wrestling matches right in your living room floor, shattered lights that end that friendly football game indoors, smashed up bugs and 600 critters that they bring along. Because that’s how we react!

But most importantly, I know about the kisses, and the smiles. I know about the flowers and the weeds that you carefully place in water. I know about the snuggles. I know about those long hugs that comfort you when your heart is broken. I know about the built in comedy shows. I know about the pride when they draw you for the first time. I know that we know how to kill all the monsters. And I bet you can tell me what a Dilophosaurus is and how many teeth they have.

I know about that moment when he was finally in your arms. I know your heart exploded. I know you swore to never let him be harmed. I know how that first night you only wanted to turn the world off and stare at that tiny bundle of joy. I know that all the pain was nothing. I know you fell in love.

I know you when I see you, because I see myself in you.

And I want to tell you that you are doing a good job! Listen to your heart. Don’t give up. Don’t be so hard on yourself.

Have fun. Get dirty. Cry a little. Or a lot. Laugh at yourself. Enjoy these boys. Teach them, learn from them. And know that you are not alone. I’m here with you.

This amazing shirt and other favorites for moms of boys, can be found on this link