Mad Science Monday: Get Outside And...Into the Laboratory!

On most days, this area of our Play Garden is a Mud Kitchen--but on this particular day, a Tuesday, actually (because Monday had been quite rainy), it became a Scientist's Laboratory for the day! Stuff was gonna get colorful. Stuff was gonna get messy. Stuff was gonna 'splode! Oh YEAH!

The boys were greeted at the I Wonder Station by a sign with a question: Can you be a scientist? I set out some props and materials and let them have at it for as long as they wished. I am embarrassed proud to say that all three of us had to be lured back inside close to bedtime with edible treats.

And while the boys were definitely busy having fun, they were also learning. They were engaged in meaningful symbolic play about being a scientist. This led to some great observation of chemical reactions and colors mixing. It led as well to mathematical discoveries as they measured and estimated potions and concoctions. They developed their fine motor skills using pipettes and tongs and gross motor skills loading up the trunk of our red tricycle to drive some laboratory materials up the sidewalk. They had opportunities to practice social skills and problem solving when it came to sharing space, ideas and resources. They built vocabulary with big words like "laboratory" and "scientist" and even "horticulturalist" (S wanted to be a "scientist who works in the garden).

Folks, I'm not gonna lie--this was messy! This was also fun. This was kind of a self cleaning experiment as well if you consider the baking soda and vinegar factor--but I definitely did a lot of dishes that night and none of them were the ones we ate from! It was worth it and you know what? We'll probably do it again... And if you would like to turn your outdoor space into a Scientist's Laboratory for a day or two or even more, here's what you'll need:









The Bare Basics:

• Tools for filling, squeezing, pouring, grasping... I had a collection of plastic beakers from the Dollar Tree and added in some squeeze bottles, plastic tongs, pipettes, funnels and other tools and toys from our sensory bin tool collection. You can use whatever you have--even if it's from the recycling bin! You don't have to have "real" science tools (but you can use those if you do).
• Water
• White vinegar
• Food coloring or liquid water color 
• Baking soda
• A plastic bin, pan or sensory table

Optional Add-ons:

• lab coats
• goggles
• clipboards and paper, pens, pencils for documentation

Before you begin you'll want to fill some of your containers with water and some with vinegar. Initially I planned to do all of my starter containers with vinegar but we didn't have a lot left (this is in no way indicative of how many science experiments I do here). I decided that having a "control group" was a great way to incorporate scientific method to our activity and filled some containers with water. I added a couple of drops of different colored food coloring to each of my containers. I did not label which ones had water and which had vinegar--this was the fun and surprising part! Pour a generous amount of baking soda in the bottom of your bin/pan or sensory table. Let your little scientists in training have at it! Pretty quickly, the boys discovered that some bottles when squeezed or poured into the baking soda made bubbles and some did not. We talked about why, but then I really did step back and refrained from hijacking their play. I let them mix, concoct, explode, stir, scoop, squeeze, transfer and even snip bits of flowers and leaves from our snipping garden and add them into their potions and concoctions as well. 

By the time we were all football carried inside by Tatty who had lollipops for the shorter scientists (who'd already finished dinner) and some homemade vegetarian chilli cheese fries for the slightly taller scientist who hadn't had dinner yet, we were all covered in splashes of color, baking soda and mud. In other words, a great time was had by all. 

HAPPY PLAYING!