Children’s play-dates too need a science edge. We got an opportunity recently to be a part of one such fun jamboree and had some ‘bomb’astic time!
The lively bunch, all aged around 7 years, made bath bombs, created fog-in-a-jar and potted some plants.
The little girls were very excited about what was in store for them. We started by telling that we will be teaching them how to make bath bombs.
As a pre prepared bath bomb went into a glass of water and it merrily fizzled and bubbled with fragrance, enthusiasm of the kids was quadrupled.
We explained the properties and uses of each of the ingredients and the science behind the chemical process, while the kids listened patiently. Finally, they got their own supplies to work on.
They absolutely loved mixing the ingredients together, smoothing and throwing out clumps. They got to mixing-in the colour and fragrance and finally put the mixture in moulds. After a few moments, out came the bath bombs!
While the fizzies were drying, we got the kids interested in our latest collection of Venus Fly traps, little insect eating plants. We showed them a short video on these plants and touched upon the basics of organic farming and getting rid of plant pests in an environment friendly way.
They immediately wanted to feed insects to the plants and went around looking for some mosquitoes. Not finding any (alas!), they devised their own version of catch-me-if-u-can. One of them became the Venus fly trap and the others were insects. They ran around for a few minutes enjoying the game.
We were amazed. The kids were simultaneously applying the concept they had just learned to an everyday game and enjoying the results. We couldn’t help but wonder why science is not taught like this in school. Learning through fun activities ensures that knowledge is gained by experience and is meaningful to kids.
Our next mission was in the garden. The whole troop marched to a small patch in the open and sat around. They enjoyed putting on their blue gardening gloves and named themselves the “blue monsters”.
We explained the basic steps of potting a plant and one-by-one the kids followed suit. They loved having their own mini-spades and digging-in. Chaos erupted when we found an earth worm clinging to the roots of one plant. Everyone wanted the worm in their pot, and we reached a deadlock - It finally got resolved when we assured them that all pots will have worms in the soil in a few days
As we were discussing how most plants are grown from seeds in the nursery, the children impulsively broke out into a lovely poem, which they had learned atschool about plant life. They recited the whole poem together and we all applauded.
We ended the session by giving the kids tips on how to care for their plants. We also gave them write ups on some science experiments which they couldperformat home themselves.
Their creations were proudly displayed on the table and the kids had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious time!
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