Seeds Experiment Update

Last week on my "Tuesdays w/ Mommy" post, I blogged about a science experiment that we could observe over a period of time. We are starting to see some changes in our little seeds! Here is Jaxon w/ one of the pumpkin seeds. He was so excited to see that one of them has now sprouted after only 3 or 4 days.

I took these pictures on Friday. Today we will take them out again and see how much they've changed since we observed them on Saturday.

And our corn crop has now started to show some signs of growth. All 3 of his kernels sprouted and he couldn't have been happier!

Tuesdays w/ Mommy

Jaxon and I had so much fun w/ our first experiment of the day Tuesday, that we decided to try another one. This time we picked something that we could observe over a period of time.

Last summer we planted pumpkins and gourds and had planned on doing the same this year but decided against doing so when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't think at the time that I'd probably want to be doing much weed pulling this summer... and I am so glad I didn't have to!

I had already purchased several packages of seeds this spring so we were prepared to do this experiment. Plus, we feed whole kernel corn to our calves so we had some of that on hand too! The only other things you will need for this project are paper towels or napkins, water and sandwich bags.
After gathering our supplies, we first started our experiment by dampening our napkins. We then placed three seeds on one damp napkin and three kernels of corn on the other. Next, Jaxon folded the two napkins in half and placed each one in it's own sandwich bag. DO NOT close your bags, the seeds and kernels need air to breathe. I labeled each baggie and dated them so we could tell them apart. I also drew pictures on each one so Jaxon could tell what was what. And finally, Jaxon hung the bags in the kitchen window to expose the seeds and kernels to some sun light.

At our house we are always discussing crops. Every time we go in the car, Jaxon and I play a game where I point to a field and he tells me what's growing in it. (I sometimes wonder if he'd been a girl what games we might play?!) This experiment was right up his alley and the first thing he asked this morning was to see his seeds.

Over the next week and a half we will be watering and observing our plants each day to see how they change. Farmer Jaxon is looking forward to watching his crop flourish!

Farm Science ~ Milk Experiment

I'm always doing art projects with Jaxon but decided that we needed to mix it up a bit and try something different for a change. I'm hoping that by doing some fun hands-on experiments, I can encourage Jaxon to get excited about science! To keep w/ the "farm" theme, we chose an experiment that uses milk. This a very PreSchooler friendly project that once again uses ingredients that can be found in your kitchen.

You will need...

• a shallow dish



• 1/2 a cup of room temperature milk



• food coloring



• a few drops of dish soap

• Q-Tips

Find a cookie sheet or other shallow dish and set it on the table. This experiment works best with a shallow dish. (I used a small frying pan.)

Pour a half a cup of room temperature milk into the shallow dish. If you get the milk directly from the refrigerator then you can microwave the milk to room temperature. Make sure your preschooler can see the milk easily in the shallow dish.

Squirt the food coloring around various spots of the milk. It's best to keep the colors close for this experiment. Take a Q-Tip and dip it into the dish soap and touch it to the milk on the sections with the food coloring. Hold it there for a few seconds, approximately 5 to 10.

Remove the Q-Tip and notice the continuous swirls going on even without the Q-Tip.
Dip the Q-Tip in the dish soap again and then touch the milk to continue the swirls.

We swirled and swirled our colors until they had all mixed together. It was fun to see the expression on his face when the soap touched the food color for the first time! During our experiment we talked about where the milk that we used came from and why he thought that cow's milk was white not green!