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“Stained Glass” Art

Materials:

Two pieces of black cardstock

Contact paper

Tissue paper

Scissors

Directions:

  1. Cut a circle out of one piece of black cardstock. You want the center of the circle to be open.
  2. Cut strips of black cardstock from the second piece of cardstock.
  3. Cut two pieces of contact paper so they are a little larger than your circle.
  4. Stick one piece of contact paper to the circle. Arrange the strips of black cardstock so they stick to the contact paper.
  5. Cut or tear pieces of tissue paper to be about 1 inch. Fill in the blank space inside the circle with the tissue paper pieces.
  6. Stick the second piece of contact paper to the other side of the circle so the sticky sides are together.
  7. Trim any excess contact paper around the outside of the circle.
  8. Hang your “stained glass” in a sunny window to enjoy!

Fireworks in a Jar

Materials:

  • Mason jar
  • Small bowl
  • 3-4 tablespoons of oil
  • Liquid food coloring
  • Fork

Instructions:

  1. Add oil to a small bowl. Add several drops of food coloring.
  2. Use a fork to gently mix the oil and food coloring.
  3. Fill your mason jar about 3/4 of the way with warm water.
  4. Slowly pour the oil and food coloring mixture into the mason jar.

The science behind it:

OIl is less dense than water so the oil will float at the top. Food coloring dissolves in water but not in oil. The colored droplets of food coloring will begin to sink because they are heavier than the oil.  Once they sink into the water, they will begin dissolving into the water making a tiny explosion like fireworks.

Under the Sea Suncatcher

Materials:

  • Black cardstock
  • Contact paper
  • Different shades of blue tissue paper
  • Sea creature cut outs
  • Scissors

Instructions:

  1. Cut blue tissue paper into squares.
  2. Cut a frame out of black cardstock. You will only need the frame piece for this craft. You can use the inside piece to cut out sea creatures or for another project.
  3. Cut out two pieces of contact paper that same size as the outer frame.
  4. Take the backing off one piece of contact paper and stick it to the frame.
  5. Have your child place the sea creature cut outs onto the sticky side of the contact paper.
  6. Have your child place the blue squares off tissue paper to fill in the frame.
  7. When your child has filled in the frame, place a second piece of contact paper over the tissue paper to keep it in place. Trim the edges of the frame, if needed.
  8. Hang in a sunny window and enjoy the view!

Dancing Corn Kernels

Materials:

  • Mason jar
  • Popcorn kernels
  • Water
  • Baking soda
  • Vinegar
  • Spoon
  • Tablespoon
  • Pan (to contain the mess)
  • Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

  1. Put the mason jar inside the pan so any overflow from the jar is contained.
  2. Fill the mason jar about 2/3 full with water.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the water and stir until the baking soda is dissolved.
  4. Add a handful of popcorn kernels to the mason jar.
  5. Slowly pour about 4 tablespoons of vinegar to the mason jar.  If you add the vinegar too quickly, the combination may just overflow into the pan.  After a little while, the popcorn kernels will start dancing in the jar.  If this doesn’t happen, give the liquid a quick stir.

What’s happening?

The secret to the dancing corn is the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda.  When baking soda (a base) is mixed with the vinegar (an acid), they produce carbon dioxide (a gas)!  The carbon dioxide bubbles lift the corn, but as the bubbles pop, the corn falls back down!

 

Brownies

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Directions:

  1. Combine the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
  2. Add the wet ingredients – milk, oil, and vanilla.  Mix well to combine.
  3. Add the brownie batter into a slightly greased 8×8 (or similar size) pan.  Bake at 350F degrees for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Earth Salt Dough Handprint

Materials:

  • 1½ cup flour
  • 1½ cup salt
  • ¾ cup water
  • Measuring cups
  • Mixing bowl
  • Spatula for mixing
  • Rolling pin
  • Circle shape for cutting out a circle shape – We used a mixing bowl.
  • Green paint
  • Blue paint
  • Paintbrush
  • String
  • Straw

Directions:

  1. Mix the flour, salt and water in a mixing bowl.
  2. Roll out the salt dough to about 1 cm thickness.
  3. Cut out a circle shape using a cookie cutter, bowl, etc.  Make sure the circle shape is large enough for your child’s handprint to fit.
  4. Press a handprint in the dough and use a straw to make a hole for string.
  5. Bake at 200 for 3 hours.
  6. After it has cooled, paint with green and blue paint like the Earth.

Hurricane in a Bowl

Materials:

  • Large bowl
  • Water
  • Spoon
  • Food coloring – We used liquid food coloring.

Directions:

  1. Fill the bowl about 3/4 full with water.
  2. Stir the water with a spoon until it is spinning.
  3. Place a drop of food coloring near the center of the bowl as the water continues to spin.
  4. Observe how a hurricane is being created with the eye of the storm in the middle and the bands becoming loose as you look toward the edges of the bowl.

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients: (Makes 4)

FOR THE BISCUITS:

  • 1 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ tablespoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons cold salted butter, cubed
  • ½ cup milk
  • A pinch of salt

FOR THE MACERATED STRAWBERRIES:

  • ½ pint strawberries, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

FOR THE SWEETENED WHIPPED CREAM:

  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  3. Gradually stir in milk until a soft dough forms.
  4. Drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls into four mounds onto the prepared baking sheet.
  5. Bake at 425° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
  6. While the biscuits are in the oven, stir together strawberries and sugar in a medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature until juices are released.
  7. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream, sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
  8. Split biscuits in half horizontally. Spoon on some strawberries, a dollop of whipped cream, top with the other biscuit half. Garnish with more whipped cream and a strawberry, if desired.

Snowstorm in a Jar

Materials:

Directions:

  1. Fill your mason jar about 3/4 full with baby oil.  We used a 16 ounce jar so we filled it with about 1 1/2 cups of baby oil.
  2. In a small bowl mix about 1 teaspoon of acrylic paint with about 1/2 cup of water.  These measurements do not need to be exact.  You want to create “white water” that will fill the rest of your mason jar.
  3. Add the “white water” mixture to the baby oil in the mason jar.  Allow the mixture to settle to the bottom of the jar.
  4. Add glitter to the mason jar.  You can add as much or as little as you would like.  We added about 1 teaspoon of glitter.  Allow the glitter to settle to the bottom of the jar.
  5. Break the Alka Seltzer tablet in half and drop it into the mason jar.  Watch the snowstorm take place!

Note:  Do NOT tighten the lid on the jar!  Pressure will build up and it could be dangerous.  Leave the lid off completely during the “snowstorm” or gently set on top.