My brother asked if I would watch my nephew while they went Christmas shopping. I said I would. There was one small problem with this.. I have nothing for a 9 year old boy to do for a couple of hours and he doesn't have any sort of "screen" to keep him occupied for that long. I was going to steal my brother's Legos when we were home a few weeks ago but decided we could do science experiments instead. My nephew likes science and I figured this would be a good way to kill some time.
After scouring Pinterest for ideas, I made a list of possible activities we could do. I wasn't sure what he was interested in more: Science or Engineering.
We did the following activities
Suck an egg in a bottle -- EPIC FAIL! The egg never was sucked into the bottle. I think our egg was too cold and the bottle too big. We used an quart milk bottle. I hard-boiled the egg the day before and stored it in the fridge. I think there was too much oxygen left when the flame when out in the bottle cause the egg to drop in the bottle. We will try this again another day with a smaller bottle and a warmer egg.
We sliced lemons in half and poked holes in them.
Then we sprinkled with baking soda and dish soap.
We added extra lemon juice to speed up the process.
They were cool but kind of messy. J had fun pouring on the lemon juice. Not a big hit but fun enough.
This was a quick activity before lunch. Just food coloring and shaving cream. It kept J occupied for a bit.
Balloon Darts
This was the big winner of the day. I literally stacked a couple cups and J tried to knock them down by shooting an inflated balloon at it the stack. He never quite aimed right but it was fun trying.
Another winner of the day. We filled a water bottle 1/3 of the way with vinegar, dropped a packet of baking soda in it, and stuck a cork in it. The bottle took off like a rocket when the baking soda and vinegar reacted. This is definitely an outdoor activity. J was so excited by this one, he had to show the hubby.
J was not as impressed with this one as he was with the rockets. This was another baking soda and vinegar activity. You filled a balloon with baking soda and a water bottle with vinegar. Stick the balloon on the rim of the bottle and watch the balloon inflate.
I found many different versions of this. I was excited to try making catapults. However, they weren't very good. Nothing flew very far but J had fun trying.
Pencil Baggies
This activity J found in his science experiment book he brought with.
You literally fill a ziplock bag with water. Go outside and stick pencils through the bag. The water will not leak. This is a great hot summer day activity. J was impressed that it did not leak and it was fun to let the water out when we were done.
Note: It doesn't ruin your good colored pencils :)
This was a last minute add since we had time. We tied a piece of yarn to a chair. Then we added a straw before trying the yarn to another chair. Then we taped an inflated balloon to the straw and let go. It was fun but the string could have been longer.
It was a fun day of science fun. J couldn't stop talking about everything we did when he parents came to pick him up. Aunt Amy Science Camp for the win. Sometimes kids just need to do fun things that don't require screens and they will talk about it for ages.
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