Milk Art

So... The other day we had a fun milk experiment! We did this in the Spring with Cream and Skim milk (it did work a little better) and we decided to do it again! What kid doesn't have fun playing in something that would otherwise not be allowed?!

The above ingredients include:

(2) 9x13 pans (or however many different forms of milk you decide to use)

Different forms of milk. I.E. Whole, Skim, Cream, Half & Half, 1%, 2%, Soy, Almond, etc.

Food Coloring

Toothpicks or Q-Tips

What you do:

1. Pour milk into the 9x13 pans (If I would have been better prepared, I would have had one pan per child so each one could make their very own design).



2. Drop a few drops, of each color, into the milk and have the kids design the milk. Stop after every couple of minutes to discuss why each one is so different.



Yes, our chickens and turkeys are definitely a part of our family! If we are outside, they are following closely behind like a dog :) We love it!



The many swirls of colored milk.



Then, take paper and lay that over the top of the design! This is what we came up with! We, then, compared the different designs with the milk they were dipped into. The center was the Whole milk and the two outer were the Skim. You can clearly see the better of the two! After cleaning up, I baked the paper in the microwave for 30 seconds to dry it!

This experiement had no major learning curve or Einstein form of brain work, but it was MAJOR fun and we did learn a few things! Here they are:

We learned that the thicker the milk, the better it holds the design

We learned that moving the toothpicks quickly through the milk, mixed the color rather than swirled it.

We learned the further you held the Food Coloring from the milk, the bigger the splatter of color it made.

We learned that carrying a 9x13 pan is easy and so is carrying a jug of milk, but carrying the 9x13 pan filled with milk is quite difficult...Hmmm?! That was a thinker!

We learned that depending on how you poured out the milk, made a difference in the rainbow of colors it left behind on the bottom of the pan.

Having fun without making it a major, stressful, organized agenda can be lots of fun and very memmorable.

I really enjoy these days!

Hard Hats, Elevators & Rooftops...

Today was memorable! I'm not sure who enjoyed it more...me or the kids :)

My husband is a Lineman and was able to pull a few strings to get us a field trip. We got to go see how Electricity is actually made! From the coal coming off the train to the steam to the ash! It was neat to see it all in action.



We were able to invite a few friends along with us and their children. One of the moms said to me, "This will be remembered far longer than the same thing read in a text book." I'm so blessed to be able to give these memories to my children! Not to mention the generosity we received from the Plant Manager and Service Manager! They, literally, took us everywhere they could. We seen offices, stair cases, elevators, an antique 1925 Boiler and vintage house meters.

With us three moms and our 9 kids, we just followed in amazement. Like these little tidbits:

Did you know...The left over water and steam is pumped into a pond where the ash is settled, then the water is filtered and put back into the Mississippi. The water goes back in better than they found it.

Did you know...The ash that settles on the bottom of that pond is gathered and shipped down to a concrete business to use as fill for roads, sidewalks, etc.

Did you know...This plant uses low sulfur coal that's shipped in from Wyoming. Illinois coal has a 2% Sulfur level and Wyoming coal has 0.3% Sulfur level.

Did you know...Mid American Generating Plant has the best and longest record for safety.

Did you know...This generating plant was the largest West of the Mississippi until the mid 70's.



My children were able to see the coal being ground up into a powder form. They were able to see it being dumped in the lines that took it to the boiler. They seen the boilers, seen the fire inside that was a raging 2,500 degrees. They seen the steam stacks, the master control room and lots of buttons and gadgets. This is a day that I know will never be forgotten. The great part is...it's only the beginning... It's the beginning of the year, the beginning of their life ahead. So many more exploring adventures that are ahead of us. Oh...AND THE BEST PART OF THE FIELD TRIP: HARD HATS, ELEVATORS AND ROOFTOPS!!!!!
Speaking of that rooftop, we got to go up on it!


What a gorgeous view!! We were overlooking the Mississippi River! It was beautiful! We were standing right next to the smoke stack that you could see miles and miles away!



Up on the rooftop we also gotto see a train unloading the coal. There was a tractor out there on that huge mound of coal. He was levelling it out as the train slowly pushed along. The coal then goes into this huge elevator and makes it's way through the process. It was quite neat to see all the coal that goes into giving us our lights! What a neat process!


What adventures have you been on lately? Any adventures in your own yard?

Homeschooling Fun with Homemade Puffy Paint

Homeschooling holds a very special place in my heart. I love the moments of Ahaa! I love being able to spend time with my children and actually raise them. I love seeing improvements in their school work. I love that my kids know that whole milk makes better art than skim milk. I love seeing the look on their faces as their artwork comes out of the microwave! I love that my kids have a relationship with our mailman, water guy, Fed Ex and trash people. I love that we go on atleast three field trips per month and my kids are seeing the world around them. I love homeschooling my family!

Today was another fun experimental journey. We created puffy paint. I have had this recipe for quite some time. (Not sure where I got it from) I didn't have the ingredients as marked below, but thought I would try it anyways. I used all-purpose flour instead of self-rising flour, but it still worked nicely (not as nice, but still rised enough to make my kids grin from ear to ear).

Today myself and my kiddos created some puffy art!


It is really quite a simple recipe...and fun, too!

Ingredients for Puffy Paint:

--> 1T Self-Rising Flour
--> 1T Salt
--> 1 1/2 T water (just enough to make a paste)
--> Food coloring of your choice (just a few drops will do it)

Mix the flour, salt and water until it forms a paste. Too much water will make it watery and project will not turn out puffy! After mixed, put in food coloring until desired color. Paint your pictures as you normally would, then place each piece of artwork in the microwave for 45 seconds.

As you see in the picture above, I put each color in it's own bowl with it's own paint brush. I like this idea because the glass bowls all have lids and I can store them for a couple of days to use. They just loved the texture.



Painting with my children and teaching my oldest son his Roman Numerals today has been amazingly peaceful. I know that my children are really looking forward to tomorrow's craft...Flubber :)

Do you have any recipes to share? I would love to hear them...and try them, too!