Science Playdate - Colours

Last week we were invited by Umar's ummi to a Science playdate at their home. Knowing that his ummi is a closet-mad-scientist-turned-teacher, I was excited to see what she had in store for us. And what she had prepared for the children was simply amazing!

Teacher Za took pictures of the children and while we were not looking, she printed and pasted the pictures to make personalised name tags for the children. How thoughtful! During circle time at the start, each child went to a box to take out a name tag to present it to the child whom it belonged to. But instead of saying Hello, they greeted each other with Assalamu'alaikum and Wa'alaikumsalam. It was like being in the Islamic version of Julia Gabriel!

Then the children started their first activity. Some milk was poured into an aluminium tray. They were then introduced to four bottles of food colouring and the colours purple, blue, red and yellow. Teacher Za then squirted a bit of food colouring onto the milk and picked a cotton bud soaked in dishwashing liquid. She placed the tip of the cotton bud on the food colouring and the children, and their mothers too, were amazed when the food colouring dispersed to make pretty patterns on the milk. The children then got their own materials to make their own milk art.

Learning from Teacher Za

Making her own art on milk (with Umar's BJ)

Pretty patterns made by Wafa and Risyah

After the children had made their pretty patterns on the milk, they were given a piece of paper to place on the surface of the milk to get some food colouring on the paper. When the milk has dried, you get a piece of art on paper.

The little girl's milk art after it had dried

Next, Teacher Za took out a bottle and introduced the children to a funnel. She poured cooking oil to fill about half the bottle, followed by water up to about three-quarters of the bottle. She sprinkled glitter into the bottle and squirted about ten drops of food colouring into the bottle. The children were all excited to start but she wasn't done yet. She dropped half an effervescent tablet into the bottle and you get a lava lamp! The children then got their own bottles and funnels to have a go at making their own lava lamps which they got to take home.

Pouring oil and water through a funnel

Squirting some food colouring of his choice

Our lava lamp!

It was then snack time and time for some free play and for the mothers to catch up with each other. Teacher Za had earlier in the day swapped her mad scientist's lab coat and safety goggles for a baker's apron and mittens and baked for us chewy oat biscuits for the children and baked pasta for the mothers. MasyaAllah how fortunate we were to be served hot food after some activities. I know for sure the little girl enjoyed the pasta as she ate many helpings of it.

After that we went out of the house for the next two activities as it would get a little messy. Teacher Za had laid out cloth mats for us with her materials at the side. She introduced baking powder to the children which she poured some into a bottle. Then she squirted some food colouring and dishwashing liquid  into the bottle and, with a funnel, she poured some vinegar into the bottle. 

The children erupted with excitement when they saw the coloured bubbles rising in the bottle and flowing out of it. They then got their own materials to make their own volcanoes. If you put a lot of baking soda in the bottle, the reaction can go on and on as long as you pour vinegar into the bottle. The children were enthralled by it and Umar was busy taking snapshots of his blue volcano

This experiment totally reminded me of the volcano I had built when I was a primary school student, complete with brown plasticine for the "mountain" to conceal the bottle inside it. I remember it was on display at a Science fair in another school, together with some of my charts and another of my experiment with a chugging boat. Those wonderful Science Club memories!

Waiting for the eruption

Excited with his blue volcano

Taking a picture of his volcano

Blowing the bubbles away

After we had cleared the bottles and trays away, Teacher Za took out some colourful ice lollies for the children. For a while, they thought those were edible ice-cream but they were not! They were frozen mixtures of paint and water and were meant for painting. So they immediately started painting away with the ice lollies.

The yummy-looking ice lollies

Painting away with ice lollies

Then Teacher Za introduced them to syringes and told the children that they could use them to squirt some oil on their painting. The little girl had played with syringes before, usually to feed medicine to her stuffed toys, so she immediately gave it a go. After two squirts of oil, I realised that the oil caused some globules of paint to separate from the rest, creating pretty paint patterns. 

Using a syringe to squirt some oil on the artwork

The little girl's oil marbling after it had dried

After we had cleared up the mess outside, it was more free play for the children and we even stayed on for dinner as the kids were famished after all that fun. We were the last to leave but the little girl didn't want to go home. It has been quite some time since we last had a playdate with Umar and his ummi and I think the little girl missed playing with them. She and Umar used to play together all the time. She said that she wanted to stay with Ummi but I knew Ummi was too exhausted to play with her and we had to leave for a talk that night. 

I couldn't be more grateful for all the hard work that Teacher Za had put in for the children and the mummies without expecting anything in return. All we could do is to du'a that she'll be blessed with more than she had given. You can read her blog of the Science playdate to see more pictures and read up on the Science behind the experiments from the teacher/mad scientist herself. 

I love the children's sense of wonder and excitement as they were trying out something new and observing the reactions. May their sense of wonder and zeal for learning grow with them. Ameen.

Science@Play - Weather

Last month, we attended our first session of Science@Play by Dr Rufaihah and her team from Granada Academy. The theme was on Weather and it was the second monthly session of Science@Play. It was conducted outdoors at Bishan Park which was just perfect as I love outdoor playdates. Nothing like the sound of birds chirping, the feel of the gentle breeze, and the sight of trees around us to add to the experience.

We arrived a little late and by the time we had settled down, the children were listening to a sharing on different types of weather. A few inflatables were passed around of the sun, snowflake and raindrop after the discussion, followed by an activity on making a weather mobile.

I felt that this activity was more suited for children who are probably four and above; who are able to cut, thread strings through a hole, and tie knots on their own. As the little girl is only turning three this year, she couldn't complete it on her own but I tried to make it as child-centred as possible by letting her cut the strings and thread them, and choose where to hang the pictures. By the time the activity had ended, we had completed hanging only three pictures but that was totally fine. We kept the other two to complete the mobile at home.

The pretty weather mobile 

The next activity was to make a tornado in a bottle. An empty bottle was half-filled with water then a special cap was screwed onto it so that another empty bottle could be fastened on top. Then the two bottles were quickly overturned and given a quick swirl so that the water in the top bottle would spiral down in a tornado-like motion.

Of course when I got home, I had to find out why a vortex was created in the bottle. We all know that when water flows out from a container, air has to enter to take the space previously occupied by the water (now that's a textbook answer or something students memorise for their exams). That is why when we pour, we hold the bottle at an angle so that the water flows out smoothly as air is able to enter at the same time. Or when we make a hole in a milk can, we make another hole so that air can enter while we are pouring out the milk.

Have you tried pouring out water while holding the bottle vertically? Well I have, as an experiment of course. The water gurgles out or comes out in spurts as air and water have to take turns going in and out respectively. And if sufficient air doesn't get to enter, the bottle will slowly collapse so that there's a smaller space in it. Amazing stuff! Once students experience this, they'll never ever forget the lessons on Matter.

So back to the tornado in the bottle. The bottle was given a swirl to create a vortex with a hole in the middle so that air can come up the bottle and water can swirl into the bottle below. Now that totally makes sense, doesn't it? Without giving it a swirl, and the vortex, the water will not flow down smoothly due to the explanation above. You can read about the tornado in a bottle at Steve Spangler Science to create your own at home!

Observing the tornado in a bottle

Next was an activity which got the children all excited as it was time for some messy play! They each got a bowl filled with some water. A spoon of white powder was added and voila, the powder erupted into fluffy "snow"! The instant snow, which is a polymer, felt cool to the touch and wasn't clumpy or sticky. The children poured it out, threw it on themselves or squished it with their hands. My neat little girl, who loves to scoop and transfer, immediately scooped it back into the bowl with a spoon after it was overturned.

I think the time given for the activity was too short as the children would have loved to play with the instant snow for a longer time. I am trying to get my hands on some of that instant snow powder. I would place the snow in a large basin or at the water table, with some scoops and containers, and I know the little girl would be absorbed in it for an hour or so, for many days.

Playing with instant snow

The last activity for the day was an exploration with dry ice. Some dry ice were placed in measuring cylinders, water was added, and the children were amazed with the bubbling in the water and white smoke that escaped. Immediately the children grabbed the metal tongs to add more dry ice to the cylinders. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide so when it reacted with water, the gas produced is a combination of carbon dioxide and water vapour. The smoke that you see is a cloud of tiny water droplets.

Mesmerised by the reaction of dry ice with water

Food colouring was added to the three cylinders to add to the excitement and the children continued to add dry ice. What they forgot to do though was to add water to the cylinders as without water, the above reaction would not take place and bubbling and smoke would cease. Finally, some dishwashing liquid was squirted into the cylinders and soap bubbles erupted from them. There was no way to contain the children's excitement after that. You can read some dry ice experiments at Steve Spangler Science to do your own at home!

Colour added to add to the excitement

All the kids clamoured to add more dry ice

 Kids went crazy when dishwashing liquid was added

The little girl wanted to add some dry ice too

Of course there was science behind the tornado in a bottle (vertex), instant snow (polymer) and dry ice (sublimation and chemical reaction), but the children, aged 2-6, were too young to understand those. If we were at home, I would probably tell a simplified explanation to the little girl. I'm looking forward to the Science playdate by Umar's ummi as I know Teacher Za will surely give a brief scientific explanation for the activities.

The next session of Science@Play, with the theme on Five Senses, will take place on 31st March at Bishan Park. Can't wait for the next one! Looking forward to see you there!

Magnetic Tiles

The little girl has been blessed with a series of playdates recently with a relatively large number of children (about ten each). That's a far cry from her usual playdates in the past with only one to three children. I have to say that large group playdates with children of different genders and mixed ages are totally awesome. Here's one example.

Last weekend, my family came over, along with my eight nephews and nieces whose ages range from 5 to 15. The little girl who's turning 3 this year is the youngest of the lot. So the girls, six of them including the little girl, immediately started playing with the play food, tea sets, cooking pots and other cooking and baking paraphernalia at the kitchen set.

Then they discovered the Lego sets in the shelf and started building, which got me really excited. I have a few sets which I had grouped together in boxes so apart from the many standard bricks, there are also a lot of animals, people and vehicles. The little girl is not into building with the Lego yet so it was amazing to watch the girls build this and that. They have so much creativity which I am sorely lacking!

Absorbed in her Lego building

Then I looked at the three big boys and they were twiddling their thumbs and probably talking about school or soccer. So I took out the box of magnetic tiles and told them, "I think you'll enjoy these." I watched as they opened the box cautiously, probably wondering if there was something cutesy inside like a baking set. Then they saw the tiles, took them out and started exploring. Before long, they realised that the tiles were magnetic and very soon after, they were building too.

Team building

Although it was the first time that they were playing with the magnetic tiles, they were at it like a pro. They managed to build rather complex structures with almost all the tiles. They helped each other, communicated and there was no squabbling. In fact it was rather silent and I wondered if they communicated using telepathy. Well the girls did the above too while building together, except for the no squabbling part.

Having a go at the magnetic tiles

Then two days later, I decided to let the little girl play with the magnetic tiles at her light table. I gave her the small squares and some dinosaurs and watched her play. At first, I thought she would try to make a cube as one of her cousins had made a few of that for her as homes for her dinosaurs. But then she had other plans.

Dinosaurs and magnetic tiles

She started out arranging the square tiles into neat rows then placed the dinosaurs on them. For a while, the dinosaurs looked like they were on a very colourful disco floor. But I didn't say that to her as I didn't want to give her any ideas. I waited a bit more.

 Dinosaurs on disco floor

Then she raised the top row of tiles with my help, followed by the bottom row, and she made a tunnel for the dinosaurs. I couldn't help but rejoice as it was the first ever 3-dimensional structure she has made with the tiles. Immediately I knew that she had observed her cousins while they were playing and she was trying to imitate something they had done. 

A tunnel for her dinosaurs

I could see that she was ecstatic of the structure she had built and proud of it too. She called out to her papa and exclaimed, "Papa, the dinosaurs are in a tunnel! They cannot get out!" But then she realised that the ends were opened and they could get out so she asked for the triangular tiles to close the ends. After playing peek-a-boo with the dinosaurs for a while, I had to ask her to continue the next day as it was past bedtime.

Playing peek-a-boo with the dinosaurs

I have noticed for a while that the little girl, as with all children I suppose, learn a lot faster by watching other children play, especially the older ones. As the little girl doesn't go to school for now, I guess it is my responsibility then to arrange playdates for her. If nature can be her playground, then her friends can be her teachers. And her mummy? I would be happy to be the facilitator.

Children's Garden

The latest attraction for the young and the young at heart, Children's Garden at Gardens by the Bay, does not disappoint. We've been there thrice so far and we are still awed by the place. There's always something different that captures the little girl's fancy. We are amazed that the place is huge, there are so many things to explore, and there is no admission fee. Yes, it's FREE! It's open 9am to 9pm every day except Monday, unless Monday is a public holiday then it will close the next working day.

The garden has four main areas - water play area, toddler play area, tree houses and adventure trail. And the water play area is divided into two parts - one for older children aged 6-12 years and another for 2-5 years. 

Water play

Although the water play area for the older children is big and awesome, with lots of water shooting, splashing and spraying, my 2-year-old was a little scared of it as there was too much water coming from different sides. Most of the children there looked like they really enjoyed splashing and running about in the water, but my daughter was happy to play at the water play area for toddlers instead.

Water play area for older children

A lot of chairs and big umbrellas around the water play area

Water play area for toddlers

Toddler play

Adjacent to the water play area is a play area for toddlers with a slide, low swings, a bridge, a balancing beam, and some others. This is definitely a safe place for toddlers to explore and play on their own and I was glad that I could take a little breather here while the little girl ventured on her own within the somewhat confined area.

Toddler play area

Treehouses

Just when we thought that that was it and was happy to change and go home after our first trip there, we walked a little further from the water play area and saw a whole new area, starting with the tree houses. WOW! Play has just taken on a different level here! The tree houses and adventure trail are designed for children aged 6-12 years and those with younger children, like me, are highly advised to keep a close watch on their younger ones. Of course, I learnt that the hard way.

The tree houses

The first thing that the little girl was attracted to was a spinning disc. There were many children who were sitting and standing on it, with a staff who was manning it, so the little girl wanted to sit on it too. So she sat quietly, looking at the rest, while it spun away. 

I took my eyes away to look at something else, and when I turned back, I saw my little girl flying in the air and landing face first on the sand. Although she cried, with sand on her face and in her mouth, I was just thankful that it was sand that she had landed on and not a hard surface. As expected, she was okay after a short cry for more exploring.

The spinning disc that parents should be cautious of

The tree houses were fantastic though, with tall tunnel slides, a firemen pole, swinging bridges, and lots of climbing ropes. The only thing that made me go on high alert though were the holes in the wooden platform at the upper deck of the tree house, for climbing ropes, a firemen pole and rope nets. Parents definitely have to supervise their younger children here closely so that they don't fall through the holes. Because of that, I didn't take pictures of that place to avoid another fall.

Lots to explore around the tree houses

Adventure trail

Seamlessly connected to the tree houses is the adventure trail, with slides, webs and balancing beams waiting for the adventurous little ones. I was surprised that the little girl wanted to have a go at many of them. She has really become more confident and adventurous of late and I'm truly grateful for that. 

Where the adventure begins

Something I really didn't expect was for her to say that she wanted to go down the big, tall slide on her own. At first, I told her we could try it when her papa was around. Then when she insisted again, I relented. I asked her if she was okay going down on her own and she said, "You wait downstairs, mummy." I thought what could possibly happen, right? Wrong! A mother put her on the slide and down she went while I cheered her on from the bottom. Everything was going fine till she almost reached the bottom. That was when she started to spin to her right and fell sideways, with her right cheek hitting the slide. 

She wailed out loud and I ran to her. Thankfully there was no bruise or cut on her cheek; it was just red from the impact. I carried and soothed her while the lady who had put her on the slide came rushing down. A staff at the slide came down to check on the little girl too. The lady said she felt really terrible but I told her it was nobody's fault. It was the little girl who had insisted to go down on her own.

The lady suggested that I could go down the slide with my little girl so that she would not have a phobia of slides after her fall. She said her helper had gone down with her daughter on her lap and I could do the same. I asked the little girl if was keen to go down the slide again with me and she was! I was totally blown away. I thought she would not want to go near it after that fall. How I thanked Him for giving her the courage which I do not have.

The tall slide and the tunnel slides

So after that, not only did I go down the tall and fast slide with the little girl on my lap, I also had to pluck up my courage to go down the tunnel slides with her. I've never gone down tunnel slides till that day and I'm proud that I conquered my fear! But cramming myself into the slide with her on my lap, and going up the steps again and again really made my back ache that night, and the next two days. But it was worth it.

Then she saw the big spider web on a rather steep slope and an older boy running up the slope. Before I could do or say anything, she was running up the slope too! So this mummy had no choice but to run after her. It proved to be an afternoon of physical activities not just for the little girl, but for the big one too.

Not bad for a first-timer

The second time we were there, there was actually a little boy in a Spider-man costume who was climbing away at the ropes below. Although the little girl was scared at first, as she's generally scared of people in costumes, she was delighted of his presence after a while. For Naeem, whom the little girl was having a playdate with, it was more like a dream come true for him.

More ropes for climbing and swinging

During our third visit, the little girl took a liking for the uneven, swaying bridge. After crossing the bridge once with my help, she said, "Mummy, you don't have to hold my hand." Then she went on to climb onto it and cross the bridge by herself. My heart was in my throat at first but I'm grateful that I let go and listened to her. It was obvious from her excitement that she was proud of her achievement and she wanted to do it again and again. I'm proud of you too, little one!

Confidently crossing the uneven, swaying bridge by herself

Then she met a little self-taught gymnast at the beams. The little girl was totally captivated and spent a lot of time watching her. Of course the little girl tried climbing up the sides to get her legs over the beam too, but to no avail. All she could do was swing from the beam for now but I'm sure each time she sees these beams, she will try to swing like the gymnast for sure. 

Watching the little gymnast

I am in love with the fact that the playground is so big, with so many different types of activities, that there's always something new that will captivate the little girl's interest. In just three visits, both she and I have tried new things that we've never done before and there are many more waiting to be explored, like the firemen pole. And if that's not enough, the fact that it's outdoor and not another crammed indoor playground with ball pits and plastic slides, just make it a whole lot awesome. So parents, get your children out to play!