It’s a truth universally acknowledged that I’ll do pretty much anything (plus tap dancing) to keep my kiddos entertained during the summer.
Add to that, the fact that our schedules are a bit more fractured this summer—meaning, different kiddos are going different directions, during different weeks, for different activities—so the days of all of us being in one place, in town, for a whole day are, well, few and far between.
All that said, I decided to kick off these first few “free” days of summer break in style.
Translation: I overhyped ridiculous “theme days” and stuck the written reveal for each day on a little piece of paper hidden in balloons the kiddos have been popping each morning.
I’m posting out of order since today was the second day, but just roll with it.
I give you: Toothpaste Day!
Yep, Toothpaste Day. Inspired by the three-for-the-price-of-one dentist appointments the kiddos had this morning.
While yesterday was a bit more crafty, today was science-centric, which is fantastic, since my kiddos all lurv a good Monday Science Fun Day (even when it falls on a Thursday).
I’ll start with the reveal of our Toothpaste/Egg experiment and then rewind:
Okay, so. This one was supposed to represent the impact of certain drinks on the enamel of our teeth. And how toothpaste can help protect that enamel.
We started by placing one egg in each of three glasses of liquid: grape juice, Diet Coke, and coffee. Those three bad boy eggs were our control group (pretend I took pictures of the full glasses).
Then we did the same thing with three other eggs—but first, we slathered those eggs in toothpaste.
Then we let allll the eggs-in-liquid sit overnight and most of the day, until after lunch, when we busted the eggs free and rinsed them off.
Then we let allll the eggs-in-liquid sit overnight and most of the day, until after lunch, when we busted the eggs free and rinsed them off.
Oh my goodness, the results! Totally wild!
First off: how amazing that the toothpaste really did protect the eggs. Amazing!
First off: how amazing that the toothpaste really did protect the eggs. Amazing!
Second: how groddy that the grape juice (I suppose because of the massive sugar content?) totally destroyed even the toothpaste-covered egg. It kind of ate away at the shell. It was even stinky by the time we took it out. Who would have thought it would be the worst of all??
The other interesting thing that’s hard to tell from the pics: even with the toothpaste, the coffee left a tiny bit of discoloration on the egg. Just a smidge—or at least a smidge more than the Diet Coke. Fascinating.
The other interesting thing that’s hard to tell from the pics: even with the toothpaste, the coffee left a tiny bit of discoloration on the egg. Just a smidge—or at least a smidge more than the Diet Coke. Fascinating.
So…definitely a successful experiment and the perfect one to conduct on a dentist day! Really hammered home the whole concept of protecting our teeth.
Okay…so. Next up was an experiment that seems fairly common, since it uses household ingredients, but it was new to us, therefore, really exciting.
Okay…so. Next up was an experiment that seems fairly common, since it uses household ingredients, but it was new to us, therefore, really exciting.
I give you…Elephant Toothpaste!
Google it and you’ll find all sorts of awesomesauce examples. Super fun.
Google it and you’ll find all sorts of awesomesauce examples. Super fun.
We basically had to mix hydrogen peroxide…
Food coloring…
Dishwasher soap…
Then the reactive agent of some warm water and dry yeast.
Food coloring…
Dishwasher soap…
Then the reactive agent of some warm water and dry yeast.
It created a really satisfying sort of slow-mo volcano out the top of the bottle. Really nifty.
Even niftier: cuddling up on the couch to watch this pretty famous, former NASA engineer who has his own YouTube channel now and conducts all sorts of kid-friendly, wild science experiments.
Even niftier: cuddling up on the couch to watch this pretty famous, former NASA engineer who has his own YouTube channel now and conducts all sorts of kid-friendly, wild science experiments.
He’s broken various Elephant Toothpaste world records (yep, they exist) not one, not two, but three times, and it was reallllly fun to watch the videos and learn how he did it.
After conducting our own mini version at home, it was wildly educational to learn of the various modifications and amplifications and months and months of test rounds that were conducted prior to each of his official rounds.
After conducting our own mini version at home, it was wildly educational to learn of the various modifications and amplifications and months and months of test rounds that were conducted prior to each of his official rounds.
It was the perfect kind of using-your-brain TV time that tied in really well with our theme day.
After all our toothpaste fun, a necessary round of picking up groceries, and some solid reading time, the day had already flown by. Exactly what you want in the summer!
Then after this yummy dessert (after dinner, of course), we had our inaugural evening family bike ride and it was glorious.
There will be soooooo many days over the next two months when I want to pull my hair out, but the last couple have been solid, and I’m hoping to keep the happy mojo going for as long as possible! Planning is KEY.
After all our toothpaste fun, a necessary round of picking up groceries, and some solid reading time, the day had already flown by. Exactly what you want in the summer!
Then after this yummy dessert (after dinner, of course), we had our inaugural evening family bike ride and it was glorious.
There will be soooooo many days over the next two months when I want to pull my hair out, but the last couple have been solid, and I’m hoping to keep the happy mojo going for as long as possible! Planning is KEY.
More mañana, peeps.
Over and out.
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