Making Science Fun

I have this amazing friend from up in Washington who is a scientist.  A year ago she came down to Utah to do a presentation for the teachers who came to Life, The Universe & Everything (LTUE) symposium.  I got to sit in on her presentation and quickly bought her book after seeing her make science become fun through experimenting on candy. (To read my review of her book click here: Candy Experiments.)



 I took the book home and started doing some of the experiments with my 6 year old daughter. Suddenly, my Rose wanted to become a scientist. She always wanted to do more and more candy experiments.

So when my friend asked me to trail test some recipes for her second book we jumped at the chance.  We had SO much fun seeing if the beta recipes would work as expected or not.  And I got to spend focused and engaging time with my Rose on something she loved.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Well, this week the publisher sent me a copy of Loralee's sequel, Candy Experiments 2.  As soon as I showed my daughter she went nuts.  We've already done a Pop Rocks experiment and today I picked up some more supplies so we can do more.  I even told Rose that if she would do everything I ask her to do in the morning, then when she got home from school we would do another experiment.  Oh my gosh!  It was the first day in months that she didn't fight me and did not throw tantrums.



So this is my book recommendation for parents and teachers out there. If you want to have a blast with you children, show them that science can be fun, and get rid of any excess of Halloween or Easter candy from your house, then you should really get these books and get right to work.

Step Kids POV

I asked my stepsons some questions about what its like to be step kids and dealing with visiting us. Here's some of their answers:


"It's awesome to come up here every time, but we miss the family at home and it can be a lot of work to prepare for," Anise said.


Lemongrass was a little less forthcoming, but I'm pretty sure he loves playing with his younger siblings by his reactions when they are around.


The boys also like playing video games with us.


In the past they've also told me that its hard to share rooms and they wish they had their own. There is also the balance of learning how to eat different things than you eat at home on a regular basis.


Though one of the things I personally love about when my stepsons come is when we sit down with their Dad and the four of us play the game Ticket to Ride.  For Christmas they gave us an expansion pack where we can move around Alvin the Alien and Dexter the Dinosaur to different cities in order to make it harder on your opponents.


Some other board games we play a lot with the boys are Risk, Monopoly, and Parcheesi.  But we go nuts with them playing video games. We are huge Mario fans so we play a lot of Mario Party, Super Smash Brothers, and the various Lego video games.  


The overall trick though is to make sure that the boys feel welcomed in our home no matter what and that we spend time with just them, when we can, after the little ones go to bed.

Building A Love for Science

I am a writer and a reader. Math and Science are not my specialties, but I have been helping a friend test out candy experiments for a sequel to her first book - Candy Experiments.





The experiments in this book, as well as the new ones I have been lucky enough to test for her, bring science into the home in a fun and exciting way. Plus, it teaches kids that they can do more things with candy than just eat it.  We've soaked, baked, microwaved, frozen, and much more to chocolate, gummy worms, jawbreakers, Skittles and more, just to see the chemical reactions that take place when we do it. The kids learn to document their findings and learn the science behind it all.


As a family we've been doing these experiments for several months now and you should see Rose's face light up as she'll come running into the kitchen and ask me, "Mom, can we do more science?"  This from a 6 year old.  She's even told her teacher she is planning on becoming a scientist.  I love it.  How often do you see that kind of excitement.  And you know what? I love doing it too. I'm learning amazing new things and have a chance to make my kids happy.  I call that a Win-Win.


To see my book review of the first Candy Experiments book click here: Candy Experiments.

Do It Yourself

I have an amazing, supportive husband and have been told many times by other couples what a unique find he is. I agree. He is pretty special. One of the things I love most about Frank is that he loves to teach our children how to do things. If he has to go down in the crawl space under our house to fix a pipe or start the waterline to the swamp cooler, then he takes Rose with him. If there are home repairs to be done, he gets the kids to help.  Last year he even planted strawberries out of our front window and had our daughter help with the whole process.


One of the things that I love most that he does for Daddy/Kid time is he'll take Rose and sometimes even Cyperus to the Kids Workshops at Home Depot held the first Saturday of every month. They LOVE it. They get to do mini projects, have their own child-sized Home Depot aprons, and come home with pins to keep on their apron.  Frank took Rose this last weekend and she came home with the most beautiful flower stand, complete with a miniature potted planted.


These special weekend events are a great way for kids to learn to do things for themselves, and some great one-on-one time with a Mom or Dad.


For more information click here: Home Depot Kid Workshops.