In Gleamer’s previous post, “Why does the soap have a spring in it?”, she mentions that I would post some explanation of the soap dispenser. Well I just don’t have enough time to do a detailed explanation so in the mean time you will have to settle for the explanation in the video. I’ve found doing life-sized demostrations of complicated phenomena and mechanisms is a great way to involve the children in learning. It also keeps my mind fit as I try to figure out yet another unintended use for one of their toys or some random piece of junk. (Incidentally, the idea to use the green alligator tube as the spring was Gleamer’s and she shot the video, a true collaborative effort!)
Just a quick follow-up to Gleamer’s post. When I came in the bathroom to check on Riesling getting ready for bed she had the toilet cover lifted on the back of the toilet and asked me how it works. We took off the cover and looked inside. Riesling stated that she knew how the handle worked and proceeded to explain to me how when the handle is pushed down the toilet flushes.
This was a good start but we went ahead and explored further. We explored the way the handle felt (first tight, then loose, then tight again), what was attached (the chain), and what was attached to the chain (the flapper). When I told here to go ahead and reach down and push the flapper down after we flushed it, she was a little afraid and tentatively asked, “That’s water? Real water?” To which I chuckled and replied, “Yes, real water.” She reached down and pushed the flapper and was immediately surprised that the toilet stopped flushing. She quickly grasped what the flapper was doing and that she could control it, even without the use of the handle on the outside.
We then moved on to exploring why the toilet kept spraying water out of the fill valve even though she stopped the flush by pushing down on the flapper, also I sparked her curiousity by wondering what made the water start and stop spraying and what was the deal with the big black ball in there. This was a little harder for her to figure out and so I gave her some hints as to the best way to figure it out. We watched very carefully how everything moved when the water emptied and filled. After that Riesling did a couple of tests by pushing down or pulling up on the ball there-by releasing or preventing water from flowing out the fill valve regardless of whether or not the flush-handle had been pushed.
In the end, I think it was a really great spontaneous lesson, and I really enjoyed our 10 minutes of exploration together.
Riesling and Cashel were in bed with me this morning arguing over my hands. Riesling was trying to explain to Cashel that I had 2 hands and that they could each have one of them while Cashel was insisting that he have both hands. Ahhh the joy of learning about ratios early in the morning. I asked what time it was and Cashel said seven seven six eight and Riesling said it’s seven thirty eight; past time to get up and make the smoothies!
While I blended, the kids decided to get out the Legos. I let them know that I wasn’t any good at playing with Legos and wouldn’t be able to help them. They said ok and began taking items out of the containers. Before long Riesling was in the throws of frustration (crying and blubbering) because she couldn’t get her very tall car to stand up. I asked her how I could help and then just finally left her alone after she wouldn’t answer me. Cashel took this opportunity to bang his roller into Riesling’s feet, further frustrating her. After a bit Cashel left Riesling alone and her car stayed together and all was well.
Cashel let me know that he had to go potty and afterwards, as I was washing his hands and singing ABC’s, he asked why there was a spring in the soap.
“Ummm, I’m not sure, except that I don’t think that it would work without it,” I said.
I searched online for an answer and got nowhere except that the kids got very ansy. I decided to use my lifeline and to call Joe at work and have him explain it. He told them that the spring pushes the pump back up to suck more soap into the tube which will be squirted out the next time the pump is pushed down. He said that when he gets home they can take one apart and look at it.
They looked at books and played doctor to both animals (”Oh a vetrenarian,” I said) and humans.
Then they played barber to their stuffed animals who have any hair left after the last few renditions of barber. Riesling took the fabric which I had detached from an old umbrella and wrapped it around her stuffed kitty’s neck to mimic the cape the beautician had used when she cut our hair.
They used one continuous piece of clear tape to try to go from one end of the house to the other, making sure it was securely over the doors so that no one could get in or out of them. After they had gone through one and a half rolls of tape, I let them know that another roll would cost $2. They decided that they would rather spend their money on something else.
Riesling and Cashel continued their rehearsal of the “show” that they will be presenting sometime today, as they didn’t get to do it yesterday.
We played 72 card Memory and then Candyland. I am always in awe of how fantastic their memories are…or possibly how poor mine is…as they always whip my butt!
At lunch Riesling and Cashel tried to reinact a beat box video that they had seen and really like using old spice containers and their bowls.
We read lots of books. The Emperor’s New Clothes (A Favorite Fairy Tale Retold) by Van Gool, Trick-or-Treat Faces by Judith Moffatt and A Weekend With Wendell, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, & Wemberly Worried all by Kevin Henkes.
Since we were having pears as part of our snack, we read Too Many Pears by Jackie French.
When Joe got home, Cashel barely let him get a hello out before asking, “Why does the soap have a spring in it?” Please see Joe’s post to read about the science that ensued.
I decided to make gnocchi from scratch tonight. Riesling helped Joe make many of them. Cashel peeled the carrot that went into the pumpkin sauce. But before they would help Riesling asked that I get her “kitchen robe” for her :) Makes sense to me! I got them both their aprons and they were set.
Before we ate Riesling and Cashel finally performed their show. It was “belly button dancing”. I have absolutely no idea where she thinks this stuff up! I do think it was very important to her because she picked up all the toys from the living room and made sure they had enough room to move. Riesling wore a scarf tied around her chest and a long skirt and Cashel donned his pink satin skirt and decided to go commando. They both had so much fun dancing and we just loved watching them.
I read Can You Tell Me How to Get To Sesame Street? by Eleanor Hudson and they passed out.
We took the metro to the zoo because we thought it would be fun for the kids. Not only did they enjoy the trains, they also enjoyed learning about momentum, air flow and mapping.
At first when Riesling would fall forward or backward when the train stopped or accelerated we asked her what ideas she had as to why that happened. We talked about her standing still and the train accelerating and that she had to catch up to the train and that the train slowed down faster than she did. We did some experiments. Joe dropped his keys and they didn’t fall straight to the floor. He held a bag by the strap and it swayed in the same direction we swayed (or fell if we weren’t holding on!)
Joe also talked about how the trains push the air out of the tunnel ahead of them and created a vacuum behind them. We stood close to the entrance to experience it first hand.
We looked at the metro map to figure out where we were at and where we were going and how many stops we had to get there using the color coded lines. Riesling matched the sign on the wall of each stop to the names next to the dots on the map which represented a station.
Of course there were lots and lots and lots of things to see and do at the zoo. We visited many different animals. We talked about mammals, reptiles and invertebrates and what makes them different from each other. Cashel tried to say the name of each animal. Riesling looked at where the animals lived in the world before they came to the zoo. We discussed what the animals were doing and possible explanations as to why. I learned the difference between a seal and a sea lion, which I had confused with each other. Riesling found the different types of turtles fascinating. She told us all about what was similar and what wasn’t between the sea and land turtles. Cashel loved the crocodiles with their big teeth!
As we navigated back to get to our train with a sleeping Cashel in one stroller and a tired (too big for the stoller she was in) Riesling we had to take the elevators. Riesling looked out the windows and could see the cables outside. Joe discussed with her what the cables were for and how the elevator worked.
When we got back to Beth’s, Riesling and Cashel played some more with Colleen and Joseph. I sat on my hands and zipped my lip as I wanted to cheer or suggest while they negotiated toys and games with out killing each other. I read Piglet’s (or maybe it was Pooh’s) Big Movie to all the kids. Then we went outside where they rode and ran around until dinner.
