Fun with Science

Hudson is doing the federal, preschool HIPPY program which gives parents home instruction sheets to do with your child throughout the school year. HIPPY teaches kindergarten readiness skills. Hudson LOVES doing his "HIPPY homework," as we call it. In fact, I can even use it as a bribe and say,"We're not going to do your HIPPY homework unless you ___________." It usually works.

A few weeks ago there was a great activity that Hudson just loved. If you don't do HIPPY(many of my Cabot friends do), then here are the directions. You will be teaching your child cause-effect and prediction skills. Find one shiny penny and 4 dark pennies. Show your child the different pennies and discuss the differences of how one is bright and shiny, and the others have gotten dirty. You can also discuss how the value of a penny is one cent and throw a little math in there, too.

In four different bowls, place the following ingredients: water, salt (dry), vinegar, and then vinegar mixed with salt in the final bowl. Let your child feel and smell each bowl (Hudson was grossed out by the vinegar smell). Discuss which solution/mixture your child predicts will best clean the dirty pennies (Hudson picked water).

Then put a dirty penny in each solution and let your child "wash" the penny. Do water, then dry salt, then vinegar alone. None of those will do anything. Finally, put the penny in the vinegar/salt mixture, and you will be able to watch the penny get shiny and copper colored again. It happens almost immediately, and it's really cool! Hudson said, "Wow!" Then, he wanted to clean a whole bunch of Daddy's dirty pennies!

It's cheap and easy to do, and your preschooler will have a lot of fun.