ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GATHERING STEAM

09/02/2021

Source: thebestideasforkids.com

Make some glow-in-the-dark slime with today’s STEAM activity!

Materials

• 6 ounces or 3/4 cup of Elmer’s glow-in-the-dark glue
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 tablespoons contact lens solution – Renu Fresh brand recommended

Directions

• Get a bowl to mix your slime ingredients in.
• Add the Elmer’s glow-in-the-dark glue to the bowl, then add your 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and mix in thoroughly. If you want, you can add up to 1/4 cup of water to make a stretchier slime.
• Slowly add in your contact lens solution. (Reminder: your contact lens solution should contain boric acid or your slime will not form). Add it in slowly and mix if possible so that you can adjust and ensure you do not add too much. Knead and mix thoroughly before adding more as you do not want to add too much or your slime will get too hard.
• Take the slime out of the bowl and knead, knead, knead. You may be surprised how much you need to knead to really make the slime form. It will be very sticky at this point, especially if you added water. Keep kneading and stretching the slime and it will become less sticky. If it’s not the desirable consistency, keep kneading. Only add a little more contact solution – a teaspoon at a time – to prevent the slime from becoming too hard.

Spark Creative Learning!

For something to glow in the dark, it requires chemicals that store energy when exposed to light. These substances are called phosphors which radiate light after being “energized” or exposed to light. Once you expose them to light, they slowly release this energy in small amounts of light which causes the objects to glow in the dark.

It’s easy to make this slime glow again and again – you only need to let it sit in the light for 2 minutes before it will glow. Once it loses its glowing effect, just bring it back into the light again to “recharge.” Putting it out in the sunlight works best, but if you have strong indoor lights they will work too.

SHOP FEATURE 5

08/02/2021

I LOVE TO TELL STORIES CRAFT

06/02/2021

Celebrate I Love to Read Month by creating your own notebook to hold all your terrific tales!

Materials

• Jumbo craft or popsicle sticks
• Tape 
• Glue
• White paper
• Coloured paper
• Scissors
• Yarn
• Stapler

Directions

• Fold four pieces of white paper into quarters.
• Using the scissors, cut the folded tops of your papers so that they can open like the pages of a book.
• Use the stapler to carefully staple your pages together along one edge.
• Now we’re going to make our front cover! Lay the jumbo popsicle sticks down so that they cover the entirety of your stapled papers. Apply one strip of tape horizontally about one inch from the top of the popsicle sticks, and another strip of tape about one inch from the bottom. This will help hold your cover together. Apply extra tape to this side as needed.
• Repeat this step to create your back cover.
• Take your front cover. Hold a piece of yarn behind one of your jumbo popsicle sticks, just above where you applied your tape. Weave it in front of and behind your popsicle sticks so that it forms a border around the top of your book. Right now, every other popsicle stick will be uncovered. Loop your yarn around the last popsicle stick so you can turn around and weave it the other way, covering the uncovered sticks and completing your border. Leave an end long enough so that you can tie your yarn. Cut the yarn and make a knot to hold it in place.
• Repeat this step with the bottom of your front cover.
• Apply glue to the entire top page of your book. Carefully press the back of your front cover (the side with all the tape) to this page to hold it in place. Repeat this step with your back cover.
• Cut shapes out of coloured paper and use them to decorate your book, then write fantastic stories in your book that you can share with everyone!

Spark Creative Learning!

• Amazing things can happen in our world, or a world of your own creation! Where does your story take place? Is it somewhere familiar, or somewhere brand new?

• Stories are always more fun when you can share them with someone. Practice your storytelling skills by sharing your story.

• How long will your story be? Put your skip-counting skills to the test by seeing if you can figure out how many pages will be in your book. See if you’re right by making a careful count.

LOVE LOCAL: SPARK CREATIVE LEARNING IN MANITOBA

03/02/2021

Source: Manitoba Parks

Manitoba Parks has announced that they will again offer free entry to provincial parks throughout the month of February so Manitobans and visitors can take advantage of the many winter activities available in the parks. Vehicle permits are not required in any provincial park in February. There are groomed trails in provincial parks across Manitoba for a variety of activities including cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, fat biking, snowshoeing and hiking. Paint Lake, Spruce Woods and Turtle Mountain provincial parks also offer outdoor skating areas, hockey rinks and toboggan hills.

Kids can also become Nature Detectives, Junior Naturalists or Park Explorers with the activities in Manitoba Parks’ Kids Education and Interpretation booklets. Once completed and returned, Manitoba Parks will make your child an official Junior Naturalist, Park Explorer or Nature Detective, complete with an official certificate and pin! On the back page of each booklet you will find a place to check off everything you need to do. Learn more and start exploring!

ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GATHERING STEAM

02/02/2021

Source: astro-canada.ca

Quebec’s ASTROlab has a fabulous virtual exhibition available to experience on their website, called Canada Under the Stars. The virtual exhibit highlights aspects of the legacy left to us by the stargazers of our country. Canada was in the throes of nationhood at the same time as new astronomy was emerging and participated in its development and discoveries. Did you know that at one time, two of the four largest telescopes in the world were in Canada? Did you know that today Canada is involved in some highly sophisticated projects, and that Canadian astronomers are renowned for being the most efficient in the world?

Learn more about that legacy with Canada Under the Stars, which includes written history, photos, and video clips about Canadian astronomers, observatories, and a timeline of Canadian astronomy discoveries. All of the website information is available in both English and French.

SHOP FEATURE 5

01/02/2021

WINTER SILHOUETTES

30/01/2021

Materials

• Craft sticks
• Glue
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Black permanent marker

Directions

• Lay two craft sticks down horizontally, one above the other, with enough space between them to lay another stick.
• Place a line of glue on each of the craft sticks.
• Lay craft sticks vertically between the two horizontal sticks, each touching the next, to create a flat rectangle.
• Leave the sticks to dry.
• Once the glue is dry, paint your rectangle. Try using a variety of colours and gently blending them together to create a gradient on your craft sticks! We blended blue with white to make a wintery background.
• Allow your paint time to dry.
• Once it’s dry, use a black permanent marker to trace a silhouette on your rectangle. Think of things that you see outside during winter and draw their silhouettes. We drew a silhouette of a tree beside a house. Using either black paint or the permanent marker, fill in the interior of your silhouette.
• Find a place around your home to display your art!

Spark Creative Learning!

• What’s a silhouette? It’s the outline of something visible against a lighter background. Shadows are one example of a silhouette that we often see in our daily lives. Can you think of any structures (both natural and man-made) in our city that have unique and easily recognizable silhouettes?

• Explore colour theory as you paint your rectangle. What’s a warm colour? What’s a cool colour? Can you make a gradient out of warm colours, cool colours, or one that moves between both? 

• We used cool colours for our gradient because we were creating a winter scene! What are some warm colours you could use as the background to a summer scene? What are some unique silhouettes that make you think of summer fun in the sun?

LOVE LOCAL: SPARK CREATIVE LEARNING IN MANITOBA

28/01/2021

Source: A Maze In Corn

Enjoy the challenge of A Maze In Corn‘s snowy winter maze, admire the snow carvings and buildings, slide down Snow Mountain, warm up by a bonfire, be brave and try their giant luge run, try a variety of snow games, and of course, a cup of hot chocolate. (Weather- and COVID guideline-permitting.) They’re open Thursday & Friday from 3:00PM to 9:00PM, and Saturday & Sunday from 11:00AM to 9:00PM.

ALL ABOARD: WE’RE GATHERING STEAM

26/01/2021

Source: PBS.org

Use the natural properties of lemon juice to write a secret message in invisible ink and reveal it with the application of a little heat!

Materials

• Lemon juice
• White paper
• Small paintbrush
• Iron, light bulb, or hairdryer

Directions

• Have each little scientist write a hidden message on a piece of paper with the lemon juice and paintbrush. Let dry.
• Once the lemon juice has dried, carefully apply heat with an iron, being careful not to burn the paper. (A hair dryer works as well, but takes longer.)
• Sit back and let your message appear!

Spark Creative Learning!

Lemon juice is virtually invisible but oxidizes and turns brown when heated. This reaction to heat is the perfect way to create secret messages for science parties or secret laboratory formulas! The lemon juice is invisible when dry, but once you add heat, the message is revealed!

SHOP FEATURE 5

25/01/2021

(For the week of January 25, 2021)