The weather forecast is predicting some cold weather for us this weekend, so I thought it might be fun to come up with some activities to use the weather to our advantage. We don't get really cold weather very often and Beth is fascinated by the icy air. Any time she is fascinated by something, we try to use that as a learning opportunity. I don't know about you, but I know that I am way more likely to actually learn about things I am interested in.
So, we decided to start with a simple overnight activity. We filled a plastic cup half way with water and plastic pony beads (just to make it prettier) and drew a line on the cup at the water level.
We put the cup on our back porch before bedtime. The next morning, the temperature 18 degrees. We went outside and got our frozen cup. We talked to Beth about how water gets bigger when it freezes and takes up more space (“See how the ice is higher than the line where the water was?”). We talked about how to get the beads out of the firm water (“Can you think of a way for us to get the beads out without breaking the cup?”). We talked about other things that can freeze when the temperature gets low outside and things you can do to prevent freezing (“Why do you think Daddy put covers over the faucets in the yard?”)
There are abundant opportunities for critical thinking. Science is fun. Cold weather doesn't have to mean we sit on the couch and watch TV (although there will certainly be a little of that, too).
Tomorrow, we will blow up a balloon and take it out in the cold air to deflate, then back into the warm house to re-inflate, so she can observe what happens to air when it gets colder and hotter. These are simple science learning activities that are fun, easy, and cheap...right up our alley!
Want more ideas for cool things you can do with your kids in cold weather? It's easy to look for sites with great ideas...Just do a Google search for "weather experiments for kids" and you'll be entertaining and learning in no time!
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