Exploring Cherries and Japan

Today I am going to share our exploration of cherries and the end of our exploration of Japan. At Hazel's request we have been exploring different fruit. She pulls out her magnifying glass and fruit journal and colored pencils for our exploration. We look at the outside of the fruit and record our observations and then I cut them open and we look at the inside and record our observations. Then of course we taste the fruit. We did this with the cherry.

Fruit Explorations: Limes: Making Raspberry Lime Rickeys!

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Since limes were on sale this week, I picked a few up and thought it would be fun to explore them since our last exploration was on lemons. Hazel also found a fun treat drink at a coffee/ice cream shop near my parents which is a raspberry sorbet lime rickey. She loves them, so I thought raspberry lime rickeys would be fun to make.

Hazel explored the limes first on the outside. She described them as green a slightly bumpy.

 Then I cut it in half for her and she explored the inside. Green and smooth and bumpy is her description. Then she liked a piece of it and I wish I could have gotten a picture of her face. She said it was too sour. 

Then I started zesting some limes for our recipe and Hazel was in charge of getting the juice.

Hazel discovered that it is harder to juice limes than lemons. After she got tired of juicing, I gave her some zest to investigate.

Finally we had enough zest and juice to make our Raspberry Lime Rickey Recipe. We started with the recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Raspberry Lime Rickey. Here is what we did.

Ingredients:
10 oz. bag of frozen unsweetened raspberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lime juice (3-4 limes)
zest from 3 limes
chilled club soda
ice

To begin, mix the raspberries, sugar and water in a pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then using a potato masher, mash the raspberries the best you can.

Put pan back on stove and mix in lime juice and zest. Bring mixture to a boil for a couple of minutes. Remember to stir often so it doesn't burn. Remove syrup and push it through a fine mesh strainer with a bowl underneath to remove raspberry seeds and any solids. 

Refrigerate the syrup to cool.

To make a raspberry lime rickey, mix 3/4 cup of club soda with 3 tablespoons of the syrup in a glass with ice.

I loved them. Steve said they were all right, but didn't drink his and Hazel liked the ones with the sorbet better. So the next day I bought some raspberry sorbet. I put the entire pint in the blender with just over two cups of club soda and around 1/2 cup of the syrup (and then I added more after my first taste). I blended it all together and poured it into three travel cups since Hazel was at her grandmother's house. Hazel liked this one much better!

That is our lime exploration! I hope you will join us for our next fruit exploration!

If you would like to see more of our posts about fruit check out:

• Lemon Exploration
• My Fruit Pinterest Board
• Pineapple Exploration 
• Raspberry Exploration 
• Blueberry Exploration 
• Strawberry Exploration
• Needle Felted Strawberries with Acorn Tops

Color Experiments: Exploring Shades and Intermediate Colors

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

We continued our color experiments. This time we looked at shades of a color and the intermediate colors. We started with violet. We added blue to make blue violet, red to make red violet, white to make it lighter and black to make it darker. We also mixed some red and blue to make a violet. Our set up was simple, violet, blue, red, white and black paint, an empty plastic egg carton, brushes and paper.

We started with the violet out of the bottle. Then we had fun mixing.

The first color is what I got mixing blue and red. The second color is straight from the bottle. The third color is violet with a little blue. The fourth color is the violet with lots of blue (Hazel kept adding it). The fifth color is violet with a good amount of white. The sixth color is violet with some black. The seventh color is violet with some red. The eighth color is color four with some white. I painted this guide so we could see all the colors we created.

Hazel on the other hand started to make a picture.


For more color explorations and crafts check out:

• Exploring Hues and Secondary Colors 
• Color Wheel and Mixing Colors
• Color Explorations: Painting
• Book Inspired Painting
• The Colors of Us
• The Colors in Nature
• Luka's Quilt
• Dying Yarn with Fruit and Vegetables Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Outside Water Play
• Picture a Tree
• Mixing Colors
• Brown at the Zoo
• Color Experiment Pinterest Board

Color Experiments

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

One of my goals for this summer is to do some explorations with colors. We have been having fun with this goal. The other day we pulled out some paints and eye droppers. We were going to experiment with secondary colors and hues. Then we went to our local library for their color exploration program. Here are some of the things we did.

Our set up was simple. The three primary colors and black and white paint in a plastic egg carton. Each has an eye dropper except we only could find four, so we used a medicine syringe as well. Then of course some brushes and paper. The idea was to keep track of how much of each color, but it didn't work out that way. We just kept experimenting with colors to try to get ones we liked.

I tried to make a pretty pink and teal, but was not very successful. Hazel played with greens and browns.

My painting to see colors

Then at the library we were read a book and looked at making secondary colors with color paddles and a flashlight. Then they explored how black markers are made by drawing black line on a coffee filter and putting an edge of the filter in water.

The children immediately saw blues and greens and some reds. We let them sit and at the end of the program they looked like this with reds and oranges showing.

The other experiment involved bowls of water and Skittles. You put three different color Skittles in each bowl spread apart. The colors come off of them, but do not mix unless the table is bumped or done intentionally.

After the experiment, the librarian had the kids mix up the water and add more Skittles. I like that you can see the "S" from the Skittles floating in the water. Whatever makes the "S" is lighter than the water and floats to the top.

For more color explorations and crafts check out:

• Color Wheel and Mixing Colors
• Color Explorations: Painting
• Book Inspired Painting
• The Colors of Us
• The Colors in Nature
• Luka's Quilt
• Dying Yarn with Fruit and Vegetables Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Outside Water Play
• Picture a Tree
• Mixing Colors
• Brown at the Zoo
• Color Experiment Pinterest Board

Going Exploring for Ant Hills

Last week Hazel and I bought a critter cage that came with a small net, magnifying glass and tweezers and we bought a nicer magnifying glass at Michaels. They were on sale an not very expensive. Hazel has been afraid of bugs for some time so I thought it might help to get rid of some of the fear. On Sunday we pulled them out. Hazel started by gathering rocks in her net and critter cage. Then after a bit she told me she wanted to go exploring and look for ant hills. I'm not sure if she really knew what an ant hill is or what one looks like, but we did find some.

Our front yard actually had many of them. We always seem to have ants around. Hazel had the best time just looking and searching.

We discovered the magnifying glass that came with the critter cage was not very good. It was rather blurry. So Hazel kept telling me she would share the good one with me. She was having so much fun.

Getting a better look

We also of course continued using our senses like we did on Saturday. After all exploring really requires one to use your senses. We found some feathers, bees (but they moved too fast to get a picture). Hazel took the first feather to put in her critter cage. I'm not sure it ended up there though.

Hazel also noticed that an airplane left lines in the sky.

Then we went for a walk to explore some more. Daddy joined us and Hazel wanted to be pushed. But she constantly wanted us to find something to put in her net. I finally picked up a rock for her. Steve had been doing some yard work and we moved her sand box out of the garage now that the weather is turning warmer. She was very excited to have it outside. She was serving everyone dinner at her swingset picnic table.

She asked if I was hungry and of course I said yes, so she gave me the best one.

I am loving our days spent outdoors. Each day seems to bring some new adventure, exploration or game. What have you been up to outside?

Oh, I know I have mentioned this book previously, but I am trying to relate our activities to books whenever possible. Since we were exploring for ant hills, it of course makes sense that we mention one of Hazel's favorite books, Ant and Grasshopper by Luli Grey. If you visit my previous post  you will see one of the crafts we have come up with to go with the book. I still plan to make Ant's house out of tissue boxes with Hazel. Stay tuned for it.

Some other creative play we have done lately:

Blowing Bubbles

Wind Wand--finally playing with it outside!!

Stove/oven for cooking with her sand table

Yes, she told me she was grilling chicken on her table!! I love it!!


This is where I share...

Bath Time Tea Party and Easter Egg Fun

We are still looking for a knitter to join us in our knitted farm swap. If you want to join please e-mail me. A few people have left messages wanting to join with a no-reply e-mail, so I cannot get in touch with them.

Bath Time Tea Party and Other Kitchen/Bath Fun

Now I would like to feature a wonderful idea from last week's Sharing Saturday. This idea is from Glittering Muffins and she called it Sensory Bath - Kitchen Fun. (Note: I'm not sharing any of her pictures since her son is in all of them.) Well we have tried it and I have to say Hazel is asking for baths again. She absolutely loved it. I invaded her play kitchen for items to take in and we had a tea party and she made cakes and all sorts of things.

Steve and I always said we would not take pictures that would embarrass Hazel later in life especially bath or naked ones so I am only going to post pictures of what we had in the bath tub. Also Hazel has sensitive skin so on doctor's orders we only use one brand of soap, lotion, suntan lotion, shampoo, etc., so I thought coloring the water was not a great idea. However we have given her a few bath time paints and she used that to color the water when she was mixing. The blue wasn't coming out anymore so I opened it up and put water in it for her and she loved getting blue water in her bowl.

She had so much fun with this bath that we visited the Dollar Tree to replace some of the things we stole from her kitchen like the travel size spray bottle and soap dispenser. We also picked up the slotted spoons and strainer. She loved it!!

Easter Egg Fun

Next we had fun with Easter eggs. I got this idea from The Imagination Tree. We started with a tub full of water and plastic Easter eggs. We tried to sink them. We tried them together and apart. For the most part they floated though the open ones we could get to sink faster. Then we tried adding coins to them. At first we added only a few coins and they still floated. We checked to see if the coins would float on their own. Hazel enjoyed this part because they splashed so she kept dropping them in. Then we filled the eggs with coins and those sunk.

Next we tried filling some with rice. Again they floated until they took on water. Then we pushed them down and got them all to sink by filling them with water. Hazel enjoyed picking them up to empty the water out.

We had a lot of fun experimenting with the eggs in the water. Then we went to decorate them. We will share that for another post. Have a great day!!

Pin It