Little Scientists: Lava Lamps

momstown Central Alberta moms and kids had a great day creating out very on lava lamps at our Little Scientist Program today!

No electricity required either!!

All you need is a few things I am sure you have around the house!
Water bottles
Oil
Water
Food coloring (any color, use more than one!)
Alka Seltzer (broken into pieces)
Funnel

How to do it
Fill your water bottle 2/3 of the way with OIL
Add water not quite 1/3... leave room!
Add drops of food coloring
Add Alka Seltzer peices, one at a time & watch what happens!

The color will settle to the bottom after a while... but you can use your "lamp" again! Just add more Alka Seltzer!

Why it works

OIL & WATER don't mix
Food coloring DOES mix with WATER but not with OIL
Alka Seltzer REACTS with the WATER creating CARBON DIOXIDE gas.
THE CO2 gas attached to the FOOD COLORING/WATER mix and Float to the top!

School Pictures

I saw this Today's Parent Article, and thought about my own daughter and her school pictures.

I recall preparing for my school pictures every year, picking out what I was going to wear days before, practising how my hair would be, and usually asking my mom if there was something 'special' she could do for my hair for the big day.

This year was the first year I allowed my 9 year old to choose everything herself. This included picking out the background color for the picture, and her pose. (Who else grew up when there were no such choices, and this makes me feel a bit on the old side!) I also allowed her to choose her clothes AND do her own hair. I have never given up ALL the control. Wow was this hard to do!!

I know there are retakes, but it isn't the same. It isn't the picture of the first few weeks of school.

I know I can look at any picture of me from school and I KNOW the year it was taken, I know what grade I was in and I know who my best friend was. 

I also get to chuckle at a few of them and my hair styles and clothes!!

Thinking about school pictures, I dug out a few of mine from elementary school... wow I am not as cute as I remember! ha ha

I showed this picture of me from Grade 5 and my oldest asked "WHO IS THAT?

Ha ha She doesn't even know her own mother!

So today the school picture proofs were brought home....

I think they are great! And I didn't have a hand in any of it!

Tales for Tots: Story Time and Crafts for Preschoolers

Once a month, momstown Central Alberta partners with Scholastic Canada and Chapters Red Deer for our Tales for Tots program. This program is all about story time and crafts based on our monthly momstown curriculum theme.  This month our theme is Fall Festival.

We start our program with moms and kids listening to a story or two! 

This month we read Let it Fall by MaryAnn Cocca-Leffler,   & 

Its Halloween Night by Jennifer O'Connell and illustrated by Jennifer Morris

The kids then got to work on their fall crafts! 

The children  coloured trees and leaves to glue on their pages. 

Some leaves still on their trees and others that have already fallen or were on their way down!

This was a great craft for all ages! 

We had children from the age of one year to kids who will start kindergarten next year!

We even had an impromptu small story time in the corner of the Chapters Red Deer kids section!

Here is the book that one lucky momstown Central Alberta Family won! 

It is a popular book, as Chapters was sold out when we were there!!

Let it Fall by Maryann

From our momstown book review "Let It Fall" by Maryann Cocca-Leffler, manages to capture all the wonder of fall in a short, rhyming book that is perfect to read aloud with toddlers and preschoolers. The book follows the fall adventures of one family as they visit a fair, take a hike to see the colours on the trees, and notice animals preparing for winter. The adorable illustrations that accompany the book are full of things to spot and count, as well as images such as a boy with his face covered in pie that are sure to make your little one laugh.

Nutella Buddies Brunch in Red Deer!

 

 This week momstown Central Alberta was fortunate enough to participate in a Buddies Potluck Brunch sponsored by Nutella! What is a Buddies Potluck Brunch? Think of a teddy bear picnic, but not limited to Teddy Bears! Every child brought their favourite toy! We had mermaids, puppies , leopards, a few bears, and a few plastic Dinosaurs!

Our event started with some crafts, of course! 

We made Teddy Bear Head Bands and then we built our own bears!

Then we had the kids grab their buddies for some parachute fun!!

After we worked up an appetite from the parachute fun, it was time to enjoy our potluck brunch!

After we had enjoyed our snacks, it was time to dance with our Buddies!!

At the end we drew the name for the Door Prize! Lucky Donna was the winner!!

Then the moms took home their giveaways!! 

We all love Nutella!

Later that Afternoon the moms were already posting their recipe ideas to use their Nutella on the momstown Central Alberta Message Board!!