More Snowday stuff

               So, we had a lovely snowstorm yesterday.  Seriously awesome.  It was quiet and cold and the snow just kept coming.   That's honestly my version of a good time. Really, I love winter.  But a fabulous storm means another snow day.  And one seriously bored Feisty Pants.   Her new nephew swung by, but he's just five days old and is such a lightweight when it comes to partying with the in crowd.   He just keeps passing out.  Or else we really are as boring as FP claims we are.

               So, just in case your rugrats are as bored as ours were.  We came up with (again read that as gleefully swiped from any source what or whomsoever) three experiments to while away a boring afternoon.  Feel free to swipe too.

              1) Fun with crystals.  (If you call it that , it sounds all sciency, instead of "cheap way to get a sugar high")     You will need:  a bowl (or jar), chopstick, dental floss, nuts (or bolts), cup of water, 1  and1/2 cups sugar.

               Take a large jar or glass bowl.  Take a chopstick (or any stick) or wooden spoon.  Tie strings with weight attached to bottom of string (dental floss with a nut tied to one end works great.) to the stick.  Boil one cup water, stir in sugar and mix until dissolved.  Pour carefully into bowl.  Place stick across top of bowl so strings hang down. Given some waiting time- hours not minutes,  crystals will form along the strings.   Edible crystals. :)

 

               2)Oobleck- you will need two cups cornstarch, one cup water, some food coloring .  And if you really want it to be awesome, a cookie sheet and a speaker. 

                   Mix the cornstarch and water.  Let the kids play with this awesomeness as you set the cookie sheet on a speaker.  Pour the oobleck into the sheet and turn on the music and turn up the volume.  You can even add some food coloring to watch it go all trippy and beautiful.  The food coloring will dye the kids skin for a few days, but that's just the art version of battle scars. They are awesome, represent a good story, and the chicks dig them.

              

               3)Face art-  You will need cheap eyebrow pencils.  Maybe a lip pencil.  Think dollar store or bottom of mommy's purse cheap.  

                   This is honestly an afternoon of fun.  It's amazing what a new eyebrow or mustache will do the human face.  It sounds simple and silly.  It is. But it's also a good way to show little kids different expressions.  Some kids don't read an expression well and this can be a fun, safe way to practice.  And gets kids talking about feelings in an abstract sort of way, which helps them think about (and process)  their feelings. ("What does Mom look like when she's mad?) Plus when you're done, you can leave the new look on through dinner and that's fun.  Bonus points if someone new comes home and you pretend nothing's different about you.  You win the universe if you all go out to dinner like that.    

             

                What's your favorite way to while away some enforced down time?