Weird Science . . . but without the bras on our heads

Ok, yes, that was a completely inappropriate reference, but since when have I ever been appropriate?!  I told Husband from Heaven that we would be having Weird Science day at Camp Runamuk today and he said “you gonna create a hot chic?”  I had to admit that movie was a classic; I also have to admit my children will probably never fully appreciate it.

Yesterday we had 2 kids go home and in true Trifecta fashion I decided to up the ante, so today we added 3 kids to the mix! 

Here’s what I learned about exposing children to the joys of science:

1)      No one sells cassette tapes anymore.  I lost a bet to HfH on this one.  Oh, AND, I’m getting old – all the kids asked me what a cassette tape was.  Our first project was a magnetic tumbling tumbleweed and for it we needed cassette tape film.  Because I couldn’t buy one I had to dig through the old college boxes and pulled out one that didn’t have any writing on it.  It occurred to me that since I didn’t write what was on it and since I have absolutely no way of actually finding out what is on it, and even if I did know what was on it I could buy it on iTunes,  I might as well use it.  By the way, HfH just had a heart attack because he never throws anything away and he’s horrified that I used something that he might have been able to sell on eBay.

This was a tumbling tumbleweed project from Disney Family fun.  It was actually very cool.  Have the kids draw a desert scene with a path, put a small piece of cassette tape on top of the picture and a strong magnet underneath, move it around and it will look like a tumbling tumbleweed!  It will also make great use of all those college mixed tapes.

2)       Having Camp Runamuk on a day when you have contractors tearing your ceiling apart is probably not the wisest choice.  When the lead contractor said to me “I’m so sorry we’re working while you’re trying to run a day camp”, I knew I needed to get a day job!

Never a dull moment at the money pit. 

3)      If those contractors leave out their supplies around children, they will be put to good use!

I told the girls they couldn't play with water balloons because their friends didn't have their bathing suits.  They improvised and I gotta give the little boogers credit for this one.  They took the contractor's garbage bags because they were "just sitting around".  This was a mommy moment where I struggled between the need to lecture them about respecting others' property and wanting to give them a high five for creativity.

4)      Mentos/Soda Geysers are just cool!  But, you have to buy the Geyser Tube from Fresh and Easy – waaaaaaay better than trying to get those things in the bottle and running your @$& off to get out of the way.  Unfortunately, I only got a video and it's taking too long to upload, so I don't have a picture either.  :(

5)      Kids and food coloring don’t mix . . . wait, yes they do . . . over, and over and over again.  I made the mistake of putting the food coloring out and saying "sure, you can add a drop to your project."  SH********T!

Why use one drop when you can use 50 and come up with a very dark purple?!

 Got to admit, this is pretty cool.

5 words . . . "I did this to myself"!  CRAAAAAAAAAP.  Who's gonna clean this up?!  Luckily we . . . I mean I . . . had it cleaned up before daddy came home.  By the way, if anyone knows how to get food coloring out of travertine, please let me know!!  Yes, I'm an idiot.