By The Little Mulberry Project
Albert Einstein said “play is the highest form of research” and this wonderful new book – The Kitchen Science Cookbook – by New Zealand’s science superhero, Nanogirl, is full of hands-on scientific learning experiences, where little ones can play, experiment, create, discover, explore, test and ultimately have a lot of fun!
Dr Michelle Dickinson (aka Nanogirl) has an inspiring ability to make science accessible to all and this beautiful book easily brings science into the home where all you need is a kitchen, a recipe and a dash of curiosity. Working for the last three years, Michelle and her team (including some little testers) have toiled away to create science experiments that are full of colour, movement, sound and, in some cases, are even edible (scrumptious slime or unicorn noodles anyone?).
The book reads like a classic recipe book with ingredients and step by step instructions but adds the science behind each experiment as well as opportunities for further exploration. This means the book is approachable for the whole family from the littlest superheroes through to future physicists.
Creativity and play are important parts of many early childhood education philosophies and this book focuses as much on the creative and scientific processes as the technical results – encouraging little ones to question, observe, make mistakes, tweak and try again. The book is dedicated to the future problem solvers of the world and will no doubt create a whole lot of curious little home grown superheroes.
FLOWER POWER & HIPPY DIPPY COLOURING ART PROJECT
Our little colouring art project is inspired by the Coloured Flowers and Wicking Water experiments in The Kitchen Science Cookbook. These are the essence of learning through play where little ones can enjoy getting creative with colours and also learn real-world concepts – in this case learning about transpiration and capillary action.
MATERIALS
- White flowers
- White paper towels
- Jars or glasses
- Food colouring
- Scissors / craft knife
- Water
CREATIVE PROCESS
HIPPY DIPPY PAPER COLOURING:
- Fill each jar or glass with water (3/4 full) and add drops of food colouring (10-20 drops to ensure good colour saturation).
- Take a paper towel and fold, fold and fold into various shapes – triangles, squares, diamonds, etc.
- Let little hands dip each edge of the folded paper towel into each a different coloured water jar. Watch the water absorb instantly up the paper towel – also watching colours mix & merge.
- Unfold paper towels to see the adorable tie dyed patterns. Set aside to dry.
See next page for FLOWER POWER COLOURING instructions and photos…
