Category Archives: Books

Much faffing about (plus my watch being 10 minutes slow for some reason) saw us get to the  library a bit late for story time, but they sat and did the crafty bit (which is always a bit simple for SB – it’s aimed at pre-schoolers, but she likes doing it so waht the heck). Spent quite  a while there sitting on the floor reading books to Butterbean whilst Stringbean read an Usborne Puzzle book. The  ‘library ladies’ got slighty flummoxed by the computer again whilst checking out the books, it beeped and said that one of the books was already checked out to us and couldn’t be renewed (which it wasn’t, we’ve never had it out I’m sure anyway). They peered and ummed and ahhed a bit, I suggested that maybe there had just been a slip on the scanner or something and it had got checked out twice. Anyway after a bit more peering and clicking it was checked out. I always do have the urge though to walk round and just sya look ‘click this, or that or whatever’. But it’s run by volunteers, so we just smile and get mildy entertained by it all

Headed home, with BB wailing most of the way, though I’ve forgotten  what the issue was. BB had come up with an idea for an experiment, seeing if a lollipop dissolves. Not yet having lollipops, SB started off with her own idea for seeing  if sugar dissolved in different things. So her and BB got different things – juices, coke, veg oil, washing up liquid etc. to dissolve it in. They moved onto salt, and then a Sodium Percarbonate (‘oxygen’) bleach powder. They enjoyed seeing what happened, coke fizzing, things going murky, thre bleach powder in washing up liquid interested SB most, it made a thick gel, which thrn turned foamy (presumably as Oxygen was released) hey spent a fun half hour or so fiddling about.

OK,what's next?

I do get the urge to take control and direct these sort of things – to do a ‘proper’ experiment. The science teacher in me I guess, but did manage to let them get on with it. SB does have a goode idea about how to control an experiment – a ‘fair test’ as they tend to call it in the school science books. Things like using the same amount of liquids, only changing one thing at a time etc. but at times like this she just gets distractedby the fun of it all

Had lunch of beans on toast, whch prompted another fuss from BB as it wasn’t Tomato soup Eventually ate the beans, but wouldn’t eat the bread becuase it wasn’t white bread. Told her she wouldn’t have afternoon snacks unless she ate it. She stuck to her guns and had nothing else until about 4 pm when she realised that she wouldn’t get flapjack at SB’s swimming lesson unless she ate it, so it soon went

After lunch we went and bought Chupa Chups lollies for the experiment – shop assitant was a bit bemused when we said they weren’t for eating but for a science experiment.  SB realised that they weren’t all the same flavour, and that might affect things, but we carried on anyway as we had them now.

Set them up 2 lollies each, one in boiling water, one in cold water and left them to see what would happen. Not surprisingly the ones in hot water dissolved first, SB was correct to worry about the different flavours, the Coke flavour one dissolved noticeably faster than the Fruit/Cream flavour one. They were interested by the way a coloured layer formed near the bottom of the jar. And excessively pleased when I let them finsish off by eating  the last bit of the lollies in cold water

Ready to go.

Going - Hot water on the left.

Comparing Progress

Gone - Hot water on right here

End result - Cold water

End Result - Hot Water

BB surprised me a bit by showing how well she can copy words. Sometimes we forget she is almost 4.

I’d said we could go up the road on the skates, where there is a gently sloping cul-de-sac that SB likes to skate down, we got ready, and then as soon as we were ready to go out it started raining (and then rained for the rest of the day really)In the rest of the afternoon SB did some handwriting, some Singapore maths, and read some of Penrose the Mathematical Cat. She read a couple of her library books as well.They attempted to tidy the playroom, though BB grumped some more about this ‘I’m too tired, I can’t do it, I need help’  wail, gnash, to which my reponse is to wave the mythical bin bag at her They got it a bit tidy and then watched a bit more Jane and the Dragon, which seems to eb the favourite at the moment, before SB’s swiming lesson. It’s a pain goign out then (the lesson is at 5.30 as it makes for a long day, but at least BB doesn’t fall asleep so eaily now on the way to or fromas she did last year. We watched SB a bit – she is getting better at her strokes, did some good back stroke. Then BB enterntained herself by jumping around on the floor tiles from one red tile to another (mostly creamy tiles with some reddish ones).

Fell asleep when putting BB to bed and only woke up when Helen had got home from workand came up with Sb for her to go to bed. Ooops !