Show Not Tell

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to do more showing and less telling with the kids. I have a habit of just explaining things rather than showing concrete examples which obviously make a lot more of an impact.

So this last week when it was bitterly cold out I put my resolution into action and while I have told them a million times how ice is frozen water we set up our own science station to prove it.

They each got their own cup of water which we put on the porch and every couple of hours we examined it and watched it get colder and colder. They were so excited when it formed the first layer of ice on the top (which they gleefully broke through with their fingers). But the true excitement came when it finally (after 3 days) formed a solid block of ice. Once that happened we brought it in for the second part of the science experiment. We got out some salt and found out that salt can melt ice and finally we brought out the hot water and melted a hole right through the center.

Who knew science could be so fun?