Hedge Maze Scavenger Hunt

    Today was our monthly outdoor day and we visited a local nursery.
                  
    It was a perfect morning to be out and exploring flowers and plants.
                    
When we arrived Cassandra, the owner, had set up a table with soil and
tomato plants for the families to re-pot one and take it home.

She offered two kinds of tomatoes and after the children chose one they filled their pot and added their plant.  I look forward to hearing how each grows and if they produce any tomatoes.
   
   
We spent a little time exploring the greenhouses.  This nursery is very family friendly.
 
                 
And just before the opening to the Hedge Maze there is a little putting
green, with clubs and balls.  That was very popular. 
     
     Entering the maze everyone picked a book that contained pictures.
          
They had to search through the maze to find the same pictures hanging
                                   on the hedges.       
                      
Then they stamped their book to keep track that they found them all.
                        

One thing that I have learned by observing young children is that they like to search.  Today some of the children would run ahead of their grown-ups to find the next picture.  After finding several they were quite familiar with what to do and could stamp their book on their own.
              
     
Once everyone made it through the maze we met in the middle for songs, story and snacks.

                    Thank you to Paradise Plants for a great morning.

Cooking–Homemade Pop Tarts

          
I found this easy recipe at Cooking Classy that I modified to work at StrongStart.

We cut the recipe in half at school but here’s the full recipe.

Measure 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of flour into a food processor. 
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar.  It calls for a teaspoon of salt but I didn't.

Cut 1 cup of cold butter into small cubes and add to food processor.
Pulse until it is coarse crumbs.

Add 4 tablespoons of cold water and pulse again. 
If it doesn’t all come together in a dough ball then add one more tablespoon
of water.

Next is where I modified the recipe mainly because of time constraints.  The recipe says to wrap and chill the dough for an hour.  Instead I cut ours into small balls so each child could roll out their own tart.    
            
  
After they rolled out their dough they spread jam on it and folded it in half, pinching the edges shut.
                             
The recipe now says to freeze the pop tarts for at least 2 hours but we put them right in the oven. Bake at 375 F for about 20 minutes or nicely brown.
                    
                         And they came out fine and delicious.

Soap Explosion a Science Experiment

Have you tried the science experiment where you explode a bar of soap in the microwave?  We did but it didn’t turn out like I read.
Day 1
              
       A regular bar of soap goes into the microwave for 2 minutes.
            
This is how it came out, both times.  We repeated it with a second bar because I interrupted the first one to peek at it.  But it didn’t make a difference letting the whole 2 minutes run through.  Maybe our bar of soap was old and dried out?
    
But it didn’t stop us from exploring more.  I brought out cheese graters and knives and the children cut the soap to pieces.
         
                          
Then we added coloured water using eye droppers.  Will the soap change?
 
It did.  Some of it softened and we were able to mould it into shapes although there were still little lumps in it.

Day 2
           
 
We added more water, no colour.  It was room temperature water and it didn’t do anything different then yesterday.

Day 3
                
  
Before the children arrived I poured boiling water on each tray.  When the children arrived it had cooled and had become a soft soap, slimy and pliable.

Day 4
             
After adding more boiling water I added spoons, muffin tins, and measuring cups.
   
The morning was spent making all kinds of foods like cupcakes, cookies and soup.
            
     I bought new soap and hope to try the experiment another time. 
                       Maybe we'll see the soap cloud.