Yes, 3 is a bit young to start science fair projects, but Rai is in the Pre-Kindergarten class with the 4-year olds who are starting science fair projects this year. He chose the vinegar and baking soda project (where you mix the two in a bottle with a balloon on top), so we decided to make this an opportunity to teach him about the 3 states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). After reading "What is the World Made Of," Rai chose 3 more powders (sugar, chocolate powder, and gelatin) and liquids (coffee, coke, and orange juice) to add a few variables and made a guess about what would happen when we mixed each solid and liquid together. What was his initial guess? All of the bottles would spill. After a few more questions about which liquids and powders might blow up the balloon, Rai finally decided that only the pink balloons would do something "cool." (We assigned different color balloons to each combination of liquids and powders, so we could tell them apart.) It turns out he was partially right. Both pink balloons were assigned to coke, and coke released some gas with each powder and partially blew up the balloons. Orange juice blew up two of the balloons and bubbled up quite a bit, and of course, baking soda and vinegar were the most impressive.
Here are a few pictures and videos of the project:
Vinegar and Baking Soda
Rai's Picture
I have to admit that I was skeptical as to whether or not Rai could understand what we were doing, but he can now tell you the 3 states of matter and says that coke gives you gas. :-)
Rai and I went to our favorite sushi place tonight. The owners are Korean and enjoy teaching Rai Korean each time we go. It's not often that you have excellent quality sushi, great miso soup, Korean conversation, and practice in Japanese table manners. (If only you could hear Rai slurp his miso soup...)
I've promised myself that I will get caught up on pictures before May, so here are all the pictures we've taken so far this month:
They Might Be Giants
A friend of mine got Rai a CD of They Might Be Giants a few years ago, but Rai only recently developed a fascination with the music. When we moved, I put a TV in Rai's room, so he could watch the accompanying DVD of alphabet songs. If I can record him singing at the top of his lungs when he's not looking, I post it here. :-)
Playgrounds, Playgrounds, and more Playgrounds
We're slowly locating all the playgrounds in the area. This playground is at Central Market which is convenient since we can eat dinner here and then play.
The Things You Learn in Pre-Kindergarten
When Rai moved to his new school last month, the 3-year old class was full. Instead, the school moved him into the 4-year old class which is also known as pre-kindergarten. He will stay with his new teacher for the next year and will keep some of his new friends when the school changes classes this August. The new class has certainly been an adjustment. They learn to write letters, color in the lines...
...and get down difficult parts of the playground. It makes me nervous when he does it, but he seems to be very careful and proud of himself! :-)
Pizza Planet
Rai's first time at Pizza Planet:
Spring!
We had several nice days recently, so we finally put a little color on the patio.
Rai has also gotten out his sun glasses now that the days are sunnier (even if it's still cold).
Swimming!
Yes, we did have one day warm enough to go swimming. The water was still a bit cold, but Rai didn't care.
Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan Day
My parents watched Rai one day that I had opera tickets. Rai apparently had a great time cooking "chicken bones" (or rather forks and spoons) using his pretend kitchen. Apparently, a pretend work bench makes a great pretend kitchen. My parents also spoiled him with some of his favorite cartoons.
4T Clothes!
Rai is finally 37 inches tall and over 30 pounds, so he's big enough to comfortably fit into 3T clothes and just big enough to keep 4T clothes on. Since he needed some new clothes, I told him he was big enough to wear 4T clothes, so he's convinced he's now a "big guy."
