Making Bio-Plastics AT Home!

Yesterday we went with our homeschooling group to a local pumpkin festival. It was fun! The kids do crafts, play on the playground, and participate in the scavenger hunt. The best part was that the things we did were FREE! There were ride and other games to do that cost money, but we decided that we weren't buying tickets and that we would only participate in the free activities.

One of the crafts the kids did was make this biodegradable plastic "stuff".  They call it bio-plastic. When it's done it is kind of this rubbery stuff. We weren't able to mold it, shape it into a ball, while it was still warm. We didn't even realized that once cooled it would pretty much be this hard, rubber, plastic stuff. So if you want to try to shape or mold it you have to do that while it's still WARM!

To make this bio-plastic you need water, corn oil, corn starch. Food coloring is optional, although it nice to make things in color!

1. Place a tablespoon of cornstarch in a plastic ziploc bag
2. Add two drops of corn oil to the cornstarch
3. Add one tablespoon of water to the oil and cornstarch.
4. Mix the cornstarch, corn oil, and water in the plastic bag by rubbing the outside of the bag with your fingers
5. Add two drops of your favorite food coloring and mix again
6. Place the bag in a microwave oven on high for 20-25 seconds. DO NOT completely seal the bag. Careful, it's hot!

It is very warm-hot when it comes out of the microwave so be careful with it. However keep in mind that if you want to mold and shape it you have to do that while it's still warm-hot. 

This is something the kids can very easily do, but because it does get hot I would advise that it is done with adult supervision. Just because of the risk of getting hurt with the stuff as it comes out of the microwave.  Once it's cool it's fine!

Edit Add: We just discovered that you can use vegetable oil instead of corn oil. 

Earth: The Movie

We were blessed to go the movies this last Tuesday, on Earth Day, to see Earth, by DisneyNature. One of the very first things we learned from viewing the movie that there will be a sequel Ocean that will be released on Earth Day 2010. We also learned that DisneyNature in a way developed out of True Life Adventures and Walt's love of nature.

We were highly interested in seeing the movie: Earth, because of the preview:



Some of the preview scenes looked a LOT LIKE the video clips from the DVD: Planet Earth Game that we had bought and have been playing with recently. During the movie and after the movie the kids kept saying mom that looks like the game, or that's in the game. They wanted to know if the movie was based on the game. (seeing the game came first). However, I explained to them that it was the other way around.

We were at the movie theaters for nearly 2 hours, and even though the movie was GREAT, it's NOT something that I would pay full movie price for again. It was one of those things I wished I could just reclined, pull up my pillow, and watch from the comforts from home.

After all, at home, we could pause the movie, answer questions, and hear comments the kids had to share. Normally both have good movie manors, but watching Earth was a little different. They weren't bad, but they weren't good either, they just were a little bit more chatty then normal.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that the movie talked about Global Warming, and the damage that it's causing to Polar Bears. In the back of my mind I kept thinking about Grolar Bears.

So my final opinion is that I'm glad that I went, but come next year we will be staying home and wait for the movie: OCEAN to be released onto DVD!

Planet Earth: The interactive DVD game

At our house Sunday Night is family game night. We sit down and play some kind of board game together as a family. Sunday Night we went to play a game and realized that we didn't have anything that any of us, especially the game picker, wanted to play. Let's just say we got tired of our game selection.

I'm always on the look out for games at thrift stores, garage sales, etc. However it at times can be slim pickings, because the game pieces maybe missing. So last Sunday Night instead of giving up our game night we made a quick run to the store to get some new games. Everyone got to pick-out a new game. We got Operation, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Clue, and Planet Earth: The interactive DVD game. (The rules for choosing games was that each game had to be at least a 4 player game.)

Planet Earth is 2-6 player game and the box states that it's for ages 6+. (** see bottom of post) The purpose of the game is to test your knowledge of the natural world by answering questions about Planet Earth. Some questions if answered correctly will allow you to go again others if answered correctly will earn you puzzles pieces. As you earn the puzzle pieces you put the puzzle together. Everyone is working "together" to put the puzzle together, however the person that earns the last puzzle piece wins the game.

We, the kids and I, decided to play Planet Earth yesterday (Monday), as our science for the day. It was a good game and we got to learn a lot about Planet Earth. However, DD (she's going to be 7 this month) didn't have much fun with the game. I think she found the questions be too "stressful". She didn't like the fact that she didn't know most of the stuff and just had to guess. That's what my DS and I were doing to: guessing answers. There was something we knew, most we didn't not, but others if you really paid attention to the clip you might be able to give an educated guess.

The DVD is what gives you the questions, answers, tells you if you get to go again, or have earn puzzle pieces, and if so how many pieces. All of the questions were multiple choice and there was no time limit so you were free to think about it. I just think it was overwhelming for my 6 almost 7 year old.

If your child is anything like my DD and can get frustrated about not knowing the answers, then I don't think this would be a good game for your family/children. However if you as a family (or your children) wouldn't mind learning some interesting facts about Plant Earth and the animals and plants that live here, then I say this is the game for you. For example one of the things we learned from this game is that Antarctica is about the same size as the USA. Oh and the video scenes are just breath taking. They are from the TV series Planet Earth.

**When I was looking for the game makers site to hyper-link, I found that on their, the game makers, web-site they state the game is for 8+. However the box I have here states ages 6+. So I don't know what exactly that means? Weird! I think a 6-7 year old can play if they don't get too upset about not knowing the answers.