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What's the best way to clean a penny? What chemicals do the best cleaners have in common? Give this experiment a try and find out.

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We were curious to find out if we could figure out a good way to clean a penny.  What would it take?

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Madeleine went to the fridge, and chose a few things that she thought had potential cleaning power.
Pickle juice, ketchup, lemon juice, and vinegar and oil salad dressing.
We put a tablespoon or so into little cups.

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And we chose four pennies that looked to be about the same color...and one very shiny one with which to compare them.
Pennies turn dark because their copper atoms combine with oxygen (our air) and form copper oxide.  We are hoping that acid will get rid of that outer coating, and restore our pennies to their shiny, beautiful selves.

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We plopped one penny into each liquid, and left them in there for about 10 minutes.  

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Okay!  Now it was time to see if anything has happened.  We took the penny out of the messy ketchup....

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Maddie was thrilled to see how clean the "ketchup penny" was! She cleaned it off with a paper towel, and put that one next to the ketchup cup, so we know which cup it came from...

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Oooh!
Ketchup is the cleanest!  But not very shiny.  Lemon juice is a very close second!  And pickle juice not very far behind.  Oil and vinegar is the shiniest, and is taking it off the oxidation bits and pieces.
What would happen if we left them for longer?
And what would make the pennies shiny again?  Salt?  Baking soda?
Why don't you go find out?  Scientific minds want to know!


pennies

cups

various liquids

Bright as a Penny

indoor game

game

game design

puzzles

KiwiCo crate box

cardboard crafts

Empty box? Boring. Your own tilt-to-play game? A-maze-ing. Design the straw path, add obstacles, and drop in a marble to play. Then, once you’re a maze-solving expert, just mix up the straws to design a brand-new level. Score!

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Take an empty KiwiCo box and cut off the top lid. Then cut the tabs off of the cover so you are left with the rectangular main lid. This rectangle will act as a platform in your crate. Trim the edges until the rectangle fits into your crate.

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With an adult's assistance, use a craft knife to cut two 1-inch x 1-inch squares out of the middle of the rectangular piece. Then cut off a small piece of the corner of the rectangle.

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On the side of the crate, have an adult cut a little trap door out of the cardboard.

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Take a piece of paper and use a pencil to trace your cardboard rectangle and the square holes. 

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Grab your marble and bouncy balls. Inside the square holes on your paper, use a pencil to draw a circle that is bigger than your marble, but smaller than your bouncy balls.

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Place your paper on the cardboard and cut out the border, so your paper lines up with the cardboard. Cut out the holes (not the squares) from the paper as well. Make sure both pieces line up and use double-stick tape to attach the paper to the cardboard. This will be your game board base. We suggest writing START in the top left corner, and in the bottom right corner, writing FINISH. 

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Cut your straws into different-sized pieces and start arranging them to create a path from the start to finish. As you design, work the holes into your maze, so the holes become obstacles in the maze path. When you're happy with the arrangement, tape or glue the straws in place.

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Now take your paper towel tube and cut 2 half-inch wide rings from the end of the tube.

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Glue these to the bottom of the crate box, making sure that when your game board piece is placed inside, the rings don't align with the holes. Glue your game board piece down to the rings.

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When all your glue is dry, you're ready to play! Try placing a bouncy ball at the START and tilting your box to roll it to the FINISH! If you want more of a challenge, use your marble and tilt your box to roll it from the START to the FINISH. You'll need to avoid the holes or your marble will fall through. If your marble falls through, use the trapdoor you cut in the box side to get the marble out. If you want to try a different game, use two bouncy balls and try to get them stuck in both holes at the same time. 

empty crate

1 marble

2 bouncy balls

Scissors

Craft Knife

pencil

Paper

white glue

straws

double-sided tape

paper towel tube

Marble Maze

printable

family activity

learning activity

pretend play

Looking for a fun way to fuel your kids' creativity and communication skills? These 30 story starters will stretch their imaginations and help them spin yarns worth weaving! Use the images to inspire plot twists and turns in a storytelling session that's fun for the whole family! <a href="http://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/printables/BTS_KiwiCrate_storycards.pdf" target="_blank">Download the printable here.</a>Help your little one build their creative confidence with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/rainbow-air-dry-clay-project-kit/5612" target="_self">Rainbow Air-Dry Clay</a>. This kid-friendly clay is soft, not sticky, so it’s easy to handle and shape into anything you can imagine.

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Cut the printables along the dotted lines. 

If you print the cards on heavy paper and keep the cards together with a rubber band, you can throw the bundle in your bag as an on-the-go game.

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Lay the cards face-up. Let someone draw one (or several) of the cards as inspiration for the start of a story.

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Give everyone a chance to add on to the story, using the cards as inspiration. As the story is being told, have each narrator line up the card(s) in chronological order so that everyone can remember the sequence of events. 

As your kids play with these cards, they'll learn about sequencing 
and teamwork skills that will definitely come in handy as they develop 
their reading abilities and return to school. Plus, storytelling from an
 early age helps kids express thoughts and feelings, consider new ideas,
 and understand cause and effect.&nbsp;

Here are some other ways to use these cards:&nbsp;
Instead of spreading out all the cards face-up, choose just a handful at random and rearrange those cards to tell a story.&nbsp;
Stack up the cards. Draw one card at a time and take turns adding on to a story.&nbsp;
Think of and sort the cards by different categories (e.g., things that are alive, things that we saw this summer, things that are green).

printable story cards

Printable Story Cards

engineering

toy design

motion

building

Use a small-scale conveyor belt to create a cinematic experience!&nbsp;Download the printables here:&nbsp;<a href="https://icdn.kiwico.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Conveyor-Belt-Cinema-Background-Image.pdf">background image</a> &amp; <a href="https://icdn.kiwico.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Conveyor-Belt-Cinema-Still-Image.pdf">still image</a>.Want to explore more fun crafts without the hassle of gathering materials? Get hands-on and make visually stunning candles with a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/geometric-candles-project-kit/5647" target="_self">Geometric Candles project</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Using the pushpin, make two holes on either side of the long sides of the box about 6” apart. Widen the holes with a pair of scissors until the dowel fits loosely into them.

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Trace the end of a toilet paper tube onto a piece of heavy weight paper 4 times. Then, cut each circle out. 

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Make a hole in the center of each of the circles large enough for the dowel to fit snugly into. 

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Hot glue the circles onto the ends of each of the tubes. When dry, gently push one dowel through each tube. 

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Hot glue the dowel to the either end of the cardboard tube so that both the dowel and the tube rotate together as one. 

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Insert each end of both dowels into the holes opposite each other on the box. 

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Wrap the background image printable around the tubes and stick the ends of the paper together with double-sided tape. The paper should be pulled as tight as possible. 

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Straighten the paperclip. Stick the still image printable onto the paperclip using double-sided tape.

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Poke the paperclip up through the bottom middle of the box. 

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Bend the paperclip so that it stays in place where you want it. You may need to hot glue it in place. 

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Now you’re ready to watch your movie! Simply turn the dowels in one direction. To watch your movie “backwards,” turn them in the other direction! When you’ve got the hang of it, try making your own background and image! 

empty crate (small cardboard box)

craft knife (optional)

toilet paper tubes (2)

dowels (2)

hot glue gun

pushpins

hole punch (optional)

paperclip

printables

Conveyor Belt Cinema

alphabet

at-home learning

indoor project

This alphabet seek-n-find tube is a great tool for little kids to use to learn their letters and have fun doing it! Plus, make the project even more colorful with our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kiwico.com/projects/Kool-Aid-Dyed-Rice/869">Kool-Aid dyed rice</a> recipe.

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Start by collecting your alphabet beads, rice, and tube. If you'd like, use a funnel to add a small amount of the rice to the tube. (Our funnel is silicone and collapsible.  It doubles as a toddler toy in our house...if I can't find it in the kitchen, it is usually in V's play house.  So using the funnel for us was a must!)

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After adding the rice, add about 5-7 letters, then some more rice, and then some more letters, and so on and so forth until you fill the container up about three-quarters from the top. This part is definitely an activity for a toddler to do because it is okay if it gets a little messy and the letters get mixed up. But this next step is a mama step: Seal the lid shut with hot glue and wait until completely cooled before handing off to your little one.

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Next, print out the&nbsp;<a href="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/printables/KoalaCrate_Seek-n-Find_DIY.pdf">alphabet card</a>. We chose to laminate ours (clear contact paper works the same if you do not have access to a laminator), so that we could use our dry erase crayons and mark off the letters as we located them in the tube.

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This activity is a great busy bag activity because it is nice and small. I have the tube, the printable, and a dry erase crayon in a baggie and keep it right in my diaper bag. It holds V's attention when we are somewhere and have to wait, such as a restaurant, in the store, or in line at the bank. Have fun on your Seek-N-Find scavenger hunt!

plastic water bottle, empty (or plastic tube)

rice (colored or plain)

letter beads

dry erase markers

contact paper (optional)

funnel (optional)

Seek-N-Find Alphabet Tube

Practice the alphabet with your little one any time with this velcro alphabet banner!

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Cut out 26 squares of felt that are slightly larger than your letters.

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Stick your felt letters to the felt squares.

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Arrange your felt letter squares on your canvas banner to determine spacing

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Use your velcro stickers to secure your letters in place.

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Canvas Banner Set

Felt Letters

Felt

Velcro Stickers

Velcro Alphabet Banner

math games

math

Learn colors, practice sorting, and do a little bit of counting with this simple and fun springtime activity.

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We started out our activity by gathering some colored paper, a variety of different colored pom poms and an empty muffin tin. I cut some circles out of each color of paper then filled each section of the muffin tin with a different colored circle. 

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Next I mixed up all the pom poms. My 3-year-old began sorting them, by placing each color pom pom in the section of the muffin tin that had the matching color. 

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She really enjoyed this, and was so proud of all her sorted pom poms! After we sorted colors for a while we wanted to try some counting.

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I took all the circles out of the muffin tin and drew a different number of Easter eggs on each one. I then placed them back in the muffin tin face up. (Leave the backside of the circles blank so you can flip the circles over and do the color sorting activity again.)

55 cool learning game projects for kids

Screen-free fun!