Color your world with cabbage and learn about chemistry! The terms acid and base describe chemical properties of many things we use everyday. An acid is a substance that donates hydrogen ions, and a baseis a substance that accepts hydrogen ions. Sometimes, you can tell if something is an acid or base by the way it tastes. Acids, like vinegar, are generally sour. Bases generally taste bitter. (But heads up —some acids and bases are dangerous, so we don’t recommend tasting unknown substances!) Instead of a taste test, chemists use a pH scale to measure the strength of acids and bases. The lower the number on the pH scale, the more acidic something is. In this project, you’ll test different substances in purple cabbage juice and compare the results to a printable pH scale.

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Gather your materials. Download printable <a href="http://icdn.kiwicrate.com/printables/2019_Ziploc_Cabbage_Chemistry_DIY_Printable+-+pH+Scale.pdf">here</a>.&nbsp;

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Place the chopped cabbage in the large bowl. Cover the cabbage with the hot water (from your sink is fine!) and allow to steep for 30 minutes, until the water has turned purple. 

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Carefully pour the cabbage juice through a coffee filter into a measuring cup. Notice how the color of the liquid is purple. This will be the base color you will use to tell what items are acids versus bases.

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Use a felt-tipped permanent marker to label your Ziploc® brand sandwich bagswith the name of the materials you are going to test (ie. baking soda and lemon juice). Then pour 3 tablespoons of the cabbage indicator liquid into the bags.

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Now add three tablespoons of the lemon juice into the corresponding bag. See how the addition of the acid changes the liquid from purple to pink?

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Now add three tablespoons of baking soda to the bag labeled with its name. See how the indicator changes color depending on what you use? The baking soda is a base so it turns the liquid blue. 

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 Compare the colors of your solutions to the colors on the printable pH scale and match them to the numbers provided. How do they match up? Ask your grownup assistant to help you pick out additional items to test like dishwashing soap, vinegar, or honey. What is the most acidic or basic? Write down what you observe!

Purple cabbage juice is a pH indicator, or a substance that changes color when it’s mixed with an acid or base. If you add an acid to the cabbage juice, it turns pinkish red. The more red the solution is, the more acidic that substance is. But if you add a base to the cabbage juice, the solution becomes greenish. Purple cabbage isn’t the only plant with this magical, color-changing property. Beets, blueberries, and hibiscus are also pH indicators! 

From painting and ceramics to costume making and crayons, hundreds of easy-to-follow ideas for kids of all ages.

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STEM

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hope water (about 2-3 cups)

lemon juice (2 teaspoons)

baking soda (2 teaspoons)

ph scale printable

Crazy Chemistry

Cabbage Chemistry

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> & <a href="https://icdn.kiwico.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Conveyor-Belt-Cinema-Still-Image.pdf">still image</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! 

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empty crate (small cardboard box)

craft knife (optional)

toilet paper tubes (2)

dowels (2)

hole punch (optional)

paperclip

printables

Motion & Mechanics

Conveyor Belt Cinema

What better way to celebrate spring than to go outside and fly a kite? Try making your own paper kite with this easy-to-do DIY! Download the printable <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Stained-Glass-Paper-Kite.pdf">here</a>.

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Cut out all of the little squares on the printable. You may need a grownup assistant to help you. 

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On the creased side that doesn’t have squares cut out, mark the paper with a pencil 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm)&nbsp;and 3 inches (7.6 cm) from the short side.

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Punch a hole at the 3-inch (7.6 cm)&nbsp;mark about a half-inch away from the edge. 

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Unfold the paper and turn it over. Then, cut out pieces of tissue paper and use tape to secure it to the back of the kite with tape. Get creative! You’re making your own stained glass window panel, so use as many colors as you want and/or try to make a repeating pattern. 

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Make your kite wings! On the open side, take the bottom corners and bend them back over to the 2 ½ -inch mark. 

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Go outside and try to fly your kite on a windy day! 

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Toy & Game Design

Stained Glass Paper Kite

A kaleidoscope is a toy that uses light and mirrors to make pretty patterns with symmetrical designs. Symmetry is when two or more parts of a thing are identical. Think of butterfly wings, matching socks, and spiderwebs —they all have parts that match. In this experiment, with a little help from Ziploc® brand bags, you’ll learn how kaleidoscopes use reflections in a mirror to create symmetry. When you spin the wheel, the pattern you see changes. Why do you think that is? Download the printable template <a href="http://icdn.kiwicrate.com/printables/2019_Ziploc_Kaleidoscope_Printable_Template.pdf">here</a>.

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In the kaleidoscope printable, cut along the solid lines to cut out the <a href="http://icdn.kiwicrate.com/printables/2019_Ziploc_Kaleidoscope_Printable_Template.pdf">template</a>. (This will help you form the reflective triangular tube that goes insides the kaleidoscope.)

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Glue the template onto the back (non-reflective) side of the reflective paper. 

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Cut out the reflective paper along the edges of the template.

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Fold your reflective paper along the dotted lines of the template. Make sure that the reflective side is facing inside the triangular tube and the plain template is facing the outside.

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Tape the edges together to make the triangular tube.

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Insert the triangle into your toilet paper roll. It should fit snugly inside. Push the triangular tube all the way to the end of the roll, so the ends are aligned.

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Decorate the tube with the colorful tape.

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Fill your Ziploc® brand bags with different small items, like sequins or glitter or beads (avoid using any sharp items). Try using some objects that you can see through and some that you can’t. See which type works best. Use a rubber band to securethe bag over the end where the triangular tube and cardboard roll are aligned. 

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Look through the opposite end and point the kaleidoscope up to the light. Twist the bag around the roll and see the beautiful shapes move around!

The mirrors inside our kaleidoscope face each other. So when light enters the colorful side, it bounces off of the mirrors and creates a pattern. If we move the mirrors, we change the angle, and the reflected pattern changes. And if you change the thing that is reflected in the mirror, you get a new pattern. Try placing objects of different materials over the tube. What happens then?

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printable kaleidoscope template

colorful tape (duct, packaging, washi, etc.)

rubber band

Kaleidoscope Symmetry

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Gather your materials. Download the water cycle printable <a href="file:///Users/lindseymurphy/Downloads/Ziploc_Water_Cycle_Bag_Printable.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.

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Smooth the Ziploc® brand bag out on a flat surface. Use the permanent marker to draw the water cycle from the <a href="file:///Users/lindseymurphy/Downloads/Ziploc_Water_Cycle_Bag_Printable.pdf" target="_blank">Water Cycle Printable</a> on the bag. (Draw carefully to avoid puncturing the bag.)

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Pour ⅓ cup of water into the bag (avoid filling the bag more than halfway). Put one or two drops of blue food coloring into the water.

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Find a sunny window and tape the bag up. Tape the bag at a slight angle to simulate the runoff and collection stages of the cycle.

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Check in on the water cycle bag at different times throughout the next few days. Do you see water droplets form along the bag from the condensation? Eventually, you’ll see streaks along the side of the bag as the droplets grow and drop down the side, representing precipitation. From there, the water will recollect and pool at the bottom. How does this mimic the water cycle we see on Earth?

On Earth, the water cycle is influenced by many things, such as energy from the sun, temperature, and the force of gravity. What changes can you make to your bag to observe some of these factors? Try creating a second bag and placing it in a different location (perhaps a shady window) and see how the results differ. You can also leave the bag for a few days and check on it at different stages. See how time of day, temperature, and amount of sunlight affects it!

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water (1/3 cup)

blue food coloring (optional)

water cycle printable

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Quick & Easy Experiments

Water Cycle Bags

In this project, you’ll make your own bell curve by randomly dropping beads onto a special board. Get ready to visualize some statistics!&nbsp;Download the printable&nbsp;<a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Mesmerizing-Mathematics.pdf">here</a>.

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Glue the printable to one side of the corkboard. Then, trim the paper to the corkboard. 

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Push a pin into every dot. You may need a grown-up to assist you. 

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Glue a popsicle stick on top of every line, using beads to help evenly space the popsicle sticks. Let them dry for at least ½ hour.  

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Cut 2” of the straw and glue it along the top of the corkboard centered above the first row of pins.

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Lean the corkboard up against a wall and drop some beads down the straw. The more beads you drop, the better! 

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The board you just built is called a Galton Board. It’s named after a scientist who studied statistics, Sir Francis Galton, who was amazed by how something so seemingly random can create an orderly shape like the bell curve over and over again. Boards like this are now used in games of chance like pachinko and pinball.

Imagine measuring a bunch of cat meows. Some meow annoyingly loud. Some meow adorably soft. But most meow at a volume somewhere in between those two extremes that we’d call “normal.”
 For scientists who study statistics (a branch of science that collects a bunch of data and figures out the probability of, say, a cat meowing as loud as an airplane), they’d call this distribution of cat meows a normal distribution. On a scale of super quiet to super loud, there are a few at either extreme end of the scale, but most are somewhere in the middle.
 If you graphed the amount of cats that meow at different volumes, you’d end up with a pretty interesting shape. It’d kind of look like a hill or a bell — tiny on both ends, but gradually sloping bigger and bigger toward the middle. Scientists who study statistics see this shape pop up every time they study something with normal distribution. They call it a bell curve, because it looks like a bell! As you drop the beads down the board, the pins randomly knock them back and forth. However, there’s a greater likelihood for the beads to end up in the center of the board than out on the edges. That means — you guessed it — you get a “normal distribution” of beads. If you’ve dropped enough beads, you should start to see that shape that scientists who study statistics link with normal distribution: the bell curve.

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printable

cork board (6" x 11", 1/2" thick)

craft sticks (11)

round beads (1/4")

Math Made Fun

Mesmerizing Mathematics

For a long, long time, people thought that the Sun and all of the other planets revolved around the Earth. This was called the geocentric, or Earth-centered, model of the solar system. Of course, now we know that the Sun is the center of the solar system, not the Earth - the solar system is actually heliocentric, or Sun-centered. But the geocentric and heliocentric models had something in common - astronomers used orreries to study them! An orrery is a mechanical model of the motion of the planets in our solar system. Try making your own orrery by downloading <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Spinning-Space-Orrery.pdf">the printable here</a>!

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Cut out the printable along the dotted lines, then trace each piece onto a sheet of thick craft foam. Use scissors or a craft knife to carefully cut out the shape. Then cut the skewers to 4, 6, 1½, and 2 inches (10.2, 15.2,&nbsp;3.8, 5.1 cm).

Make sure that the 4-inch&nbsp;and 6-inch (10.2, 15.2 cm)&nbsp;skewers have sharp points on one side.

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Poke the 6-inch (15.2 cm)&nbsp;skewer through the top of the box, pointy-side down. The point of the skewer should puncture the bottom of the box, but shouldn't go all the way through to the table.

Make sure the skewer is straight up and down and can rotate smoothly.

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Press a medium-sized gear onto the skewer, then push it down so it rests on the box. Hot glue the gear to the skewer so that the skewer and the gear rotate together. Make sure you don't glue the gear to the box.

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Mate the other medium sized gear with the first one. Then, poke the 4-inch skewer through the middle of that gear and push it all the way into the box. The point of the skewer should puncture the bottom of the box, but shouldn't go all the way through to the table.

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Find the circle with two holes. Line up the center hole with the 4-inch skewer, push it all the way down, and glue it in place. 

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Poke the 1 ½-inch (3.8 cm) skewer into the off-center hole and glue it in place. This will be your handle.

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Glue the foam offsets to the top of the box around the outside of the first medium sized gear as shown.

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Push the small gear onto one end of the 2-inch (5.1 cm)&nbsp;skewer and glue it in place. 

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Line up the remaining circle piece and the rectangular piece as shown. Then, poke a hole in the rectangular piece using the hole in the middle of the circle as a guide.

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Push the rectangular piece onto the 2-inch (5.1 cm)&nbsp;skewer. Then, push the circle on top of it. Glue the circle to the skewer. Do not glue the rectangular piece to the skewer. It should rotate freely! This is the arm of your orrery. 

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Mate the small gear on the bottom of the arm with the large gear so that the rectangular part of the arm is resting on top of the large gear. Then, make a small mark on either side of the rectangular piece where it lines up with the hole in the center of the large gear.

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Draw a line connecting the two marks you made in step 12. Then, make a hole in the middle of that line.

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Press the large gear onto the long skewer, then glue it down to the foam offsets on either side.

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Push the free end of the arm onto the long skewer. Then, glue it to the skewer. Do not glue it to the large gear.

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Make a small globe out of the blue and green clay by rolling them together into a small ball.

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Glue the yellow pom-pom to the top of the long skewer. Then, glue the globe to the top of the 2-inch (5.1 cm) skewer. 

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You just made an orrery! Use the handle to rotate your orrery and see a working model of part of our solar system!

Your orrery works because of interlocking gears. The medium sized gears rotate the Sun, which causes the Earth to spin around it. As the small gear rotates around the large gear, the Earth rotates too - just like in our solar system! 

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wooden skewers (2)

pom poms (yellow)

clay (blue and green)

Spinning Space Orrery

Is it possible to eat a piece of chocolate from a chocolate bar and still have the same amount you did before you ate the piece? Download the printable <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Magic-Chocolate-Bar.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> and find out!

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Cut the <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Magic-Chocolate-Bar.pdf" target="_blank">printable</a> along the dotted lines.

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Rearrange the pieces of the chocolate bar leaving the smallest piece out. Now you have a piece of chocolate you can eat, and the whole bar leftover! 

If you’re having a hard time figuring out the trick to this puzzle, flip the printable over to see the answer, or keep reading! 

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Well, you don’t really have a whole bar left over. If you tape around the original chocolate bar and then rearrange the pieces again so that the smallest piece of chocolate is left out, you’ll see that the two “whole bars” aren’t the same size at all! The final bar is a tiny bit smaller than the original one. 

Experiment with Dry Ice Bubbles

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Splitting Water

Paper Airplane Launcher

Pumping Heart

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