Homemade Terrariums

I love these little homemade terrariums from Analog Me SO much! Check out the cute little animals used in some. For complete directions, head over to the blog and see how to make them. It's so easy!

Hawaii Volcanologist Lecture at Hilo Library

On Friday, our homeschool group took the kids to enjoy a neat lecture by our local volcanologists. We started out with some reading to the kids and looking at books while they did their setup.


The lecture included a slideshow as well as some very neat videos. You can see some of the awesome footage of our volcanoes erupting at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website.


The best part was when the speakers brought some kids up to try on the various articles of protective clothing used when studying the volcanoes and collecting lava samples. The kids also got a good first-hand look at all of the equipment used by the volcanologists.

In all, it was a really neat experience for the kids, especially seeing the clothing and getting to dress up. For more information about volcanoes and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, visit the USGS website for more. There is also information on current earthquakes caused by the volcanic activity.

More volcano info:
Hawaii Center for Volcanology
An Awesome Interactive Volcano Explorer
Volcano Links and Lesson Ideas

Flubber Recipe

We had so much fun today making this awesome slime recipe. The ingredients are mostly non-toxic, but be sure not to get any in your eyes and don't let the kids eat it. It is easy to clean up, just keep it off of cloth as it likes to soak into fabric.

Flubber will mold but you can prolong its life indefinitely if you keep it in the refrigerator.


Ingredients:

- 4 oz white school glue
- 1 tsp borax
- water
- food coloring (optional)

1. Pour the entire bottle of glue into a cup or jar.

2. Fill the glue bottle with water and pour into the jar with the glue. Mix well. Add food coloring if you want to; otherwise, your slime will be white.

3. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup water with 1 teaspoon borax.

4. Slowly stir the glue mixture into the borax mixture.

5. The slime will thicken in the middle. Once it thickens up a little, remove the slime from the bowl of water. Knead and roll the slime in your hands until it feels dry.

6. Have fun! Flubber slime will wash up with plain water.


Want a different recipe? Try these great slime recipes!