Amongst the pile of stuff we had left over from the presentation on Irresistible Ideas for Water which we did at the Yarra Ranges Early Childhood Conference a while back, the glitter was by far the children’s favourite find in the clean up.

Some of it they used, with some of our left over bottles, to make the tornado/vortex tube but looking through our photos they noticed we had been having fun with glitter jars too, like the ones we made last year.

They immediately wanted to give them another go too, so we talked to them about remembering to put glycerine in the water. The glycerine just changes the viscosity of the water enough so that the glitter and ‘bling’ that goes into it moves a little slower through the water, making it look a little like a snow dome.

 So they each filled a bottle with water and a few squirts of the sticky glycerine. We loved the teamwork happening!

They added the bling …

screwed the lids on nice and tight, then taped up the top of the bottles with electrical tape,  just to be sure they didn’t leak.

Then they shook and tipped …

and shook some more – how simple and how fascinating!

We were sorting through our equipment the other day, cleaning up and packing away after a water workshop we held the day before at a conference run by the “Yarra Ranges Early Childhood Educators Network”.  At the same time we had two of Sherry’s grandchildren come over for a play. They loved helping and were very curious to know what everything was used for …

especially the glitter!

As we all know, children love to learn through science, so we explained to them about the tornado/vortex tube our participants had made at the water workshop and naturally they asked if we could show them how to make one too.

A tornado tube is where two bottles filled with water are joined at the neck with a connector. They demonstrate the whirlwind effect created when tornadoes spin, as well as showing how whirlpools can occur in water.

Most children can recognise a similar effect when the water rushes down the plug hole as they let the water out of their baths.

Today however the children had to make them without the use of the actual connectors, as we didnt have any.

They filled up one bottle with water …

added glitter (because apparently everything looks better with glitter!)

then they taped another bottle on top of the first one – very tightly!

Electrical tape is ideal for this as you can really stretch it for a great seal.

Alternatively you could superglue the topsides of two screw top lids together and drill a large hole through the middle for the water to pass through.

Next you spin the water around in a circular motion, tip the bottles upside down and watch how it makes a tornado/vortex! It may not work as effectively as a commercially bought ‘tornado tube connector’ does, but for an impromptu activity, it works really well.

Afterwards we showed the children how you could create a whirlpool with just one bottle. You spin it in the same way, only you need to keep your hand over the opening until you’re ready to release the water.

You’ll need a sink or a large tub to catch the water for this one, and the tornado is awesome!

In this Steve Spangler Youtube video you can see great examples of the water tornado, along with one made using dishwashing liquid which shows the transference of air and water brilliantly, as well as a terrific effect with lamp oil. Isn’t science amazing how it occurs in our everyday life?

We have heaps of colorful bottle tops from juice and milk bottles …

so we pulled them out to make Christmas fridge magnets.

Children can’t get enough of glitz so with the bottle tops we popped out sequins and stars.

Add a big swoosh of P.V.A. glue …

decorate, decorate, decorate …

a magnet on the back …

and voila! Some pretty nifty Christmas fridge magnets!

We put out a plea each year for baby food jars which we like to pop the paint in so the children can clearly see what is in each jar

-  it also looks way more attractive than in the ordinary paint containers!

Here we are at the end of the year with plenty of these jars left over as well as plastic drink bottles. How could we utilise them?

Ah ha! Snow domes … or in this case … glitter bottles …

and jars.

The children chose a small bottle or jar each and added some glitter,

chopped up straws, sequins and other small tizzy bits and pieces to them.

Then they nearly filled the jars with water …

and added a couple of drops of glycerine …

When the lids were tightly replaced and taped down …

the insides were swooshed around,

and wow …

they were pretty irresistible!

We like to make our Christmas activities pretty simple and child oriented. We tend to pop lots of glitz out on the table and let them go for it!

In this case they could make wreaths if they wanted, so we put out paper plates, glue, patty pans, bells, recycled Christmas cards,  pipe cleaners, pom-poms, hole punches and curling ribbon and off they went. Naturally they were free to source other bits and pieces to use as well.

They came up with many and varied wreaths – some simple and others more complex.

They had a lovely time exercising both mind and body …

…  glueing …

… sticking …

… punching …

… attaching …

… twisting …

… threading …

… tying …

… and displaying. All so very unique … and …

… our first ever Christmas whale … TOO CUTE!

A lovely Christmas decoration the children made this week was brightly coloured gum nuts.

So the children could hang them on their Christmas hangers, we pulled out the hot glue gun and attached curling ribbon to the tops of the gum nuts. As the children are having a great time with the glitter, we added P.V.A. glue to fluoro paints and let them decorate freely.

Some children chose to use only paint.

Oh such gooey fun!

While others couldn’t wait to dive into the gitter.

However they chose to decorate them they looked great!