Countdown to Summer Days A and B

I'm participating in Kindergarten Works Show and Tell and wanted to share our past tow days with my blog readers.

Yesterday we began our countdown to summer, see previous post for our calendar of events.  For Art Day I gave the kids templates of butterflies to trace then water color.  My kids love to watercolor and I love how creative and quiet they are.  Even the speediest kid takes their time to do a nice job.

Bubble Day was today.  Imagine 125 kindergartners out together on a big grassy field chasing bubbles. Bubbles are magical and calming.  Every kid seemed to have a great time, not one kid misbehaved or complained.  The best part was when our second grade teacher brought out his big bubble wand for the kids.  Although it was Bubble day, we had to add to the name and add Butterflies because our caterpillars emerged; we now have 4 butterflies.

My friend was kind enough to share his recipe with me.  There are many different ones ut there some call for sugar or corn syrup or other ingredients.  He has been making these for a few years and they never seem to disappoint the crowds of children.

Giant Bubble Mixture

Big bubble mixing instructions  measure out about 1 Liter of hot water. Add the contents of the package( 1 g baking soda, 2 grams of HEC for instance hydroxyethylcellulose, and 1/2 g citric acid) slowly with constant stirring. Continue to stir until the solution is fairly clear, about five minutes, stirring may be intermittent Take your storage container with a volume greater than 1 L and add 1/3 cup of Dawn ultra dishwashing liquid, then pour in your well mixed HEC solution.  Mix gently without making any foam. The mix can be used after about two hours, but it is best after sitting overnight. (HEC is available from lotioncrafter.com) The "Wand" is made with yarn or thick cotton string and two sticks. Make a loop of yarn about one and a half to 1 meter in diameter and ties small loops about one third of the circumference apart. Attach the loops to the ends of your two sticks; I used 4 foot bamboo garden sticks purchased at Lowe's

Dip the string into the bowl that contains your bubble solution. Gently saturate the string, do not stir. Hold  the ends of the sticks together at the tips as you lift the string from the solution, allow to drain for a bit, then lift the string high in the air, and slowly pull the Ends part to draw out the soap film.  If there's no breeze you can walk backwards to create the bubble, carefully fill the bubble and bring the tips together to release Experiment by opening and closing the tips , and  changing speeds.   Have fun!