Giveaway!

I want to start building up the Messy Fingers Blog and we are going to start with a give away. I have another goodie bag filled with fun science activities.

It will have things like a

• Compare and Contrast kit with playdough
• Bubbles - homemade and store bought
• Shadow paper
• Tools - like droppers
• and some other surprises.

The drawing will be next Monday 12/19/11. I will announce the winner by 9am.

Here's how you enter (make one comment per entry please):

1. Comment below with your favorite Messy Fingers activity you've done with your child
2. Follow this blog
3. Add you email to the list for Messy Fingers in January

Good luck!

Chain of Lights and Messy Fingers

Sunday is Millbury's Chain of Lights - a holiday fair with loads of fun family activities like caroling, cookie decorating, raffles, food, and stories at the library. As part of the Library celebration, there will be two Messy Fingers bags of goodies for the raffle.

The goodie bags will help you explore science with your kids activities such as

Compare and Contrast with playdough and a kit to make your own homemade playdough

Bubbles - store bought and home brewed

Shadows - special paper for making shadows

Tools - like droppers to explore liquids with

Model magic to make fossils

...as well as some other surprises. The two kits will be different so check out the Chain of Lights on Sunday from 11 am - 5 pm in Millbury.

If you don't live in Millbury or can't make it Sunday, stay tuned and I will announce a special give away on Monday.

Book Review: Bears!

Bears! By Emma Helbrough is a beautiful book with lots of drawings of bears doing many different things. All eight of the different species of bears are included and information on each one is well described.

My biggest concern with this book is that pandas are included as bears. Pandas are not bears. They are more closely related to raccoons.

3/5 stars.

Animal of the Week: Bears

Bears capture the imagination of kids everywhere. Many of us have loved bears since we were little and were carrying a stuffed one around with us. Mine was called Theodora and she looked like she was a basic brown bear.

I believe that one of the reasons we love bears so much is that they are like us in many ways.

Bears are mammals – just like people

Bears are omnivores – they eat meat and plants – just like people

Bears care for their young into adulthood - just like people.

Here are some other interesting facts about bears:

There are eight different species of bears. They are Asiatic, Black, Brown, Polar, Panda, Sloth, Spectacled and Sun.

Bears live everywhere in the world except Antarctica and Australia.

Web of Facts

If you get a moment, check out the web of spider facts in the craft room at the Millbury Public Library! The kids and parents did a great job making spiders and adding facts on the back.

As part of his homework, one student brought in spiders he and his mom made from marshmallows and pretzels. Yummy, but we talked about and realized that his creation is actually a harvestmen and not a true spider. The marshmallow is only one body part and spiders have two.

Check out some other activities on spiders here.

Fun Friday Fact

Trees sweat.

Ok, they don't exactly sweat like we do in response to heat, but they do respire. Respiring means they give off moisture. Try putting a plastic bag over the leaves of a tree in the afternoon. Check it the next morning and the inside will have water in it. This is where the tree essentially exhaled moisture. You know, tree sweat.

Leaf Motels and Restaurants

When you rake leaves this fall, take a moment to check out the leaves before you dive in or mulch them.

Do any of them have chew marks from insects? Do they have holes where a bug munched? These are leaf restaurants. Many different kinds of insects eat leaves. Were the insects big or little? How do you know?

What leaves to you eat? We eat all sorts of leaves such as lettuce, spinach, kale, and seaweed.

Look closely at the leaves and you might see bumps on them. The bumps are where insects make their homes. Many times it is a mother insect laying eggs under the skin of the leaf. Her babies will hatch out in a safe spot and burrow out or start eating the leaf. This is a leaf motel where the insect stays for a while.

If you want to save your leaves you can dry them in a book and then paste them in your own book or iron them between two pieces of wax paper. But before you do, make sure your leaf isn't an insect motel!