science

Scented Bath Salt Gift Jar

Photo from travelblog.com
Photo credit 

Hey! Check out this guy, floating in a super-salty sea while reading his newspaper! How does he do it? Is he a superhero, or is the water magical?

Today we’re going to make a really easy, fun gift for our friends and family, and we’re going to learn how epsom salts can make your bathtub more like The Dead Sea, the density difference between gold and kitchen sponges, and learn a little about the super amazing body armor you wear every single day.

SCENTED SALTS GIFT JAR

This is a very easy and inexpensive gift you can make for friends and family.

You’ll need:

  • 1 cup Epsom Salts
  • 1 cup Kosher or flaky sea salt
  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • 10-20 drops essential oil(s)
  • A container with a tight lid
  • A bowl and a fork or whisk

Optional ingredients

  • 4-6 drops food coloring
  • 1 Tablespoon dried flower blossoms, like lavender, chamomile, rose
  • sticky labels, fabric, ribbon for labeling and decorating jar
  • optional: used for fizzy salts – 1/4 cup citric acid

InstructionsScented Bath Salt Craft

Mix the salts and baking soda together in a bowl. Add 10-20 drops of essential oil, dried flowers, food coloring and keep mixing until everything is evenly mixed. If you’re making a fizzy bath salt mix, add the citric acid when you’re absolutely sure all the other ingredients are soaked into the epsom salts. No clumps should remain. Now add the salts to your container, and either use labels or a fabric circle tied around the top with a tag. On the tag, write something like “To: Mom, From: Your Favorite Kid – Lavender Mint Bath Salts.”

Make the jar look pretty, and give it as a gift!

What do bath salts do?

There are lots and lots of myths about what Epsom salts can do, so let’s start with the one thing we absolutely know to be true: when you put this mixture of salts into warm water,  your bathwater will increase in density because of the salts. This increase in density makes water feel silky, thick, heavy, luxurious…and especially when mixed with nice scents, this may make you feel more relaxed. It will also make you feel lighter — because your density remains the same, while the density of the water increases, making you float more easily.

What is density? Density is how much mass a substance has, compared to how much space it takes up.

Imagine this:

These two blocks take up the same amount of space. One is made of solid gold. The other is made of kitchen sponges. Which one weighs more?

The block that weighs the most is made of solid gold, even though it’s the same size as the sponge block. That means the density of gold is higher than that of sponge. If you look very closely at a block of gold, you will see there are no air pockets; just a solid piece of metal. If you look at a sponge, you see air pockets inside. The air pockets take up some of that space, but add no weight – just air. That’s how density works.

So why do you feel lighter in a bath filled with bath salts?

Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea or The Great Salt Lake? The first one is an inland sea that borders the countries of Isreal, Jordan, and Palestine; the second is a giant lake in the state of Utah, in America. What they have in common is that they are very VERY salty. The huge amount of salt dissolved in the water makes the water a lot more dense.

Your body is just a little less dense than water, meaning you will float in water.

  • When water is very salty, it becomes even more dense than you, so you float even better more.
  • If you have a lot of body fat, your body will be less dense, making you more buoyant (meaning “floaty”)
  • Epsom salts increase the density of the water, which in turn adds to your buoyancy. This floating sensation may help you relax your muscles more readily.

Body Stuff

This is a good time to talk about your body and how it cleans itself, something it is naturally very good at doing. There are several organs and systems that allow keep your body clean, from the inside out.

The digestive system includes the intestines, salivary (spit) glands, pancreas, stomach, and gall bladder.

The liver detoxifies the blood, and produces some of the biochemicals necessary for digestion, which is the way your body breaks down foods and uses their nutrients to run the magnificent machine that is your body. It filters your blood and produces special enzymes to destroy toxins we might get from food, water, and air. The liver basically packages up these things our body doesn’t want or need, so the body can get rid of them through your urine and bile. Liver is in charge of metabolism, a chemical process in which foods are converted into energy the body can use.

Food also passes through your intestines, where nutrients are absorbed. Healthy intestines keep good and bad bacteria in balance, so your body can digest (use) the food you eat.

Kidneys are part of the urinary system. They also filter your blood to remove waste, and send it to the urinary bladder. The kidneys get rid of waste products like urea and ammonium, which leave your body as urine. eir principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere.

Lymph is the clear fluid that makes up part of our lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system. Lymph contains white blood cells (the body’s warriors!), which pick up bacteria and viruses from your cells and carry them back to your lymph nodes, where they are destroyed.

And finally, your SKIN helps fend off infection and absorption of unwanted toxins because it is basically a giant, flexible suit of armor that stands between your inner systems and the world. Skin can also excrete extra salts your body doesn’t need by sweating. Your skin is part of the immune system, but the top layer of skin is actually dead. That dead part of your skin is constantly falling off and being replaced by new skin cells. It is part of the integumenty system – the entire network of dead skin cells, from your skin to your nails and hair, that create a final barrier between your body and the outside world. Did you know you you lose 40,000 dead skin cells every minute!?

Your body sure does work hard to keep you clean! By eating nutritious, healthful foods and having good hygiene – like taking baths and brushing your teeth – you help all the systems of your body do the best job they can to keep you healthy and keep your amazing machine running smoothly.

More on the science of Epsom salts.

 

 

Scented Bath Salt Gift Jar

Photo from travelblog.com
Photo credit 

Hey! Check out this guy, floating in a super-salty sea while reading his newspaper! How does he do it? Is he a superhero, or is the water magical?

Today we’re going to make a really easy, fun gift for our friends and family, and we’re going to learn how epsom salts can make your bathtub more like The Dead Sea, the density difference between gold and kitchen sponges, and learn a little about the super amazing body armor you wear every single day.

SCENTED SALTS GIFT JAR

This is a very easy and inexpensive gift you can make for friends and family. 

You’ll need:

  • 1 cup Epsom Salts
  • 1 cup Kosher or flaky sea salt
  • 1/4 cup baking soda
  • 10-20 drops essential oil(s)
  • A container with a tight lid
  • A bowl and a fork or whisk

Optional ingredients

  • 4-6 drops food coloring
  • 1 Tablespoon dried flower blossoms, like lavender, chamomile, rose
  • sticky labels, fabric, ribbon for labeling and decorating jar
  • optional: used for fizzy salts – 1/4 cup citric acid

Instructions

Mix the salts and baking soda together in a bowl. Add 10-20 drops of essential oil, dried flowers, food coloring and keep mixing until everything is evenly mixed. If you’re making a fizzy bath salt mix, add the citric acid when you’re absolutely sure all the other ingredients are soaked into the epsom salts. No clumps should remain. Now add the salts to your container, and either use labels or a fabric circle tied around the top with a tag. On the tag, write something like “To: Mom, From: Your Favorite Kid – Lavender Mint Bath Salts.”

Make the jar look pretty, and give it as a gift!

What do bath salts do?

There are lots and lots of myths about what Epsom salts can do, so let’s start with the one thing we absolutely know to be true: when you put this mixture of salts into warm water,  your bathwater will increase in density because of the salts. This increase in density makes water feel silky, thick, heavy, luxurious…and especially when mixed with nice scents, this may make you feel more relaxed. It will also make you feel lighter — because your density remains the same, while the density of the water increases, making you float more easily.

What is density? Density is how much mass a substance has, compared to how much space it takes up.

Imagine this:

These two blocks take up the same amount of space. One is made of solid gold. The other is made of kitchen sponges. Which one weighs more?

The block that weighs the most is made of solid gold, even though it’s the same size as the sponge block. That means the density of gold is higher than that of sponge. If you look very closely at a block of gold, you will see there are no air pockets; just a solid piece of metal. If you look at a sponge, you see air pockets inside. The air pockets take up some of that space, but add no weight – just air. That’s how density works.

So why do you feel lighter in a bath filled with bath salts?

Have you ever heard of the Dead Sea or The Great Salt Lake? The first one is an inland sea that borders the countries of Isreal, Jordan, and Palestine; the second is a giant lake in the state of Utah, in America. What they have in common is that they are very VERY salty. The huge amount of salt dissolved in the water makes the water a lot more dense.

Your body is just a little less dense than water, meaning you will float in water.

  • When water is very salty, it becomes even more dense than you, so you float even better more.
  • If you have a lot of body fat, your body will be less dense, making you more buoyant (meaning “floaty”)
  • Epsom salts increase the density of the water, which in turn adds to your buoyancy. This floating sensation may help you relax your muscles more readily.

Body Stuff

This is a good time to talk about your body and how it cleans itself, something it is naturally very good at doing. There are several organs and systems that allow keep your body clean, from the inside out.

The digestive system includes the intestines, salivary (spit) glands, pancreas, stomach, and gall bladder.

The liver detoxifies the blood, and produces some of the biochemicals necessary for digestion, which is the way your body breaks down foods and uses their nutrients to run the magnificent machine that is your body. It filters your blood and produces special enzymes to destroy toxins we might get from food, water, and air. The liver basically packages up these things our body doesn’t want or need, so the body can get rid of them through your urine and bile. Liver is in charge of metabolism, a chemical process in which foods are converted into energy the body can use.

Food also passes through your intestines, where nutrients are absorbed. Healthy intestines keep good and bad bacteria in balance, so your body can digest (use) the food you eat.

Kidneys are part of the urinary system. They also filter your blood to remove waste, and send it to the urinary bladder. The kidneys get rid of waste products like urea and ammonium, which leave your body as urine. eir principal function is to transport oxygen from the atmosphere into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere.

Lymph is the clear fluid that makes up part of our lymphatic system, which is part of the immune system. Lymph contains white blood cells (the body’s warriors!), which pick up bacteria and viruses from your cells and carry them back to your lymph nodes, where they are destroyed.

And finally, your SKIN helps fend off infection and absorption of unwanted toxins because it is basically a giant, flexible suit of armor that stands between your inner systems and the world. Skin can also excrete extra salts your body doesn’t need by sweating. Your skin is part of the immune system, but the top layer of skin is actually dead. That dead part of your skin is constantly falling off and being replaced by new skin cells. It is part of the integumenty system – the entire network of dead skin cells, from your skin to your nails and hair, that create a final barrier between your body and the outside world. Did you know you you lose 40,000 dead skin cells every minute!?

Your body sure does work hard to keep you clean! By eating nutritious, healthful foods and having good hygiene – like taking baths and brushing your teeth – you help all the systems of your body do the best job they can to keep you healthy and keep your amazing machine running smoothly.

More on the science of Epsom salts.

 

 

Bird Feeder

Bird Feeder

Aren’t birds amazing? They are in a class of their own. Like mammals, birds are warm blooded, but they lay eggs like cold-blooded reptiles. They are covered in feathers. Some fly in the air and some swim in the ocean, play games, use tools, sing songs, do complicated dances, decorate their homes, and some travel very long distances when the seasons change.  Birds are descended from a dinosaur called maniraptoran theropod, the same family as the Velociraptor; some scientists believe those dinos were covered in feathers, too. So when you’re watching a little bird hop around, it’s the closest you’ll get to seeing a real, live, miniature dinosaur!

All year round you can invite birds to dinner at your home with this easy bird feeder.

What you need: 

  • Wood glue or hot glue
  • Large craft sticks (between the size of a tongue depressor and a popsicle stick)
  • Yarn or hemp string
  • Peanut butter
  • Birdseed

Instructions

  1. Make the base of the bird feeder. Lay one stick out, and then line up more sticks side-by-side, perpendicular to stick #1 until you have enough to span the width of stick #1 (which will cover the whole bottom of the feeder.) Leaving the other sticks in place, aligned side-by-side, and with all the ends even to each other, put a line of glue across stick #1 and glue it along one edge, so it holds together all the ends of all the other sticks. Use another craft stick and more glue to do the same on the opposite side.
  2. Using the “log cabin” method, build up the sides of your feeder by gluing down two sticks to opposite sides of the square, and then repeating the process with the next two opposite sides, until your feeder is five or six layers of craft stick high.
  3. Cut four equal lengths of strong string, 24-36″ long. Tie one to each corner of the feeder.
  4. Put the feeder flat on the floor and hold all four strings together at the top. Lift the feeder slightly up and make sure it hangs in a balanced manner, adjusting the strings as needed. Now, tie off the strings in a knot about 10-12″ from the top. You will use the remaining top 12″ of string to tie the feeder to a tree branch. If you’re hanging it from a hook, you can tie the top into a loop.
  5. Spread peanut butter all over the bottom tray of the feeder and pour some birdseed on top. Hang your feeder where birds will find it (but far enough from the ground that cats and other predators can’t easily reach it) and wait. You will soon have finely feathered visitors!

More Fun Facts About Birds:

  • There are roughly 10000 species of birds on Earth.
  • The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. If you put a cheetah and an ostrich in a race, the cheetah could outrun the ostrich over a short distance, sprinting short distances at 59 miles per hour. But an ostrich can run very long distances at over 40 mph, and would eventually outdistance the cheetah.
  • Birds have lightweight, but strong, hollow bones that don’t weigh them down while they’re riding wind currents far overhead.
  • Some bird species of birds — like corvids, which include jays, ravens, and crows, are so intelligent that they can create and use tools, play games with each other, and play pranks on their foes!
  • Ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, kiwi, and penguins cannot fly at all.
  • Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, and some of them travel up to 3000 miles at a time miles in a migration season. They can fly backwards and hover, and can flap their wings up to 200 times per minute! The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world at only 2″ long.

Make your own observations:

What birds are common where you live? If you put different types of seeds in your feeder, do different birds come to eat? Do you see different birds in the summer than you do in the winter? Can you find a bird-watching guide and name all the birds who visit your feeder?

Related YogaKids Poses:

Crane, Flamingo…what other yoga poses remind you of birds?

Bird Feeder

Aren’t birds amazing? They are in a class of their own. Like mammals, birds are warm blooded, but they lay eggs like cold-blooded reptiles. They are covered in feathers. Some fly in the air and some swim in the ocean, play games, use tools, sing songs, do complicated dances, decorate their homes, and some travel very long distances when the seasons change.  Birds are descended from a dinosaur called maniraptoran theropod, the same family as the Velociraptor; some scientists believe those dinos were covered in feathers, too. So when you’re watching a little bird hop around, it’s the closest you’ll get to seeing a real, live, miniature dinosaur!

All year round you can invite birds to dinner at your home with this easy bird feeder.

What you need: 

  • Wood glue or hot glue
  • Large craft sticks (between the size of a tongue depressor and a popsicle stick)
  • Yarn or hemp string
  • Peanut butter
  • Birdseed

Instructions

  1. Make the base of the bird feeder. Lay one stick out, and then line up more sticks side-by-side, perpendicular to stick #1 until you have enough to span the width of stick #1 (which will cover the whole bottom of the feeder.) Leaving the other sticks in place, aligned side-by-side, and with all the ends even to each other, put a line of glue across stick #1 and glue it along one edge, so it holds together all the ends of all the other sticks. Use another craft stick and more glue to do the same on the opposite side.
  2. Using the “log cabin” method, build up the sides of your feeder by gluing down two sticks to opposite sides of the square, and then repeating the process with the next two opposite sides, until your feeder is five or six layers of craft stick high.
  3. Cut four equal lengths of strong string, 24-36″ long. Tie one to each corner of the feeder.
  4. Put the feeder flat on the floor and hold all four strings together at the top. Lift the feeder slightly up and make sure it hangs in a balanced manner, adjusting the strings as needed. Now, tie off the strings in a knot about 10-12″ from the top. You will use the remaining top 12″ of string to tie the feeder to a tree branch. If you’re hanging it from a hook, you can tie the top into a loop.
  5. Spread peanut butter all over the bottom tray of the feeder and pour some birdseed on top. Hang your feeder where birds will find it (but far enough from the ground that cats and other predators can’t easily reach it) and wait. You will soon have finely feathered visitors!

More Fun Facts About Birds:

  • There are roughly 10000 species of birds on Earth.
  • The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. If you put a cheetah and an ostrich in a race, the cheetah could outrun the ostrich over a short distance, sprinting short distances at 59 miles per hour. But an ostrich can run very long distances at over 40 mph, and would eventually outdistance the cheetah.
  • Birds have lightweight, but strong, hollow bones that don’t weigh them down while they’re riding wind currents far overhead.
  • Some bird species of birds — like corvids, which include jays, ravens, and crows, are so intelligent that they can create and use tools, play games with each other, and play pranks on their foes!
  • Ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, kiwi, and penguins cannot fly at all.
  • Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, and some of them travel up to 3000 miles at a time miles in a migration season. They can fly backwards and hover, and can flap their wings up to 200 times per minute! The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world at only 2″ long.

Make your own observations:

What birds are common where you live? If you put different types of seeds in your feeder, do different birds come to eat? Do you see different birds in the summer than you do in the winter? Can you find a bird-watching guide and name all the birds who visit your feeder?

Related YogaKids Poses:

Crane, Flamingo…what other yoga poses remind you of birds?