Unstructured Play Week, Day 2: Kitchen Chemistry and Cooking Fun

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8

It's another fun day for unstructured play resources and discussions. Yesterday we talked paper dolls, and today it's kids in the kitchen!

About a week ago, I had morning devotions and prayer with my three children, then randomly asked them, "What fun adventures are the Ballard children going to have today?" To my surprise, my youngest son, age four, piped up: "Chemistry experiments!"

No, we do not have a chemistry lab in our home. We make do with our humble kitchen. And before you think that I am some kind of super mom/teacher who goes online and tracks down intricate, mind-blowing science stuff to teach her kids in her free time, let me assure you. It's really not like that.

My Play Kitchen Sticker Activity Book

Usually, science in my kitchen begins with "Mom, I'm bored," or "What would happen if. . . ?" Most recently, my youngest got to play with a toy Minecraft torch at a friend's house. Any kind of flashlight entertains a child of four, but this was extra fun because it was a torch, albeit a battery-operated one. Naturally, he wanted me to buy one for him. I couldn't gratify his toy wish immediately, but we did the next best thing. We made a real torch in the kitchen.

Note: This torch is not a toy. Also, making the torch is not unstructured play. I'm just throwing this in here because it happened in my kitchen, the kids loved it, and I like to play with fire. Please supervise your kids carefully if trying this at home!

How to Make a Torch

The Ingredients:
1 stick from outside (a greener one won't be as likely to burn)
1 large cotton ball
1 wire twist-tie from a bread bag
Oil (we tested vegetable oil and olive oil)
Matches or lighter

Instructions: Over metal sink or in another safe, supervised place, attach cotton ball to tip of stick with twist-tie. Douse with enough oil to partially saturate the cotton ball. Carefully ignite the cotton ball with match or lighter. You now have a torch! How long does it burn? Does it stay burning longer than a cotton ball with no oil on it?

Another Note: Please do not allow children to carry torch around. This is a good time to have that talk with them about not playing with matches. . .or fire. . .or making torches. . .without an adult supervising.

Okay, as I said, that activity falls under "structured play," or at least "carefully supervised, adult-assisted play," and this week's focus is Unstructured Play. Let's get back to that stuff.

I often turn my kids loose in the kitchen with "chemistry stuff." Even my four-year-old knows that the really fun ingredients are baking soda and vinegar. One time we used those ingredients to make some home-made cleaning solution, and now he offers to make more just so he can see the volcano effect.

Many TV shows, movies, and games show people using chemistry sets (Sherlock Holmes, anyone?), but how many parents think to put realistic chemistry equipment into their kids' hands? I'm not talking glass beakers and graduated cylinders. I'm talking plastic ones. Maybe even homespun versions made from yogurt containers, medicine dose cups, or pop bottles. The "chemicals" should of course be safe, and they don't have to be complicated. My kids love to play with food coloring, salt, water, lemon juice, and of course, baking soda and vinegar. Playing with these materials requires very little supervision, and kids will make discoveries all on their own. If they ask "Why does it do that?" or "How does it work?" all you really need to tell a preschooler is "It's science!" But if you can explain it, they'll probably never forget.

Color & Cook Activity Book

Besides chemistry, the kitchen is also the scene of many an edible concoction. Sure, you can buy a kids' cookbook, but it's also fun to simply move aside and let the magic happen. My middle son can be a picky eater, so he has developed a few recipes of his own. He's becoming known in the family as a quirky chef!

One of his favorites is hamburger tacos:

Hamburger Tacos
Make tacos according to your favorite family recipe, but substitute ketchup for salsa. Add sliced dill pickles and whatever else you like on a hamburger.

And his most recent invention, which covers dinner and dessert:

Brownie-Peanut Butter Sandwich
Generously spread one slice of bread with creamy peanut butter. Generously spread another slice with Nutella hazelnut spread. Place a chewy brownie on one slice and close up sandwich. For a healthier option, substitute slices of banana or strawberries for the brownie.

Kids don't come up with creative ideas like these if they're given the impression that only grown-ups are allowed in the kitchen, or that all food comes from a strictly-followed recipe (or from a box).

More Ideas for Unstructured Kitchen Play

• Turn kids loose to create musical instruments from kitchen items
• Let kids wash dishes the old-fashioned way with sudsy water in the sink (this is more fun if they don't often get to try this)
• Let them give their water-safe dolls and toys a bath in the sink
• Stockpile recycleables and challenge kids to build a robot from them (Credit for that idea goes to a teacher friend, Candice!)
• Frosting cupcakes or decorating cookies requires little supervision if you don't care about posting the results on Pinterest
• Preschoolers will love making a tower or fort out of pantry items like cans and boxes

My grandparents' house

My grandmother used to turn her grandchildren loose with kitchen items (slotted spoons, colanders, empty spice tins) and send us outside to the driveway to dig, scoop, sift, and pour to our hearts' content. It was the next best thing to a sand box.

I hope you enjoyed messing around in my kitchen today. Please leave a comment below to share your favorite kitchen play activities! And stop by throughout the week for more on Unstructured Play. Tomorrow we go outdoors and take a hike up the creek (or "crick," as it is sometimes called in rural Idaho). Carry your water shoes!

A Stance on Creationism and Evolution in the Public Schools

Many Christian teachers are required to teach evolutionary theory as fact in their classrooms. In some states, laws outline how cosmology and biology may and may not be taught. A simple Google search will reveal some of the more recent battles state legislatures have fought over evolution in schools.

See, for example, NPR's summary here or the Pew Research Center's take here.

Many Christians are tired of the topic. Is it really that important? Can't I be a Christian without believing the Biblical account of Creation?

The trouble is, the Creation account is everywhere in the Bible, and it's considered part of the Gospel (Rev. 14:6-7):

"And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and springs of waters.'"

It's not something you can pry out of the Word of God. It's part of the final message to a dying earth: Believe in the Creator.

So how about teaching Creationism in the public schools?

The way I see it, we have to be realistic about the world in which we live. The public schools belong to the state and not the church. Just as I cannot expect my unsaved neighbor to obey God's laws in his home, I cannot expect a fallen government (and they are all fallen governments on this earth) to enact God-centered laws for their schools. There are several implications of this perspective.

First, if I'm a voter, I vote.

Second, if I'm a parent, I consider prayerfully whether to place my child in public school or to home school him or her or seek some other school. If choosing public school, I interview my child's teachers and dialog often with my child about my beliefs, knowing I can't force my child to believe the same way I do. I can only lead and pray. Every parent has to work through the school choice question for himself.

Third, if I'm a public school teacher, it means I look carefully at the expectations placed on me in my job. Will I be required to teach evolution? If so, how must I teach it according to state laws?

I would like to hear from other Christian teachers about this tough topic. The matter of Evolution vs. Creationism is no small matter to Christians. We may never convince others to agree with us, but that doesn't mean we should roll over and play dead. The God of the universe asks us to persevere. What does this mean to you? How has Creation affected your thinking about your profession?

"We Are On A Marble"

So these guys make a scale model of the solar system in a dry lake bed. Earth is a marble. The Atlantic video here.

"Come and Worship" Meets Evolution

Author David Rains Wallace wrote in 2004 that "If there is a Sistine Chapel of Evolution, it is Yale University's Peabody Museum." This month's Smithsonian magazine cover invites readers to "worship" there by way of the issue's pages. For so many of its adherents, Evolutionary theory is true religion.

Learning Through Writing: Choose Your Own Adventure

When I was a kid, I loved to read books from the Choose Your Own Adventure series. On each page was a choice, something like this. "If you decide to risk the mountain lions and explore the cave, turn to page 23. If you decide to look for a stream to replenish your water supply, turn to page 71." If you were killed by mountain lions on page twenty-three, you could always go back and see where the other choice led. In fact, you often died. No problem. Just go back to page one, or wherever you left a bookmark last.

Similarly, video games often include a story with many choices for the player to make. The decisions you make alter the course of the game. When your character dies, you play again.

I like to assign a choose-your-own story to my high school students. It's digital, with hyperlinks to different documents in a Google Drive folder for the pages. The first page sets up the scenario ("You are Sir Lancelot. The castle at Camelot is under attack") and the viewpoint character. Second person present works best for the point of view. At the bottom of the page is the first set of choices. Instead of using "turn to page 5," use "click here" or "click to page 5." Then, link to the new page. Be sure to put the page number at the top of each page, and save each document as the same number. Keep the story to twelve pages or so for beginners, and keep a running list of how each page turns out if you are concerned about the ratio of positive outcomes to negative outcomes.

There are several Web sites students can use to help them write choose-your-own stories, but I like the challenge of creating my own story, format and links. The students are up for the challenge, too.

What should they write about? This assignment works well for fiction or nonfiction. My daughter wrote one in which the reader is a trout. It required her to research the life cycle of a trout and what the trout's natural predators are. I'm researching Antoine Lavoisier, a chemist who was guillotined during the French Revolution. Turning Lavoisier's life into a choose-your-own story has been challenging, since I am working to understand the science part and then to make the concepts easy for my students or other young readers to understand.

To get a better feel for how it all works, see if your library has the classic Choose Your Own Adventure books, or pick up similar versions by R.L. Stein or other authors. Then, create your own story to share with your students. They'll be raring to write!

A Universe From Nothing

One of the stickiest conversations you can ever get into centers on the origins of the universe. Among scientists there is no consensus. Among biblical literalists there is hardly agreement. Read an online article about the topic from any viewpoint and. . .well, be prepared to skip the comments posted at the end.

As a Christian who is curious and (on a good day) analytical, I enjoy reading about theories of how the universe began. Some cosmological theory jibes with what I believe God has recorded in the Bible for our hungry minds. Some does not. Many of the terms are puzzling and the ideas baffling. But I like to think about them. I'll listen.

Recently, my school librarian was culling old back issues of magazines from the shelves. I grabbed all the Discover and Smithsonian I could find (leaving Teen Vogue for another day). Over the last few weeks, I've used pictures and stories from the magazines to inspire classroom writing. Then one day I found an article that startled me.

"Starting Point" by Steve Nadis (Discover Sept. 2013) describes cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin's theory of a universe created from nothing. The idea reminded me immediately of the Latin phrase ex nihilo, or "from nothing." It's the wording used by Creationists to describe the way God spoke the world into existence when nothing as yet existed.

Most startling, though was the statement that "something [was] in place beforehand--namely the laws of physics." That reminded me of John 1,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

I know nothing of Vilenkin's religious views, if any, but I wondered how he is getting away with saying the universe was created from nothing. To many scientists, that's heresy. (I like this kind of heretic).

I'll be following Vilenkin and his journey to understand our cosmos. If you concur, check out this short video, "A Universe From Nothing."

You can read the Discover article online here.

STEM Bus USA

My school may be small, but we have an active PTO. This year, the parent-teacher organization brought the STEM Bus to visit and give K-12 students a chance to explore Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in an upbeat, hands-on environment. Stembususa.org offers teacher resources, summer STEM camp information, and info on how to bring the 60-foot Mobile Discovery Lab to your school. I got to test out an Oculus Rift, something even the most avid gamers among my students had never done. The virtual reality OR was also my son Axel's favorite, though he spent a lot of time with the electronic circuit set. It wasn't just me and my kid geeking out, though, Every single person, students and teachers alike, was having the time of their lives. I highly recommend this experience as a spark of inspiration and just plain fun for all ages. Talk to your PTO about booking the STEM Bus for your school!