Oil spills and the taste game...

 

Yesterday after we planted our dill seeds Evie REALLY wanted to play the taste game but we didn't have time. So today it was the first thing I set up for her (after breakfast ofc). It's a GORGEOUS day outside so of course we took it to the patio to play. The game is simple; one of us fills six little jars with bite sized pieces of food and the the other is blindfolded and has to try each food and guess what it is. This is a wonderful game to play with picky eaters. It helps you identify what they like and don't and it also eliminates them saying they dislike a food that they haven't tried because they cannot see it before it goes into their mouths. Evie used to always say she didn't like mac and cheese, but she likes spaghetti (so it didn't seem like pasta was the issue) and she loves cheese. I had a suspicion that she just didn't want to eat it vs she didn't actually like it. But we did a blind taste test with it and sure enough, she doesn't like it. So it helps them find new foods they DO like and helps you identify if they actually dislike something or are just refusing to eat it.I try to use various food profiles and textures too so I can really hone in on things that bother her. I also always include one or two things per round that I know she loves. She has tons of fun with this game and she loves making me eat things too. 



After we played the taste game we started our oil spill lesson. I had Evie pour oil into a tub of water. First we watched it just to see how it reacted with the water. Would it mix in? Would it spread out or stay small? Then I had her stick different things into the water to see how it affected them. We used some fuzzy fabric and a feather to mimic animals. She was very interested in how it made this feather super heavy and sticky. We talked about if animals with feathers would still be able to fly with their feathers like that and then we tried to clean them off in the water (and in clean water) without success.

Next we tried ways to clean it up. First we used cotton swabs, cotton balls, and paper towels. Then we tried some fabric and a dropper to suck it out. Finally I got Evie some soap and let her drop it in the water. The oil immediately went to the sides away from the soap and from there she sopped it up with cotton. Then we cleaned off the bird feathers. We talked about how people actually do go to clean off the animals with soap when there are oil spills. We also talked about how dangerous they are, how difficult it is to clean them up, and ways that people could choose to be more conscious of the environment and keeping it clean. She had a lot of fun with this one and said in the future, she'd love to be one of the people who goes to help the animals when things like this happen. I love her heart and how much she loves helping and learning. <3 

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