Magic Art Turned Into Chemistry

This is what the boys done for extra activities this last week. It was an idea I found at Flipflops & Applesauce. It started out as a craft activity for Joseph and the older boys thought it sounded neat and wanted to try it out.Then it turned into a full blown set of chemistry experiments they tinkered with all week.

It was Puffy Paint that you make, paint a picture and put it in the microwave for a few seconds and presto - you have puffy art! Joseph thought this was magic, however the older boys had to explain it to the bare bones. Bottom line it was simple baking in the microwave.

This lead to the boys pulling a couple of books from our shelves - The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions 1 and 2 by John E. & Danita Thomas. That sent the boys on a scientific adventure - Dryer Lint Clay, Spray Chalk, Applesauce Cinnamon Dough, Peanutty Play Dough, and World's Best Bubbles.

But the favorite was Coffee Dough, it dries to a stone look finish. This turned into and excursion. My hubby drinks coffee but he tossed the grounds out daily. Sw we had to plan to save up the grounds until we had enough - then a light bulb came on! Let's go to Starbucks, they give away free grounds for people to use in their gardens. So we went, we got and we returned home with more grounds than you can imagine.It's sitting outside drying out really good so I can package it up so they will have it to make more coffee dough.

I didn't get pictures of the coffee dough sculptures because my rechargeable batteries are getting me fits - don't want to charge any more :( Any who, Joseph is wanting to try the clothespin dryer sheet butterflies he also saw when we were at Flipflops and Applesauce.

The recipe for Puffy Paint can be found at flipflopsandapplesauce.blogspot.com - a note here if you use this recipe really watch it in the microwave since they tend to work at different levels. It only took ours 15 seconds to puff the paint. Below is the recipe for Coffee Dough.

 

Coffee Dough -1 cup coffee grounds, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup water

1. Mix coffee grounds., flour, and salt together in a small bowl.
2. Add water and stir until the mixture turns into a consistently of a stiff dough.
3. If the clay is to sticky, knead in more flour.
4. Let the coffee dough air dry or bake them in the oven at 200 degrees F. for 45 minutes. Larger sculptures may take longer to dry.