The following is a guest post by Mary Kate Warner.
Craft: Sink-or-Swim Water Globes
When God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was covered with water! Making water globes can allow children to be creators of their own little worlds and thereby sharing in God’s love of design. Note: A trip to the dollar store might be good for this one unless you have a garage well-stocked in junk and gizmos.
Material
• Water bottles, clear, with caps, 1 for each child• Blue food coloring• Foam board sheets• Pebbles or tiny seashells—6-8 for each child• Scissors• Markers• Silver, gold, blue or green glitter• Tape, if necessary• Water• Garage or dollar store treasures: Find tiny little things that can fit through the mouth of the jug so that students can have some things that sink and some that will float. Examples would include tiny squares of cut-up terry cloth, buttons, pencil erasers, discarded crayon pieces, fake pearls or jewelry, staples, paper clips, safety pins, Q-tips, etc. Put them all in a box for students to pick things from.
Introduction
When God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was all covered with water! Let’s create our own little sea world inside these water bottles, and we’ll see how different things respond in the water— especially when we make “waves.”
Water Globes Instructions
1. Fill the bottles about ¾ full.
2. Put in a few drops of blue food coloring.
3. Pour one to two tablespoons of silver, gold, blue or green glitter in jug.
4. Add up to 10 of the treasures from the box.
5. Using the markers on the foam sheets, trace a few little fish, starfish or sea plants. Cut them out and add them to the bottle.
6. Screw the lid on. Be sure it’s tight so no water spills out.
7. Lay the jar on a flat surface.
8. Gently roll the jug back and forth to see the motion of the ocean.
9. Note which items sink and which ones float and discuss why.
Water Globes Discussion
Our “little worlds” inside the bottles are like our real lives. Some of the things we have to do in life seem “heavy,” like the things that sink to the bottom. Like homework. Or chores. They don’t make us “float around” and laugh and feel all happy. But they keep us “grounded” so that when storms and big waves come, we can handle difficulties. Some of the things we do in life are fun, like the things that rise to the top. Like going to the beach or to parties. They make us feel like we’re floating and rocking and bouncing. When the storms and big waves come, the fun things around us keep us from sinking. Some things float now but will sink after a while. Those are like things in real life that we love for a while but then grow out of. We might play with dolls or stuffed toys or dinosaurs as kids, but after a while we’ll find something more mature to “float our boats,” though we’ll cherish our memories. As Christians, we need to keep life balance. We need some things that are fun, some things that will keep us grounded, and some things that are in between. We’re like the water, tossed around a bit in life’s storms. God is the bottle that keeps us together and safe, no matter what!
Check out the Groundhog Day Science Experiment.
TThe above post was written by guest blogger, Mary Kate Warner. For questions about this activity, please reach out to her personally at Christianity Cove.
