Exploding Peep Geysers

Exploding Peep Geysers ~ Candy Experiment

I had no idea that Peeps are now making festive Halloween Ghosts until I found myself wandering the to the candy isle at Target. Now that is a dangerous isle! My kids have been wanting to try this Microwaved Peep Experiment for a while, so we decided to take it to the next level. My kids were totally memorized watching our simple Exploding Peep Geysers.

Exploding Peep Geysers:

Empty plastic bottle ~ we used a small Gatorade bottle
3 Peeps
A Microwave

Squish your little peeps into the bottle.

Once the peeps were all snug in their new home, we realized that our bottle almost touched the top of the microwave. It would have been easier to do this step first, but oh well. Cut a few inches off the top of the bottle. You will see why this is a good idea as you scroll down.

I asked the kids what they thought was going to happen when we microwaved our little ghosts. They predicted that the Peeps would expand to the top of the container. Surprisingly, our little Peeps did more than just expand. Who knew they would explode right out of the bottle.

Place your peep filled bottle in the middle of the microwave. It will only take about 30 seconds before the explosion is over so be ready. The peeps actually fly out of the bottle. How cool is that! The kids loved it, although were bummed by how quickly the whole experiment was over.

This was a shot immediately after the microwave door was opened. The puffy, gooey mess deflated quickly as it cooled.

Just like regular Marshmallows, this sticky pile became hard as it cooled. Surprisingly it was not all that hard to clean up. Thank goodness for dishwashers.

If you kids love this experiment, then they will also love to try this simple Exploding Ivory Soap experiment. It is one of my kids favorites. The best part is, you can make Fluffy bath tub paints once you are done. 2 projects for the price of one!

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Make sure to click on the links below for more exciting ways to Experiment with Candy:

Balancing with M&M’s from Inspiration Laboratories

Candy Corn Catapults from Frugal Fun4 Boys

Balloon Experiments with Candy from Learn Play Imagine

Candy Chromatography from Mama Miss

Dissolving Gobstoppers from Mama Papa Bubba

For more fun inspiration follow my Kids Science board on Pinterest.

Starburst Candy Sculptures

Edible Sculptures ~ Create Art with Starburst Candy

We are back with Day 4 of our Candy Series. We have had a blast Painting with Licorice; playing scientist while we mixed up a batch of candy potions and getting creative with magnets and Pixi Stix. Today we are sharing a super simple and edible way to create Starburst Candy Sculptures.

This might be the easiest play recipe that we have made so far. Are you ready for it…open a bag of Starbursts, unwrap the candy, don’t eat and start sculpting. That’s it:)

The Starbursts are firm at first, but become pliable as you work with them. You might be surprised to find out how easy Starbursts can be to sculpt with. If you are creating with little ones, you may want to make the “dough” workable for them.

Combining 2 or more colors is super simple. All you need to do is gently fold and stretch the Starbursts squares together. The kids loved watching the colors mix together and slowly create new colors. They were also surprised to discover the dough became shinny the longer it was played with. They actually started gently rubbing the dough like they were shinning shoes. Love it.

I love the marbled effect that the colors create as they blend together.

Campfire Glow by Annika

Lone Fall Tree by Bree

Marble Cube by Kaleb

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Make sure to click on the links below for more inspiring ways to create Art with Candy:

Candy Jewlery from Mama Papa Bubba

Candy Pumpkin from Blog Me Mom

Erupting Art for Kids from Learn Play Imagine

Starburst Candy Mosaic from Mama Miss

Candy Headbands from Meri Cherry

Tomorrow we will each be exploring Exciting Science Activities.

For more fun inspiration follow myPainting without Brushes board on Pinterest.

Pixy Stix Learning Tray

Learning with Candy ~ Pixy Stix Games and Magnet Play

My kids are loving participating in the week long candy series. So far we have Painted with Licorice and mixed up a batch of candy potions! Next up, learning, playing and experimenting with our Pixy Stix Learning Tray. The kids tried 4 different ways to play with Pixy Stix and each of them got the thumbs up.

I love this little moment that I captured. It totally sums up my sweet daughters excitement. She is my special girl that has me rolling on the floor giggling one moment and the we are wiping tears. Love her!

Pixy Stix Pick-up Sticks Game

We kicked off our Pixy Stix play/learning with a little old school game of pick-up sticks. I was surprised at how great they worked. I was concerned since essentially Pixi Stix are just paper tubes, however they stood up well. Such a simple idea but oh so fun!

Poured Pixy Stix Art

After they wrapped up the game, asked the kids to pour the sugary powder into the tray. The kids immediately started making patterns and swirls with the powder. Who would have thought of creating art as the sugar was being poured…kids:) I love how kids brains work, and watching them process through things.

Their sugary poured patterns and swirls were beautiful. However, they wished we had more than 4 colors to work with. Anyone know if Pixy Stix come in more colors than just Red, Orange, Purple and Blue?

Pixy Stix and Magnets

Once the kids poured all the sugary powder onto the tray, I showed them how to tap the sugar flat. When I brought out a tray of varying sizes of metal balls and a different strengths/sizes of magnets the kids new exactly what to do.

They experimented with all the different sizes and strengths of magnets and sizes of metal balls. It was funny listening to them discuss which combination was the best an why. I just stepped back and watched the learning unfold. Kids are great at teaching each other, and it is such a great skill for them to learn.

Their favorite magnet was this oblong shaped one. It plowed a wide trail of Pixy Stix power where as the smaller balls just left a skinny track. They played for hours simply creating patterns in the sugary powder.

We also pulled out a number of other objects that created unique patters. Some of the kids favorites included an offset spatula, a fork, a rubber basting brush and lots of different shaped cookie cutters. However the magnets were by far the biggest hit.

Drawing in Pixy Stix Powder

The kids fashioned a simple magnetic drawing utensil from metal ball and a piece from their magnetic building set. It worked beautifully.

They even fit in a game a hangman.

Our simple Pixi Stix Learning Tray was a hug hit. Who knew that those sugary little tubes could hold so much learning potential.

Please remember to be careful when playing with magnets and small children.

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Make sure to click on the links below for more inspiring Learning Activities:

Math Games with Candy from Learn Play Imagine

SweeTart Sorting & Graphing from Mama Papa Bubba

Candy Corn Counting and Math from Reading Confetti

Spelling with M&M’s from Inspirational Laboratories

Candy Train Game from Play Trains

Learning with licorice from Blog Me Mom

Free Printable Flashcards for Addition with Jellybeans from Mama Miss

Tomorrow we will each be exploring creative Candy Art.

For more fun inspiration follow my Painting without Brushes board on Pinterest.

Candy Potions

Invitation to play, invent and explore ~ Halloween Candy Potions

My kids are having so much fun creating and playing with Halloween candy. Yesterday we shared a fun invitation to create and Paint with Licorice Today our little scientists are mixing up a batch of candy potions that you wont want to miss!

Have you met my sweet friend Shaunna from Fantastic Fun and Learning? Not that long ago she shared an wonderful post all about Little Wizards at Work and I fell in love with her simple playful set up. If you have not read her post yet, made sure you hop on over. However plan to stay a while, Shaunna’s site it delightful and completely addicting!

Kids love mixing, pouring and playing, however by adding the element of candy turns something fun into a truly magical experience.

Potion Mixing Station:

Over the years we have collected a number of different science kits. They always come with test tubes, pipettes, petri dishes, containers, tweezers, stir sticks, goggles and just about anything else that we needed for our simple Potion Mixing Station.

As for the candy, we used skittles, nerds, gummy bears, licorice, smarties, pop rocks, suckers, candy corn and just about anything else we could find.

Water, food coloring and glitter are also great additions.

Our little scientists found tweezers to be perfect for adding just the right amount of candy. Don’t get me wrong, they used the dump method as well, they just liked playing with the tweezers.

I love my sweet little scientist’s look of concentration. Getting just the right proportions of Nerds, Skittles, Candy Corn, water and food coloring can be tricky. You can’t rush science.

The scientists used suckers as a simple pestle for grinding and breaking up candies.

Instead of handing over jars of colored water, I set out the food coloring and let them mix just the perfect shade. If you are doing the activity with little kiddos, then you may want to have jars of colored potion water ready to go just to make it easier for littler fingers.

Goggles just make everything twice as fun! I love our little mad scientist.

This simple invitation to create and play was a HUGE hit. It kept the girls busy for hours, mixing, dumping, shaking, pouring and inventing. Love it.

Our little scientists discovered that a Smartie was the prefect fit to wedge into a test tube creating a simple candy stopper. They were amazed that it sealed so tightly that none of the blue potion leaked out. The candy did eventually dissolve. I love watching kids make discoveries.

Check out these Creepy Jars and Candy Labels that would be the perfect addition to your spooky concoctions.

For more great ideas on how to avoid the Halloween sugar rush, check out how we Painted with Jelly beans, Painted with Laffy Taffy, Nerds and Licorice, and created Candy Wrapper Turkeys.

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Make sure to click on the links below for more inspiring Sensory Play Ideas:

Candy Monsters from Blog Me Mom

Hershey Chocolate Playdough Recipe from Learn Play Imagine

Mouldable Edible Candy Clay from Mama Papa Bubba

Tomorrow we will each be exploring creative Learning Activities with Candy.

For more fun inspiration follow my Painting without Brushes board on Pinterest.

Painting with Licorice

Halloween Candy Activity ~ Painting with Licorice

Are you looking for engaging activities that will put your kids Halloween candy stash to good use? Then look no further, this week on Housing A Forest we are all about Candy Activities for Kids. I am collaborating with some of my favorite bloggers to bring you the Ultimate Halloween Candy Guide. We have selected a different candy theme for each day, including painting ideas, sensory play, learning activities, art projects and science experiments all revolving around candy. Our series is all about giving parents alternative ideas for getting kids creating with their Halloween stash and minimizing the sugar rush. Today I am kicking off our candy series with a simple invitation to create revolving around Painting with Licorice.

Licorice may not be in my kids top 5 favorite candies, however they were all over painting with it. Not that long ago, we made stamps with Pull ‘n Peel licorice and the kids have been begging to create with licorice ever since. We chose to use Pull ‘n Peel Licorice for our painting exploration, however I am sure that regular licorice would produce beautiful results as well.

Invitation to create

In the center of the table, I set an open bag of Pull ‘n Peel licorice along with a filled paint pallet. The only instruction that I gave, was to have fun. Simple enough. The kids dove right in exploring process art and creating with out rules. I loved listening to all the silly giggles as they began pulling out pieces of licorice to play with.

They started by dragging one individual licorice stand through the paint and across their paper. Slow and methodical.

DIY Paint Brush ~ Candy Art

It was not too long before the kids created their own primitive paint brush. All they did was held onto multiple licorice pieces, creating a wiggly brush of sorts. No ties were used, just their fingers. Simplicity was totally working in their favor on this one.

I love the rainbow of colors and the beautiful lines that are formed from their simple DIY paint brush.

Egg cartons make the best paint trays. They hold just the right amount of paint, there are 12 wells for different colors and the best part is they are free. I find the plastic egg cartons work great since they are washable although we use the cardboard egg cartons as well.

They also explored pulling the licorice through a sandwiched piece of paper. Similar to these adorable pulled sting paintings. It worked great as long as the the licorice was pulled gently.

Licorice stamps made from rolled up pull n peel ropes were also explored. They creating a fun snail like pattern, and delightfully messy fingers.

The skinny single stands of licorice and the thick ropes were all a hit.

Beautiful tracks made from using the licorice like a rolling pin. I totally love the pattern and mixture of colors.

Our simple invitation to create was a total hit. The kids loved exploring and playing. I was surprised that my oldest son dove right in as well. I think that it getting messy with candy is a hit no matter what age you are. Little and big, this activity got rave reviews from my kids.

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Make sure to click on the links below for more inspiring ideas on how to Paint with Candy:

Nerds Watercolor Trees from Reading Confetti

Glossy Skittles Paint from Mama Papa Bubba

Starburst Finger Paint Recipe from Learn Play Imagine

Tomorrow we will each be exploring creative Candy Sensory Play ideas.

For more fun inspiration follow my Painting without Brushes board on Pinterest.

Exploding Peep Geysers

Exploding Peep Geysers ~ Candy Experiment

Exploding Peep Geysers:

Starburst Candy Sculptures

Edible Sculptures ~ Create Art with Starburst Candy

Pixy Stix Learning Tray

Learning with Candy ~ Pixy Stix Games and Magnet Play

Pixy Stix Pick-up Sticks Game

Poured Pixy Stix Art

Drawing in Pixy Stix Powder

Candy Potions

Invitation to play, invent and explore ~ Halloween Candy Potions

Potion Mixing Station:

Painting with Licorice

Halloween Candy Activity ~ Painting with Licorice

Invitation to create

DIY Paint Brush ~ Candy Art

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