It's not Rocket Science

A lot of things around our town are full of rocket science. Not the kind that nerdy jokes are made of, but the actual shake-your-windows-in-the-middle-of-the-day-because-we're-firing-rockets-today kind. It feels like a bit of an earthquake or possibly my stomach growling, but actually it's a test firing and those happen pretty regularly.

You might know our story and that Jason and I are space geeks. And, as the old saying goes, geeks breed geeks, so our boys love anything to do with rockets and space.

I recently wrote an article for Growing Up Magazine {so thrilled to be a part of it; it's a local parenting magazine and they asked me to write for them! EEK!!} so if you are visiting from reading that- Hey! So nice of you to stop by!
You can check out the whole article here if you aren't local, but the main point is letting your kids have some unscheduled time in their days to develop their creativity. I even did research and stuff. It's all kinds of official.

I am certainly not an expert at this {says the Queen of the Schedule}, but as my children have gotten older, I've grown to appreciate that free time more and more.

With the recent snowy and icy state around here, they haven't gotten to play outside much, so I thought I'd show you an activity that would be great for free time, a day stuck inside or a science lesson {if you're into learning and teaching and all}.

Yesterday we made rockets launch in our living room. With just a few things I gathered from around our kitchen and craft bins, we had a blast shook up our afternoon.

You will need:
* Yarn
* Balloon
* Straw
* Scotch tape

I attached the yarn to a door post with tape {unfinished paint from unfinished kitchen remodel is not required}. Before you attach the other end of the string, be sure to thread the straw in there to stay over the string. Did that make sense? Just look at the pictures below if it didn't.

Then I tied the other end of the string to a nail across the room {nail was already in there}. We had 2 strings {as seen above} and one only went to the mantle; it was a testing site, of course.

Next, blow up your balloon and hold it shut with one hand while you tape it to the straw with the other hand. Pray that you don't need to answer the phone or something at this time.

Have the kids count down and let her go!

Plan on being there for at least 30 minutes while children come up to you and beg you to do it again.

You will most likely have to replace the tape once every couple of launches and this is what it will look like. Awesome and beautful, right?
Well, at least it looks kind of science-ish, doncha think?

We did several different experiments with our balloon launches {2 at a time, 2 on the same string, backwards, etc} and if you are a geek-a-zoid like me, you might make your 4 year old come up with a hypothesis for each one. Or try to explain thrust or a Newtonian Law or 2... but I would never do that.
Nope.
Not me.
Maybe.

Either way, it was a ton of fun for a freezing afternoon and even though it might not qualify as "free time", sometimes my kids need something to spark their imaginations. They left and went upstairs to play rockets, Buzz Lightyear and counted down for hours, so I think it was a success!

Now I'm off to think of something to impress my kids with this afternoon.
What do you think about letting them have some "free time" folding laundry?
Or teaching them how to dust with socks on their hands?

Sounds like a winning combination to me... or else a children's prison camp.
Maybe it will be rockets again!