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SPLAT! Catapult Snow Painting!

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Today was only the beginning....

If you have been following along, you will know that we have been very focused on fort making . In one of the building books we found we learned that forts have been used all throughout history, and those who built forts also needed ways to defend them from intruders. One of the ways in which this was done was with catapults. The children were very excited and re-energized to test out our catapults again.


Water balloons filled with colored water, our ogre catapult, sunshine and a group of eager children =


Lovely colorful patches all over the yard in the melting, slushy snow!

Through our investigations today we learned:
  • If you fill a water balloon a little bit and then let the water out, it stretches it out enough for you to add color to it before you refill it and tie it for use.
  • Most water balloons bounce on the snow's surface. (We had to aim for "our driveway" where there is asphalt under the small layer of snow to get them to break instead of bounce.
  • If you overfill a balloon, it pops before you get to use it.
This activity also "got the gears moving" what if we try this.... what about that????  How could we do this without water balloons? What else could we use? Are there other canvases that would be better than snow? Could we use our smaller catapults? What about paint instead of food coloring???? Needless to say, I have a shopping list! Stay tuned for more fun splat catapult painting!
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Comments

Ticia said…
Almost makes me wish we had snow. We have a small catapult.......
March 10, 2011 at 10:45 PM
Amy A @ Child Central Station said…
Ticia- We have lots of ideas for non-snow options... stay tuned! We will be exploring these options and posting about them for awhile!
March 10, 2011 at 11:35 PM
rachelle | tinkerlab said…
Look at all that good thinking your kids are up to! Now this is what they mean when they say "play-based learning"! I'm inspired, Amy!
March 11, 2011 at 12:35 AM
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