Definitely Wet and a little Wild! Our Wet 'n Wild Wednesday...

I've been telling the kids since last Wednesday that we would definitely, um...I mean, hopefully be going to Nana's house to swim today. We were planning on splashing around with the cousins, maybe play a fun water balloon game (I had a few in mind) but no, it didn't happen.

Myla had VBS this morning and I had lunch plans with my friend, Amanda. Why didn't we take a picture?! Grrr.... Anyway, so the plan to swim was always going to be a late afternoon/evening event.

But, at 2:12pm, this happened...

I was literally just talking on the phone to my dad, in sunny California, telling him that it might rain today. Within minutes of hanging up, it started pouring! (Don't worry, I was going a whole 15mph...slow enough to snap a quick pic.)

It came on so suddenly and it was a little scary to drive. 

Yeah, the swim adventure was not looking good at this point.

Once I got off the highway, it was a little better but still raining pretty hard. 

 Around 2:17pm...still raining...

Yep, gonna have to cancel swim plans.

BUT...at 2:18pm...not a drop. So strange. 

Well, maybe not?!

But, not so fast! Once I picked up the kids from the in-laws and got them down for nap/rest time, the rain picked up again. Lots of thunder...

So then this happened...

"MOM...", in the loudest whisper ever, "all of my babies are scared of the thunder so we are just going to come down here to rest, ok?"

Sure, ok...I was going to have to break it to her that we were definitely not going swimming so I let her comfort her babies and "rest" downstairs. 

So, moving on to plan B...I didn't really have one yet so hopped on Pinterest for an idea. 

SEARCH: indoor water activities

Found several fun ideas but then just decided to go with another simple water experiment. One every preschool or kinder teacher may know pretty well...Sink or Float?!

We could easily gather items around the house to predict and test. Fun!

Even did a Sink or Float activity this year with my 2nd graders using boats they made in science. Check it out HERE.

SINK OR FLOAT?

Materials

WATER
Large container (clear one would be best!)
Sink or Float Printables
Waterproof household items
Tablecloth or towels
"Little water lovers"

So, as Noah napped and Myla watched a movie, I made a recording and reflection sheet, and some prediction cards. So important to have that inquiry piece, even when they are little. Asking them what they think will happen is more engaging and also reveals if they have a clue what's going on. :)

Materials are ready!

So glad I thought to put this vinyl tablecloth on the table. You'll see why later. ;)

Once I had it all set up, it didn't take long for the kids to wonder what I was doing. 

M hopped right on up to the chair and said, "Ok, mom, I'm ready...what are we doing?"

After explaining to the kids, I had them each pick out 3 items to test. I did have to explain that we would need to use "waterproof" or "water-safe" items. We gave a few examples of what would not be waterproof...stuffed animal, mommy's phone, camera etc.

Once we had gathered our items, I wrote them down on our recording sheet. 

We chose a toy football, real apple, Jessie's (from Toy Story) hat, toy car, plastic golf ball, and a Lincoln log stick.

I introduced the sink or float prediction cards and we were ready to test our first object!

What do you think the football will do??

FLOAT!

I had Myla check off each item on our recording sheet to indicate if it floated or sank.

Next up...the Lincoln Log stick...Myla thought Sink and Noah thought Float.

FLOAT!

Apple! Noah was done using the prediction cards so Myla helped him out.

FLOAT!

Toy car...

SINK! 

Noah got this one right too!

 And then he got a little wet...

And so did his prediction cards. Maybe next time, we laminate them. :)

The most interesting object was Jessie's hat because it could float if put in this way.

OR sink if put in this way...

Hard to see, but we put it in the other way and it sank. 

So, the results are in...

Four items floated: apple, football, Lincoln log stick, plastic golfball

Two items sank: toy car, Jessie's hat (when put in the water a certain way and pushed down) hehe

And this is where it got a little wild...

Of course when you are around water you have to splash!

See for yourself...

Drinking water from the table? Yep...strange kids.

Soaking wet at this point...

I think they forgive me for not having a swim adventure, don't you? (There were some pouty faces and almost tears when I told them it wasn't happening earlier)

I'd call that a wet 'n wild time. :)

Once I got the drenched 3 year old off the table and dried off, Myla filled out the "reflection" sheet. 

We placed all the items in the container for her to look at and draw the items that floated and sank.

Way to go!

So, next Wednesday, we will see if we can fully submerge in some water but for this week, Plan B was a success!!

If you'd like a copy of the printables I made for this, you can find them HERE.

May I suggest laminating them and using dry erase markers instead?

Or else they will turn out like this...

Thanks for reading!!