As time and discoveries progressed, we got bolder. We
modelled bones and sockets from foil and toilet rolls; we
extracted metal from breakfast cereals; we made flat drink
fizzy again. After a while, we got more organised, grouping
activities according to topics, which have come to include
fighting gravity, engineering and the human body.
Kitchen chemistry
Predictably, the girls – and the mummies – loved food
science, which could have gone on and on and on. Here we
turned milk into cheese, we “grew” marshmallows in the
microwave, and we threw ice cubes, milk, sugar, vanilla
and salt in zip-lock bags, then shook and shimmied the
mixture to make our own ice cream.
What I didn’t expect was the total commitment by the
children to explore what appear more offbeat, and dare we
say it, boyish topics. A construction site opposite where we
live prompted experiments based on building and structure.
The girls tested the strengths of different shaped buildings
with relish. Mums and daughters worked together to try
and master building a geodesic dome with marshmallows
and spaghetti. One of my lasting memories from this topic
was when India, then four, built a huge pyramid using 100
or so paper cups. We were heart-broken when, minutes
after posing for photos with it, she kicked it down. With
a huge smile on her face, she said she wanted to try and
build a bigger tower in a new way.
Surprise results
That’s been the real discovery in our Science
Club: That there is no wrong. And that the kids
can come up with just as many possibilities as
the mums, and that, sometimes, they succeed
where we don’t. Their little hands, for
instance, were much better equipped than
ours for exploring the inner workings of
a pig’s heart that sat on the living room
table one Science Club session last
year, having been freshly procured
from a local wet market. We haven’t
really banged on about scientific
principles, but we have developed
them. We hypothesise, we test,
we experiment. We haven’t
shied away from words like
viscosity, blood cells and
molecules, but neither
have we insisted on
or tested the girls’
use of these words.
Basically, they
know Science
Club as a fun
weekly activity.
38
Playtimes
