Sneakin' In Science Review-April

Last summer I signed Beckett up for a Science mini-camp at our local library. I was taking a few classes myself and did not do the drop off and pickup each day. By not doing this, I really missed out on what was being done and what they had learned, because by the time I got home, B's answers were "I don't know" or "I don't remember". Luckily, my father-in-law is an Engineer and he was the one doing drop off and pickup, so he quickly learned to ask what they did each day. Unluckily, for the Science mini-camp, my father-in-law is an Engineer and some of the things they told him about were not always the correct explanations for the experiments they did. Bummer. We will not be doing this mini-camp again.

Like I have said before, Science is not my thing. I am glad that I have my father-in-law to be able to provide B with other experiences, especially after the Science mini-camp bust. I also have a resource in a company called Sneakin' In Science.

Sneakin' In Science was created by a middle school science teacher and mom, Sara. Sara was looking for a way to continue growing and sharing her popular classroom experiments. She started selling some of them locally, designed a website and tried her hand online. After some initial struggles, Sara decided to market her favorite experiments as a subscription set (1,3,6,12 months) and Sneakin' In Science was born. Sara wanted to show that yes, experiments are fun, but you are also learning by asking questions, seeking answers, and doing more experimenting. All of Sneakin' In Science's experiments are designed for kids ages 5-12, and while some concepts may be more difficult for the younger set, learning is still going on.

Sara graciously offered us three months of Sneakin' In Science, here are our experiments from February (Film Canister Rockets/No Melt Snow) and March (Volcanoes). We couldn't wait to check out what April would bring us!

Our April package from Sneakin' In Science is here!

We were excited to find a Mineral Dig and Geode experiment

April-Geodes/Mineral Dig Kit If you like collecting rocks and minerals then this month's experiment is for you! Not only will you get to search through soil to find samples of different minerals you'll also get to crack open a geode to see the crystals inside. You'll get a mineral dig kit in which you will find samples of common minerals. The mineral dig includes a guide to help you id the minerals you find as well as information about how they form and their properties. You'll also receive a geode that will need to be put into an old sock or bag to be split with a hammer (safety goggles and adult supervision are a must!).

Sneakin' In Science is very excited about their newest change, professional printed directions and information. It looks great Sara!

The instruction booklet and ID page look very nice and still contained a list of what was included and easy to follow directions to complete the experiment.

We started with the Mineral Dig. It included a small bag of soil that contained various rocks and minerals. We emptied ours into a bowl so that both kids could get their hands in and dig.

After we had searched the bowl and found 7 items, the kids were both excited to see the different colors and shapes of the items we found. We talked about how some would be minerals and what a mineral was (thanks to our information sheet provided by Sneakin' In Science with everything I needed to explain a mineral). We also talked about how some were just rocks and how we would be able to figure out which ones were which. I promise you, I would have had to look all of this stuff up before I could have even begun to explain it, but with Sneakin' In Science, it is all at my fingertips.

We then used the easy to read and understand Mineral ID page. We talked about how the color would help us best figure out which mineral we had found (although this is not usually the best way to ID a mineral).

We found an Amethyst, an Emerald, Topaz, Corundum, Aqua Marine, and Moonstone. Each mineral had information listed about it and photos to see. It also included information on the Moh's Hardness Scale, which we had to check out. Our favorite mineral was the Moonstone because it looked the neatest and you could see through it.

After we had identified all our minerals and one rock, we tried scratching them on the Streak plate to see what we could find. B thought this was the best part!

When we had finished up with our minerals, it was time to check out the "big rock" that had come in our package. I had the kids look the rock over and tell me what they thought about it, I got pretty much the same answer from both, "a big gray rock that is heavy". I talked to them about how sometimes rocks can be more than just a rock, but something more exciting, this caught their attention.

I took our "heavy big gray rock" and put it inside an old sock, this confused them greatly. I then got Daddy's hammer from the garage, now they were really shaking their heads and asking me what I was going to do. After I hit the rock in the sock, they were worried I had broken the rock and ruined it.

When I took it out of the sock and we found this, they were amazed that there were crystals inside.

We discussed how sometimes a rock can be more than what it seems and how it happens. Of course they wanted to know if our backyard rocks had crystals and we talked about how some places near us probably did. I am sure they will be on the hunt for "special rocks" very soon.

This experiment from Sneakin' In Science was very fun. The kids loved digging for the minerals, we had to do it more than once, and of course were thrilled to find the crystals in our geode. Sneakin' In Science has provided us with some wonderful experiments but the best part is, they provide most of the items needed to do them and all kinds of correct and helpful information. My kids have been learning without really realizing it and wanting to learn more.

Want It? Buy It!

Did this look really fun and exciting? Are you ready to experiment? Check out Sneakin' In Science for a monthly, 3 month, 6 month, or yearly subscription and get into science! Looking for more from Sneakin' In Science, check out their blog or Like them on Facebook .

Thank you to Sara and Sneakin' in Science for another great round of experiments!