Dull to Shiny - A Lesson in Opposites

My energy levels have been abysmally low.  But then that is to be expected, I guess when you are just days away from that magical "due date".  But we did manage to do this fun Montessori inspired activity that correlated with our discussion of opposites.

I've had fun revisiting a preschool curriculum that I wrote for Xander.  And it is so nice to do something specially geared for my 3.5 year old every once in a while.  Since we were discussing opposites and Xander has been doing a lot with money in his math lately it seemed fitting to have a science day and learn about oxidation and clean up some of our oxidized pennies.  It is also a great activity that encourages the pincer grasp when picking up pennies as well as work on fine motor skills in general for the two younger ones.

With just a few simple directions, they were set loose to explore and discover.  It was beautiful to watch their eyes light up as they witnessed the transformation from dull to shiny and play around...

Here's what you'll need if you want to do the same.

• Lemon juice (vinegar should work too)
• Salt
• Towel to rub them down after they've soaked.  A want to try a toothbrush next time for this step.
• A handful of dull pennies!

We started by squeezing lemons into our bowls. 

 Then add a scoop of salt!

 We used our pennies to mix the salt into the lemon juice.

 Wait...

...and watch.

And then scrub with our paper towels...