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Have you ever been out on a riverbank or hillside, and stumbled across a fossil?  What is it about fossils that fill us with immediate awe and cause us to contemplate the passing of time?  Maybe the reason they capture our attention so well is the sense of mystery surrounding them.  What time period was this particular fossil alive in?  What did its surroundings look like?  What kind of organisms were alive and nearby then?

Fossils combine two very interesting fields: Science and History.  The beauty of both of these fields is that they cause us to question things that we usually take for granted.  As we well know, children are the most engaged when  they’re given hands-on activities to take part in.  Teach your child about fossils, and instill in them a life-long fascination with the life that came before us.

Making fossils is a great way to get your child involved in science and history in a creative, fun fashion. It’s cheap and easy to create your own replicas with a minimum of skill and material. Get started today with these simple steps.

Step 1: Gather your materials. This can get a little messy (especially if there are children around), so lay down some newspapers, put away any objects you don’t want to get gooey, and grab your essentials. You’ll need:

• A small natural object (shell, leaf, bone, etc.)
• Petroleum jelly
• Plaster of Paris
• Water
• Small disposable dish or Tupperware container (such as a margarine tub)

Step 2: Choose the object you want to make a fossil of. Any object from nature works — shells, leafs, and animal bones are all good choices. If you do choose a leaf, make sure it’s not dry and crackly. It must also fit in your container!

Step 3: Coat the object with petroleum jelly. This will keep the object from sticking to the plaster when you try to remove it. Coat it thoroughly!

Step 4: Mix plaster and water in a bowl. Follow the directions on the plaster of Paris packaging. Mix them together thoroughly and let the concoction sit for a few minutes without stirring.

• You should need about 2x more water than plaster, but you can adjust the ratio as you see fit.

Step 5: Press the object into the plaster of Paris. Be careful not to push too hard! Now your part is done; all it has to do is dry. Set it aside and revisit it tomorrow; drying will take at least one day.

Step 6: Remove the object. After you’ve waited 24 hours, pop your natural item out of the plaster of Paris and voila! There’s your fossil! It’s just like a shell was enveloped in soil for thousands of years, disintegrated, and left behind this image.

For other hands-on and fun Science activities, you won’t want to miss our ultimate Science collection!   Learning has never been this much fun.

 

The instructional portion of this article was provided by wikihow, a wiki building the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make a Fossil.  Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.

Over 4,000 years ago in places around the world like North America, Europe, & Asia, people began using snowshoes because of a basic need to explore new places and find food during the winter.  Over the years the sport evolved into mainly a recreational activity.  Now, it’s become a beloved winter pastime for those living in northern climates.  And no wonder!  Those trails you walked during the summer and fall are transformed into something entirely different when covered in inches of snow.  You’re able to walk in a winter wonderland without the struggle of trudging through tons of snow.

The Sherpa Snowshoe Kit you can find at JM Cremps is designed to exceed any recreational snowshoer’s expectations by having absolutely everything you need all in one convenient pack!

In this day and age it seems to be so difficult to find a product of good and lasting quality.  Luckily JM Cremps is committed to bringing you high-quality products, and the Sherpa Snowshoe Kit is no exception!  Our Quik Clik II™ ratcheting binding makes these snowshoes effortless to put on and take off.  Shock absorbing poles will assist you on your adventure. The ultra durable HDPE decking ensures that this shoe is one to last and be passed down for years of hassle-free snowshoeing.  All the features of this snowshoe are great, but the real surprise is getting such a well-built, lightweight shoe at such a great price!

This kit is perfect for beginners AND beyond.  Get rid of that cabin fever and get outside!  Winter has never been this enjoyable.

If you’d like to purchase a Sherpa Snowshoe kit, visit jmcremps.com.  Don’t forget to check out our other winter adventures as well!

Looking for ways to pique your child’s interest in Science?  Let me tell you; hands-on experiments are the way to go!  There’s nothing like an erupting volcano or glowing water to really get their curiosity piqued.  Speaking of glowing water, here’s an easy way to make glowing water with just tonic water and a black light.

Step 1: Pour tonic water into a clear container. Believe it or not, plain old tonic water glows under a black light — quite brightly, as well. To get this effect, start by pouring some tonic water into a container where you can see it. You can add it by itself or dilute it with water. However, the more water you add, the dimmer it will glow.

• Tonic water is available at most local stores and supermarkets for just a few dollars. Be sure to get tonic water, not club soda or soda water. The bottle should say “with quinine” or something similar.

Step 2: Shine a black light on the tonic water. All you need to do to get tonic water to glow bright is to illuminate it with a black light. Be sure to dim the lights in the room before you do this or it will be more difficult to see the glowing effect.

• Black lights are available from specialty party stores (like Spencer’s, etc.) or online. The price for the black light often depends on its size and brightness — basic lights can cost as little as $20 or less.

Don’t worry about drinking the tonic water.  Making tonic water glow with a black light makes it look very strange, but it doesn’t make it poisonous, radioactive, or harmful to drink in any other way. However, tonic water is often high in calories and sugar, so enjoy it sparingly.

What’s Happening?

The Simple Explanation: The ultra violet (UV) light coming from your black light lamp excites things called phosphors. Tonic water and the dye from highlighter pens contain phosphors that turn UV light (light we can’t see) into visible light (light we can see). That’s why your water glows in the dark when you shine a black light on it.

Black lights are used in forensic science, artistic performances, photography, authentication of banknotes and antiques, and in many other areas.

The Detailed Explanation: Black light (also known as UV or ultra violet light) is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The electromagnetic spectrum also includes infrared, X-rays, visible light (what the human eye can see) and other types of electromagnetic radiation. A black light lamp such as the one you used emits a UV light that can illuminate objects and materials that contain phosphors. Phosphors are special substances that emit light (luminescence) when excited by radiation. Your water glowed under the black light because it contained phosphors. If you used a highlighter pen then the UV light reacted with phosphors in the dye. If you used tonic water then the UV light reacted with phosphors in a chemical used in tonic water called quinine.

There are different types of luminescence, they include fluorescence (used in this experiment, it glows only when the black light is on), phosphorescence (similar to fluorescence but with a glow that can last even after the black light is turned off), chemiluminescence (used to create glow sticks), bioluminescence (from living organisms) and many others.

For other fun and interesting Science experiments like this one that will most certainly fill your kid with an unquenchable thirst to know more, check out some of our other blog articles on Science here.  We’ve also got some of the most fascinating science kits on the face of this planet at JMCremps.com.

 

The instructional portion of this article was provided by wikihow, a wiki building the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How To Make Water Glow.  Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.

In the rush of the holiday season, it’s good to take a step back and remind not only yourself, but your littles on what the true spirit of Christmas is all about.

Of course as parents, we are setting an example for our children with everything we do.  If they see us stressed and harried running around shopping for gifts the entire season, what does that imprint on their mind?  That the holiday season revolves around gifts and material goods.

The true spirit of Christmas is that of giving, caring, and compassion. It’s up to you to teach your little ones about the spirit of the season. Here are some tips that should help you:

1. Have Discussions – When it comes to learning, repetition is always a good thing!  Every time they seem to be getting a little too caught up in what presents they’ll receive, you may want to remind them that Santa doesn’t bring everything.  It may also be helpful to redirect their thinking towards how they can help others – having your children participate in selecting items for a toy drive and collecting canned food for the needy may be a good place to start.
2. Donate & Clean Out Old Toys – The holidays are a perfect time to sift through your children’s old toys and get rid of what they don’t use.  Have your children help!  Explain to them that there are some kids who won’t receive gifts at all that year and they have the power to give them something this holiday season.
3. Get Family Members On Board – We all know how Grandparents love to spoil their grandkids!  Talk it through with them and enlist their help.  With the same message being sent from all adults in their life, a child will be much more likely to remember the lesson taught.
4. Utilize the Media – There are several great children’s television programs that address the matter of giving back.  If the theme comes up, use it as a teachable moment!  Your child is likely to be much more receptive of this subject when Sophia the First has provided a bit of a baseline.

Here at JM Cremps, we believe Christmas should be a peaceful, joyful time filled with laughter, good food, and the best of memories with those you love. If you’re looking for ways to spend more family time together, don’t forget to check out JM Cremps collection of board games, card games, & more!  You’ll turn those snowed-in evenings into the best times you’ve had all winter.

As with any holiday, it’s important to know the real reason why we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  If your answer to the “why” is that we’re just so thankful for all the Black Friday deals coming on the following day, I’d have to rap your knuckles with an imaginary ruler.  Allow me to set you straight.

Let’s start at the beginning.  A most beloved and festive holiday, Thanksgiving has its origins all the way back to a time when the America we know today was still a vast wilderness teeming with wild animals who were hunted by the fierce Native Americans living there.  Following the harvest of November 1623, the governor William Bradford of the 1620 Plymouth Colony, “Plymouth Plantation”, in Plymouth Massachusetts proclaimed:

Pilgrims and Native Americans alike gathered to share in that year’s bountiful harvest.  Just like that a timeless tradition was born!

Over the years the actual date of Thanksgiving has been changed, but the true reason we celebrate has, of course, remained solid and unchanging.  On November 1, 1777, the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation was proclaimed by order of Congress and signed by Henry Laurens, President of Continental Congress.  The third Thursday of December, 1777 was thus officially set aside: “…for solemn thanksgiving and praise. That with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor;… and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them (their manifold sins) out of remembrance… That it may please Him… to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth of ‘righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost’…”

Then, on January 1, 1795, our first United States President, George Washington, wrote his famed National Thanksgiving Proclamation, in which he says that it is… “…our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue is… our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God, and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experienced…”  George Washington had the 19th day of February, 1795 set aside as a National Day of Thanksgiving.

Many years passed until, on October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by Act of Congress, an annual National Day of Thanksgiving “on the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.” In this Thanksgiving proclamation, our 16th President says that it is… “…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…”

And so to this day, in homes all across America, we will sit down with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day and take time to be thankful for the many blessings and gifts we’ve received throughout our lives.

Making a volcano is an ideal science experiment, home school project, or just something for the kids to do on a rainy day. Even adults will enjoy this one!

Note: Always pour the lava ingredients somewhere that it’s safe to make a mess. It is recommended to set off the actual volcanic explosion outside if you don’t want to clean up a mess!

Step 1: Get a good working surface. You will want a surface that can get messy, because this will get very messy.

Step 2: Get a container. You will want a fairly large container, such as a 32oz soda bottle.

Step 3: Form the outside of the volcano. You can make the outside from clay, playdough, dirt, soil, or tin foil. Paint it brown and black to make it look more realistic. Let it set until it is all dry.

Step 4: Pour your hydrogen peroxide. Get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from a beauty supply store. You will need a 6% solution (usually labeled as “20-volume”. Pour half a cup of the hydrogen peroxide into the container in your volcano.

• Be careful with hydrogen peroxide. You hurt yourself if you touch it too much or get it in your eyes. Only adults should handle hydrogen peroxide.

• If you want to make the reaction even more dramatic, use a 30% solution of hydrogen peroxide. This may be more difficult to find, however.

Step 5: Mix in soap and food coloring. Mix in at least six drops of red food coloring and two drops of yellow food coloring. Then mix in about two tablespoons of dish soap.

Step 6: Mix yeast. Get a tablespoon of dry yeast and mix it with 3 tablespoons of water in a separate small cup.

Step 7: Pour the yeast. Pour the yeast mixture into the volcano

• Stand back!

For more rainy day activities and science experiments, don’t forget to check out our Toys & Games, Science Kits, and Discovery Kits as well!  You might as well throw the word “bored” out of your word bank, because you won’t be needing it anymore.

 

The instructional portion of this article was provided by wikihow, a wiki building the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How To Make a Volcano.  Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.

One of our favorite fall-time activities is pumpkin carving, but let’s not forget that pumpkins are good for more than just decorations!  Cinnamon roasted pumpkin is a delicious, healthy autumn dish that can either be served as a side-dish to your main course or as a dessert.

You will need:

• Three pounds pumpkin, peeled and seeded
• Quarter cup brown sugar
• One teaspoon cinnamon
• Half teaspoon salt
• Two tablespoons peanut or olive oil

Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 4-6

Step 1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162 degrees Celsius). In a small bowl, add the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together.

Step 2: Slice. Use a chef’s knife to cut the pumpkin into 2 inch (5.1 cm) pieces. You can either cut them into cubes or slices that are about ¹⁄₄ inch (0.6 cm) thick.

Step 3: Coat the baking dish. Coat baking dish with cooking spray, olive oil, or butter to prevent the pumpkin from sticking. Place the pumpkin into the baking sheet.

Step 4: Add oil. Use a basting brush to cover the pieces with peanut oil, olive oil or butter. If you do not have a basting brush, then use a spoon to drizzle the oil onto the pumpkin, being sure to coat each piece.

Step 5: Sprinkle seasonings. Sprinkle the pumpkin with the cinnamon and sugar. Cover the baking dish.

Step 6: Bake. Have the pumpkin bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove the baking dish and stir the pumpkin, then bake again, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes. Pumpkin should be soft when finished.

Step 7: Allow to cool and then serve. Pumpkin can be served as a side dish or as a dessert. Consider serving with whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream. Dust with a little bit of spice for a nice presentation, & enjoy!

 

The instructional portion of this article was provided by wikihow, a wiki building the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How To Roast a Pumpkin.  Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.

An avid reader myself, I was overjoyed when I found out that quality, age-appropriate fiction books can actually help to cultivate morality in children.  I’d suspected as much just from seeing the benefits in my own life.  Books and stories have played a huge part in shaping me to be who I am today.  Seeing the research behind the facts though gave me one of those “I knew it!” moments.  In fact, there are actually a lot more benefits to reading fiction books than you might realize!  Certainly there are more than I ever expected to find.

Ever since Plato tried to ban fiction from his ideal republic, the question “does fiction build morality of individuals or does it break it down?” has been asked.  Until recently, we’ve only been able to guess at the answer.  Because we read non-fiction with our intellectual guard up, we’re much less able to be moved or persuaded.  In contrast, we get so absorbed in fictional stories that we drop our shields, which allows us to be moved emotionally.  When we’re moved emotionally, a point is really driven home.  For example, most stories show the good guy being rewarded after a struggle, and the bad guy ending up much the worse for wear.  This causes us to understand at a very basic level the power of “good”.  Fiction mainly shapes us for the better – promoting our ability to understand other people as well as promoting a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds.

History has shown fiction’s ability to change our values at a societal level as well. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” helped spark the Civil War by emotionally moving Americans to show that slaves are people, and slavery is inhumane and cruel.

Apparently the brain doesn’t make much distinction between reading about an experience and actually living it in real life.  In both cases, the same neurological regions of the brain are stimulated.  Keith Oatley, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto has proposed that reading produces a vivid simulation of reality, one that “runs on (the) minds of readers just as computer simulations run on computers.”  Fiction – with its endless textured details, imaginative metaphors, and in-depth descriptions of people and situations – offers a particularly rich simulation.  In fact, in one way the experience is one completely unavailable to reality: the ability to fully enter into a person’s mind to see what they think and feel what they feel.

Maybe it is because of this experience that fiction has shown to promote empathy.  Another body of research proves this point – that the act of reading hones our social skills.  Dr. Oatley and Dr. Mar, along with several other scientists, reported the result of two studies, published in 2006 and 2009, which show that those who frequently read fiction seem to be more adept at understanding others, empathizing with them, and seeing the world from another’s perspective.  A 2010 study by Dr. Mar showed a similar result in preschool-age children.  The more stories that were read to these children, the deeper their ability to understand people and their actions.  Truly, brain science shows that the claim to fiction cultivating morality is more accurate than we imagined.  As Oatley puts it, fiction serves the function of “making the world a better place by improving interpersonal understanding.”

The old fashioned virtues of reading novels can seem to be frivolous or inconsequential.  However, you can see that emerging-science studies have proven time and again that fiction is good for more than a casual enjoyment.  By building empathy, fiction helps reduce social friction.  In addition to this, quality stories seem to exert an almost magnetic force, drawing us together around common values and feelings.  Plus, it gives us a wonderful opportunity for dialog with our children.  As parents, it’s important to be aware and discuss what they are reading.  We want to make sure they’re reading things that we approve of.

What a wonderful pastime reading is!  Share with your children the joy and values you’ve discovered in reading fiction books.  JM Cremp’s has a vast selection of classic, history, and fantasy fiction books that are all just waiting for your child to pick them up and venture into their riveting worlds.