Orlando Science Center

Orlando Science Center is our most preferred place to play during rainy days and hot summer months.  Orlando Science Center has four floors of exhibits, Crosby Observatory, and Dr. Dare's Lab where you can play scientist and perform hands-on experiments.  The access to materials like these encourage structured and unstructured, imaginative play that help children learn about science, the world and themselves.  OSC's parking garage is connected to the building by a bridge pictured below.  

Summer is the perfect season to learn about the ocean floor and various creatures within it.  Since movie Finding Dory was released in June, it was a great opportunity to learn more about various kinds of sea creatures, especially clown fish.  On the first floor, within the "Nature Walk" there is a aquarium with various exotic fish and coral reef.  We have read few books and done numerous activities about sea creatures and Cici was extremely excited to tell other children about all the fun facts that she knows.  Below you will find some of the activities we have done:

Clown Fish Painting

Materials:

Orange, Black and Blue Paint

Painter's Tape

Paint Brushes

Paint Rollers

Poster

On a poster, I outlined a clown fish and Cici used painter's tape to leave white spaces for the stripes.  It was a fun project for her; she was very excited to take the tape off and see the straight line generated by the painter's tape.

Finding Dory Science Experiment

We found "Finding Dory" gummy candy at our local Michael's Arts Supply store.  It was a perfect set for our study on osmosis. I found a great science blog where it gives you step-by-step instructions how to perform it.   http://science-mattersblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/gummy-bear-lab.html

Rubbermaid Aquarium

Cici used Crayola's bathtub crayons to draw various coral reef in a plastic rubbermaid container.  Next, she added water and dropped Crayola's bath dropz to color the water blue.  She had a blast using her imagination and playing with her foam bath toys.

Sea Salt Art

Cici painted with watercolors and sprinkled sea salt and left it to dry.  Next day she used permanent markers to draw coral reef and other sea creatures.  Lastly, she used stickers to finish her sea creature artwork.  She really enjoys messy projects!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend.