Homemade Solar Oven--take two

 Six years ago, we made our first solar oven (from scratch). 

The little kids don't remember this, so, thanks to Green Kid Crafts today was their turn.

 This project was part of the August box:  Green Energy.

As always, everything was included in the box (except the makings for the s'mores.

 Kimberly putting the final touches on the solar oven.

 First we preheated the oven out in the bright sunshine.

After about 15 minutes we put the graham crackers and marshmallows into the cooker.

You wouldn't want to add the chocolate at this point or it would turn to liquid.

The inside of the over gets HOT!

 After the marshmallows were in the oven about 20 minutes, we added the chocolate.

 We only left the chocolate inside the oven for about 5 minutes.

 After the five minutes, the chocolate was very melted...and very hot.

 Now that's a good s'more!

Thanks Green Kid Crafts for another great project.

Opening the Box--Green Kid Crafts--August

 The August Green Kid Crafts box is all about green energy.

We have started this year's homeschooling (actually, we never really stop in the summer) and this month's box is perfect for learning about the science of energy...clean, green energy.

 When you open the box, you get a peek at the projects included.  In this month's box you can make a wind rocket, a solar oven and a water wheel.  There are also online extra ideas on the Green Kid Crafts website.

 The back of the project card is loaded with information about energy...perfect for school time science.

 A bonus addition in this months box is a "Join the Lorax and Help Protect the Earth" activity book.

 Each project is packaged individually with everything you need, from ribbon, to cups, to a tiny roll of scotch tape.

 The first project the kids choose to make were the wind rockets.

You can make several rockets with the recycled paper, but there is only one straw...so we are saving the paper to make new rockets when needed.

 The instructions for all the projects are on cards with very easy to follow directions with words and pictures.

Kim-8 and Luke-9 have no problem following the directions on their own.

 

The kids took the rockets out back and competed against each other for the longest flight.

Green Kids Crafts is a monthly subscription box. You can also purchase individual boxes.

Next months discovery box theme is: weather station. 

They do sell out every month, so subscribe today to get next months box.

Opening the Box- Green Kid Crafts-July Box

 We recently received our first Green Kid Crafts box.  This was the July box.

They do not offer a sibling subscription, so I ordered 2 boxes for Luke and Kim. (For 2 boxes they have reduced pricing--which is very nice)

 The box was packed very nicely, with an overview of the projects on top.

The back of the overview is a fact card. This months subscription is all about water science.

Perfect for summertime fun.

 Each activity is individually packaged with everything needed included.  Everything included was very good quality.

 The first project we worked on was about water absorption. The instructions were very clear and the kids could read and follow the directions on their own.  (One problem I had was that they spelled "absorption" wrong on the overview card---this really annoyed me.)

 Luke filling his cup with water.

 Then you added the color tablet to each cup of water---stir well.

 Insert a rolled dry paper towel from the filled cups into an empty cup in the middle.

We then watched the capillary action of the water and paper towels.

This didn't happen as fast as the kids wanted, so we turned the activity card over and did the next experiment.

 We took another paper towel (all included) and drew dots with markers that were also included in the box.

 Place the edge of the paper towel into water....watch the capillary action of the water as it carried the colors toward the top of the paper towel....the kids were very impressed with this.

 In the mean time our cups of colored water were doing amazing things.

The water was climbing the paper towel and flowing into the middle cup. As the yellow and blue mixed, green water appeared.

 The final results.  We saved this on the table until Daddy got home from work.

We all agreed this was a great experiment.

 The next day we continued with our box. 

We tried the paper marbling---but this did not work for us.  We were disappointed.  I think the choice of paint they included in both boxes didn't work for this.  We followed the directions exactly.

I don't have a finished product to show.

On the other hand, the wooden boat was a complete success.

Again, everything was included in the box.

 Luke painting his boat.

 Kimberly decorating her sail.

Luckily, we have the perfect little creek in our backyard woods.

Also included in the box was many water balloons for more fun, and also links to other water experiments. On the back of the boat instructions were the instructions for making an ice boat. 

That will be tomorrow's fun.

There are also links to more water experiments. (We have tried a few...you can see them here.)

Overall we really enjoyed Green Kid Crafts and will continue to subscribe.