Dancing Oobleck

Social skills activities for children and teenagers Social skills activities for children and teens: Evidence-based ideas to help kids communicate, connect, empathize, and read minds © 2015 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Social skills activities put to the test We want our children to succeed in the social world--to learn how to cooperate, make friends, and negotiate conflicts. How can we help them do it? For instance, middle school children (11-14 years old) experienced significant changes after playing Awkward Moment™, a researcher-designed party game that requires players to choose solutions to thorny social problems. Other studies indicate that friendly, "prosocial" video games -- like Mario Sunshine™ or Animal Crossing™ -- motivate players to be more kind, sympathetic, and helpful. So here they are: Research-inspired social skills activities, listed by age group. Social skills activities for toddlers Taking turns Babies and toddlers are capable of spontaneous acts of kindness, but they can be shy around new people. The name game

Test Your Dominant Side - Eye, Hand & Foot What you'll need: A pen or pencil Paper or a notepad to write your findings on An empty tube (an old paper towel tube is good) A cup of water A small ball (or something soft you can throw) Instructions: Write ‘left’ or ‘right’ next to each task depending on what side you used/favored. Eye tests: Which eye do you use to wink? Hand/Arm tests: Which hand do you use to write? Foot/Leg tests: Run forward and jump off one leg, which did you jump off? What's happening? So what side do you favor? Around 90% of the world’s population is right handed. Others think the reason might have more to do with culture. Around 80% of people are right footed and 70% favor their right eye. It’s not strange to find people who favor the opposite hand and foot (e.g. left hand and right foot), and some people are lucky enough to be ambidextrous, meaning they can use their left and right sides with equal skill. Try testing others and coming to your on conclusions about what side the human body favors and why.

Make Your Own Rock Candy A wooden skewer (you can also use a clean wooden chopstick) A clothespin 1 cup of water2-3 cups of sugarA tall narrow glass or jar Clip the wooden skewer into the clothespin so that it hangs down inside the glass and is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom of the glass. (as shown) Remove the skewer and clothespin and put them aside for now. Get a helpful adult! Want colored rock candy? When you mixed the water and sugar you made a SUPER SATURATED SOLUTION.

Make a Bouncing Polymer Ball - Experiment with Polymers Introduction Balls have been toys practically forever, but the bouncing ball is a more recent innovation. Bouncing balls were originally made of natural rubber, though now bouncing balls can be made of plastics and other polymers or even treated leather. The bouncing ball in this activity is made from a polymer. Bouncing Polymer Ball Materials Here's a list of materials you need to gather to make bouncing polymer balls: borax (found in the laundry section of the store) cornstarch (found in the baking section of the store) white glue (e.g., Elmer's glue - makes an opaque ball) or blue or clear school glue (makes a translucent ball) warm water food coloring (optional) measuring spoons spoon or craft stick to stir the mixture 2 small plastic cups or other containers for mixing marking pen watch with a second hand metric ruler zip-lock plastic baggie Let's make bouncing polymers balls... Polymer Projects Make Gelatin PlasticMake Plastic from MilkSlime RecipesMake Plastic Sulfur