DIY frozen sun catcher mobile for the garden
This DIY project is a great opportunity for home school learning and independent investigation.
With winter in full chilly swing, let’s catch some sun. Besides, the Grinch stole Christmas so we’re sure that borrowing the sun for a while will be in order.
Life is a Garden is inviting children of all ages to explore the curious science of water, temperature and the sun. It’s time to turn liquids into solids and make a glistening frozen art piece for the garden.
Before we get started, here are some chilled frozen facts to think about:
- Water can occur in three states: solid (ice), liquid that you drink, or gas (like steam).
- The freezing point for water is 0°C, while the boiling point is 100°C.
- Water freezes when the liquid molecules get so cold that they slow down enough to “hold” onto each other, forming a solid crystal, which we call ice.
- Dry ice isn’t made of water, it is actually frozen carbon dioxide.
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Try this: For the next really cold day, you can make instant snow form by throwing boiling water into the air.
You will need:
- Treasures from the garden such as fruit slices, herbs, flowers and interesting leaves (citrus and rosemary are in-season sensations now).
- Shallow, round containers in which your water will freeze, such as lids or flat plates. These discs will become the main features, so you may want to use different sizes to enhance the visual intricacy and appeal of your mobile.
- A medium-sized stick or wooden rod to hang your frozen discs from. You can get fancy here and cross two sticks/ rods for a traditional mobile look.
- Any colour food colouring (optional).
- Pieces of string or twine.
- A pair of scissors, winter gloves and water.
Assembly time:
- Choose a good spot where you will be leaving the discs overnight to freeze. Bring all your goodies to this area and work as close to it as possible to avoid needing to move and potentially spill your creations.
- Beautifully arrange your collected garden treasures inside your chosen containers/ plates.
- Carefully fill the containers with the necessary amount of water. If you’re using food colouring, now is the time to add your different colours to the various containers.
- Pop in the pieces of your string or twine, making sure that one end rests inside the water and that it is long enough to be tied onto the stick later.
- This is perhaps the most challenging step – go to bed. Your mobile will be ready and waiting for you in the morning.
- Wake up and dash outside to check if your art has successfully frozen. If it has, hooray! And if not, try a different spot in the garden, or many spots and see which one gives you that freezing power.
- With your winter gloves on, remove the frozen discs from their containers. You may need a prying tool or even a little warm water along the edges to get the discs out.
- Make sure the strings are nicely secured and then tie the loose ends onto your wooden rod(s). Have fun and arrange your art with all the different shapes and colours.
- Using a new piece of string, hang your mobile somewhere in the garden where you’ll be able to catch some sun. A tree branch or even the washing line will make a good place.
- Time to catch the sun. This part is easy – simply recite these magic words:
Dear yellow star
We call for your heat, although you are 150 million kilometres far
Thank you for being the centre of our solar system
Made of awesome hydrogen and helium
Please come and see our mobiles today
And let the ice slowly melt away
- Enjoy marveling over your do it yourself (DIY) frozen sun catcher mobile.
Top tip: Use purified water or cooled-down, boiled water from a kettle for clearer ice. Try other interesting shapes instead of discs and explore to what depths the water will freeze in your area.
Did you know?
The surface of the sun is 5 600°C with a core temperature of 15,000,000°C.
You can use the melted garden treasures as mulch, add it to the compost, or give the fruit to the birds. This DIY is a great opportunity for home school learning and independent investigation.
DID YOU KNOW?
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