Indian Meteorological department,Pune

For the first time,we visited IMD today as it was open for public.It was first time not only for my little hero and for me too. IMD held exhibition of its instrumentation facilities to mark 143rd foundation day.The best part of IMD was staffs were down to earth,very friendly. My son was very curious to know about the instruments when he saw them as he had never seen them anywhere. Staffs of IMD didnot even ignore any of his questions and they answered him and showed demo ,their explanation was according to his understanding level.I never expected it from senior and experienced persons.I loved the way they answered to the child. Today,it was basically about instruments used for measurements of weather parameters,for example temperature,how rainfall is measured .We got opportunity to know about earthquake too. We attended film show which was about their station at Antarctica which lasted around 30 minutes. Overall it was very informative for us and I m bombarded with lots of questions by my little hero ,I need to keep myself updated to answer.Not only him,I m very much interested to learn along with my son.Mom and son going to learn together. We were told that it would be more informative on Science day that would be on February 28 as they focussed today only about instrumentation. We are happy to have a good start and we are going to learn together in much detail. Location : Indian Meteorological Department ,Opposite to All India Radio, Shivajinagar ,Pune Date : January 18 and 19 ,2018 Time : 10.30 am to 5 pm Free entry for public #fieldtrip #imd #pune #weather #instruments

Science with apple

My little hero noticed the colour of the apple changed after sometime and colour of the potato changes too.I didn’t want to go in detail about oxidation process at this time,so we did most popular experiment with apple which most of you would have done it  to enhance his observation .
1.I asked him to cut apple to half ,for the one half ,he was directed to apply lemon juice and other half to be set aside as it is.
2.I asked him to take four glasses and fill them with Coco cola , water,vinegar and lemon juice respectively .Then put slices of apple in each glass.
Questions asked to the child
1.What was the reaction of the apple when applied lemon juice to one half and other half of apple which was just exposed to air without applying anything?
2.What will happen to apple slices in each glass?
3.Which liquid will help apple to remain fresh?
4.In which liquid,apple will change the colour fast?
5.In which liquid ,do you think colour change will happen slowly?
6.How the apple would taste after applying lemon juice ?
7.How would the apple taste after it changes colour 
This is very simple but very interesting for kids as it will enhance their observation.My little hero has decided to observe it for 24 hours ,he is continuosly checking the reaction of apple every few hours .

#observation #science #experiment #apple

Apple

Since he showed interest to know about apple this weekend,so decided to take it forward based on his questions.He observed that colour of the apple changes after we cut , similarly potato colour changes too.We did simple experiment which I will share it in another post.
We learnt the following today
1.Simple experiment ( it will be shared in another post)
2.Life cycle of apple ( Source of printable : Montessori for everyone)
3.Parts of an apple ( Idea courtesy : Google images while browsing for life cycle of apple)
4.Apple sequencing ( I had purchased it from Totlabs when it was launched last year)
#apple #lifecycle #sequencing #partsofapple #science #childled

Bonfire

Bonfire

Last week,my dear friend Bindu Bhavani had created event in her page to share any activity about Bonfire,so I asked my son ,if he would like to do any craft for Bonfire ,he politely refused saying that he is not willing to do.I respect his decision always.
But suddenly today ,while preparing kosumalli dish,he told me that he wanted to do bonfire .
So,I told him to carry on with his bonfire painting &  to stop grating carrot.
This little boy asked me why it has to be paint,I can do with this carrot too.Its purely his idea and the credit goes to my little hero
1.He created bonfire using curry leaves stem and grated carrot 
2.He created bonfire using matchstick and kumkum.
#art #craft 

Water pollution

Our children observe us ,people around them and everywhere.We are the role model to our children.This activity was my attempt to communicate with my child about what we should not do and am sure this will make a difference in future and will benefit everyone.
Activity one 
I just took clean water and asked my child to put drop of food colour of his choice.Food colour assumed as polluting agent.He observed the difference after adding to water and I asked him to separate food colour from water.He tried whatever he could do by using tea strainer,water filter ,tissue paper and he realized ,it couldn’t be separated.
Activity 2 
We took clean water .I spilled vegetable oil ( it is assumed as toxin ),Coca-Cola in water.Colour of water changed and it was not in position to use.Then I asked my son to throw trash such as battery cover,banana peel and other things in water.
Obviously water became very dirty.I asked him to remove the trash from water using Tong,strainer.What happened to the water after removing the trash,Will he dare to drink that water.The answer was No.The water remained dirty.
He asked me then why so many people throw waste in river,why they spit in river ,why they put ganesha idol in river when it’s wrong.I couldn’t give him apt answer but told him he and his friends could bring a difference in future by not doing these things .
I presented him pictorial water pollution mat to give him broader view about water pollution but I will take it in detail when he is ready for it to understand.
#waterpollution #experiment #science #saveourenvironment

Washing hands

He washes his hand whenever needed but sometimes,he doesn’t wash thoroughly.To make my son understand ,mere washing hands are not sufficient,it has to be washed cleanly,we did simple activity to communicate it in better way.
Today was such day ,after gardening,he didn’t wash his hands properly .
I applied oil in his hand and asked him to rub his hand with soil .We were playing it as game of Potter and at end of his play,when he had to wash his hands,his mere washing hands didn’t work,he found stains of soil in between fingers ,other parts of hand.He took sanitizer and cleaned his thoroughly.I took this opportunity to talk about washing his hands as he had visualised it today.Self realisation makes to understand better than advise.
#goodhabit #washinghands #hygenicpractice

Water filtration

My son wanted to know how water gets filtered .I filled corporation drinking water and showed him how water gets filtered in pureit water filter .
Since he wanted to do of his own,we did simple process to understand in better way.This striked my mind suddenly but would do in better way in future or as and when time permits.
Things used :
Transparent jars – 2nos
Funnel

Tissue paper

Soil 

I asked my son to fill one jar with little soil and add clean water to it.The water became dirty.Then in another,we used funnel and placed tissue paper inside the funnel.I asked him to pour  dirty water through funnel.
The result was much clear water (eventhough it’s still not clean like pure water) and the mud was absorbed in the tissue paper.Similarly did the same thing using corporation drinking water and strainer.
#waterfilterationprocess #concept #science #experiment

Garlic milk

My little hero has great interest towards cooking and he is always involved in cooking by providing age appropriate chores.Today,we prepared vegetable dosa and garlic milk ( strictly under my supervision ).

Kitchen is one of the best place where you can find skills required for the overall development of the child.
Nowdays,he shows lots of interest to learn different types of cuisines and I m just taking it forward.
Our Garlic milk turned out to be very tasty and it’s very simple process to do.
My son crushed 8 to 10 cloves of garlic using mortar and pestle.We already had boiled milk ,He added the crushed garlic to the milk and I stirred the milk continuosly without getting burnt.He stirred in between under my guidance.
Add pinch of turmeric and pepper powder at end and allow it to boil.Adding sugar is optional.Serve it hot or cold.Garlic has many natural benefit.It was different but tasty milk.

#garlicmilk #homemade #loveforcooking 

Super tasty homemade Radish soup

I love cooking and love to learn different styles.I have tried several soups but for the first time  did radish soup.I never even thought of Radish soup until I read the post of Saranya Pandurengan in OPOS group.My special thanks and credit of the recipe will go to Saranya Pandurengan madam.I just did slight change in her recipe .The outcome was extraordinary and I have never tasted such a yummy soup so far and it was very creamy.The best soup for the day ☺☺
Here is the recipe for the soup #opossoup
1.Take a pressure cooker
2.Layer 1: 1 tsp butter and 6 tbsp water ( original recipe had I tbsp butter and 4 tbsp water,I preferred to had very less butter)

3.Layer 2 : 1 and half cup medium size onion finely chopped
4.Layer 3 : 1 and half cup radish chopped
5.Layer 4 : 1 inch ginger finely grated and add salt.
Cook it for 5 to 6 whistles and blend it.Add little pepper while serving .
This is really very tasty and very healthy.I loved it very much.Even my son liked it.
#oposradishsoup #healthycooking #loveforcooking

Homemade neem powder

Whatever we do are purely child led.Based on the questions asked by the child and his interest,we take it forward.
Three days back,While going for walk,he was questioning about the neem tree.I shared with him lots of things about neem tree ,benefits of neem leaves,flowers and how it is good healer for skin,hair and builds immunity.These three days,he learnt much in detail about neem tree.
In this process,we plucked few fresh leaves with help of kind person and we washed it cleanly and dried the neem leaves under the shade for three days as it should not be dried under direct sunlight.
Then today,we grinded it to powder.Our homemade powder is ready for use.

#diy #homemade #neempowder #science #childled