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Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
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Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.
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Make a Hydrometer
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Test the density of water and other liquids with this simple-to-make hydrometer
Experiments in the kitchen are really good fun. This experiment involves mixing water with salt and or sugar, and seeing the difference it makes to the thickness (mass or specific gravity) of water, by measuring it with a home made hydrometer. Once made, the hydrometer can be used to measure the relative specific gravity of a range of water based fluids and drinks. The experiment can be used as a basis for some interesting discussions about solvents and solutes and how things dissolve and will reinforce, in a very practical way, things your kids will be learning at school at some point.
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Talk to your kids about the experiment. I don’t believe in dumbing down things for children too much. They are learning machines and hungry for any interesting bits of information. As long as you use words that they understand, you’ll find that kids of any age readily grasp new concepts. Discuss the experiment with your kids as you are doing it. But make sure you listen to what they are saying, when they are relaxed and having fun the things they talk about are a good window on how they are thinking and feeling.
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Keep any discussion about the experiment brief and to the point in hand so that they don’t lose interest. On the project sheet (and below) you'll find an experimental discussion outline. This is just a few key interesting facts about the experiment, designed to help you fire up your children's interest, and help you explain simply what's going on in the experiment if they ask.
Why does the hydrometer float, given that it is open at the top?
The fluid it pushes out of the way (displaces), weighs less for the same volume (has less mass) than the hydrometer.
Why does the sugar and or salt (solute) dissolve in the water (solvent)?
The sugar or salt molecules are broken off by the water and mingle with the water molecules. Note: This is a physical reaction and is therefore reversible (you can make it go back so that you have sugar and water separated again).
Why does the hydrometer float at different levels in the different solutions?
The solutions are denser than water, thus weigh more per volume (mass) and so the mass of the hydrometer displaces less of their volume and as a result floats higher.
How is a hydrometer used in the real world?
Manufacturers of beer use a hydrometer to check how much alcohol is dissolved in their beers this is called the specific gravity (which is another way of saying the mass) of the liquid).
The dadcando Hydrometer experiment project download is available in both Both A4 and US Letter size, just click on the one that you want, and will automatically download. Print out both pages of the Instruction Download. You’ll find that page two is a neat little fold up book, which can be filled in, and is something nice to keep as a record of the experiment you did together.
 
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Life is an experiment
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Do you remember when you were a kid and you mixed things up to see what would happen? When you're a kid, inquiring is what you do. In the words of Uncle Buck’s nephew, "it’s my job". Kids really love to experiment and are always on the look out for new information, it’s how they learn so much about the world around them.
As their dad, you are the perfect person to dust off the kid in you and get down to some serious fun experimentation
Kitchen Chemistry, Crystalography, Electricity, Chromatography and truly mind bending adventures in Topology are just a few of the experiments you’ll find here. Most of them have a special printer downloadable booklet that will allow you to record and keep your results.
Most of the experiments here will be covered by your children's school at one time or another, so why not give them a head start in class and get them excited about learning. But in any case doing kitchen top experiments together with your children, following easy to use plans, is incredibly rewarding for dad and kid alike.
Some of the experiments (like the Mobius Strip Experiment) will only take a few minutes, but they’re be no less amazing and thought provoking. Others will take up the whole afternoon. And you don’t have to be a chemist to do any of these experiments either. All the experiments are fully described and illustrated with easy to follow step by step instructions, and most have a few questions and answers to help you stimulate discussion. Kids love learning if they’re interested in something, so set their imagination on fire with a science experiment; I guarantee that they will remember it until they're doing it with kids of their own.
The world is an interesting place, and you are one of the best people to show your children just how interesting it is
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