Magnet Monday!

To start off this week, learned about magnetism. I only have a few books on the subject, but we have plenty of magnetic toys to experiment with. In the morning, we read The Magic School Bus: Amazing Magnetism. In the afternoon, I set up a metal tray with several activities to try. We had lots of magnets, paper clips, bobby pins, and some magnetic putty. Then we played with magnetic tiles. It was a very fun day.

Books

• The Magic School Bus: Amazing Magnetism by Rebecca Carmi
• What Magnets Can Do (Rookie Read About Science) by Allan Fowler
• Science With Magnets by Helen Edom

Activities

• Play with Magnets. We tried several little tricks that we read about in our books. I had a pack of magnets for kids (which turned out to not be very strong), plus some magnetic hematite stones from my collection (which were much stronger to use for our little experiments). I let Evie just play with the magnets for a while, to experiment with how it felt when they repelled and attracted each other. We also magnetized a bobby pin and used it to pick up a paper clip. We played with magnetic putty, as well. We then tried: making magnets repel each other across the surface of the table, experimenting with distances and magnetic force, demonstrating magnetic attraction through other materials (such as cardboard and one of her books), and using a magnet to make a paper clip chain. I used other metal objects to show Evie that not all types of metal are magnetic. 
• Experiment: Pipe cleaner bottle. I rinsed out the pop bottle that I had finished at lunch, peeled off the label, and brought it out for us to use in an experiment. I cut up some pipe cleaners into little pieces, and Evie put them into the bottle. Then we used a magnet on the outside of the bottle to move the bits around. 
• Play: We played with some of Evie's magnetic toys, including some magnetic tiles. These were much more stable and fun to play with on a metal sheet. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. From now on, when we play with the magnetic tiles, we will use the cookie sheet! I taught Evie how to build a house, and then built some other forms (which she admired, and then promptly knocked down).