Halloween Fun for Homeschoolers

There is a lot of learning that you can sneak into the homeschool class as you help your children gear up for the holiday. You can make some Halloween decorations which can be placed around the house, or carried along while the family goes “Trick or Tricking”.
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Eerie Smoke in a Cup

In a styrofoam cooler add some hot water and cold dry ice. The result is an instant thick fog. The dry ice is essentially solid carbon dioxide  and can be picked up at local grocery stores with ease. As you add the water the carbon dioxide vaporizes and the fog is formed. The fog tends to head to the floor rather than to the sky as it is fairly dense. So if you carry your cup in your hand you can create the effect of eerie smoke spiraling around the body as you go walking around the neighborhood.

Spooky Jack O Lantern

If you are carving out a pumpkin lantern you may like to give it a bit more flare than just adding a regular candle to light it up from inside. In addition to the candle use a couple of thick incense sticks to allow the Jack O Lantern to exhale smoke as it sits by your front door. You will need to add fresh incense sticks as they get used up to continue with the smoking effect.

Bubbling Cauldrons

You can use any glass container for this experiment. Add some liquid soap, food coloring, and vinegar to the glass and keep it ready. When you want it to start bubbling add in some baking soda. Its the same principle as the baking soda volcano, but it very colorful if you add three different shades of food color to three different containers.

Creepy Liquids

This is a liquid density experiment which can actually be used for decorating at Halloween. Use a regular clear drinking water glass to add layers of, golden syrup, water with red food coloring, and oil. Add each layer of liquid to the glass slowly in the order listed here so as to get clearly defined layers. In the top layer you can add a couple of plastic bugs to add to the mood.
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