Rain makes the Brain grow!

Well, most people would look outside today in dread because rain means the kids are inside... NOT US! Instead, we used today's weather to observe what happens after it rains. First, we stood on the porch and listened. Ryn told me she could hear lots and lots of birds and the rain drip dropping into the puddles. I asked Ryn if she knew why there were lots and lots of birds out after it rains, and she told me because they are looking for all the worms. Next, we used our eyes. I asked her if anything looked different after it rained. She said that she saw big puddles, and I took the opportunity to explain that the dirt was over saturated so the water stayed on top. Then she told me that the sidewalks get darker and shiny with the rain on them. Then, she looked over at our garden... "LOOK MOMMY! The rain made the plants get HUGE!" After all that talking, I finally let her free... she grabbed the garden shovel, and went right to making a mud pit.

 We talked about how she was mixing dirt and water to make mud. Then, the puddle kept getting bigger, and she made a dam to keep the water at bay. She decided to make it out of sticks and mud, just like Curious George did with the beavers.  It actually worked quite well till the rain picked up a bit, them it got washed away by the force of the falling rain. That lead to a conversation about how the rain was falling in little droplets at first, then they got bigger. 

When the rain picked up, we headed inside. 

Then I told her about gravity, and how it is an invisible force that makes things fall down. Then I gave up on that concept cause I couldn't explain gravity any other way than a force, and she didn't grasp the concept of a force yet so... Instead, I started talking about air. I had her "grab a handful of air" and asked her if it was heavy or light. Of course she said it was light. So then I had her hold her air in one hand, and put a pencil on the other. The pencil was heaver. I asked her if she thought the pencil would fall down when she dropped it, and of course she said yes... but the AH HA! moment came when she said it would fall because it was heaver than the air! YES YES YES!!!!!!!

Wow, all that because it was a rainy day... and all that in only an hour? 

No wonder she's a smart little bugger :)