Tag Archives: science

Sneak Peek: Swiftie Science

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We’ve been dropping Easter eggs both big and small, but now we’re going to finally come out and say it: Katie and I are major Swifties. And we’re so excited to announce a major Taylor Swift event coming up this weekend!

Along with our friends at Science Outreach at Princeton University and the Department of Chemistry, we’re celebrating everything science and everything Taylor as we pair her lyrics and visuals with scientific principles and dynamic demos. Nice!

Which brings me to this lovely marshmallow cat.

During one part of the event, we’ll be demonstrating the effects vacuum pressure on marshmallows. But we couldn’t resist a Tay tie in by transforming the mallow into a cat! Katie spotted the original recipe here at The Decorated Cookie. And yes, Katie and her family did see the Eras Tour, night 3 in New Jersey:

Pssst! For you eagle-eyed Swifties, did you also spot a very special house in this post?

New Year, New Mole Rat

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Happy New Year! It’s 2025, and resolutions abound! If one of those resolutions involves a new fashion direction, well, today’s post is very relevant. ESPECIALLY if you are a naked mole rat seeking a plethora of new looks!

We read Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2009). Wilbur is a naked mole rat who likes clothes. Unfortunately his passion for fashion is ceaselessly mocked and questioned by the other naked mole rats. Especially when Wilbur opens a clothing store. Outraged, the naked mole rats march Wilbur to Grand-pah mole rat for a supreme talking to. But wise Grand-pah has nothing but words of encouragement for Wilbur (and all the other naked mole rats) to lean into their individualism and follow their fancies.

You’ll need:

The simplest form of this project is to print the mole rat and clothing templates, then color and cut them out. Attach two button magnets to the mole rat, then tape paper clips on the backs of the clothing. Connect the paperclips to the magnets to change outfits!

At our story time, however, we went with a sturdier mole rat that could stand on its own. First, we traced our mole rat templates onto pink construction paper, then backed them with corrugated cardboard. We added a toilet paper tube support to the back, and then finished by attaching the clothing magnets. Here’s a look at the back and the front of our finished mole rats:

We also decided we needed to be extra fancy and make our mole rat a closet. As you can see, the closet rack is a snippet of balloon stick secures with two foam beads. Dangling from the rack are paper clips that act as “hangers” for the shirts, skirts, and pants. There’s a shortened paper cup glued to the floor to house all the fashion accessories, and mini clothespins hot glued to the door to secure the mole rat’s various hats.

Kids loved customizing the various outfits and hats!

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Sometimes, kids really connect with a project, and one mom reported that her son’s naked mole rat was his constant companion for WEEKS. He went with her son to the gym, on trips, to restaurants, in the stroller, was cuddled at night, and basically lived the life of a most beloved friend. Mom reports that this lead to some very interesting questions from onlookers about naked mole rats, which her son was happy to answer.

But that’s not all! Another one of our naked mole rats caught the eye of Brian George, Preparator in Special Collections. It still stands in his office to this day!

The Ghost Post

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ghostbustersIt’s a special week for hoots and haunts, so we’re delving into the blog archive to deliver our most ghostly posties for your Halloween celebrations!

We’ll begin with the haunting of this prime piece of story time real estate. After reading I’m Not Afraid of this Haunted House (Carolrhoda Books, 2005), kids built a “Haunted House Kit” then headed into House 13 to bust some ghosts:

i-aint-afraid-of-no-ghostMoving on to a different house, different haunting, we read Ghosts in the House (Square Fish reprint edition, 2010). After crafting a classic ghost chest, kids had to locate multiple phantoms spirited away in our elaborate four floor dollhouse!

ghost in laundry room

If you’re looking for a delightful book to share this Halloween season, we highly recommend Gustavo the Shy Ghost (Candlewick, 2020). We paired our reading with a glow lanterns and gallery ghosts. And if you’d like to visit the studio of the book’s author and illustrator, Flavia Z. Drago, you’ll find that here!

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Want to get a little more sophisticated? Try building our tabletop Pepper’s Ghost illusion.  We also tried a more basic variation of the illusion using a phone and a plastic drink lid!

seeing spiritsFor simpler – but no less spooky – apparitions try this oatmeal container projector that produces a ghostly figure on your wall or door.

thats a big bunny 3And speaking of optical illusions, we dug through Cotsen’s special collections and discovered a really cool book from 1864. Spectropia allows the reader to experience the scientific concept of afterimages. The post contains multiple spooks for you to try!

book cover 3We’ll conclude our Halloween post with a ghostly guppy. We read Goldfish Ghost (Roaring Brook Press, 2017) and crafted this simple paper plate goldfish marionette that of course hangs upside down. It was quite a hit at story time!

ghostly guppie

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!