Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Magnetic Cereal

It's science fair time. Every year we mull over the possibilities for weeks, then hone in on one idea. Somehow most years involve soaking/growing item A in liquid B and end with me lugging a giant piece of poster board and several sloshing containers of questionable liquid across the school parking lot, usually in a high wind. But things have taken a turn in fourth grade. The expectations are higher: research, bibliographies, data charts and even judging now. And the sloshing liquid is still there, but staying at home.

My daughter picked out a really interesting project that I thought I would share. Did you know that you can pull the iron out of cereal with a magnet? I know full well that the iron in my food is the same as the iron in my cast iron skillet but the idea that we could isolate it so easily never occurred to me.  We tested 2 cereals: Total and Lucky Charms. I'm one of those people who doesn't let junky cereal like Lucky Charms in the house, but hey, it's for science.

Here's the procedure, in her words:

1. First, crush the Total cereal with a food processor.
2. Measure 2/3 cups of the crushed cereal and put it in a bowl.
3. Pour two cups of water into the bowl and mix it together with a wooden spoon or your fingers.
4. Place a light-colored magnet into the bowl of water and cereal and swirl it around gently for two minutes. The magnet has to be light because otherwise the iron can’t be seen.
5. Next, take the magnet out and rinse it gently in the water, so the cereal comes off and only the iron remains.
6. Capture the image of the magnet with a photograph or observations (I used photographs).
7. Clean all equipment and repeat steps one to six with the Lucky Charms cereal instead of Total. 

The results:

Top magnet, Total - See all those cute little pieces of iron lined up nice and neat? Yum.

Bottom magnet, Lucky Charms - There actually was a tiny bit of iron, but still, I'm re-instituting my ban on junky cereal.

Iceskating at Reisterstown Sportsplex

Truth be told, there are few things I like less than freezing temperatures and falling down, but in the spirit of trying to embrace winter, we bundled up the whole family and headed for the Reisterstown Sportsplex. Built in 2008, the sports complex houses both a National Hockey League-sized ice rink, as well as an indoor soccer field, which makes for an interesting mix of people in winter coat and people in shorts. I was a little jealous of the soccer people; it looked warm and cozy on that side, but we headed for the ice.

Our first lap around the rink was less than graceful. My husband and I paired off with our youngest kids, and sent our 10-year-old off on her own. Lap two, much more graceful and we discover that a certain someone has no fear. And the other certain someone, has no balance whatsoever on the ice. Oh, and the 10-year-old... we did find her again. She was having a blast spinning around and around and around.

In addition to public skating sessions, they offer classes, camps, birthday parties and more.

410-429-4242

Reisterstown Sportsplex
410 Mitchel Drive
Reisterstown, MD 21136

[Map It]

Durian Fruit Taste Test

 

As I mentioned in my post about H Mart, I picked up a few new foods for our family to try. When we saw the durian fruits, I just couldn't resist. Durian has had a lot of media attention lately, mostly because Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmer couldn't manage to eat the stuff. And yet Anthony Bourdain, from No Reservations loves the stuff.

My nearly 10-year-old daughter came home, took one sniff, and politely suggested we move the durian out of the kitchen. As she said, "it's spiny, it's stinky... let's try it... later." Okay, good enough.

After dinner we split the durian down the middle. The seeds are surrounded by a gooey flesh and I am so proud of my kids for trying it. Look at those faces. Absolute fear, but they all tried it, some of them twice.

So what did it taste like? I could tell you to get your own, but I won't. It's kind of like a sweet onion pudding. Actually not too bad, which I know is not a nice way to describe food. Dave liked it. I wasn't quite so enthusiastic, but I would, I admit, try it again -- on a dare.

I See You...

Thanks for stopping by. I wanted to take a minute to say "hi" to everyone who has been visiting Kid Baltimore over its short 1 1/2 year life. This year is starting off with a bang. January was one of my busiest blog months yet, with almost 4,000 visitors stopping by. Kid Baltimore's audience so far (yes, I see you) is heavily from the Maryland area (65%). Another 10% come from Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the rest of you are spread out all over the world. So... hello.

My hope is that Kid Baltimore will grow into a real resource for parents and caregivers, but to do that I need your ideas and participation. I'd would love you to help me invite more people to read, and especially contribute. Please tell me what you'd like to see by either adding your comments to this post, or emailing me directly. And, if you really want to help spread the word, email me your address, and I'll send you your very own Kid Baltimore bumper sticker. Now, how cool would that look on your minivan/station wagon?

All my best,

Joyce