Fun Freetime: Dad's Book of Awesome

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

My daughter loves science. I'm a math and science geek too, and my husband also gets charged up about practical science and space. So the book Dad's Book of Awesome Science Experiments was perfect for our family. Author Mike Adamick wants to prevent parents from getting caught off-guard with scientific questions. There's a little bit of everything - chemistry, biology, physics, anatomy, and earth science.

“I’m excited to share all the fun kitchen sink science experiments I’ve done with my daughter over the years. Rockets. Eruptions. Neat experiments with air pressure and gravity. Fun ways to blend science into snack time. We’re big believers in tinkering and failing and trying again or just making stuff up and having fun. We’re also big believers in the idea that you don’t need to go out and buy a mess of supplies — you probably already have everything you need in your kitchen or medicine cabinet to explore the wonders of science right now. Think MacGyver meets Mr. Wizard. Now that’s how I like to spend my afternoons.

I love the way the book is written - it has a very practical, matter-of-fact tone. Sometimes just a little bit crazy, like many dads. For example, in the explanation of afterimages, he says this, "You're not supposed to look at the sun...There's an enormous shining star in the sky and sometimes you can't help but look."

Even though it's written by a dad, it's not a strictly masculine book. There are tons of pictures of girls performing the experiments as well, which really resonated with my girls doing daddy-daughter time. The explanations are clear, with tips on what the "lab partner" (the kid) can do.

I'm going to share one of the experiments with you to try at home.

Hot and Cold

Here's what you need.

• Three bowls of water: one filled with ice, one with very warm water, and the last with room-temperature water. Make sure the bowls are big enough to stick your and your lab partner's hands in. You don't have to do this experiment at the same time, but you certainly could.
• Hands!

Here's what you do.

• Arrange your bowls so that the room-temperature bowl is in the middle. Now have your lab partner stick her hands in the outer two bowls - one in the super-cold bowl and the other hand in the super-warm one.
• Keep her hands in the bowls for about 30 seconds.
• Now, have her move both hands into the center bowl, the room-temperature bowl.
• He her explain what she's feeling.

For the explanation, and lots more fun, check out the book!