Sensory Popcorn

(Science)

Popcorn isn't just a healthy snack. It is also a great way to learn, create and explore.

Perhaps one of the simplest experiments we can do is to pop a batch of popcorn.

Ask a simple question: What do you need to pop popcorn? Even my daughter at 2 years 7 months old of age got her answer: stove (scientificly speaking, it should be heat, but she got it)

But, why does heat make it pop?

It all has to do with pressure (force applied uniformly over a surface), and the particular make-up of the popcorn kernel. There’s a tiny bit of water inside a popcorn kernel. The heat produces steam, pressure forms, and POP! You’ve got popcorn.

She was standing on her step ladder in front of the stove. I let her pour all the ingredients: grapeseeds oil and corn kernels, while I turned on the heat. We covered the glass lid and waited for the corn to pop.

I asked her, “What do you think would happen?”

“Hmm” she showed her too cute to handle thinking pose and then shout the word “Pop!”

I just smiled back at her and said “We’ll see.”

After a few minutes suddenly one corn began to pop and then soon after more and more corns danced and catapulted towards the lid which excites her even more. Ah, the festive sounds of pop corn were so much fun!

Once the popping slows to several seconds between pops, I removed the pan from the heat, removed the lid, and dumped the popcorn immediately into a wide bowl. I let her added her favorite toppings: nutritional flakes and a bit of salt.

The whole bowl was hers to explore freely. Popcorn is a great sensory play. The sense of touching those fluffy pieces of popcorn were amazing. She liked watching the popcorn fall as she held her hands high in the air over the bowl. She brought in the popcorn cup toys, filled it and began munching the yummy snack from the cup.

#popcorn #science #toddler