Sticks to Stars!
July 18, 2010 by Alison
Need a Great Magic Trick?
In my previous life:) I taught science and I had to convince Jr. High kids that science was cool. I tried to use magic tricks to teach concepts. One of the osmosis and diffusion lessons (blah blah blah…did I loose you yet??? Hang on it really is cool!) showed the flow of water through a tooth pick.
We took broken tooth picks and added a little water to the center and it turned it to a star!!!
Pretty cool…yes it is! {{Now I’m trying to convince you.}}
When the summer boredom settled in this week at my home, I knew it was time to pull out this great magic trick for my girls to show their friends. It is super easy to set up and clean up. My kind of activity! They invited their friends over and went through an entire box of tooth picks. The neighbor kids got a kick out of it…so did I.
Magic Star
What you need
- Flat toothpicks
- Water Bottle
- Paper Clip
My kids unfolded a paper clip and poked a hole into the top of the lid of the water bottle. I figured they could handle a paper clip to punch a hole vs a knife or something else sharp! 
Break 5 toothpicks in half.
Here’s a hint…the tooth pick on the left won’t work, the tooth pick in the center was left too poky, but the one on the right was perfect!
Place the broken sides of the tooth picks together. They should almost look like a circle/pre-star thing.
Use your water bottle and place a drop of water into the broken parts of the toothpicks. Keep adding drops until the toothpicks move and become a star!
I have used this in church lessons and used the water drops to represent what was needed to make something ‘shine’. For example: A family (the end star) needs each person (drop of water) in the family to make it a star. Otherwise, it would just be a bunch of broken sticks.
If you think this was magical just you wait until next week…I’ll pull out another trick. America’s Got Talent…here I come!
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Love easy ideas! Thanks.
my kids are going to LOVE this! I still can’t believe you taught jr. high…you are amazing.
I’m a science teacher too! One of the coolest things I do is using gummi bears. We have students predict what will happen when you leave a gummi bear in a cup of water overnight. Most of the predictions are that it will dissolve, but in fact the opposite happens. It nearly doubles in size (b/c it’s absorbing the water)! It’s so cool!
NICE! I am putting this on my to do list! Thanks and Science teachers ROCK!
I want to do that just cause it sounds fun!!
How fun! Will have to show my youngest that one
Thank you for sharing as I’m doing lots of science projects this summer with my kids to keep them busy. The simplier the better and this is just up my alley to take to the cabin this weekend to have all the kids and their friends do outside at the picnic table when I start hearing the “I’m bored” whining.
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really great, my kids are going to love this!
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How cool is that?!?! My kids will freak when we do this! Thanks so much!!!
makingmemorieswithyourkids.blogspot.com
I LoVe lOvE LovE science magic!!!
Thanks for sharing and please post more.
I used to play this during my childhood day… I almost forgot about it, thanks for reminding me
I am going to show this trick to my kids!!!
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How about water in a bowl with pepper. Put a little dish soap on our finger and dip finger into water. All pepper moves to the side in a matter and mili seconds! VERY neat!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay my daughter got in and did that last comment. She was letting me know that she wanted some. NOW!!! Guess I’m off to make some lemon-aid! Cute little stinker!
Very fun trick! And who doesn’t love a little magic? :>) I linked to this on my weekly roundup, post is under my name. Thanks for sharing!
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