Harvest is a time for seeing the results of our hard work and patience. This science experiment with gravity and a sponge will get kids thinking about what they are harvesting in their own lives!
Materials:
• Clear glass
• Squeeze bottle (like a sport bottle or plastic ketchup bottle)
• Water
• Food coloring
• Light-colored sponge
Instructions:
- Fill the squeeze bottle with water.
- Add enough food coloring to make the water a deep, vibrant color.
- Place the sponge on top of the empty glass.
- Ask one of the children to slowly pour or squirt the colored water onto the sponge.
- Keep pouring/squirting until the sponge fills and begins to “rain” into the glass.
Explanation:
When the sponge comes in contact with water it expands and stores the water in the little pockets or holes scattered throughout the sponge. You can watch this happen as the color spreads around the sponge. The sponge can only hold so much water, however, before gravity pulls the water back down and out of the sponge. This is what makes the water rain from the bottom of the sponge and into the glass.
Application:
Harvest is a time for us to see the fruits of our labor. Most of the year we are like the sponge: we absorb lessons, and say our prayers. Our spiritual harvest can be like the rain coming out of the sponge. The spirit of God becomes too big for us to contain and rains out for others to see. We can see this harvest when we see our own growth. Maybe you were able to be nice to someone who usually irritates you, or maybe you did your chores on time when you used to forget. These are all the fruits of our labor. We may have had to wait for them but eventually they came out for all to see!