How do you be grateful for things that seem annoying or even bad? This science experiment with whipped cream will teach the children why we should be grateful — even for that sibling we can’t get along with or that teacher who doesn’t see our genius.
If you have cut fruit, you can serve the whipped cream over the top for a snack, and eat the “fruits” of your labor!
Materials
• Mason jar with lid
• Heavy whipping cream
• Sugar (optional)
• Cut fruit (optional, if you want to serve the whipped cream after you make it)
Instructions
1. Pour the whipping cream into the jar.
2. Optional: add a generous pinch of sugar.
3. Screw on the lid, making sure it’s closed tight.
4. Demonstrate how to shake the cream.
5. Pass the jar around and have each child shake the jar until their arms get tired.
6. When each child is tired they may pass it on to the next person, stopping occasionally to examine the progress of the cream.
7. The children can do this while they listen to a lesson or engage in conversation.
8. The whole process should take about 10 minutes.
Explanation
When you begin to shake the jar of cream, air becomes trapped in the cream. This makes tiny air bubbles. As you continue to shake the cream, the fat from the cream separates and wraps around the bubbles keeping them intact. When we look at fluffy whipped cream we are actually seeing cream with millions of tiny little air bubbles.
Application
When we think of being grateful we typically think of the things in our lives which are easy or fun, but we should be grateful for our challenges too! We are like the cream, and our challenging relationships or situations are the things that shake us up. They might be uncomfortable and make us tired, but working through them can produce something really beautiful and sweet in the end.
Do you have siblings you just can’t get along with? Do you have a friend who keeps annoying you? Do you have a teacher who just doesn’t appreciate how smart you are? Rejoice! They will give you persistence and endurance and patience.
Keep shaking the jars in your life, and you will always wind up with a fluffy white ending! Who wants to eat some? After all that shaking, let’s eat the “fruits of our labor.”
Serve the whipped cream with the cut fruit.