Magic Monday – A Very Zippedy Christmas!
Ho ho ho, we certainly hope you’re in a festive mood, Zoomers, cos we’re comin’ atcha with a whole load of Christmassy joy and cheer this week!
That’s right, it’s four sleeps until the big day, and in the Lab we are just super duper diddly excited. We’ve rounded up lots of fun stuff for you, with crafts and games and stories and much much more!
Can you find Santa and his reindeer in our merry wordsearch?
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Homemade Decorations!
Here’s a fabby dabby way to make DIY tin foil icicles to decorate your festive pad!
Hot Chocolate Experiment!
Here’s a SCRUMPTIOUS science experiment with hot chocolate where the result will be utterly delicious!
KIT LIST
- Marshmallows
- Hot chocolate powder
- Milk
- A microwave
- Teaspoon
HOW TO
- Half-fill three mugs with milk, making sure each mug has the same amount of milk.
- Heat one mug in the microwave for 30 seconds, one for 45 seconds, and the final mug for 1 minute. This means that each mug has a different temperature, with the hottest mug having been microwaved the longest.
- Add a teaspoon of hot chocolate powder to each mug, and give em a good stir.
- Now gently add a marshmallow to each mug, so it floats on the surface of the hot chocolate.
Notice what happens to each marshmallow. They will all start to melt slightly. How fast does each one melt? The more heat in the mug, the faster the marshmallow melts.
This is because the heat energy from the hot chocolate seeps into the marshmallow, and “wiggles” the sugar and protein molecules, meaning that they separate and melt.
Now we’ve learned the science, it’s time to drink the results!
Christmas Around the World!
In Sweden, instead of putting stockings out for Santa to fill presents with, children leave their shoes out on the windowsills.
In Poland (and indeed many countries in Eastern Europe) it is traditional to eat carp (a type of fish) on Christmas Day instead of turkey. Often, the carp is bought alive, and kept in the bathtub before Christmas to make sure it’s very fresh for dinner!
On Christmas Day in South Africa, many children eat fried caterpillars. Not just any caterpillars though, it’s the Pine Tree Emperor Moth, which is said to give the eater a bit of luck for the new year!
What do you call an elf wearing earmuffs?
Anything you like, he can’t hear you!
What do you call an old snowman?
Water!
Who delivers Christmas presents to Baby Shark?
Santa Jaws!
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Are You a Christmas Cracker or a Grouchy Grinch?
1. How early do you start listening to festive music?
- a) I start blasting Jingle Bells in early October, it’s never too early to get excited about the best time of year!
- b) I wait until December starts, and then it’s fun to listen to a Christmas hit or two to get me in the holiday mood.
- c) Ew never, I turn off the radio if they play anything even a little bit Christmassy!
2. How many Christmas jumpers do you own?
- a) So many that I’ve lost count to be honest!
- b) One old faithful that I wear to Christmas parties.
- c) I think there’s one gathering dust at the back of my wardrobe that was given as a present, but I would DIE before wearing it.
3. What is your favourite part of Christmas Day?
- a) All of it, I couldn’t choose a favourite part!
- b) Probably getting to open my presents in the morning, it’s always exciting coming downstairs to see what Santa left!
- c) When it’s finally over…
4. How heavily decorated is your house for Christmas?
- a) You cannot MOVE for decorations, every inch is covered in tinsel or fairy lights!
- b) It’s mainly just the Christmas tree, and then maybe a bit of holly dotted around.
- c) No tacky and annoying decorations in my house, thank you very much!
5. What do you do when carol singers come to your door?
- a) Throw open the door and sing along merrily with them, then offer them all a mince pie.
- b) Enjoy their singing for a minute or two, then drop a few pence into their collection bucket for goodwill.
- c) Turn off all the lights and hide under the kitchen table scowling, until they go away.
6. What do you do after Christmas lunch?
- a) Gather everyone round for some festive game of charades and sardines!
- b) Have a nice nap to try and sleep off the gargantuan amount of turkey and stuffing that you’ve just gobbled.
- c) Sneak off to do some homework, just because it’s Christmas Day does not mean that anyone should be slacking off!
7. It’s getting towards the evening of Christmas Day. What’s on the telly at your house?
- a) Elf! (You’ve already watched it about 10 times since October, but you’re never sick of it)
- b) The Doctor Who special, you watch it every year.
- c) You argue with everyone else over what to watch, but eventually they win and put on some awful Christmas film which you sulkily ignore.
Mostly As – Christmas Cracker!
Aren’t you the Christmas fairy? You really believe it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and throw yourself into the festivities with relish. You love everything about Christmas, and feel that it’s never too early to start feeling festive.
Mostly Bs – Moderately Merry
You enjoy Christmas about as much as the next guy. You wouldn’t think much about it before December, and sometimes catch yourself rushing around buying last-minute presents, but it’s all good fun.
Mostly Cs – Grouchy Grinch
Oooh you old misery guts! I don’t know what happened to make you hate Christmas so much, but it’s definitely not the most wonderful time of the year in your books. You’d even rather be doing homework than singing carols and playing charades.
Reindeer Antler Hoopla!
Now we have maker Lizzie to show us how to use old cardboard and glue to make our own festive reindeer antlers for a game of hoopla!
Wethinks it’s time to settle down with some of that sciencey hot choc from earlier and listen to a festive story. Here’s Iain Armstrong reading ‘The Legend of the Christmas Tree’, enjoy Zoomers!
That’s it for Monday of Christmas week on Zippedy Zoom! The Boffins are all dashing around putting up decorations and blasting festive music, and wondering what prezzies they’ll get in the lab Secret Santa… Join us on Wednesday for more yuletide fun! Prof Zippedilla Zoom x
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