After lots of fun dressing up as pirates, Travis and I needed to head off on a treasure hunt for “booty.” I involved a little STEM learning in the game by turning it into a test – which treasure will float, and which will sink to the bottom of the ocean?

First, I made a list of items to find around the house, and Travis helped check them off as we went.

He found a little box to gather his treasures into, and already loved the game!

Items included: things from the kitchen like cucumber slices, toothpicks, and cookie cutters; things from his room like toy dinosaurs, marbles, and bouncy balls; and things from outside like leaves, rocks, and sticks.

Next we filled a glass of water and set about testing all of our items.

Travis loved dropping things in the glass!

We soon detected a pattern – metal objects tended to sink and wooden ones tended to float. The rubber bouncy ball surprised us by sinking! When we were done, I fished the objects out of the glass, and “Pirate Travis” had to dry and polish all his treasures.