Parent/Child Workshop Agenda

Crazy Croquet (2.5 hours)
When Alice wanders into the Croquet Ground, she meets a number of new creatures that look like playing cards. As she meets the Queen and King of Hearts in this lovely garden, Alice is invited to play a most unusual game of croquet. "Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet ground in all of her life: it was all ridges and furrows; the croquet balls were live hedgehogs, and the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet to make the arches." (Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

During the course of the Crazy Croquet Workshop, parents and children will experiment with balls in motion. Participants will use what they've learned about force, gravity, and speed to engineer their own crazy courses and end the day with a croquet marathon on their ingenious inventions. Please note, an optional parental development session will require two facilitators.

Activity
Time (minutes)
Balls and Ramps Machine 15
Introduction 10
Balls and Ramps Activity (children)
Who Is a scientist? (adults)
40
Elbow Tag 15
Book Search 10
Wacky Croquet Ground 35
Let's Play Croquet 15
Conclusion 10

Balls and Ramps Machine (Everyone)

The entire group works together to move a ball from one end of a line to the other using a series of ramps.
Follow the complete instructions from the Balls and Ramps Machine activity.

You will need the following materials:

  • 1 ramp per participant. You can use the following items for ramps: Pipe insulation cut in half, gutter pieces, rulers, books, etc.
  • balls of different sizes and materials

Introduction (Everyone in a circle)

Make a circle by joining the two ends of the line from the activity above. Challenge the group to introduce the person on their left. When each person gets introduced, encourage him or her to share his or her favorite game with a ball and why. Finally, introduce the topic for the day and review the agenda.

Balls and Ramps Activity (Children only or parent/child pairs)

During a game of marble croquet, children discover relationships between the height of an incline, the size of a marble, the speed of a marble, and the distance the marble and cup wicket travel.

Use the activity entitled Queen's Quirky Croquet from this site or on page 10 of the Family Science Night Activity Guide

You will need the following materials per child:

  • 1-inch square blocks
  • a ruler
  • 1 small marble
  • 1 large marble (optional)
  • a measuring tape
  • a Styrofoam cup with a 1.5" x 1.5" hole cut in the rim

Optional Parent Activity: Who Is a scientist?

The following activity can be conducted simultaneously to provide a brief parental development session. If you opt to skip this session, conduct the activity above with both parents and children.

This activity helps parents to think about the stereotypes that are associated with "science" and "scientist." Drawings of scientists by parents can be a springboard for talking about careers in science and encouraging science for boys and girls of all backgrounds every day, in and around the home.

You will need:

  • markers or colored pencils
  • paper

Elbow Tag

Participants experience the principle of "transfer of energy" when the "runner" latches on to a pair and their energy transfers through the middle person, forcing the person on the other side of the new three-some to become the "runner' until she either gets tagged by the chaser or finds another pair to latch on to.

Use the complete instructions on page 11 of the Activity Guide.
You do not need any materials for this activity.

Book Search (Parent/child pairs sitting in a circle)

Pairs search through various versions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to see how different illustrators depicted the Queen and her crazy way of playing croquet. Encourage participants to share the various illustrations they found. What different things are a part of the game Alice played? How might a hedgehog roll differently than a smooth marble?

Wacky Croquet Ground (Parent/child pairs)

Parents and children work in pairs to create a "croquet course" track that a marble can race along using only force, gravity, and speed.

Follow the instructions provided in the Wacky Croquet Ground Activity on this site or from page 12 of the Activity Guide.

You will need:

  • pipe insulation cut in half through the diameter
  • marbles
  • toothpicks
  • masking tape
  • props to raise and lower the track, i.e. the wall, chairs, tables, blocks, books

Let's Play Croquet (Everyone)

After the participants have finished the activity above, allow them to try each other's wacky croquet courses. Moving from one to another, parents and children can play a game on their "wacky croquet grounds."

Conclusion (Everyone in a circle)

Sitting in a circle on the floor, roll a marble or ball to someone else in the circle. When the person receives the ball, encourage her to share any ideas she might have of other things that engineers build. Encourage them to think of the croquet course they just designed and what other things might be similar.