I came across this experiment is an old handout from my teaching days, the little ladies thought it would be fun to try.
Gather:
clean sock
newspaper
long piece of yarn (about 5ft.)
2 TBS oil (canola, vegetable, etc)
1/2 cup water
food coloring (optional)
jar
Set up:
1. Add water to jar.
2. Add oil ***not exactly sure what the purpose of the oil is, it might keep the sock from drying out quickly.
3. Drop a few drops of food coloring into the oil. This is optional, it just makes the sock look pretty.
4. Take the clean sock and stuff it with newspaper, tie it closed with the yarn. It will look like a pull toy- you could add eyes and long ears to it and call it Fido if you want 
.
5. Take the sock for a walk in a field or woodland.
As you probably figured out, the point of the sock dragging along the ground is for little seeds to stick to it; well, the little ladies weren’t finding the seeds sticking on their socks, so Rainy started throwing it into the thistle patch hoping for seeds to stick.
She even got to the point where she was sprinkling seeds onto the sock. I think this experiment would have worked better if Dave hadn’t just mowed the path.
Grass and thistle seed collection picked along the way-
6. When your sock has gathered enough seeds, carefully place the sock into the jar of the water/oil mixture.
7. Set it in a sunny window and keep the sock moist. Don’t overdo it with the water, you just want the sock to be moist or it could get moldy. It might take a few weeks for the seeds to germinate, be patient and make sure the sock stays moist.
If you are participating in Outdoor Challenge Mondays, be sure your blog link is below; if you still want to participate let me know and I’ll add you to the list.
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“That’s all.”
About
We have done this, but we wore the socks on the outside of our shoes instead of dragging them. The kids walked through a field, and then we took off the socks and planted them in an old lazagna pan… it was neat to see what came up… esp considering we left them on the patio until spring and even MORE came up in the spring. It was a cool experiment.
Val
What a cool experiment! That is going on the must do list for next week
I have seen this done before, but never have done it. Looks like fun. Did you decide not to do the Nature Swap?
I’ve seen this experiment before but the kids actually wore the socks! I was kind of leery of doing that ’cause I wouldn’t want Benjamin stepping on something sharp or worse yet-a snake! LOL
I like the pull-doggie idea better!
As for outdoor monday…I’ll link to my Great American Backyard Campout post over at Leaping Greenly Spirits:
http://leapinggreenlyspirits.wordpress.com/camping/june-26-2010-gabc/
That looks like fun!!!
Claudia
http://lilmuselily.com/2010/06/28/monday-outdoors-picture-8/
Maybe the reason that this makes no sense to me is because of the wine I’ve been drinking ;0)
~aaahhh…wish i would have seen this before leaving last week for camping…would have been great fun to do but there will always be another…guess know we could just start in teh yard! l♥ve this…warm wishes and brightest blessings~
definitely giving a whirl – thanks!
LOVE this idea! Thanks for posting
a hahah. You had me laughing…the girls look so cute pulling those socks along. Looks like a great experiment…will you be giving us an update eventually? Or maybe we’ll just try it ourselves
Looking forward to seeing the results of the seed experiment in a future blog!
Our major outdoor adventure this week was whale watching. The hump backs and southern rights are making their migration north from Antarctica to give birth in warmer waters.
http://www.secretwater.com.au/2010/06/28/whale-tails-from-cape-solander/
Oh my! My children would love to do this. I have a feeling that they would be dragging it around all day and they probably would call it Fido! Another great idea to add to my list. Thanks for sharing.
We have been outside, but I need to speed up my shutter speed. The children are moving too fast for photos. Managed to catch one on Saturday. Its easier to photo the wildlife around here. Will try better next week!
What a great little experiment!! I just try this with my daughter… actually I’m sure all 3 of my kids would love to drag a sock around through our fields LOL.
We’ve had a lovely week of outdoor fun but I think the absolute highlight of our week was having a picnic by our pond
We packed up the pick up truck with our tables & chairs and had a grand time.
http://rosinahuber.blogspot.com/2010/06/picnic-by-pond.html
Have a lovely nature filled week
I am also participating and would love to make this a challenge every week…thanks for having us…Mica
http://thechildspaper.blogspot.com/2010/06/apricots.html
That’s cool. I love the colors in the jar…. they made a sock really look good…Mica/The Child’s Paper
Looks like such a fun project!
socks are just so versatile!
http://chasingdomesticbliss.blogspot.com/2010/06/outdoor-challenge.html
I love that she threw it into the thistle patch. She’s a clever impatient soul — a girl after my own heart!
This is such a cool idea! I’ve got to remember this one!
We enjoyed some outdoor art, and my son wound up taking it in a direction I wasn’t expecting at the time: http://semicrunchymama.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/garden-color/
Pingback: Garden Color «
What a fun idea – especially given the randomness of seeing what will germinate.
We had a glorious time visiting family and being part of outdoor “work” . . .
http://www.wideopencampus.com/?p=660
I love this. So clever!
Ha! This is great….and seedy! You must let me know if you decide to take part in the postcard show so I can keep my eye out for yours when it’s on display!
Very cool! We’ll have to try that as well. I can’t wait to see how yours turn out. Thank you!
I LOVE LOVE this idea! Thanks for sharing and we will definately give it a go. It will be fun watching to see what grows.
We are continuing to explore our local parks as part of our outdoor play: http://littleecofootprints.typepad.com/little_eco_footprints/2010/06/continuing-our-urban-adventure-carrington.html
That looks like a fun idea!
I posted an Outdoor Challenge today too.
http://www.myyearinhaiku.blogspot.com
Thanks for the idea! We are definatly doing this one soon.