https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=HhFjZMqeZIE&feature=emb_logo Home's Cool! While we're all working from home, the parents, former teachers, and play experts at EI are sharing some of their favorite educational activities to help keep your family learning and growing. Check out this idea from Sahad Rivera Sonda, one of our Product Managers!Ages: 3-5Supplies:• Playfoam• Construction Paper• Tape• Scissors• Marker• Googly EyesProcedure:1. Cut out a head shape, use a marker to draw a nose, mouth, and ears, and add googly eyes.2. Secure the face to the table with tape.3. Start sculpting! Use Playfoam to create silly hairdos. Try pony tails, a perm, or even a mohawk!Sahad Rivera Sonda has dreamed of being a toy designer since she was a child in Mexico! Her passion for miniatures and other playful oddities (her collection includes everything from a plush churro to a miniature French fry) eventually led her to Otis College of Art and Design in California, where she obtained a degree in Toy Design. Sahad’s dreams came true when she landed a job with EI, designing the look and feel for many of our toys and games, including Playfoam Pals, Design & Drill and our plush line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFxThjSZjmU&feature=emb_logo Home's Cool! While we're all working from home, the parents, former teachers, and play experts at EI are sharing some of their favorite educational activities to help keep your family learning and growing. Check out this idea from Michael Sheridan, one of our Product Managers!Ages: 4-12Grades: pre-K-6Supplies:• Cardboard box• 2 Similar-sized objects• Camera or phone with slow-motion video capabilitiesProcedure:1. Stand a cardboard box on end, with the open flaps facing you.2. Set up your slow-motion camera to record the objects falling.3. Using one hand to support the flap, place both objects on one flap of the cardboard box and make sure they are not moving.4. Start recording on the slow-motion camera.5. Drop the flap on the cardboard box.6. Watch the video of the objects falling. Are they falling at the same speed? Or is one object falling faster than the other? Try dropping other objects! Do you notice any relationship between the shape and how the object falls? How about the size? Or weight?Explanation:The force of gravity is all around us. We experience it every day on Earth, whether or not we think about it. Sir Isaac Newton was the first to develop a mathematical explanation for gravity, which includes the importance of mass and distance. If an object has a lot of mass (is very heavy) then it will impose a larger gravitational force than other, smaller objects experience.When we drop two objects like the ping pong ball and tangerine in the video, they fall to the ground because the force of gravity is pulling them toward the center of the Earth. This gravitational force applies to everything on Earth, from an apple growing on a tree to a car parked on the street, and even planes in the sky.Now it’s time to experiment with dropping different objects! Be sure you aren’t dropping anything that might break. As mentioned in the video, this experiment is ignoring the effects of air resistance. Since we are in our homes and not a science lab, we can see how gravity affects all objects, but we can also see how the shape of an object changes the air resistance it feels as it falls to the ground.For this experiment, we are focusing on Newton’s Second Law, or F = ma.This law says the force an object feels (in this case, the force of gravity from Earth) equals the mass of that object (how heavy it is) multiplied by the acceleration it experiences. Everything on Earth feels the same acceleration toward the center of the Earth.So, what happens if we drop a ping pong ball and a baseball? A baseball weighs about 145 grams but a ping pong ball weighs about 3 grams. The acceleration is the same since both objects are on Earth, so the force the baseball feels is about 50 times as large as the force the ping pong ball feels (because it weighs almost 50 times as much).Why does it look like they reach the ground at the same time? The reason is inertia. Inertia is resistance to acceleration and depends on how much something weighs. If something weighs more, it won’t accelerate as fast. That’s why the ping pong ball starts to fall faster than the baseball.If we repeat this experiment with different-shaped objects, we can see the effects of air resistance. Try this out a piece of paper and a ball. The ball is round so the air can move around it easily, but the paper is a large rectangle, making it difficult for the air to go around it. The air resistance slows down the acceleration of the paper toward the ground, which is why it moves back and forth and reaches the ground after the ball.EI Product Manager Michael Sheridan is a jack of all trades! An avid surfer and former international soccer competitor, this outdoor and sporting enthusiast also has a degree in Astrophysics from UCLA and eight years of product development experience in a variety of industries. Prior to helping build EI's science products and brain game lines, Michael developed everything from folding chairs to electric scooters and skateboards!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBVHs78XNXs&feature=emb_logo Home's Cool! While we're all working from home, the parents, former teachers, and play experts at EI are sharing some of their favorite educational activities to help keep your family learning and growing. Check out this idea from Sahad Rivera Sonda, one of our Product Managers!Ages: 3-7Supplies:• Construction paper• Markers and/or crayons• Playfoam• Tape• Scissors• Pencil• Googly eyes (optional)Procedure:1. Open your Playfoam pod – don’t discard the packaging!2. Trace the circular plastic backer card onto a sheet of paper.3. Draw an alien inside the circle and color it in.4. Cut the circle out…5. And add googly eyes to your character!6. Fold a paper sheet in half and cut out the main body of your rocket.7. Use tape to secure your alien circle to the rocket.8. Place the plastic Playfoam pod over the circle and tape it down securely.9. Tape the whole rocket to a sheet of black paper…10. Squish, squash and sculpt Playfoam to create the rocket fins and other details…11. Then use a white crayon to add stars on the background!Sahad Rivera Sonda has dreamed of being a toy designer since she was a child in Mexico! Her passion for miniatures and other playful oddities (her collection includes everything from a plush churro to a miniature French fry) eventually led her to Otis College of Art and Design in California, where she obtained a degree in Toy Design. Sahad’s dreams came true when she landed a job with EI, designing the look and feel for many of our toys and games, including Playfoam Pals, Design & Drill and our plush line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK2s32dvsyw&feature=emb_logo Home's Cool! While we're all working from home, the parents, former teachers, and play experts at EI are sharing some of their favorite educational activities to help keep your family learning and growing. Check out this idea from Sahad Rivera Sonda, one of our Product Managers!Ages: 3-5Supplies:• Construction Paper• Glue• Scissors• Craft StickProcedure:1. Sketch and cut a flower and flowerpot shape out of construction paper.2. Glue your flower to the top of your craft stick.3. Fold a sheet of paper in half and cut two slits, one about quarter of an inch lower than the first one. This will be your background.4. Slip your craft stick “stem” through the slits.5. Glue the sides only of your pot to your background paper, so the pot covers the slits.6. Move the flower up and down and see how it “grows”!Sahad Rivera Sonda has dreamed of being a toy designer since she was a child in Mexico! Her passion for miniatures and other playful oddities (her collection includes everything from a plush churro to a miniature French fry) eventually led her to Otis College of Art and Design in California, where she obtained a degree in Toy Design. Sahad’s dreams came true when she landed a job with EI, designing the look and feel for many of our toys and games, including Playfoam Pals, Design & Drill and our plush line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMnfNl3MbnY&feature=emb_logo Home's Cool! While we're all working from home, the parents, former teachers, and play experts at EI are sharing some of their favorite educational activities to help keep your family learning and growing. Check out this idea from Michael Sheridan, one of our EI Product Managers!Ages: 4-8Grades: pre-K to 2Supplies: • Cardboard box• Ping pong ball or marble (smaller is more difficult)• Construction paper• Marker• ScissorsProcedure:1. Cut the sides off of a cardboard box. Use a box that is at least 12” x 12” if possible.2. Cut the side pieces into ten strips, each about 2” wide.3. Tape or glue construction paper to the bottom of the box to make a flat surface.4. Write the numbers 1-10 (one number per strip) on the center of the cardboard strips.5. Fold the cardboard strips into a U shape and tape or hot glue the ends to the construction paper all around the inside of the box. Place them at random, number-wise and orientation-wise. Make sure your ball fits through each U shape before attaching it to the bottom of the box.6. Hold the box flat on your lap (or over a table). Start with the ball in the center of the box and tilt it all around to get the ball to pass through each number. The goal is to tilt the ball through the numbers in order from 1-10 as fast as possible.7. Start a tournament with a sibling or parent to see who can get through the entire course fastest. EI Product Manager Michael Sheridan is a jack of all trades! An avid surfer and former international soccer competitor, this outdoor and sporting enthusiast also has a degree in Astrophysics from UCLA and eight years of product development experience in a variety of industries. Prior to helping build EI's science products and brain game lines, Michael developed everything from folding chairs to electric scooters and skateboards!