Here are some educational activities related to monkeys and tea that you can use to compliment your family hikes in Sri Lanka.

Monkeys.

We saw many monkeys in the trees around Ella.  Be cautious of them – some will steal things right out of your hands and are considered a big nuisance by the locals.  But no matter how naughty they might be, our children found them fascinating.

 

 

Here is a cute monkey themed craft from Busy Bee Kids Crafts. It is a bendable monkey using pipe cleaners.  The Safari themed art collection on  their website is an excellent tie-in to Sri Lanka safaris as well.

 

 

 

 

Hand-motion Song

5 Little Monkeys Swinging In a Tree.  Here is a video that shows you the song and hand-motions.  My children love to do the SNAP!

Tea

Our family did some amazing hikes through tea plantations that even little legs could handle.

Tea-Dye Egg Science Experiment

This is a fun and easy science experiment for children using products you have at home.

You’ll Need

1. Tea
2. Water
3. 3 Glass bowls
4. 3 Cups
5. 9 Hard-boiled Eggs
6. Vinegar
7. Salt
8. Baking Soda
9. Timer
10. Thermometer

Discussion:

Explain to children that tea can be used to dye things brown.  Pose these questions and allow them to form a hypothesis for each:

• Does the dye work best in cold, luke-warm, or hot water?
• Does the dye work better if the egg is left soaking in the tea for longer?
• Does the dye work better if you add any other chemicals/ingredients?

Steps:

1. Have your children place 1 teaspoon of tea in each glass bowl.  I sacrificed some of my amazing Macwoods ginger flavor loose-leaf tea from Sri Lanka.  If nothing else, this experiment smelled great!

2. Fill up cups with water.  Make one cup cold with ice and one hot by microwaving it for 1.5 minutes. Leave one at room temperature.  Have the children pour the water into the 3 bowls.  They can use a thermometer to record exact temperatures.

3. Place the eggs into the bowls at the same time.  Take them out at the same time (we used 2 minutes).

4. Observe the eggs and note color differences. Result: We found that the hotter water worked best for dying the eggs, but none of the eggs were very dark.

5. Now that we know hotter water works best, lets see if timing makes a difference.  Using the same bowls of tea, place them all back into the microwave for 1.5 minutes.

6. Add new eggs into the 3 bowls at the same time.  Remove the first egg after 1 minute, The second egg after 2 minutes, and the third egg after 3 minutes.

7. Observe the eggs and note color differences. Result: We found that the longer an egg was in the tea, the darker it became.

8. So now we know our eggs need hot water and longer sitting times for the dye to work best. Is there an ingredient we could add to the tea to improve the dye?  Place vinegar, baking soda, and salt next to each re-heated bowl.

9. Have your child add 1 tablespoon of each ingredient to each bowl and mix into the tea.

10. Place the eggs back into the tea at the same time.  Remove the eggs after 5 minutes.

11. Observe the eggs and note color differences.  Result: We found that adding vinegar greatly enhanced the darkness of the tea dye.

 

Tea Song

The classic of course:

I’m a little teapot – short and stout

Here is my handle – here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up – hear me shout.

Tip me over and pour me out!

Here is a short video that shows the process of making tea leaves – from seedling to cup of tea.  While it is filmed in India, it is the same process in Sri Lanka.

Monkeys and Tea Stories

Here is a classic book about monkeys that all children love. And it is fun to act out too!

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Here is another classic…a little girl has a surprise guest for tea.

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 For information on family hikes in Sri Lanka, please click here.