50 dangerous Things: 10- Play with the Vacuum Cleaner

There were two parts to this activity suggested in the book. The Siren Jar and The Buzz Ribbon. I'm not sure we had the right size or type of jar because, although we achieved an annoying sound with the plastic water bottle I'm not sure it made the sound described. It was a little difficult for the boys to hold and keep the bottle in the spot that made the loudest sound. Ethan's observation was that it sounded like a recorder (the instrument). Myles said, "I think it's doing it because it's not blocking much air."

Cedar was already asleep when we did all this. She fell asleep on our bed around 4:30 pm. I woke her up at about 6:00 for dinner. We usually make pizza on Friday as part of our Family Fun Night. Okay, I just have to brag about Kim's pizza - freshly ground wheat, sauce made from our garden tomatoes canned in the summer, homemade pesto ... yum! yum! yum! In a few months we'll be able to add sausage from our first pig ... sorry, I got distracted. So, Cedar didn't even eat dinner. She put herself back to bed and we didn't see her until 6:30 this morning. I'm sure she would have enjoyed this part of the activity. I think the Buzz Ribbon was the favorite of the boys. Laughing hysterically, Ethan noticed, "It sounds like air coming out of a balloon!" Myles noticed the paper strip had frayed edges and was getting smaller and exclaimed, "It couldn't hold it! It got broke! It got broke!"

Cautiously, because we've never had such a long relationship with a vacuum before, and we didn't want Mr. Dyson's work to end with the boy's curiousity, I asked them if there was anything else they could think of to hold in the tube. Myles put in a platic sandwich bag. We found that was too big, so he decided to tear it in half and it worked okay. It made a more bubbly/popping sound. Ethan found green tissue paper. It didn't really make any fun sound, but we were able to see green specks fly into the canister. After Kleenex sarted filling the canister we ended the activity.

If you want to do this the book warns against putting the vacuum hose near the face because "the intense suction could do serious damage to your eyes." Since we have curious little boys we added that they shouldn't put ANY body part in the hose. :-)