It’s ooey, gooey and sticky. Making slime is just one of many summer activities thrilling kids at The Youth Center’s Camp S.H.A.R.K. in Rossmoor Park. More than 35 kids recently learned how to mix polymers as part of scientific activities meant to inspire them to pursue science when they grow up.
It’s ooey, gooey and sticky. Making slime is just one of many summer activities thrilling kids at The Youth Center’s Camp S.H.A.R.K. in Rossmoor Park. More than 35 kids recently learned how to mix polymers as part of scientific activities meant to inspire them to pursue science when they grow up.
This particular experiment is right up the alley of nine-year-old camper Peta Eriksen, of Long Beach, who aspires to be a chemist, something she hopes to learn more about in the 6th or 7th grade. While mixing the glue, laundry detergent and shaving cream ingredients at Camp S.H.A.R.K., she also got to play with her new found friend, nine-year-old Saihaj Bopary of Rossmoor.
“Sometimes making slime helps me make friends,” Peta said. “I met Saihaj my second day at camp, and together we learn how to mix, create and put it [slime] together. It makes our summer fun!” Saihaj enjoys sharing a mutual love for science with her, and would like to play with the fluffy, cool “cotton candy slime” every day while at camp.
Another camper, 11-year-old Nathan Spolter of Long Beach, loves how he’s been able to do a lot of science experiments at camp, something that feeds his desire to become a doctor someday. “We get to do a lot of them here, and it’s something we couldn’t do elsewhere,” he said.
Maybe someday when eight-year-old Quentin Wright of Los Alamitos grows up to work for Universal Studios he’ll use his slime-making to create special effects in the movies. “I like to wrap it around my hands and legs, and get it stuck on me then removing it,” he said. “There is a science to mixing all the chemicals.”
Both Quentin and his friend, 8-year-old Ryan Ziedins of Rossmoor bonded not only ingredients but their friendship at Camp S.H.A.R.K. Ryan hopes to help the poor when he grows up, and both boys enjoy making and mixing something from scratch together.
Other upcoming scientific activities at The Youth Center’s Camp S.H.A.R.K. held in Rossmoor Park in cooperation with the Rossmoor Community Services District (RCSD) include a dry ice experiment, building and launching rockets, volcano eruptions, learning about earthquakes and creating wind vanes as well as ocean-shark themed activities, field trips and special add-on classes. Registrations are still being accepted for camp. Last day of camp is Aug. 25. For more information, go online to www.theyouthcenter.org.
This article appeared in the July 12, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.
