Sure, the sun warms things up in the summertime, but has your child ever used its heat to make a refreshing treat? Here's a hands-on activity combines science with culinary delight. Your child will learn how the sun's heat can be used to create her own flavor of sun tea! The process of brainstorming tea ingredients is a great way to flex those creativity muscles, and that combined with experiencing the power of the sun will result in a truly memorable tea-time.
What You Need:
- 2-quart glass container
- 4-6 teabags or 3-4 tablespoons of loose tea
- Your own ingredients, such a lemon rind, mint, cinnamon, honey, etc.
- Small bowl and spoon for mixing
- Several tea sachets or empty tea bags
- Water
What You Do:
- Decide what flavor of tea you're going to make. Part of the fun of this activity is experimenting with flavors to create your own unique tea. For example, if you're using chamomile teabags, you might try adding some lemon rind and mint, or honey and nutmeg.
- Fill a 2-quart glass container with water.
- Place the teabags in the water. If you're using loose tea, make sure to put it in a tea sachet before placing it in the water.
- Use the small bowl and spoon to mix together the ingredients of your choice. Make sure to stick to fruit rinds, herbs, spices, extracts, and other items that can safely sit in the sun. Spoon your ingredients into a tea sachet and put it in the water.
- Place the glass container in the sun, and let it sit for three to five hours, depending on how strong you want the tea. A good time to start this activity is noon, because that's when the sun is highest in the sky. Feel free to taste the tea to see if it's done!
- When the tea is finished, pour it over some ice and enjoy! If you have additional glass containers, try making several flavors of tea at the same time so when they're all done, you can compare flavors! It's a delicious and refreshing activity for any sunny day!
Note: Because you are not boiling the tea, be sure to refrigerate the tea and drink it within a day or two! Sun tea will not keep as well as iced tea that was boiled first.
Add your own comment