Mom: "Satoshi, I am going to show you a magic here!"
Satoshi: "What are you going to do?"
Mom: "I am going to fill this cup with water and put a paper lid on this.
Now what do you think it's going to happen if I remove my hand from paper?"
Satoshi: "Paper will fall down."
Mom: "That's right. Paper should fall down."
Mom dips a cup in the bath water.
She makes sure the cup is filled with water and put a paper lid on it.
Then she flips the cup upside down.
Mom: "Look!
I let my hand away."
But the paper is still stuck to the cup.
Satoshi: "What happened?"
Mom: "Are you impressed?
Isn't it amazing?"
Satoshi: "Let me try it myself!"
Mom: "I still have next magic."
Satoshi: "Can you wait?
I want to try."
Mom: "I wonder you can do this magic."
Satoshi: "Look!
Paper is stuck to cup."
Mom: "There is no water in your cup.
That's cheating."
Now Mom is holding a net.
Mom: "Do you want to try with this net?"
Satoshi: "What?
This net doesn't get stuck to cup."
Mom: "No, Satoshi.
You have to wet that net."
Satoshi: "OK.
Look!
It's done."
Mom: "Very good, Satoshi!
You did it!
But now can you fill this cup with water and try again?"
Satoshi: "No, I can't do it.
I wonder why."
Mom: "I am going to try this time.
Can you watch?"
When Mom tried, the water in the cup didn't fall even with the net.
Satoshi: "It's amazing!
Mom, you are very good!"
| 2 pudding cups | (non-flimsy transparent cups) |
| A sheet of paper | A used postcard is ideal. Drawing paper or copy paper are OK too. Newspaper is too thin. It must be large enough to cover the cup. |
| A gauze or |
(thin gauze for medical purpose, 15 cm x 15 cm in size) |
| A water draining net used for kitchen sink | |
| A rubber band | |
| Needle | |
* Secret for this magic to is good sealing between the cup and the paper.
* Advanced level: Cut a net so it exactly fits to the opening of the cup. Then try the magic without rubber band.
* See what happens when the cup is only a half full or completely empty.
* You can do this magic in a glass cup. But using a glass cup can be dangerous if it breaks in your bath tub.
When I watch my child playing in the bath tub, I am amazed at how long he can play there. Some plays are completely meaningless to me. But, on the other hand, I realize I can't explore all sorts of things other than I learned from other people or books. I would aim directly at the goal without any detours. My child who always makes side trips toward all different directions may be better at treasure search.
| Author | Yumiko Mori (Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan) |
|---|---|
| Illustration | Mitsue Ogata |
| Translator | Akira Ishihara |
| HTML format | Muneo Kume |
