Blown Out Egg

As I mentioned yesterday, we didn't have the right materials at home to complete the Crystal Egg Geode experiment/activity.  We did, however, have eggs, so we completed the first part of the Crystal Egg Geode project, which is to blow the yolk out of the egg shell.  In theory this is easy, but in practice it's a bit more difficult to do without making a mess!  The first step is to poke a small hole in one end of the egg.

Used a safety pin to make small hole in the shell.

My first attempt at poking a hole in the shell was a big failure.  For some reason I thought it would be easy to use a small finishing nail.  After several failed attempts to break the shell my two daughters were probably wondering what the heck I was doing.  My lovely wife helped out by suggesting a safety pin.  She was looking at me weirdly too.  :-)

Once the first hole is made, poke a slightly larger hole on the other side.  I learned that there are special tools that you can buy that assist in removing the yolk from the shell, but I just blew on the egg like one would do with a balloon.  The pressure exerted into the egg forces the yolk out the other end.  

Egg in the process of being emptied.

This can be a little tricky, especially when your 5 year old and 2 year old want to do it themselves.  My 2 year old kept shouting "I do it Daddy, I do it!!!"  Uh, okay.  My biggest fear is that both of them would crush the egg while trying to blow into it.  We avoided that, but it wasn't easy.  I love that my 2 year old wanted to do this by herself, but a 2 year old and a raw egg are not a good mix!

After removing the yolk we ran them under water to allow water to enter into the shell.  After rinsing the inside of the shell we blew out the water and voila, a blown out egg!  We sat them on the kitchen counter to dry.  We haven't done anything with them yet, but at the very least the kids will color and make faces on them.  

Blowing out an egg is a cool activity because you don't often see an egg that's empty and not cracked.  Just be prepared for independent kids who want to handle raw eggs by themselves!!!