Cara Florance's Blog

My newest book The Space Science Handbook: 32 Celestial Science Projects for Kids is available for preorder! The long awaited follow-up to The Science Spell Book hits stores September 2nd, 2025! Preorder from your favorite retailer now and it will ship automatically on that day.

Embark on an intergalactic adventure where you’ll study bright galaxies, envision new planets, and explore futuristic technology in this imaginative science activity book for kids!

The Space Science Handbook tak...

As new parents, we’re told not give babies cow milk before the age of one and only offer breastmilk or formula. It’s a common misconception that this is due to a potential for allergies, but in fact it is because cow and other animal milks lack the specific nutrients a baby needs. If the child has animal or plant-based milk in place of human breastmilk or formula, they can develop a nutrient deficiency.

Breastmilk has evolved over thousands of years to provide an infant with a balanced profil...

You may have heard the advice that infants under one year of age should not have honey. This has nothing to do with sugar intake, but instead we are concerned about the possible presence of spores of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that causes the illness botulism. These spores can become active in an infant’s digestive tract and poison them with a toxin it produces.

Clostridium botulinum produces botulism toxin, which can kill even the most healthy adult. This bacteria can be found in so...

I’ve partnered with HP to create a series of printables to help you bring some science home! First up is this amazing DNA-inspired friendship bracelet craft where you can encode a secret message right into the bracelet! I created this project at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns, thinking that a lot of kids would be feeling isolated from their friends. I thought this would be a fun project to not only make, but then send to a friend who can then decode the bracelet and feel some love f...

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These leaf bats are actually one of my kid’s ideas. We use our giant magnolia tree’s leaves for crafts all year long, and her inspiration was some paper bats that we have in the house. The leaf version will only last a season but making them could become a great tradition every October.

Lea...

Spore prints are best made from fresh mushrooms found outdoors. They are a stunning way to observe and study nature. Learn how to gather, print, and preserve these delicate pieces of art.

Mushrooms are fascinating. They are pervasive in folklore and iconography, and evoke feelings that range from unnerving to adorable. I was once intimidated by mushrooms. I didn’t want to touch them and I was scared that my children would eat one. Then I moved to a property that was speckled with hundr...

Learn about simple circuits by making a light-up Rudolph card using our free printable!

Happy holidays, everyone! Ring in the season with this easy project and introduce your kids to simple circuitry while you’re at it. Once you get the hang of how to lay the circuit, challenge your child to create their own light-up card from scratch! Check out the video below for a quick overview and read-on for the full tutorial. This projects enforces the idea that a circuit needs to be complete in or...

Not that my kids need any convincing to eat bread, but here is a fun spin on a yeast bread that only requires one extra step to get a gorgeous purple-blue hue without a flavor change!

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Why make blue bread, you ask? I don’t know, why not? It’s pretty, it makes you go wow, and its a fun special activity to do with your kids.

All you have to do is replace the water in your recipe with strongly brewed butterfly pea flower tea. Butterfly pea flowers contain a large amount of the amazing class of...

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We made these magic snowflakes to get ready for Frozen 2 this week and my daughter couldn’t get enough of them! They utilize differing solubilities of markers to make it look like color is coming out of nowhere!

Materials Coffee filters Black indelible marker Washable markers (any color) Eye dropper Water Method Draw the snowflake with the black indelible marker. Color over it with the washable color markers, being careful to stay only on the black lines. Give it to your kids and have them drop water on to the snowflake to see the colors ev...

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This simple activity has become an after school staple for us ever since I saw it on @themakermum on Instagram. It’s a nice mental exercise that also includes a level of focus that is calming and almost meditative for my daughter after a crazy day at school. All you do is shape half an image made out of playdough, then have your child finish the other half. Sometimes before I pick up my daughter from school, I’ll set this up and lay a damp paper towel over the top so it doesn’t dry out befor...