The Joy of Making
This is the introduction to my new book, Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines I was born in a little village in Sylhet, Bangladesh. Back in 1973, there was no electricity or… Read more The Joy of Making →
“About Time” Teaching Resources
The lovely people at DK have made some teaching resources to accompany “About Time” which include activities to help children think about the importance of time, practise telling the time… Read more “About Time” Teaching Resources →
Simple Sag Aloo
Shared a recipe for this on Bluesky today and made a bit of a mess of it so below is a more carefully written out one. If you like this… Read more Simple Sag Aloo →
Halloween Curry
Scroll down past the two images below for the recipe. For images of every stage in cooking, click here. A friend of mine gave me the big pumpkin in the… Read more Halloween Curry →
Reversing Fish
In my new book, How to Find a Rainbow, Reena and Rekha discover that you can only see a rainbow if the sun is shining behind you and it’s raining in front of you. This ‘reversing fish’ makes use of some of the same science that explains how rainbows form! You will need: • A clear cylindrical glass or jar of water • A piece of scrap card or paper • Something to draw with What to do: Step 1: Draw a fish on your piece of paper about a third of the… Read more Reversing Fish →
Re-appearing Rainbow
In my new book, How to Find a Rainbow, Reena and Rekha discover that you can only see a rainbow if the sun is shining behind you and it’s raining in front of you. This ‘re-appearing rainbow’ makes use of some of the same science that explains how rainbows form! You will need: • A clear plastic (polythene) bag – ‘ziploc’ or clear plastic document wallets work well. • The rainbow template you can download below • Coloured felt tips (ideally all seven colours of the rainbow) • Black permanent… Read more Re-appearing Rainbow →
(Vegan) Black Dal Makhani
My favourite dal is the Sylheti-Bangladeshi one I grew up with, and one which is usually sold in Indian restaurants as “tarka dal”. I’d never tried “dal makhani” (a traditional… Read more (Vegan) Black Dal Makhani →
Crisp-Tin Camera
I write about using pinhole cameras with my students in my book Why Don’t Things Fall Up? and include instructions for making one in the book. I also included instructions in Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder. This (rather rough and ready) video shows how to make one. See below for written instructions: You will need: 1 Pringles or similar crisp tube (wiped out and made clean) Sellotape Duct tape or aluminium (tin) foil Scissors or a bread knife 12 cm by 12 cm piece of greaseproof paper (preferably white, not… Read more Crisp-Tin Camera →
Sylheti Kissoori / Khichuri (Rice & Lentil Porridge)
“Kissoori” as people from my part of Bangladesh (Sylhet) call it, is a comfort food that I love, particularly when feeling poorly, and which proved to be an excellent first… Read more Sylheti Kissoori / Khichuri (Rice & Lentil Porridge) →
Balancing Reindeer
One of the easiest but possibly the most delightful activities in Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines is the Balancing Bird. Erich Landstrom (@ScienceGiant on Twitter) took inspiration from it and designed… Read more Balancing Reindeer →