Olympic Torch Sun Catchers

Wonder Girl (5) had been enthralled with the Olympics so today I decided to do an Olympic themed craft.  This is a very toddler friendly craft that my almost Kindergartener also enjoyed.  I told the girls about the tradition of the Olympic flame and the torch run then said we would be making our own Olympic Torches.  I cut out brown triangles from construction paper to represent the torch and cut many small pieces of red, yellow and orange tissue paper for the flame.  We taped a piece of Contact Paper (sticky side up) on the table and adhered the torches.  The girls then stuck the flames onto the torch.  Because we had built our torches on Contact Paper we could then simply untape them from the table, turn them over and stick them to our window. Voila instant sun catcher!  The light shining through the tissue paper really made the flames stand out and the girls loved them so much they each decided to make two additional ones!

The Elf sticking flames to her torch

The final products!

Portable Children

Before I had kids I was given the most important parenting advise I've ever heard.  It was, "Portable babies are made, not born." My husband and I have taken this to heart and made a point not to live are lives on our kids' schedules.  This has helped to form two little girls who are flexible, travel well, curious about the world, love to learn and who aren't afraid to take chances.  They have taken many naps during car rides but have never complained about the adventure!  My mother recently took a plantation tour in Georgia and overheard someone say they would never take little kids there.  My immediate reaction was, "I would!"

To break up our long car ride last week we stopped in Hyde Park, NY to visit the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kil.  Leading up to the stop we had talked about what it meant to be President and what it was like being First Lady.  We also discussed the humanitarian work Eleanor Roosevelt accomplished in her lifetime.  By the time we toured Val-Kil Wonder Girl (age 5) had many questions to ask the tour guide and it seemed like she felt very confident being a part of the tour group.  Even the Elf (age 1) seemed to be interested in what the tour guide had to say.  She eagerly leaned forward and paid close attention to all of his stories about my favorite First Lady.     

Wonder Girl at Shaker Village

Last weekend Wonder Girl and I visited Canterbury Shaker Village during our trip to New Hampshire.  On all fronts it has the potential of being a very "adult" place to visit.  It is a traditional, restored village dedicated to teaching about life as a Shaker.   You can walk through and talk with guides about what life was like there but generally it is a "look but don't touch" kind of a place.  I did some research and found out they offer "Family Tours" at 2:00 PM on Saturdays.  The Family Tour is a truncated version of their regular tour and at each stop they provide activities for children to learn about and explore life as a child would have experienced it.

On our tour we learned Shaker dances, sang songs, and dressed up in Shaker clothing.  The children then made neckerchiefs and learned about how the Shakers lived communally yet were able to keep clothing organized after washing.  We then visited the school house and wrote on slate boards as if we were learning proper penmanship.  Wonder Girl was enthralled the entire time.  She loved learning about the "Olden Days" and did not want to leave once our tour was over.  I was so encouraged to see her genuinely interested in learning and exploring another culture.  A normally high-energy child, she was very well-behaved the entire tour.   She even had the pleasure of being a, "big girl" when another child on the tour started following her and copying her every move.

I hope the variety of experiences I am committed to exposing my children to will open their eyes to the amazing world around them while allowing them to interact with and learn about ways of life they would not see in Central PA.  None of these experiences would have been possible if it wasn't for the best piece of parenting advice I was ever given, "Portable children are made, not born."  

Road Trip Round Up!

This week we are off on a family vacation which includes almost 20 hours in the car round trip so I knew I had to think up some fun entertainment for the girls.  In addition to the normal array of books and coloring apparatus I made a few activity sets.  First I made some felt boards by gluing felt onto cardstock.  I then cut out various scenes and attached some of the parts while leaving others lose for the girls to manipulate.  I made Octopus Addition, Turtle Subtraction, a Brown Bear Brown bear story board and a Goldfish Tank.  Each set was packed in its own gallon ziploc bag and they packed flat in the car so didn't take up much space. Each piece of felt cost $.29 at JoAnn's and I already had the cardstock and bags so this was a very cost effective project.

I also hit the dollar store to see what inspiration I could find.  I ended up with another packable project that was very inexpensive and effective ie. kept the five year old busy for quite some time.  I used foam shapes from the dollar store, a pack of chenille stems and some pony beads in their own small ziploc.  I put everything in another gallon ziploc and had an in-car sculpture kit.  You "sew" the chenille stems through the foam and add pony beads where wanted.  This could end up being very elaborate because different shapes can be linked together by the stems.  This project helps to build creativity and fine motor skills.   I snagged this picture as the five year old was just starting her sculpture.

What road trip entertainment have you tried?

Science Sensory Play

M & E exploring Rainbow Spaghetti

This week we had a lot of sciency fun at our house!  First we explored a tub of slippery, slimy multi-colored spaghetti.  It is very easy to make colored pasta; simply cook pasta as you usually would then grab a handful and put it in a large yogurt tub with food coloring and a tiny splash of vegetable oil and shake until evenly coated.  The girls loved the rainbow spaghetti and M kept exclaiming, "This doesn't feel like the Rainbow rice at all!"  E was very happy scooping large handfuls into the air and watching it cascade back into the tub.  I put an inexpensive shower curtain liner on the floor so as not to get it slippery too.  This also helped to visually mark off where the spaghetti was allowed to be. 

Ivory soap pre-microwave

Tonight we used describing words to explain what a bar of Ivory soap looked and felt like before being put into the microwave and after.  I asked M to draw what the soap looked like and then she and E felt it, knocked it on the table and added descriptors to M's drawing.  The pre-microwave describing words were hard, smooth and soft.  I then asked M to predict what she thought the soap would look like after it had been microwaved and to draw a picture of what she thought it would look like.  She predicted it would melt and maybe have black marks on it.  We placed the bar of soap (it has to be Ivory) in the microwave and waited for the show to begin.

Ivory soap post-microwave

At first it seems like nothing is going to happen but after about 40 seconds the soap starts to bubble and blow up like a pile of shaving cream but it still feels hard and not wet at all.  I imagine what is happening is similar to popcorn popping with a small amount of water inside heating up and causing the whole kernal to expand but I'm not really sure about this.  I left it in the microwave for a little over a minute, until it stopped expanding.  The girls then each felt it with their hands and decided to cut it using Popsicle sticks, breaking it into tiny pieces.  E was enthralled and kept breaking it smaller and smaller while M wanted to be very precise and only use the sticks to manipulate it.  I asked M to draw a picture of the soap after it had been in the microwaved and to add describing words.  Her new words included puffy and flaky.  At that point it was time for E to take a bath and get ready for bed but M asked if she could take a bath too and if she could bring in some of the "puff soap".  So we made another bar and brought it into the tub where M was thrilled to find out that it floated.  In the bath we added more descriptors including slimy and slippery.  The only draw back of having it in the bath was that we had to drain the entire tub and fish out the soap bits before the girls could rinse off but the exploration was definitely worth it.

DIY Moon Dough

The girls and their DIY Moondough

I got this idea from the blog Flights of Whimsy and thought, "It couldn't really be that easy?" but it is! You can make your own Moon Dough in about 2 minutes for very little money.  Simply mix 8 cups of white flour with 1 cup plus a little bit of baby oil.  Then mix until the consistency feels right.  I used generic aloe scented baby oil so it was a multi-sensory experience for the girls.  I worried that my one year old E would eat it but she put one dob on her tongue, realized it tasted awful and never did it again. My five year old M helped me measure and pour the flour I then divided the mixture into two big bowls and both girls mixed their own.  They then got down to the serious business of play.  E was happy mixing and squishing it with her hands but M ended up creating her own bakery using a deep cookie sheet and several cookie cutters.  We also created indoor snow people as well as sand castles. E was very excited to smash the towers and  crumble the shapes we made.

Sensory bin Take 1

I attempted to make my first sensory bin this evening.  I used Outlaw Mom's recipe for rainbow rice except I mixed the rice in a yogurt container I snagged from the recycle bin instead of using a ziploc bag.  I needed to rinse it out after each color but this was not a problem.  I involved the five year old in measuring and counting the scoops of rice but shook the yogurt container myself lest rainbow rice fly over my entire kitchen.  Since we were doing this on a rainy night I also dried the rice in the oven set to the lowest setting. I put parchment paper on cookie sheets and spread the wet rice on it before placing in the oven for 20 minutes. 

Colored rice ready for the oven

Recipe for Rainbow Rice

2 cups white rice
1 Tbls rubbing alcohol
splash of food coloring

Add all ingredients to clean 32 oz yogurt container, cover and shake until rice is evenly covered.  Spread on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake in oven set to lowest setting for 20 minutes.

Finished Sensory Bin

I used the parchment paper as a scoop and piled the rice in a large disposable tin pan.  Then I gathered various scoops, cups, tongs, funnels and measuring devices the girls can use to explore with.  I am so excited for tomorrow evening!

My Apologies

My apologies on my absence and for not posting my weekly activities calendar.  These posts stopped in November when our community was shocked by the fall-put of one man's sick actions.  In my disgust I lost a bit of my faith in our community; my faith that community is the bed rock of raising children to be honest and engaged citizens.  I put on my cynic's glasses and turned inward looking to shield my family from the constant talk and onslaught of news vans.  Though I have not been able to make sense of this scandal and have grasped at straws trying to regain my sense of balance I have found solace in my friends. The friends I have made in State College and the ones I have carried with me from else where.  Together we have all hugged our children a bit tighter, appreciated our spouses a bit more and found comfort in each other.   Thank you for being a part of my community and for restoring my faith in our greater community.  Unfortunately I have begun in earnest to write my Doctoral dissertation and will not have the time to regularly post event calendars.  I will continue to post information as I am able and will update about my family's outings.  If you hear of a "must do" in Centre County please let me know! Happy adventures!