Summer Fun Day 60 - Moon Map Cookies

The moon has continued to capture our attention this week, and I've been happy to see, even the younger children, really noticing and remarking about all the details they can see on its surface.

Morning Moon over the Mountains

I wanted to put together a project, that would take advantage of the younger children's interest, be challenging enough for the teens (including a couple of extra out-of-state friends in for a visit), and yet still simple enough to put together during the chaos of a Vacation Bible School week.

So naturally, that called for sugar cookies - especially since I had dough left over from a previous project, rolled and ready-to-go in the freezer, just waiting to be sliced up and used.

We've made moon cookies before, but this time I upped the challenge by printing out a couple of labeled moon maps (from here and here)...

...for the children to try to copy on their cookie dough using straws, and toothpicks.

 We watched Apollo 13 while the kids worked...

...and the cookies baked...

...to keep us focused on the goal.

None of the cookies turned out to be exact replicas (or even close likenesses) of the lunar surface, but a couple were close enough, that as I placed them from the pan, back onto their plates, I was able to tell where Tycho and the seas were, and which way was supposed to be "up".

If nothing else, everyone had a good time, and we all, from the youngest to the oldest, gained a better familiarity with the features of the moon, in the process.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Summer Fun Day 59 - Friendship Bracelet Necklaces

The girls picked up a great idea from their friend K, who was good enough to let us share it with you.

She loves making friendship bracelets as much as my girls, but doesn't like to clutter up her wrists with dozens of bands.

So, instead of tying them around her wrist, she ties her favorites together, end to end, into a necklace.

Not only does it keep her wrists free, but it makes the "bracelets" easier to take on and off.  That way, they don't get worn out as quickly going through the shower, or into the swimming pool.

It's one of those "that's so obvious, but I never would have thought of it " ideas.

I think it's brilliant - and K isn't even a homeschooler - go figure.

Summer Fun Day 58 - Cardboard Roller Coaster Craft

I've been working on, and off all week, putting together a cardboard roller coaster to use as the focal point for a VBS classroom.  I wanted something that would be big, exciting, slightly functional (meaning I wanted the cars to really roll around it), and made out of supplies I had on hand around the house.

I started with empty toilet paper tubes (we always seem to have an abundance of those), masking taped together to form pillars.

When I had the pillars arranged in an order I liked, I cut two inch wide strips of cardboard (I used recycled cardboard from packing material, but cereal box cardboard would work in a pinch) glued together to form a track base, that I could drape over the pillars...

...and fasten on with bread ties...

...first marking each side of where each pillar touched the underside of the track...

...then punching two holes for each side of the pillar (after reinforcing the cardboard with masking tape)...

...to match up with holes punched on each side of the tops of the pillars.

I ran a bread tie, cut in half, through the holes, and twisted it closed underneath the track.

Then, I stapled a thin (1/2 inch wide) strip of cardboard along the bottom edge, perpendicular to the pillars, to help keep them straight, or straight-ish.  I made the two straight sides of the roller coaster, then figured out how far apart I wanted them, and ran the small strip around one final toilet paper tube on each end...

...to make a curve.  Placing cardboard sheets under the strip, I could use it as a pattern to sketch out the curve for the final pieces of track base...

...which I stapled into place, and then attached to the last toilet paper tube pillars.

Once the track base was complete...

...I removed it...

...and used it as a pattern for an additional, smooth, layer of track, on which I drew rail ties for effect.

While the track was off, I stapled diagonal, cardboard strip, supports to the pillars, and painted them white.

When the paint was dry, I reattached the track base, using mugs to keep everything steady as I worked.

I glued the track on over the base, using clothes pins...

...to hold it in place while the glue dried.

I hot glued on cardboard strips for a side rail.

And finally, I crafted a few quick coaster cars out of egg carton cups, and bendy straws, with bendy straw pieces hot glued on for head rests, and ties...

...and a small, straight piece underneath, for a toothpick "axle" to run through, poking through the center of the wheels (the very bottoms of more egg carton cups), hot glued in place (see picture above).

The wheels fit a little more snugly between the rails on the track, than I would have liked - a three inch wide track probably would have made for freer movement.  But, the cars do roll...

...and the track survived a trip in the back of our truck to the church, so I'm pretty happy.

Whether or not our roller coaster will survive five days of 3rd and 4th graders, remains to be seen.  But, if it does survive, the girls have big plans for a Lego man theme park.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Summer Fun Day 57 - Taking Time to be Thankful

Although we're still a little shaken up this week by the crow attack on our mourning dove nest, we've been thanking God for the life that is all around us.  We switched the seed mix in our bird feeder, and suddenly feel like that house on the street that hands out full sized candy bars on Halloween.

Our backyard is alive with loud, messy, blithesome birds.  And, we were thankful to see our the morning dove pair returning to our feeder every morning and evening, like clockwork, even though it turns out they are not mourning doves at all, but closely related, Eurasian collared-doves, instead.

We finally got a good look at them and realized they have a colored band on the back of their necks, which mourning doves do not.  They are a little larger, and a little more grey than brown, as well.  And, to cap it off we realized, that although they do sound mournful, their cooing is not the same as their cousins at all.

However, they are still very sweet, gentle birds, and very enjoyable to watch (and eat - according to the Man of the House), and they have a fabulously fun back story, which we were thankful to discover.

Although we were not able to save the baby bird last week, D was thankful to be able to rescue a ladybug larva, that had ridden in on E's sleeve, and ended up on our kitchen floor.

It appeared to be the larva of an Asian ladybug...

...but you know...

...don't take my word for it.  As always, I was thankful this week for a good reminder of how much I still have to learn about the world.

Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way! Proverbs 19:2 NIV

Summer Fun Day 56 - Sword Fighting in the Sprinkles or Moon Madness

There's nothing like a warm summer evening for drawing us outside.  We almost never star gaze in the winter - mainly because it's too cold to be comfortable.  But, in the summer, the evenings are inviting, and perfect for star gazing...

...or moon gazing, as we've been finding ourselves doing a lot this particular summer.  The moon was quite spectacular last night, even early in the evening, before the sun had set.

And, since it is summer, we decided to let the younger children stay up late, past their bedtime, to glimpse the moon in its full nighttime glory.  The girls put on a show for us, to pass the time...

...and we were so engrossed we "forgot" to warn them about the automatic sprinklers.

There's nothing like a summer evening.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Summer Fun Day 55 - Reading Props - Crowns and Swords

While we had the tent fort up, I decided it would be a good time to pull out a care package we received recently from the fabulous kiddos (and super sweet Mom) of The Fantastic Five blog...

...they treated us to a little taste of kingdom living with four packages of inflatable battle swords (two swords per package!) and cardboard crowns...

...ready to be decorated with stick on jewels.

They were a huge hit with all three of my youngest (ages 7-10)...

...even though D is not pictured above, he spent a good deal of time decorating a princely crown, as well.

In fact, all three were quite absorbed, and spent more time working out the designs and placing sticker "jewels" on their crowns than I would have imagined for such a simple, low set-up, no mess, kind of craft - wonderful!

I wanted to have Princess Märtha Louise of Norway's Why Kings and Queens Don't Wear Crowns to go with the crowns, but it was already checked out.

I did, however, find a very sweet picture book, encouraging noble behavior befitting the kingly headgear (for those of who are not actually kings or queens)...

...and a perfect cautionary tale...

...to accompany the swords.

Thanks Fantastic Five - you made our day!