To start, I turned a few of our left-over plastic eggs into blank, weeble wobbly type guys (they wobble around but don't fall down - like their name sake), by filling the bottom of the eggs with non-drying clay...
...snapping them closed, and covering them paper mache-style in a couple of layers (first newspaper, and then white) of paper strips dipped in watered down glue, smoothing the paper out as much as possible while it was still wet.
I left them to dry (turning them over a few times) balanced on top of an egg carton.
When they were completely dry, I penciled an outline of our favorite Star Wars characters onto each wobbly egg (following the Frugal Fun for Boys patterns) for the children to use as a guide, and placed them out on the counter with a pack of permanent markers (for ease of coloring, and so the color won't come off on hands once dry)...
When I was in the grocery store checkout, buying candy corn for National Candy Corn Day (it's coming up this weekend, you know) and the woman behind me in line mentioned if you mix candy corn and peanuts together in a bowl to pop by handfuls at a time into your mouth, they taste exactly like Salted Nut Rolls, the first thing I thought was, "What a great opportunity for reviewing Venn diagrams!"
Okay, not really. What I really thought is, "Well, now I need to buy some Salted Nut Rolls."
I really love Salted Nut Rolls. If it weren't for their obscene amount of calories, they'd be my favorite snack.
But, after I mixed up a batch of candy corn and peanuts (which is not bad - in fact much better than a bowl of plain candy corn - but not exactly like Salted Nut Rolls), the children had a hard time agreeing in what ways it differed from the candy bars.
So...
...we (meaning I) traced out a quick diagram...
...so we (meaning they) could explore the ways the candy and nut treats were alike and different from the candy and nut bars.
In the end, while the ingredients of the two candies were, apart from sugar, corn syrup and artificial flavoring, significantly (or maybe that was slightly) different - and the textures and looks of the two were nothing alike...
...the taste might have been quite similar, if our candy bars, which were on the stale side (despite coming straight off the shelf) had been as fresh as our candy corn and peanuts.
For now, hoping to avoid sugar induced comas, we've tabled the discussion until next year when, if we can obtain a fresher sampling of the candy bars, we might take up the comparison again.
Science and math are all about persistence and accuracy, after all. Somebody has to take the fall, and eat the sugar.
If you're just waking up to realize today is Columbus Day, don't worry, BrainPop has you covered. Their feature (meaning free) film for the day is on Christopher Columbus, and strikes a nice balance between celebrating the accomplishments of his discoveries, and discussing the controversies of his actions.
We celebrated the day with a donuts on a string challenge for breakfast...
...which has less to do with Columbus Day (or Canadian Thanksgiving - which we'll be celebrating later in the day with a Peanuts inspired popcorn and pretzel lunch) so much as knocking another fall tradition off our leaf list.
But, here's a real world math problem for you from our morning to yours:
Given eight foot monkey bars, and children from four to six feet tall...
...what is the average length of string needed, to loop through donuts and tie to the monkey bars...
...in order to give each child a donut hanging at a challenging, but still reachable height...
...to be eaten with no hands (given that the teenagers in the group will inevitably pull the donuts off and eat them by hand after the first few attempts at a bite)?
Last year I posted YouTube links to some of our favorite Easter hymns. This year, I combined them into a single playlist. Now you can listen through without having to click for each hymn. Thanks to the individual YouTubers who originally posted all of these.
Are you looking for a few last links, crafts or activities to round out your St. Patrick's Day studies? Or, maybe you just realized it was St. Patrick's Day as you opened your blog reader this morning, and your scrambling to come up with some quick ideas. Either way, I've got a few suggestions.
Phil Vischer has a "Should Christians Celebrate St. Patrick's Day?" blog post on the What's in the Bible site, that also gives some good information on the holiday. And speaking of Phil Vischer...
...I've totally forgotten which of the VeggieTales episodes the YouTube clip above is from, but it wouldn't seem like St. Patrick's Day without it.
As for activities, here are a few that we found fun in the past:
A St. Patrick's Hide and Seek Jar, made with an empty peanut butter jar, food coloring dyed popcorn kernels, and green objects found around the house.
I called the children to the table today, and presented them with a brainstorming challenge. I told them they were the marketing department for the Cheesy Cheap Toy Company. For some strange reason sales for the company have been down. With Valentine's Day approaching the company execs were asking for the marketing department to come up with a campaign to boost sales by attaching their toys to Valentine cards.
They had a sample of Cheesy Cheap Toy's offerings (a sack full of quarter machine toys from the grocery store), and a copy of Riveting Valentine Jokes for Kids (accessed for free through our KindleUnlimeted account) for inspiration (any Valentine pun or joke book would do).
They worked together brainstorming Valentines for their finds. Admittedly, their ideas were not all that original...
...but for an off the cuff effort, they did pretty well...
...especially considering not all of the toys were easy to identify.
And, if nothing else, it gave us a chance to talk about puns and idiomatic phrases, while honing creative writing skills, and knocking of a few Valentines for family and friends, at the same time.
This morning, while contemplating all the resolutions, inspirational words, and mantras I've read from friends and strangers, for the New Year, it occurred to me the best resolution I've ever come across was written nearly two thousand years ago in a letter from the apostle Peter to people of faith, when he wrote:
...add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation, a new life, that's a gift. Fruitfulness - that's a resolution.
I was watching an episode of Gilmore Girls (now streaming on Netflix) when I came across a gem of a scene (warning for those of you who might watch it with little ears nearby - "hell" is used as a swear word in the clip) that totally inspired a pre-Thanksgiving, vocabulary study for this week.
In the clip above, a couple of non-Christian, and apparently non-church going band members are trying to work through some of the more difficult or archaic wording of a hymn they will be performing at a "gig". The show's writers picked a doozy of a hymn with "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". Not all hymns are as difficult to translate into the modern vernacular.
However, it made me realize how much SAT type vocabulary I had picked up on the Sunday mornings of my childhood, paraphrasing verses out of the King James during Sunday school, and then singing hymns during the service. Today's unchurched, or chorus singing congregations are missing out on a whole wealth of language learning, along with some beautiful opportunities to harmonize (check out the YouTube clip for "I Sing Th'Almighty Power of God" below).
I've been looking for ways to keep the children focused in on Thanksgiving, this week, and to keep us from skipping over it altogether, in a rush of Christmas planning - so a little hymn study was just what we needed.
I pulled out our old Baptize Hymnal, turned to the topical index (another good academic exercise for children) and located the six Thanksgiving themed hymns, that I pulled together for a vocabulary study below. This week, I hope to have the children:
read through each hymn, clicking on the underlined words, and then choosing the appropriate definition to fit the context (highlighting the living and evolving nature of the English language)
listen to each hymn by clicking on the YouTube links (promoting good pronunciation)
get to know the words through exercises on Quizlet.com, with lists I created there (spelling and vocabulary building)
and hopefully paraphrase one or more of the hymns in modern English (like in the clip above), or write an additional verse in the style of the original author, to perform for us on Thanksgiving Day (free holiday entertainment)
1 We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
he chastens and hastens his will to make known;
the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to his name; he forgets not his own.
2 Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning;
thou, Lord, wast at our side; all glory be thine!
1 Come, ye thankful people, come,
raise the song of harvest home;
all is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide
for our wants to be supplied;
come to God's own temple, come,
raise the song of harvest home.
2 All the world is God's own field,
fruit as praise to God we yield;
wheat and tares together sown
are to joy or sorrow grown;
first the blade and then the ear,
then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.
3 For the Lord our God shall come,
and shall take the harvest home;
from the field shall in that day
all offenses purge away,
giving angels charge at last
in the fire the tares to cast;
but the fruitful ears to store
in the garner evermore.
4 Even so, Lord, quickly come,
bring thy final harvest home;
gather thouthy people in,
free from sorrow, free from sin,
there, forever purified,
in thy presence to abide;
come, with all thine angels, come,
raise the glorious harvest home.
1 We sing the mighty power of God
that made the mountains rise,
that spread the flowing seas abroad
and built the lofty skies.
We sing the wisdom that ordained
the sun to rule the day;
the moon shines full at his command,
and all the stars obey.
2 We sing the goodness of the Lord
that filled the earth with food;
he formed the creatures with his word
and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how your wonders are displayed, where'er we turn our eyes,
if we survey the ground we tread
or gaze upon the skies.
3 There's not a plant or flower below
but makes your glories known,
and clouds arise and tempests blow
by order from your throne;
while all that borrows life from you
is ever in your care,
and everywhere that we can be,
you, God, are present there.
1 When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.
2 Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by. [Refrain]
3 When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high. [Refrain]
4 So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end. [Refrain]
What's this? A piece of toast? A pretzel stick? Popcorn? What blockhead cooked all this? - Pepperment Patty
I've been writing a lot about fading traditions this fall, as the children are getting older, and outgrowing some of our traditions. In the midst of SAT prep, drivers ed, electric guitars blaring, and part-time jobs, I have to admit I nearly forgot that today was Thanksgiving in Canada, and Columbus Day here in the States. The Man of the House checking an empty mailbox brought me back to reality, and we managed to throw together our usual Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. Thankfully it's a simple, Peanuts inspired affair.
And, not to forget our American heritage, while I was popping popcorn, and buttering toast a la Charlie Brown, I queued up a quick vintage Columbus Day cartoon for the younger children. I picked one that made a point of the fact, that Columbus was setting out to prove the world was round, so I could explain to the children, that when I was a little girl, that's what they taught us in school. We talked about how Washington Irving (who the children know from Rip Van Winkle) wrote a fictional biography of Christopher Columbus, that was taken as fact, and led, in part, to the myth that the people of Columbus' day believed the world was flat. Of course, today children are taught about the ancient Greeks, and know that all of the educated people of Europe would have known the world was round well before Columbus' journey. The ancient Greeks, or Columbus, I'm not sure it matters - we know the world is round now. But, wouldn't it be fun if it had been flat, and you could have just sailed right off the edge?
Thinking about that, we modified a game from Steve and Ruth Bennett's 365 TV-Free Activities You Can Do With Your Child, by taping a large world map down to the center of the table, and taking turns sliding milk cap Niña, Pinta, and Santa Marias off from Spain...
...to see who could send their ship as close as possible to the edge of the world....
...without falling off the map.
Isn't it peculiar, Charlie Brown, how some traditions just slowly fade away? - Lucy VanPelt.
That's as is should be. Just not today, Lucy - soon, but not today.
The hours to kill before the fireworks yesterday, gave us plenty of time to try out projects picked from our pins and bookmarks, like the star braid we found instructions for on YouTube...
...or the felt scrap pom-poms for tying to our hairbands from the Creative Jewish Mom...
...a healthy watermelon, and blueberry flag inspired by Lisa Storms (and someone more recently, who's post is buried somewhere in my pile of pins)...
Throw in a mad dash after the ice cream truck, and a backyard barbecue with friends, followed up finally by all the fireworks fun, and it was a nice afternoon.
Not quite Pinterest perfect, but pretty pleasant in a messy, real life kind of way.
I'm a homeschool mom of six. My family has been homeschooling for about seventeen years. And, each year, we've learned a little more about having fun, and spending less, while learning more. It's great to be a homeschooler!
I'm very happy to share ideas, and thoughts with you. I try to give credit to others when they inspire, or add instructions to a project, and ask that you do the same for me. You may copy ideas and pictures from this blog as long as you give credit and link back to the original post. Thanks
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