"Magic" Fold and Cut Cross

While we were watching the PBS paper folding documentary, Between The Folds, last week, I had my memory jarred by the mention of the "magic fold and cut game". It's a game where you fold a paper however you like, so long as it is flat, and make one cut through it, to reveal a shape.

I didn't realize how many different shape possibilities there were (apparently it's endless), but I did remember seeing the game, as part of a Sunday school object lesson, to go along with John 14:16. I thought the children would probably get a kick out learning it for Bible Alive! Tuesday.

First, you take a regular, 8.5'' by 11'' piece of paper, and write the verse down the middle.



Some people don't believe, that Jesus is the only way to God. They try to take the verse, and turn it upside down.


Or, ignore it completely (flip the paper over).

Sometimes, they flip and fold it, looking for another way to heaven (click here, for really clear step by step instructions for the folds).








And, sometimes people try to cut Jesus, and His words out completely.


But, (unfold the paper to reveal the shape) in the end, it all comes back to Jesus, and His sacrifice for us. If there was another way to God, Jesus wouldn't have needed to die for us. But He did, because there isn't.


And, that's all there is to it.

For more Bible themed crafts, and ideas, click on over to the Bible Alive! Tuesday link-up, hosted by The Fantastic Five.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

Combating Cabin Fever With Indoor Games

We had some fun this afternoon, with a game I found suggested in Veronika Alice Gunter's The Ultimate Indoor Game Book. With 200 in-the-house, boredom busting games, it's a great resource for warding off cabin fever.



Our game of choice today, was cup racing.

The set up was pretty simple. I poked holes in the bottom of two plastic cups, with a pencil...


...threaded a long piece of string through each cup...


...and tied the ends to a couple of chairs, placed back to back, across the room from each other.


The children blew in the cups, to make them move.


The first one to reach the opposite chair, with their cup, was the winner.


It's great to be a homeschooler.

Cereal Box Spelling Game

I've been working on ways to help the children pay better attention to the spelling of words they see all around them everyday, but don't necessarily think about how to spell - like the words on their cereal boxes.

So, this morning, when they got up for breakfast, I had a spelling game ready for them, cut from some empty boxes.

After I cut the words off of the boxes (and a few fun pictures)...


...I cut them apart...


...and marked them on the back, with numbers and symbols, so they could be easily sorted out, later.


I had them in order, as words, for the children to see when they came up for breakfast.


Then, after they had looked at them, I scrambled the individual words up, for them to unscramble...


...using not only the letters, but also the clues in the size, and colors of the letters, and how they fit together, or how they are use to seeing them on the boxes.



Once, they are completely comfortable with the spelling of the words, we can scramble all the letters, and make the old words, and some new ones.


My plan is to leave the letters, and pictures on the table, so they can play, and explore words with them, throughout the day. Then gradually change, and add new words, as more boxes are emptied.

For more writing related games, and ideas, check out this week's Writer's World link up at Giggles and Crayons.



It's great to be a homeschooler.

A Whale of a Math Lesson

Last night, we learned about different types of quadrilaterals...


...lines of symmetry...


...and things like congruent, and scalene triangles...


...all while making a pretty nifty, origami whale...


...thanks to a free, Scholastic printable (click here, to find it, and another origami math project) from Karen Baicker...

...adapted from her book, Origami Math, Grades 2-3.


It's great to be a homeschooler!

Linked with Joyful Learner's Math Monday, where you can find more math activities, and ideas for children.

The Strength of The Fold - Origami Science For Kids

I pulled a quick scientific demonstration from Michael G. LaFosse's Making Origami Science Experiments Step by Step, last night.

First, I gave the children an unfolded piece of origami paper, and ask if it could stand up on end, on its own.


It couldn't.


Then, I folded it in half. Now, it could stand. Why?



After the children briefly discussed the wider base, and balance of the two sides, I asked if our paper could hold up a book.

They didn't think so. So, I asked what if we added another piece of paper.

They still didn't think so. And, I might add, that nobody, not even my oldest, thought back to our paper cube experiment...


...so I made a mental note, that it's time to do some backtracking, and repeating.

But first, while the children were watching, I fan folded two pieces of origami paper, and used them as pillars to hold up a book.


When, I asked them what was making the thin sheets of paper so strong, G (age 11) pointed out right away, that the folds were forming partial triangles, and triangles are always the strongest shapes when building.

So, maybe we won't have to backtrack quite as far. For now, I'll click on over to Gamequarium.com with the younger children this afternoon, to review, and cement some of what we've learned, with The Magic School Bus Under Construction.

While we're doing that, be sure to check out the rest of the science experiments, and projects at the Science Sunday link-up over at Adventures in Mommydom.

It's great to be a homeschooler.

President's Day Cookies

We read the legend of Washington and The Cherry Tree today, from The Children's Book of Virtues edited by William J. Bennett.

Then, the little ones helped me bake some cherry thumbprint cookies, of a sort.

I had promised them earlier in the day, they could make a batch of cake mix cookies, so we started with that, using a cherry chip cake mix, in honor of President Washington.

E, poured in the cake mix, and counted as we removed three tablespoons. I measured out 1/3 cup of oil, and C added it to the cake mix. Their big sister cracked two eggs for them, and we all took turns mixing.


The girls rolled the dough into balls...


...punched down the centers, with their thumbs...


...and helped to spoon in a little cherry pie filling, into each thumbprint.


Then, we baked the cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 11 minutes - longer than normal for these kind of cookies, in order to cook the dough under the pie filling.


Even so, these are cookies, that need to be eaten with a fork, because the pie filling eventually soaks through the centers, making them a little messy.


In fact, I had written them off as a flop, and wasn't planning on posting about them. But, after a taste test, the children, and the Man of the House, declared them too tasty not to share. So, there you have it...


It's great to be a homeschooler.