Mini-Balloon Inflator with The Boy

Hey, did you notice the summer holidays are upon us?

I did.

Suddenly, I have this little human hanging around the house wondering what to do with himself. Where did he come from I wonder? I'm totally unprepared for the onslaught of "I'm-bored-s" and "Whatcha- wanna-do-s". Dang it.

As luck would have it, Arthamay Tewartsay (I'm not supposed to use her real name here or the name of her book so I've resorted to pig latin but you know who I mean, right?) is on her toes and way ahead of me. As usual. Just in time, she sent her newest book for The Boy and I to check out. Nice of her, eh? I had no idea she cared... I guess this means I'll have to send a thank you note or somethin'. Be all civilized and such?

So The Boy got right down to it. He found his first project in the "Experiment and Explore" section of the book. See, lately he's been less interested in crafty crafts and more inclined toward sciency-type activities. The book has several of these, thank goodness. So Arthamay's "Natural Gas Experiment" or what he called his "mini-balloon inflator" was first on the list. We collected the few supplies we needed and he was off and running. He was kept busy for 20 minutes just designing the label. Then he followed the gas-making procedure step-by-step, and it all worked like a charm. The faces he made and the running around during the whole exciting bubbly bit were just too cute! Don't you love it when things work the way they're supposed to? I do.

The book contains some 175 crafts divided into 7 big sections that include everything from character creations to science experiments to handmade games to storage solutions and more. It's true that the book includes activities we've seen before, like the vinegar and baking soda experiment above. But there are many I haven't seen too, like the soft "Beach Board Games" and the wondrous "Phenakistoscope".

What do I like about the book? Good question. Well...

1. It's a handy and portable one-stop craft and activity reference for kids. 175 different things to choose from. That's a lot of busy afternoons.
2. The internet can be a wormhole that I don't always want to send my child into. The fact that this is a physical book means that I have an alternative to the computer.
3. A good portion of the projects don't need new materials; most households have the required items. I told The Boy he had to choose a craft we had everything for in the house. With 175 choices, I wasn't worried.
4. If you have an older child, you could just send them to this book when they need something to do. The gorgeous photography, detailed parts lists, and straight-forward instructions might actually kick-start their autonomy. And that's a good thing, if you know what I mean.
5. Sometimes The Boy just likes to flip through books and dream away. I've already caught him doing just that with this book. Like most things by Arthamay, it is beautiful to look at.
6. I want to make some of these things too! So not only is this a book for kids, it is a book for kids at heart. Awwww...

So yes, pretty much a glowing review... Shocking, I know.

♥M

Tower Crane Building with The Boy

The Boy found the children's book Make It Work! Building by Andrew Haslam at our local public library last week. When we got home, he sat drooling over all the projects and loudly pointing out his favourites. After some cajoling and batting of the eyes (his - not mine), he managed to convince me that model building was probably something WE should do together. So, we rather painstakingly, narrowed down his choices to one.

Over the ensuing week, we set to building the model tower crane depicted in the book.

It was not a quick project. We spent a few hours per day over several days gathering and purchasing all the necessary bits and bobs, rummaging through my stash for things we could use, measuring and cutting all the component pieces, sanding, joining, and of course, waiting for glue to dry. A few times The Boy's interest was tested but, with a little cajoling of my own, we got it done.

In a few instances, we strayed from the plans. For example, instead of creating joints using the suggested hot glue gun (which I happily avoid anyways), we created them using carpenter's glue and little triangles of newsprint. And instead of making the boom in two large pieces and then glueing these two pieces together as shown in the book, we made one large boom all at once. We did the same for the tower.

I was also happy to find a use for a few odds and ends from my recyclable stash too. You know those little plastic hooks that come with store-bought socks? I've saved a veritable heap of them! It was nice to finally use a couple of them in this project. Also, the side of a small mandarin orange crate came in handy; we used one to make the two wooden platforms on the vertical tower.

In truth, our tower crane is not quite done. There are still a couple minor kinks to work out. We'd like to tweak the chain winding mechanism; it could run a little more smoothly we think. And the horizontal boom could use a small platform to rest on for additional stability. But otherwise it's pretty darn nifty.

I'm now thinking I'd like to build myself a model of a bridge... No, not for The Boy! For ME!! Doesn't that sound like heaps of fun?

♥M

Pebbles and Pinecones: A Family Game

The Boy and I went out for our walk yesterday. We decided we needed to gather all the pretty nature things we found along our way: sticks, rocks, grass heads, and the like. We made quite a lovely (and extensive) collection actually. When we came home again, we had no idea what we were going to do with it all.

And then, magically, a game presented itself to us. We call it: "Pebbles & Pinecones". It goes something like this:

How to play Pebbles & Pinecones:

Once you've gathered together all the natural elements, you will now need to draw a shape in the sidewalk with chalk. We drew an 18" (45 cm) circle using a large platter as our template but you could also draw a square, a triangle, a soft-bellied amoeba, whatever! The game can be played by one, two, or many. If many are playing, make the shape bigger. If you're playing by yourself then you may decide to make it smaller.

Arrange all your nature things in piles around the shape. Decide who goes first.

Step 1: Player 1 chooses one type of object, say sticks, and arranges the sticks however she likes within the shape.

Note: No player is allowed to interfere with another player's turn, or criticize another player's design choices.

Step 2: Player 2 chooses one type of object, say grassheads, and arranges them however he likes within the shape.
Step 3: Player 3 (and so on and so forth) continues in this way, adding one type of element to the design, until the design is complete to everyone's satisfaction. Stand back and admire the team effort!
Step 4: Photograph the finished design.
Step 5: Play again if you like.
Step 6: Repeat steps 1 to 5. Make a collage of all the finished design photos and add it to your photo album.

The great thing about this game is that it can be played anywhere, with any objects and with anyone. AND everyone wins! Play it at home with Mom, camping with Grandpa and Grandma, on a picnic with friends, at the beach with your sisters, indoors or out. The Boy lasted well over an hour (not including the initial hunt) and in that time we made at least 10 designs. All in all our game was a rousing success!

Here are a few of our completed designs:

Naturally pretty, wouldn't you say?

Have fun playing "Pebbles & Pinecones" yourself!

♥M