Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Good, The Bad, and The Mediocre

I feel I have been remiss in keeping you up to date on my life status.  The van that died, apparently, was not too far gone to be revived.  So $800 later we are back on the road again in our dirty, banged up, but paid off mom-mobile.  We all miss the rental.  But we are happy to still not have a car payment.

Phew.  Glad that's off my chest.

Onward and upward, my friends!

As summer winds to a close and fall weather kicks in, we have been doing some more "projects" 'round these parts. 

The Good: Ice Tower Excavation


Over a period of a couple of days, I froze some crap "treasures" in a cup of water.  I did it in layers: water, treasures, freeze.  More water, treasures, freeze...you get the picture.  After they were frozen solid we got them out to play.  I gave each kid an ice tower in a big dish, a bowl of room temperature water, salt, and some other tools like eye droppers, medicine syringes, paintbrushes, spoons, etc.  Then I told them they got to try to excavate their treasures.  And they loved it!  I think they played happily with this for a whole hour with only minimal intervention from me!  There was the occasional spilled cup of water and some cold fingers, but otherwise this one was a definite win.  It takes a little planning ahead, but nothing you couldn't muster yourself, I'm positive. 

The Bad: Cornstarch, Water, and Paint Cubes


Remember those frozen paint cubes we used a few blog posts ago?  I loved them then.  In this little experiment?  Not so much.  I read on the www that it was super cool to play with goo (cornstarch + water) and the paint cubes together.  They were supposed to mix into the goo and make it beautifully bright and add a whole new level to that sensory experience.  Instead, we got this:


The kids still had fun, but mostly they just kept dumping cornstarch into the pan and then running back to the pool of water to wash off.  In fact, at one point I think they were just playing with straight up cornstarch.  These kids.  They are hard core.  It might have been better if we had done this on a cooler day.  I thought it would be good because it was a bazillion degrees out and the frozen paint would be nice and cool.  But really it just melted instantly so the effect wasn't nearly as remarkable. 

The Mediocre: Nature Collage
 

Here's how this went down: Reece found a box of treasures left over from the ice tower excavations.  He wanted to glue them on some paper.  Since some of them are game pieces I suggested we go outside on a nature walk and gather some natural treasures.  He took the bait so we went out and collected acorns, brown leaves (because the leaves haven't turned yet), sticks, rocks, and some flowers we found in the neighbor's yard (sorry.)  Then they glued them.  That's it.  But everyone was happy and I could nurse the baby in peace while they glued to their little hearts' content.  If you are super duper prepared or an overachiever, you could cut some circles from paper plates or cardstock or something and make a "fall wreath."  But I am neither of those things, so plain paper will have to suffice.  Also, I'm pretty sure Reece glued a checker on to his, so "Nature Collage" might be a stretch of a name.  

That's it, folks.  I'll be accepting enrollment for my College Prep for the Pre-K course soon.

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