Turning a "Whole Hand"- A Medieval Birthday

I will admit that I had a ball putting together Miles 5th birthday party.  It was a lot of fun.  My hope is that the memory will last a life time.  I am thankful for Pinterest which allowed me to gather a barrage of ideas.  You can find my Medieval Birthday Board HERE to see the many ideas that I found.  We did a lot of dragon related activities, because Miles enjoys dragons.  We invited the children to dress up in medieval themed costumes and I had a basket of things that kiddos could borrow if they didn't come suited.  The theme worked out beautifully since it was a boy/ girl party.  I made Miles and Chris Knight tunics and myself a dress for the event.

It was super simple, I sewed it with the Surger in under an hour.  (I do wish that I had used gold thread, so it looked like it was trimmed in gold.)  

So here is what we did.

I made crowns for all of the children as favors and decorated with books from the library.

This is the cake I made the directions are on the Pinterest Link above.

The children had Sward Fighting practice.  The balloons in the trees were the enemy knights to fight.  We made the swords out of half of a pool noodle with duct tape for the hilt.

I had pre- cut out shields and made duct tape loops on the back that could be used to hold them.  The children decorate their own shields.  

I asked people to pose with the cardboard flames with the intention of printing these out for the thank you's instead I used boring store bought ones.  But at least the pictures are cool.  

The children played "Pin the Fire on the Dragon"

They "Sleighed" the dragon pinata.  

The children went on a dragon hunt to find their very own pet dragon.

The children had to "save the damsel in distress" by going across the bridge, jump the river, crawl through the dark cave, and then run around the tree three times to go through the dark forest to then save the damsel (Barbie) under the laundry basket.  

We fed the kiddos Rosted Hog (Hot Dogs), Swords (Carrot sticks), and Dragon Scales (Doritos).  Then we had the dragon cake.  

Rather than having favor bags the children created their favors along the way and left that day with a sword, shield, pet dragon, and crown.  I have been told by some of the parents that these props have sparked play experiences as home since the party which was exactly my hope.  A memory to last a lifetime.  

Things Not Discussed at Grandma's Dining Room Table

Today my brother blogged about perception and how everyone's view of a situation (even if they were present for the same event) is different.

This got me thinking about just how many conversations we as adults have that are about politics and religion.  It seems to me that now more than another time in my very short history people are willing and often make the icebreaker in a social situation something about their religious or political views.  I think that one of the things that is hardest for me as an adult interacting in society.

My mom is one of 8.  Grandma had a strict no politics or religion at the dinner table rule.  I think that this was to avoid annoying arguments among her children who have varying viewpoints.  (At least at the dinner table.)  And as a child that was the time that children did most off their interacting with the adults was when we paused from play to eat.  Otherwise, we were expected to be outside playing.  This has lead me to have the personal perception that a persons view on religion and politics are a private matter.  Not that you don't discuss them.... Just among close friends and family.  And "NOT AT THE DINNER TABLE!" to quote Grandma.  

I am surprised at people's willingness to put their views out on the internet (She says as she's doing that vary thing.)  It seems that the perception is, that if someone has put a viewpoint out about an issue that a particular political party holds that they are expected to like everything that that party does or every vote that that party sides with.  When I doubt this is true for anyone.  I remember that on election day when I was in high school, but not yet old enough to vote, I asked my mom who she voted for.  I remember her telling me that it was not my business.  That I needed to make my own decisions about each race and candidate.  

She had a very similar view of religion.  She encouraged my brother and I to attend a variety of churches so we could grow to make informed decisions about what we believe and live our lives accordingly.

After I've had a child of my own and had graduated from college, I know that I've had far more discussions about politics and religion as a family and certainly with my group of friends (some of the best around campfires).

But NEVER at the dinner table.

"A pulley is a machine."

I will be the first to admit that I allow my child to watch too much T.V.  I know intrinsically that watching television isn't good for him, but he doesn't really sit and watch T.V.  It's more like he plays in the same room with the television on.  (especially since I grew up practically Amish.)  I feel a little less bad about it when he comes up to me and says things like "The band-aid on a worm is closest to its mouth." or "A pulley is a machine."  He uses the things that he learns about animals, machines, and the world around him to dictate his play and thus learning experiences.

After telling me that a pulley is a machine, Miles told me that it helps lift heavy things.  I remembered that we has bought a few pulleys for a project that never made it into fruition, so I went on a hunt and was able to find them with much more ease than I thought.  I also gathered zip ties, different colored yarn and 2 buckets. ( I couldn't find any string.)

I attached one pulley to the rail on Miles playhouse with a zip tie.  Then Miles and I threaded yarn through the pulley and attached a bucket to the bottom.  we first experimented with one person having the tail end on the ground and pulling toys up to the person on top, but then decided to tie the yarn on one of the floorboards of the playhouse so that it wouldn't fall back through and Miles could put things in the bucket and then lift them up into the playhouse.

After we had played with the pulley attached to the side of the playhouse (red bucket), we decided that it would be fun to be able to send things from the porch to the playhouse and back again.  So I attached the pulley to the top of the porch rail and then strung yellow yarn round the two with the white bucket attached to the yarn.  The yarn stretched out quite a bit and we ended up having to take the slack out a few times.  

I then decided (while I was at the everything's a dollar store to get a dollar's worth of clothing line.) I restrung the pulley and we were able to have a much more secure non-saggy pulley.  

Miles really has enjoyed the pulleys.  I even sent a little snack over in the bucket for him to picnic in the playhouse.  In reflecting on this experience (as well as other experiences Miles and I have had together), they are often sparked by something that he has seen through some sort of media.  Not that he wouldn't have had experiences using a pulley at some time in his life, but would he have had that experience if he hadn't seen something about pulley's on T.V.  I'm always torn about the amount of screen time Miles is exposed to, but when it leads to a rich experience I'm glad that he has these kinds of opportunities.  

An Ode to Tractor Paint

I have a confession to make.  I always park in the same row when I go to big box stores, the grocery store, or the mall.  (Not that I'm much of a shopper, but I ALWAYS park in the same row.  Some people may think this is kinda kooky or OCD or something, but that's the "way I roll.")

sea of cars 

So "Why?" you ask.  Because then I can find my car.  I am always lost in a sea of cars that are beige (and now silver since that's the new beige) and all cars look practically the same.  I have a theory.  If you took the badges off the same type of car from the same year, unless you're a "car guy," you'd never be able to tell the difference.

The solution to this, I think, is tractor paint.  If you have a ding that you need to cover up get creative... Don't spend $4.99 on a tinny little paint pen to fix a scratch or ding.  Take inspiration from the Frog Follies and be creative.  Get a whole gallon of tractor paint for just a little more than a tiny paint pen and add flames, a racing stripe, or a big monkey.  You will NEVER loose your car in the parking lot again.

So why tractor paint?

1. It's inexpensive.  ($20/gallon at the Rural King.) 
2. It goes on smoothly with a Harbor Freight paint gun.
3. It comes in a multitude of colors that when mixed could be any color you could possibly dream up.  

Since Chris and I have been married, we have painted.... 6 different cars.  Some of them the stock color, some of them not. Some of them professional jobs, some of them rattle can jobs in the back yard.  (We have never used a roller on a car.  Leave that for the walls!) Most of the time it has been to fix a "slight imperfection" such as the paint peeling up from the car catching on fire.  The most recent car we painted is Chris' race car, so we were creative...

And I venture to say... Even I couldn't loose this car in the "Big Box Store" parking lot.

Making Prints with Textured Balls

A while back Chris and I attended a friends' wedding in New Harmony, Indiana.  Its a cute little town with some great local history.  They also are one of the founding towns for early childhood education in the United States, but that's a post for another day.

We were walking around the town between the service and reception and popped into the local art gallery.  There was an artist that had created balls of various sizes out of clay and attached 3D patterns to the outside.  The artist had rolled them in sand to show the patterns that they made.  It was an interactive exhibit that allowed observers to make some prints with some of the smaller pieces.  (I will need to call about who the artist is.  I forgot to write down the name.)

I immediately thought that this would be wonderful to have for an early childhood classroom for the sand table, clay, or with paint/ink.

Imagine my delight when I came across these balls in the dollar section at Target today.  I picked up one of each.  As I often do, I tried the experiment with Miles before taking them to work.

These particular balls light up.  Miles was a bit more excited about them lighting up than about the patterns, but I think the kids would get a kick out of using them in various media.  This activity promotes strengthening of fine motor movements.

We also tried rolling them around in corn meal and then compared the 2 methods and the patterns that were made.  I think that this activity could be a lot of fun to do with a lesson that includes talking about animal prints.

Magic Shiny Pennies

I used my master's degree today!! One of the classes that I took was a wonderful science class that allowed us to learn about science concepts hands on with objects around the house that a teacher can afford.

Miles was told by Chris that he could have all the pennies that he would take out of the floorboard of the new race car.  (There were roughly 100.)  He spent about 5 minutes picking up some and putting them in a jar.  Then he said the others were too dirty.  I convinced him that I knew a "magic" way to make pennies shiny once again.

Today's experiment takes salt, vinegar, and pennies.

First: Lay out the pennies on a cookie sheet to keep the mess contianed.

Second: Sprinkle the pennies liberally with salt.

Third: Squirt the salt covered pennies with the vinegar to remove the tarnish.

Fourth: We used a colander to rinse the pennies off and patted them dry with a cloth.

Here are some pennies before and after the "Magic" transformation.

I think it's important from time to time to discover the "Magic" in the world around us.  

Cars: Making a Series of Art Pieces

When I picked up Miles the other day, he was very excited to show me this collection of drawings.  We had seen some art on display that a single artist had created.  Miles noticed that they were very similar and we discussed that artists often create a collection of works of art in a particular style.

He was very proud that he had created a car collection of drawings based on his Cars characters. 

Mater is my favorite.  I love how even in his simple drawings Miles has captured the whimseyness of Mater's character. 

This one is Sarge.  ( I couldn't find Sarge to picture.) I love the simplisity of his collection.  He has definatly started to have a certin style to his drawings.  I am fasinated how each child can have this independant look to thier creations even if they are creating stick figures. 

Wood Glue: Doing it "Right"

There are lots of little skills that I think are important for kids to have a basic understanding.  I know that lots of people think that gluing is a skill that young children need to learn.  And as my memory serves from my own childhood and from watching my co-workers teach children about gluing, I find that we (adults) are hung up in the procedure of gluing.  In early childhood education, we are pretty good at allowing children to explore open ended art when it comes to paint, but put restrictions on glue.  Teachers are often leery of allowing children to experiment with as much glue as they would like to.  

I tried to let go on this one and allowed Miles to use as much as he'd like.  (I must admit that this is easier if you know the child well and the glue bottle only is 1/4 full.) 

The other day, Chris had some scraps of wood left over from fixing up the deck.  Miles has been very intrigued with the sculptures along the river front, so I asked if he'd like to create a wood sculpture with the scraps.  We discussed how wood glue works and then you need to wet the surfaces that you are gluing together, so that as the wood dries the glue is pulled into the pores of the wood.  

After he glued it together, we let it sit to dry over night.  We sat it on waxed paper so it wouldn't glue to the table.  The waxed paper didn't peel off quite like I had hoped, but you live and learn.  

The next morning he painted it.  

I don't think that using wood glue is a skill that every child must have.  I do think that it was great for Miles to see that there are different procedures that go with various types of materials.  Reading and learning and reading about how materials should be used is important for success of use.  

Foiled Play

Miles saved up enough money to buy a toy monster truck that he'd been wanting and so we took his piggy bank with us when we went to the farm store (Yes... the farm store.  I once heard a co-worker quote her grandmother, "If Rural King ain't got it, you don't need it." It's true for all intents and purposes.) for some other items that we were picking up.  This one came with a little plastic fold-able car that could be smooched when the monster truck goes over it.  Miles was very excited by this, but of course the set only came with one such car.  Chris told Miles that, "Back in my day... we smoothed foil over matchbox cars to make cars to smooch with monster trucks."  I suggested that Chris show him all the ins and outs of creating your own smash-able cars for monster truck play.

He're how it's done.

Cut a piece of Aluminum foil large enough to cover a matchbox car (or truck). Smooth it over the top and sides of your vehicle.

Once you've smoothed the foil into all the little crevices, you can add details with permanent markers.

Play Monster Truck Jam!! until your heart's content.

Chris and Miles kept giving the foil cars shape and smashing them over and over.  By the end, the foil "cars" had a very realistic look of a car at the end of a monster truck rally.  

Some times the simplest ideas are the most fun.  Hours of fun for just pennies.

Galoshes

Galoshes are the one piece of foot wear that up to this point in his life that Miles has truly worn out.  He has gotten a ton of use out of them.  Part of it is that they slip on so nicely.  I don't care if he gets them muddy.  

Or wants to make the biggest splashes in the puddles that form by our house. 

Or experiment with techniques necessary to make the best ripples.  

Of course when he sits in the puddle it doesn't really matter what kind of shoe he has on his feet, the water will make a puddle nearly as big as the one in the yard as he takes them off in the kitchen.  

Shoes that allow and encourage outdoor imaginative play are my favorite.  I think that every child should have a pair of galoshes.  (They're cheep at the Rural King.)  Miles is on his third pair and they all get a ton of use.  

Still Life : Train

The other day Miles wanted to draw a train, so we had a little lesson in looking at the shapes to create drawings.  He asked how to draw a train, and so I put together his little wooded train on the table and we looked at the shapes that make up a train.  Then we began drawing.

He started with the engine using rectangles and circles.  He referred back to his toy train to get the details correct.

After he drew the train we talked about where the train was, so he drew the train on a track on a bridge that is up on tresses.  

He added further details to the picture by added a few skyscrapers to the picture.  

Here is the finished product.  

Chugga chugga Choo Choo!!!