Like Father Like Son: Part 3: Let there be Light

The build continues.  

Miles decided that the car needed to have lights and took duct tape and taped cups to the front of the car.  He asked Chris to help him put tape in the cups, so that they would "have light."  Chris asked if he would like to add actual flashlights to the car.  (and well of course!!)

So Chris helped him poke the holes and they put the flashlights through the cardboard and the bottom of the cups so that Miles would be able to turn them on while sitting inside the car.  

Here's one. 

Trying it out once both were installed.

Do a test drive in the dark...  They light the way!! 

Miles was able to drive through the night and this morning was fixing the holes that he put in the car with his plastic nails and screws the other day.  

Like Father Like Son: Part 2: Modifications

I think that too often we (parents and teachers) are very concerned about when a project is finished.  If I have learned one thing from living with Chris and Miles it's that a project is rarely finished.  A creative project can nearly always be tweaked or modified to make it even cooler, meaner, faster, etc. This is particularly important to remember when referring to children's creative play.  Lots of times, we clean up or other wise interrupt the play before a child is necessarily done.    When often, if materials are left with in view a child will return to a project a day, week, or even a month later.  Having open-ended materials available and accessible to children helps to spark their imagination.  Leaving those materials available and accessible helps children to extend their curiosity and creative exploration.  

Here is Miles on day 2 of  creating his cardboard box car. (This project has been completely created and designed by Miles although I have helped cut the cardboard where he directed.) To see day 1 please look here.

Today he decided that he needed both rear-view and side-view mirrors for his car.  (In the car ride home he kept talking about how he was going to use 3 mirrors, but I was having the darnedest time figuring out what he was planning on using them for.) 

He drew on the mirrors where he wanted me to cut them and then after I cut out the holes he drew he put duct tape on the inside of the cups so it would be shiny.  

Here he is doing a preliminary seat test. 

Then he decided that he needed to have easy access to the motor and asked me to cut a hole to make a hood. 

We found out when playing with the car yesterday that the wheels not only couldn't turn when they are taped on, but they fall off rather easily.  So Miles asked Daddy for a few nuts and bolts to attach them with.  (Later you can see where he put the spare one on the A pillar, just in case he had a break down.)  

He added the plastic nails and screws from his plastic tool kit.

After I thought that he was done making modifications and had stepped out of the room he decided that the car needed finders and cut the outside off the paper plate that he used for the steering wheel and taped them over the wheels.  

For finishing (maybe) touches he wanted to put in a cozy seat with a box to lean against.  

So here we are... "Finished!"  

Except that when we woke up this morning, he started adding to the decorations on the car maker and making statements about like, "I'm going to add__________ to my car after school."  

So we'll see... I'll keep you posted... I'm trying my best to allow Miles to keep the project going as long as hit little heart is content.  (We may have to move it out of the kitchen though...) 

Like Father Like Son

I have been inspired by Bellelli Educaion recently.  They have a wonderful program that brings various cardboard, wood wheels, and cardboard tubes to parks and museums and invites children to create wonderful things with them.  This had prompted me to have more boxes lying around the house for Miles to use his imagination.  Today he wanted to make one of the boxes into a car.  (Imagine that!) 

He first wanted some paper plates to create wheels for his car.  He counted out the 4 he needed for the tires and then said that he needed a fifth for the "inside wheel."  

He decided that the steering wheel should actually turn, so we used a bolt and a few nuts to make it turn.  (I helped him make the hole in the box.) 

he tightened the nuts to his liking.  

Miles then decided that his design needed doors and a windshield, so he drew on the box where he wanted me to cut. 

Time to climb in.

Shut the door.

Time to PLAY!! 

He even made his car have it's own racing number.  

What fun!!

Make it BIG!!

Chris and I had a conversation last night about how he'd read an article about child psychology that in Chris' words stated that children stomp, make loud noises, and yell, because they have an inferiority complex.  (This came to light because Miles walks/skips heavily through our historic home and the noise carries throughout.)  I hadn't thought about it that way.  And once I did, I don't think I agree.  

In my opinion there are at least a few reasons that a child will "be loud."

1. They are having fun, and doing something in a "bigger" way increases the amount of fun they are having exponentially.  (Just ask any child to sing a song where they get to scream or stomp and it will easily become a favorite.)  

2. For attention.  Children need vast amounts of attention.  They will seek attention in any way you have taught them that they will get some from you.  Weather it's if that when they sing at the top of their lungs you join in and have a full out dance party in the kitchen.  Or if the child making loud noises sets off in a negative way, they will elicit a response from you for that behavior too.   

3. Children are efficient machines and use those few bites of food they pick off their plates to create vast amounts of movement, so they are going to work it off in a BIG way. 

4. Reasons that the children create that are too many to list here.  

A thought I had is... I wonder if it makes their growing "pains" feel better.  I know that as an adult if a joint or muscle hurts applying pressure to the area tends to feel better.  Compression works for me.  I remember the growing pains I had in my legs as a teenager and just how painful they were.  Being active seemed to help.  (I think this is true of cramps caused by menstruation as well...) I digress...  But I wonder... does the BIGGER movement ease these pains that the children have so frequently?  I know Miles goes through spurts that he is more "stompy" than other times.  I have not noted weather or not this aligns with his growth spurts.  

So make it big.  (You may need to take your favorite headache relief medication or send them outside, but it'll be worth it.)   

Mary Jo Huff

We went to a story time with Mary Jo Huff last night.  Mary Jo is a wonderful story teller that encourages families and teachers to use simple props to bring stories to life.  She keeps children and families entertained with her art of story telling. She encourages children to get into the action by creating their own "peepers" decorated eye puppets.  She talked about the importance of sharing your families stories with the next generation.  Family stories are unique to each family and help to give children a place that is all their own.  A sense of belonging is important for children to acquire.  Interactions with stories and playing with words allows children to build their literacy awareness.

Plus... how precious is this?  

Playing Princesses

Often it is the case, that parents are upset when they see their little boy dress in dress up in dresses in the "House" center of the classroom.  The thought is almost that it is unnatural for men to like shiny clothing, or to want fancy dress or if they experiment with dresses while they are small that they will turn out one way or another. I'm always excited to see how the children play in the house area.  I like that they experiment with various social situations.  Small children are willing to risk it all to try out the roles they see in the world around them.  It is only in dramatic play that a child can be the mother, a postman, a fireman and the dog all in one day.  Putting on these roles allows a child to experiment with what they might like to be, how to get along with others, and learn about the type of person they want to be/are.   

Besides, who could take this delight away from a child.  

Lets go fly a kite...

Miles received a "Pocket Kite" from PeePaw for Christmas.  We took the opportunity to try it out today.  I HIGHLY recommend the pocket kite from House of Marbles.  There are no sticks to break, the string didn't get knotted up, and the tail is long and flowy.  It's wonderful you simply tie on the string and undo the tail.

We walked over to the river front and Miles was flying the kite in minutes.   It was a nice windy day.  He got to see how the currents of wind work at the levy.

All by himself! 

It really soared! 

It started raining on us after about 30 minutes, but the wind was wonderful! 

Thank you PeePaw!! 

ABC Tree Cookies

The other day I made some mini- tree cookies for Miles to play with.  He has been enjoying playing with things with letters on them, so I wrote capital letters on one side and the lowercase letter on the reverse.
Miles has been sounding out simple words and building them with magnets, Scrabble tiles, and now tree cookies.  I try to encourage, but let him do it in his own space and in his own time.  He started with the word cat and then I asked him how he would make... and then provided other rhyming words.  They have been reading Dr. Seuss books at school and talking about rhyme.  I think it has sparked his interest in making words.

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For some reason, the picture is sideways here, but on Photobucket it's vertical... Go figure.  

Bees in Trees

Sunday we went out to play in the yard and a HUGE limb (3-4 inches in diameter) had fallen off of the Oak in the front yard, so I decided to make some little tree cookies for Miles to play with at home.  (He likes the ones at school so much.)  I was about half way done when I came across some that had a nice round hole in the middle.  On the next cut...

I cut a BEE in half!! 

The one behind him seemed non to pleased to be disturbed from his nap.

And started crawling out of the end of the log.

Upon further inspection we found a hole in the side of the log that the bees had entered.  

I sat the piece of log with the bee half in and half out next to the back door to see what would happen.  The next day the log was empty of the bees.  I hope that they will be able to survive.  I know that they are an integral part of the ecosystem.  And for the selfish reasons of having the flowers in my yard pollinated.  

There will be a future post about what Miles did with the tree cookies I cut from this very branch.  

   

Snow on the Window

As we're driving to school/ work today Miles noticed that the snow was sliding down the windshield when we were at the stop sign.  (We hedged bets on which glob of snow would make it to the bottom first.)

As we took off...

Miles: Mom look! The snow is going up the windshield .

Me: Why do you think it's going up?

Miles: The wind from the car.

Me: What do you think will happen when I stop again?

Miles: It will go down.

Me: Why do you think that is?

Miles: Cause it's on a slippy slope.


 

Sometimes it's the little things that make me smile:)