Sibling Unifier: Peanut Butter Play dough
Lest you think things are always sunshine and roses here at the Kessler house… here’s a little secret: many of things fun activities I pull out are desperate attempts to stop. the. fighting. You know… those times when a diversion is needed more than discipline because he truth is that everyone is wrong, everyone is crabby, and everyone is causing the problem… not just him or her! This diversion worked amazingly well, and I will definitely pull it out again when I need 45 minutes to myself {and I’m heading out the door so someone else can clean up the mess… you’ve been warned…}. You’ll...
Newton’s Third Law {and Some Water Fun!}
Trevor and I worked on this project when I wrote A Project Guide to Forces and Motion for Mitchell Lane Publishers. Since the days are warming up, and you may be ready for some outdoor water play, I thought I’d share it with you. {Though it would make a fun bath toy, too!} Balloon boats are fun, use up some common recyclables around the house and serve as an excellent example of Newton’s Third Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. You blow the balloon up, then release it. Air escapes and pushes back against the balloon. The balloon pushes against the air. The...
Preschool Science: Water Beads
Science with toddlers and preschoolers is as simple as encouraging observations and discussions. They are naturally curious about their world, and truly are little scientists… they wonder, they question, they test, and question again. Capitalize on that by providing lots of materials and experiences about which to wonder. These water beads provide endless opportunities for discovery… Water beads are simply hard polymer balls that grow several sizes when soaked in water overnight. I got mine in a set of science experiments one year, but found these on Amazon. You can find them in some...
Book Bites: Making a Ghost Cake
A few weeks ago we celebrated the birthday of a special friend and author, Eric Van Raepenbusch. His Three Ghost Friends series are super-cute stories available for download from iTunes. Our cake was inspired by his first book, Three Ghost Friends Learn About Colors. While the cake looks really impressive, and will wow your guests at a Halloween or spook-themed party, it is REALLY easy to make. First, you need to read the book with your kids, though! Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the kids fighting over the iPod reading the eBook. Here’s a screenshot: So, the idea is that...
DIY Light Table… for under 20 Bucks!
Have you seen kids play with light tables in classrooms, museums, or art centers? There’s just something about the way light shines through different objects – or doesn’t – that’s fascinating to little ones. I hadn’t really thought about how great light play was, or how much kids love it, until I started seeing all sorts of light table sensory play ideas on Pinterest. If you search Amazon.com or anywhere else on the web for light tables, you’ll see that they’re a bit cost-prohibitive for a budget-wise homeschool mom. That little one pictured above runs over $350 on Amazon.com....
Hands-On Learning {and Fun}: Spiders
I had the, ummm… pleasure, of meeting one of these… …in the basement the other night as I finished up some work {really. really. late.} and nobody was around to save my family from being murdered in their sleep by snapping fangs and hairy legs, so I had to take care of it. And I did… I trapped it under a very large bowl {I wasn’t sure if the mason jar I first picked up wouldn’t have just been thrown back at me in the monster’s anger and frustration}, and then I stacked two big gardening books on top of the bowl… and then went to get three more, you know – just in case, and left a...
Book Review: Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners
I was really excited to receive Cindy West’s new book, Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners from Prufrock Press to review. I’m in the trenches homeschooling gifted kiddos, and while it’s a lot of fun… it can be a challenge. Cindy’s new book was such a blessing! As I read through it, I found myself nodding, dog-earing (gasp!) pages to come back to or share with Brian, and feeling like someone was finally able to relate to my day-to-day homeschool. I was especially excited when I found a sub-head that read, “You Like the Content of the Science Curriculum, But Your Child Wants to Take...
Moments to Remember: Leprechaun Mischief and Traps
The weeks leading up to St. Patrick’s Day are always a little chaotic. For years, we’ve been bothered by a mischievous leprechaun (he used to mess around in my classroom, too… the pest)! We’ve found toys scattered, drawers open and emptied, furniture turned upside down, and marker scribbled across our whiteboard and mirrors. For the most part, the kids are good about cleaning up… but today’s mess had them ready to put an end to it once and for all! They were sick of this: And of all the other messes they had to clean up… so they decided to fight back by building leprechaun...
Hands-On Fun: {Underwater} Volcanoes
If you’re ever looking for something to do that’s inexpensive—and a BLAST for kids of all ages—a baking soda and vinegar volcano is an old standby for a reason. Simple ingredients… bubbling reactions… predictable results… We always have simple science supplies around here, partly because I write about science and create experiments and activities for the books I write, and partly because we all love getting our hands messy as we discover new truths about our world. So, on a particularly rough day recently… you know, one of those days where nothing was working (ever have one of those?)…...
Yummy Math: Serving Up Breakfast Lessons
Aren’t those pancakes beautiful? Believe it or not… Trevor made them himself! I’ve seen recipes for corn & wheat pancakes on several different websites and wanted to try them out, and Trevor wanted to do some “unconventional” math, so we put our heads together and came up with this yummy breakfast last week. (I think it’ll be a weekly staple, though… they were that good!)The first thing we did was convert some fractions and make some ingredient substitutions. I’m attending some conventions next month, and am trying to stock the freezer with some good food, so I wanted Trevor to double...