Posts Tagged ‘fun’
Got Candy? (Part 1)
Many of us probably have a stash of candy right about now. Whether it’s from trick-or-treating, a harvest party, or well intending grandparents, we have it…and we need to find something constructive to do with it.
Have you considered Candy School?
Jocelyn posted a link on the Homeschool Share Message boards that got me thinking. If you can use candy for science, why can’t you use it for the other subjects, too?
So, the wheels kept turning; I thought up a few ideas and made a few printables. When I told Elijah we would do candy school for two days, his mouth dropped and his eyes bugged. I think he was sold.
I filled up six workboxes this morning with some candy related fun. Here’s what Elijah found in his boxes.
Box #1
fairy tale book & instructions to read Hansel and Gretel
Box #2
candy graph & candy
Box #3
"If Peas Could Taste Like Candy" poem for copywork. I left one stanza out (the third) because I couldn’t fit all four on the page. Elijah couldn’t stop laughing while copying this one.
Box #4
Hershey Fraction book & a Hershey bar
Boxes #5-#6
candy science experiments
We did these two experiments:
1. Acid Test
2. Sink or Float
After school was over, I let Elijah hang out at Wonka Land– creative fun just waiting to happen.
Tomorrow, I will post Candy School Part 2 along with some additional ideas for you. Here is a little list of books you could include, if you want. I haven’t read them all, so please preview before using.
Books to Read
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Shelia Rae’s Peppermint Stick by Kevin Henkes
Candy Factory Mystery (Boxcar Children)
Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Fall Fun Days
Regular school takes a back seat this week to make room for fall fun!
I stole our first few fall fun ideas from Nature Detectives.
Make Like a Squirrel & Gather Nuts
We found an oak tree and the boys grabbed up dozens of acorns. I told them to hide them like squirrels do. We then went on a walk through the park. Once we were far away from the hiding place, I asked the boys if they could find the acorns. They did!
Leaf Crowns
While on our stroll through the wooded park, the boys collected leaves. I made bands for each of them out of white poster board before we left home, and I took my stapler on our journey. As they found leaves they loved, I stapled them to their bands. By the time we returned home, each boy had a nice crown of leaves.
Fall Funny Faces
I found this idea last year. We had so much fun that we decided it should be a repeat. I guess it’s a tradition in the making!
We took a bag with us to the park and we collected all sorts of fall nature: berries, pine needles, pine cones, leaves, bark, stones, nuts, etc. When we returned home, we drew some circles with chalk on the sidewalk and made our faces.
Salt Dough Leaf Prints
This idea came from That Artist Woman; please visit her blog for complete instructions. We made the dough & prints on one day. We painted, washed, and sealed them the next.
A few tips from me to you for this project- don’t buy cheapy cheap thin leaves like I did (.30 a bunch at Family Dollar); they don’t work super well. I painted some of the outlines of the leaves for Elijah so he wouldn’t be so frustrated (because they were so hard to see). Don’t use matte finish Modge Podge. Don’t be afraid to let your preschooler do the brown wash or the Modge Podge part; they can’t mess up!
Simon helped me mix up the salt dough.
kneading and rolling
making the prints
painting with fall colors and a brown wash
Simon painted his ALL orange. Once we got the brown wash on it, it looked fine (the veins popped out). I hope to add some magnets to the backs and let them don the front of the fridge.
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies
It’s not really fall unless the oven is baking a treat, is it?
We made the dough on one day. We made the frosting, baked them, and decorated them the next day.
Play-doh Cookies!
Some Friday Fun! In Elijah’s first box today, he found a recipe to make…
Time for Fun!
We are starting our fourth workbox week, and I am still extremely satisfied with the entire system! One big bonus that I’ve already mentioned is that we have more time for fun.
I picked up a book about clay at that last library sale. It has been handy. The first few pages taught Elijah how to make the basic shapes. I had him work on those pages a few times (a la workboxes), and today I told him to pick a snake or bug to make from the next few pages.
He worked on this project for a very long time with great concentration.
finished work-
I see Sculpey Clay in my future. I hope I can find a big fat pack at convention to buy for him.
Elijah has always been attracted to 3-D art. He was so thrilled when he finished that I pulled out some of Simon’s Usborne books that are illustrated with clay creations. He was so happy to see this as a real medium. How fun!
Thank you workboxes. I would’ve never had "time" for this in our regular school day before!
Toys and Workboxes
One thing about workboxes- I’m tempted to rush out (or off to Amazon) and buy lots of fun new things now that we have time for them. But, there is really no need to do this. As I look around my home, I am finding all kinds of things I already have that can be used for school!
Yesterday, I filled one workbox with some hard plastic animals. Yes, I put TOYS from the boys’ room in a workbox for Elijah. I added a handy-dandy Animal Classification Graph, and voila! – a fun, hands-on, educational (science and math) workbox. If you don’t have plastic animals, you could always use photos of animals.
I went easy on Elijah for the first time. Ever since we rowed The Salamander Room, he has had the basic five classifications down pat. I wanted him to be comfortable with making the graph more than anything. I told him the next graph may require some animal research (which he loves).
Here he is hard at work on this box today.
I look forward to using this idea in the future. I will try to post all the graphs I make in one post (coming soon).
Happy Workboxing!
Sidewalk Chalk Stars
We have tried the new Crayola 3-D Sidewalk Chalk…and all we have to say is, "Groovy!"
Desert Sunset Sand Painting
We had another desert-y co-op yesterday based around the book, The Gullywasher.
Here are my basic instructions for this crafty project.
Supplies Needed
~Cardstock or Construction Paper glued to card. We used brown construction paper.
~Different colors of sand; I purchased a very large multi-pack at Hobby Lobby for about $6 (I had a 40% off coupon!)
~Salt Shakers filled with the different colors of sand.
~Glue thinned a bit with water
~Paintbrushes (a variety of sizes)
~Cactus Pattern, if desired
~Pencils (if you are using a light background) or white crayons (if you are using a dark background)
The very first thing we did was look at pictures of various desert sunsets.
1. Decide if you want to use your paper veritically or horizontally (portrait or landscape).
2. Draw a horizon line.
3. Add a sun or draw another line across the paper for a yellow strip of sun.
4. Add cactus plants. Some students wanted to use templates; others wanted to draw their own.
5. Draw more lines across the page to represent other strips of color for the sunset.
6. Paint some thinned glue on the bottom of the desert. Sprinkle brown sand on it. Shake off excess.
7. Paint some glue on the sun and sprinkle yellow or orange sand on it. Shake off excess.
8. Glue and sprinkle sand to the cacti. Shake off excess.
9. Finish layers of sky with colors of sand.
Elijah’s finished picture at home on the clipboard (on the wall)
Helpful Links
Cactus cut-outs from Martha Stewart
Cactus pattern from Preschool Express (scroll down)
Desert Sunset Pictures
Sonoran Desert Picture
Desert Sunset
Arizona Sunset
Roxaboxen Day 2
Today, in typical FIAR style, we read Roxaboxen again and did a lesson on desert glass. The lesson also introduces other kinds of rocks and gems, so I brought out a bit of excitement that I’ve had tucked away for many months…a crystal mining kit!
Simon has the chart ready so that he can I.D. the crystals (just kidding!).
Elijah starts his geology work.
Working hard!
Simon washes the crystal off once Elijah has it uncovered.
Simon inspects with a magnifying glass.
The complete collection
We also made one of the recipes in the FIAR Volume IV manual….
DESERT GLASS CANDY! What a HIT!
Elijah enjoyed smashing the "glass"
Yes, it’s really edible!
And just in case anyone thinks I’m supermom, let me give you the behind-the-scenes…
Today started off so horrible that I was ready to ditch unit studies forever and sit a huge stack of workbooks in front of my firstborn for the rest of the year.
Then…much crying when the crystal kit was revealed. Simon felt so left out, but we solved that when we gave him the rock-washing job.
Next…the first batch of desert glass candy burned. Uggg….so, we did it all…AGAIN. As a side note…if you decide to make the candy…don’t make two colors. Also, we coated it with powdered sugar so that it wouldn’t be one big sticky pile of glass.
In the end the day was redeemed. We ended up with a happy ending, and I am still very thankful to be homeschooling my kids. 
Pat-a-Cake Scones
Simon and I made some pat-a-cake scones for tea-time yesterday! They are easy and fun and yummy!
Pat-a-Cake Scones
1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
colored sugar
Preheat oven to 375
Combine flour and sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add cream. Stir till mixed well. Coat hands with flour. Knead a few times. Start singing Pat-a-Cake. (We sang it a few times!) Pat out flat. Cut into triangle or circle shapes. Sprinkle colored sugar on top. Bake 18 min. or until golden.
