Balloon Hovercraft

March 22, 2020Leave a comment

Balloon Hovercraft (3)

This balloon activity is a simple but neat way to demonstrate friction. Similar to an old balloon propeller experiment Travis tried, it illustrates Newton’s third law (that for every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction). So when the air from the balloon is allowed to escape, the it propels the CD forward. Consider it for a quick science class if you’re homeschooling this week!

I raided my old CD binder for the project, which had the kids immediately intrigued. This is not technology they see often anymore.

Balloon Hovercraft (1)

Hot glue a pop-top water bottle cap to the middle of the CD, making sure the seal is air-tight.

Balloon Hovercraft (2)

Fit a balloon over the bottle cap, then blow through the hole in the bottom of the CD to inflate the balloon. This definitely takes some lung power!

Balloon Hovercraft (4)

Immediately seal the pop-top. Place the balloon on a flat surface, and lift the pop-top. As the air rushes out, your balloon will go forward, which had big wow factor every time.

Balloon Hovercraft (5)

We never managed to create enough energy to have the CD actually lift and hover, but please share in the comments if you do! We did get it to zoom, though, which you can see in this quick clip:

Blueberry Pancakes

March 22, 2020April 24, 2021Leave a comment

Blueberry Pancakes (2)

These pancakes have lots of sneaky good-for-you ingredients, like rolled oats, flaxseed, and of course fresh fruit. The result is thick pancakes that take a little longer to cook than a standard recipe, but make for a hearty breakfast.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Scant 2 cups almond milk
1 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 Ener-G eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1 pint fresh blueberries

In a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and flaxseed; set aside
Pour the lemon juice into a measuring cup and add almond milk to equal 2 cups. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine the almond milk mixture in a bowl with the oats. Whisk in the Ener-G eggs and canola oil.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and fold in the blueberries.
Cook on a hot griddle for about 4 minutes, or until bubbles cover the top. Flip and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Blueberry Pancakes (1)

To be honest, the blueberries were a bit of a miss, and mostly my kids ended up with purple-stained fingers from picking them out. Next time I would use strawberries, bananas, or even chocolate chips!

To wit, slices of ripe banana were deemed delicious in our second try:

Chocolate chips were a great variation, if not quite as healthy. For this round, I stirred 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips into the batter:

Similarly, fresh strawberries made much less of a mess than the blueberries, and everyone declared the switch a big hit:

Strawberry Pancakes

Chair Maze

March 22, 2020Leave a comment

Chair Maze (7)

This game is perfect when you want your toddler to fit in some gross motor play, but can’t get to the playground. I simply set up chairs all around her playroom, and encouraged Veronika to come on over.

Chair Maze (1)

You can see her glee!

Chair Maze (2)

I thought she might need to be enticed with a “hunt” for rings from a stacking toy, but she needed no encouragement. Instead, she just scrambled on up.

Chair Maze (3)

Once on top of the chairs, she proudly swung her legs. She knew this was big brother’s chair!

Chair Maze (5)

She still needs help with climbing down safely, so this was great practice.

Chair Maze (4)

The highchair was perfect for crawling under, of course.

Chair Maze (6)

She spent a little while scrambling up and down and all around, but then I needed to give her a way to play that required less supervision. This time, we lined the chairs up in a train with stuffed animal passengers.

Chair Maze (8)

She loved making sure everyone was in their proper seat.

Chair Maze (9)

This kept her so busy that I didn’t worry about her climbing into a chair and falling off while my back was turned. A low, soft orange chair was the perfect place to cuddle up with her train companions.

Chair Maze (10)

“Hello!” she said to the big white dog in the next seat.

Chair Maze (11)

How does your toddler get exercise indoors? Please share in the comments!

Fun with Kleenex

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020Leave a comment

Kleenex Box (4)

Going stir crazy and need to occupy a toddler? Look no further than a box of tissues. Seriously, that’s it. This is what I call a “sacrificial tissue box” and sometimes it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

Kleenex Box (1)

Put the box on the ground with the first tissue sticking out, and your toddler will immediately think they’ve gone to heaven. Veronika pulled out only a couple at first, and tried to clean the floor.

Kleenex Box (2)

Then she discovered the great joy of pulling out one after another, making a big pile.

Kleenex Box (6)

Then we got silly. I put some on my head and pretended to sneeze them off, which she quickly imitated.

Kleenex Box (8)

You can also pick up big handfuls and have them drift down like “snow”.

Kleenex Box (5)

She also lifted a tissue to her face and pretended to blow her nose just like mommy. “Mommy nose!” she said.

Kleenex Box (7)

Aside from those interactive moments together, the real beauty of the tissue box is that it can occupy a toddler solo for quite some time.

Kleenex Box (3)

The game needn’t end just because the tissues are gone. Re-purpose the box by stuffing in tissue paper. For this version, I started out with the tissue paper wadded up.

Kleenex Box (9)

These were hard for her to pull out though, so we ripped each portion into smaller pieces, which she could stuff in and pull out again.

Kleenex Box (10)

Scarves would work, too!

Kleenex Box (11)

How Music Moves Us

March 21, 2020Leave a comment

Musical Mood (5)

With social/emotional learning at the forefront of my mind in our new era of social distancing, I was glad to see that Travis’s latest Raddish Kids crate included a lesson on how music effects our moods. (All of the recipes this month have musical themes: stay tuned!). Being able to connect words to emotions is key, now more than ever, and we liked the can-do focus on how music can change or improve your mood.

As he came to the table I asked him: “How are you feeling right now?” He answered that he was feeling tired, but also silly.

Musical Mood (6)

We watched a quick explanation of how music can affect the brain and mood, which had him giggling.

Musical Mood (7)

Next I played him four samples of music, choosing:

Classical
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Heavy Metal
Folk

Musical Mood (1)

For each one, he drew a simple face on the provided worksheet that showed how it made him feel. I knew he was goofing off a little, but he decided the classical made him happy, the rock ‘n’ roll made him angry, the heavy metal made him excited, and the folk made him sad. Whether or not this was all true, it was nice to give him vocabulary to think about emotions.

Musical Mood (2)

Now it was time to experiment! First we played the heavy metal, and I let him have at a piece of paper with a paintbrush and watercolors. Then we switched to the classical, to see if there was a difference. Again, it was a little harder for a kindergartner to take this activity seriously. First he just liked making big dark puddles on the paper.

Musical Mood (3)

But then I noticed during the classical he was choosing brighter colors and his brush strokes were slowing down. So perhaps the music had a subconscious effect after all!

Musical Mood (4)

Older kids can explore further, perhaps making a playlist intended to make a family member feel a certain way, or creating a soundtrack to amcertain part of their day. To test this out subtly, we played some energizing songs (i.e. Can’t Stop the Feeling) for clean-up time, and it had everyone in a great mood at a time when the kids normally feel a bit grumpy.

Sticky Feet

March 21, 2020Leave a comment

Sticky Feet (6)

This is really an update on a game we played back in January, when Veronika was almost walking but not quite. I taped a piece of contact paper to the ground in hopes of strengthening her leg muscles and held her hand as she strained to lift her feet from the sticky surface.

Now, there is no doubt about it: she’s a walker! The purpose was more to explore all the ways she could move across the sticky surface. Once again, I taped down contact paper (make sure you give your child at least 2 feet in length to explore). When she first stepped onto it, she immediately went into a crouch so her hands could feel the sticky surprise, too.

Sticky Feet (1)

We discovered that lifting up our fingers and toes made a fantastic sound!

Sticky Feet (3)

She liked to step off of it and then back on again, as if testing the difference between the sticky and non-sticky surface each time.

Sticky Feet (8)

She also was determined to walk solo across it, although needed a hand a few times to pry her feet loose.

Sticky Feet (5)

You’ll notice it intrigued big brother, too!

Sticky Feet (4)

This game truly never gets old. The older your toddler grows, the more you can encourage him or her to dance on contact paper, run on it, or jump on it. It’s a challenge that never grows stale.

Kindergarten Home School Day 5

March 20, 2020Leave a comment

Well, we made it through a full week! Here’s a recap of our Friday.

7-9: Breakfast, get dressed, free play.

9: Check-in, ELA. The read-aloud suggestion today was to read a book and then to act it out. I picked one that I knew would maximize Travis’s fun: The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds.

Travis (and baby sister!) got to play with all the toys that the naughty bunnies play with as they try not to sleep, and there was lots of tiptoeing and marching. We then connected the book to moments in his own life. We rounded out the hour with a workbook letter page (B) and 20 minutes on his Lexia program.

10-10.30: Snack/recess. With a rainy day again, some Nat Geo Kids clips kept Travis entertained.

10.30-11: Math. We played with dominoes! First we counted pips, then made shapes with the dominoes, and then lined them up in order of smallest to largest.

We also read a fun book from our personal collection, Usborne’s Count to 100.

11-12: Science. Travis’s class recently did a unit on wood, so today was a wood scavenger hunt around the house. Travis couldn’t believe how many things are made of wood, whether furniture, toys, or more.

In honor of the first day or spring, we also planted a bean sprout: Wet a handful of cotton balls, but squeeze out any excess water, then place in the bottom of a mason jar. Add two to three dried beans, placing them between the cotton and the side of the jar. We’ll water it daily and see!

Thanks to Little Passports for this suggestion.

12-1: Quiet time/free play (while baby sister naps!).

1: Over lunch, the kids watched a performance from storyteller Bill Harley I’m so touched how many musicians, authors, and other performers are providing these resources to our children.

2-3: Art: His special today would have been art, so Travis drew our family. He started out very studiously drawing himself, before it all got a bit sillier!

For social/emotional learning, we also talked about a kind deed we could do today. He chose to scatter some leftover birdseed outside for springtime birds, then drew a picture.

3-3.30: Crafts/Movement. We finished the day with silly sock puppets.

A final Go Noodle dance and a walk outside for fresh air, and our first week of home schooling was complete!

Birdseed Indoor Sandbox

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020Leave a comment

Birdseed Sandbox ($)

I was looking for a good material for an indoor sandbox this morning, and remembered we had a bulk bag of birdseed. What perfect timing for the first day of spring! For a touch of spring whimsy, I added little speckled Easter eggs, a wind-up bird toy, child-sized gardening tools, and a “flower pot”.

Birdseed Sandbox (1)

Of course Veronika might not have picked up on these details, but she sure loved coming over to explore!

Birdseed Sandbox (2)

First she tested out the birdseed with a lot of scooping and pouring, enjoying both the spade and the cup.

Birdseed Sandbox (3)

The little bird had her momentarily intrigued.

Birdseed Sandbox (5)

Then while big brother was doing his home school lessons nearby, this happened:

Birdseed Sandbox (6)

But that’s okay! The birdseed sweeps up like a dream, and she was so delighted at her own antics.

Tropical Pudding Pie Dip

March 20, 2020Leave a comment

Tropical Pudding DIp (2)

This dip has notes of tropical fruits like orange and pineapple, and it’s great for dipping chunks of fresh fruit. We love it with bananas!

Ingredients:

1 package dairy-free vanilla pudding mix (such as Dr. Oetker)
1 and 1/2 cups vanilla almond milk
1 cup non-dairy sour cream
1/3 cup orange pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

Mix all the ingredients together in a stand mixer, blending until combined.
Chill until ready to serve.

Note: This makes a fairly watery dip. If your kids prefer a thicker consistency, use less almond milk.

Tropical Pudding Dip (1)

Doll Bed

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020Leave a comment

Doll Bed (7)

Veronika adores her two soft dolls (both named “Baby”), and I find myself marveling at the way she mothers them. She loves to give them hugs, pretend to feed them, arrange them in her car seat, and more. So today I made a little bed for her to tuck them in! Doll furniture can be expensive, but all you need for a doll-sized bed is an old box, whether a shoe box or something sturdier (I used a wooden one).

We added a pillow and Veronika’s very own baby blanket from the hospital!

Doll Bed (1)