Category: 6-Year-Old

Science of Air Kiwi Crate

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Kiwi Air (10)

Travis latest crate from Kiwi Co. focused on the science of air, using a game of homemade air hockey to illustrate that air has matter, weight, can push things around, and more. This kit earns high marks for both the Science and Art components of the STEAM acronym.

First, we made the various parts of Balloon-Powered Air Hockey. The mallets are a simple matter of attaching felt to the bottom of provided cardboard circles, with a foam donut on top as the handle.

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The puck was a touch complicated to rig together, with a balloon stretched over a tube on top of a smooth clear disk. There is a hole to insert the provided air pump and inflate the balloon. Travis loved doing this and wanted to practice over and over, before we even set it down on a table.

Once on a table, the air is released from the balloon, which then propels the disk forward.

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To make Spray-Art Scoreboards, we again needed to use the crate’s air pump. Now, it attaches to the lid of the Kiwi Crate (or any shoebox) with a sticky foam piece. Attach a provided ink marker just below where the air will come out.

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We then affixed number stencils to the paper on the provided scorecard pads. When you squeeze the air pump (hard!), it blows on the marker so forcefully that ink sprays down onto the paper around the stencil.

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This had definite wow factor. You do need to pump the air quite hard, so some grown-up assistance was required. Repeat until you’ve covered all the scorecards, then remove the number stencils.

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Now it was time play! We rigged our regular table into an air hickey table which form the alleyways on either side that will stop the puck from flying off sideways.

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Pump up the balloon and play!

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I do have a few small quibbles with this crate. It comes with two balloons, but both had an air leak after only one round of air hockey. Also, because the balloon puck lasts under a minute each time you inflate it, you really can’t get into a rhythm of playing the game.

But in terms of illustrating the science of air, it made its point. And my 6 year old liked beating mommy at the game!

We turned to the Explore magazine for a few final experiments. First up was an oldie-but-goodie (a Coat Hanger Balance), that gives an easy visualization that air has weight. Attach two balloons to either end of a hanger, one inflated and one not. Suspend the hanger from a pencil and notice the slight tilt.

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Then we made a Marshmallow Squasher! Add mini marshmallows to an empty plastic water bottle until it is about half full. Insert the air pump into the bottle, sealing around the top of the bottle with play dough so no air can escape.

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Hold the play dough firmly with one hand and squeeze the pump with the other… and watch the marshmallows squish down!

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How I Feel

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How I Feel (6)

Here’s a great activity for siblings that gets giggles (because it tickles!), checks off the arts and crafts box for the day, and will have siblings thinking about what they love best about each other. You can do this with two or more siblings of any age.

I needed to first trace both kids on a big sheet of craft paper, and Travis volunteered to lie down first. Veronika laughed as I traced around him with crayon.

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She was clearly eager for her turn!

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This little one loved being traced!

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Next, fill in the outline of each sibling with how they feel about each other. I posed the question to Travis, asking him to describe words about Veronika and his emotions. I thought he might mention some of their inside jokes or games, but instead he said, “I love her, that’s all!” Can’t argue with that, so we wrote that in.

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Pose the same question to a second sibling. Obviously if you play the game with a baby or toddler, he or she won’t understand the concept. In that case, older siblings get to fill in words about the baby inside their outline. Travis said “copy” (because she always loves to copy him!), “cute”, and “love”.

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If your kids want to get creative, you can then draw on faces, hair, or other feature. My kids just liked rolling around on the paper afterwards, and that was fine, too!

Taco Notebook

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Taco Notebook (6)

On the heels of a fun avocado textbook, here was another project to kit out Travis’s school supplies for the first day next week!

Travis helped glue a piece of brown cardstock to the cover of a standard spiral notebook. Then we glued scrapbook paper in a gingham print (which reminded us of a picnic blanket!) on to the first sheet of paper of the notebook; let dry.

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Trim the edge of the cover so it is rounded like a taco shell.

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Next up was cutting taco fillings (lettuce, tomato, and cheese shreds) from felt. This was great scissor practice for Travis since felt is tough to cut.

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We glued the felt shapes along the inside cover of the “taco shell”.

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Once closed, it looked almost good enough to eat!

 

Fuzzy Book Covers

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Furry Book Covers (2)

With back-to-school just around the corner, I’m starting to put together fun supplies for Travis to help ease his transition. These fuzzy book covers, a cute idea from Highlights magazine, will make any textbook go from daunting to exciting.

Since Travis hasn’t actually received books from his new teacher yet, we practiced the craft with a favorite book from home: his nature field guide.

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Cut a piece of green felt so it completely covers a textbook, leaving an extra 1/2-inch or so on the sides and top. Use hot glue (or tacky glue) to adhere the felt along the inside cover.

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Cut an oval from brown felt, and glue in the center of the cover. Now you have an avocado… so we avocadon’t forget to study, as Highlights pointed out.

You can have fun with this and make lots of different fruits and veggies from different colors of felt. You could make them even fluffier with craft fur instead of felt, too!

Video Visits

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Video Visits (4)

We tend to take lots of photos in our current era, but less so home videos. Here’s a cute project to encourage home video memories, as well as to promote bonding between siblings.

The idea is to have an older sibling narrate a video about any favorite destinations for your younger tot. Our first stop was the playground and Travis described where we were (with a little bit of cheeky humor!), as well as Veronika’s favorite things on the playground, and what they were having for snack.

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I then filmed several fun clips as they played on the equipment together!

Once home, I played the video back. Both kids were so delighted to see themselves on screen, little mini celebrities!

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They loved it so much that we repeated the game the next day on a bike trail. Travis once more narrated the scene.

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And one more the kids were smitten as they watched themselves, after. I intend to keep up this activity, since it’s clear that the kids are going to treasure these clips for years to come.

 

Food Fair

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Food Fair (3)

We turned snack time today into a chance for the siblings to bond! Travis gets a kick out of how messy Veronika can be when she eats, but sometimes older siblings resent the attention a messy baby or toddler receives at mealtime: help with a spoon; wiping off trays and bibs, etc. So today, Travis was in charge of Veronika’s snack! This got laughs all around.

We headed outside with a picnic blanket and a tray full of snacks. I included: applesauce, fruit pouches, chocolate pudding, juice boxes, and soft cookies.

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At first I asked Travis just to help Veronika explore the foods. Were they hot or cold? What did they taste like? Which did she like best?

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Then Travis began to make her concoctions. A simple cookie topped with a little applesauce…

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…soon became a big glob on a plate. Applesauce + pudding + juice, oh my! Travis then dipped a cookie in it and offered it to his sister for a taste with glee.

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Don’t be fooled by Veronika’s sleepy, sour expression. She kept asking for more bites!

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Travis delighted in this activity, and I loved watching them share this moment.

The Great Chase

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The Great Chase (6)

Here was one last fun craft to illustrate the science of tension for Travis, using only a rubber band and some paper!

First we needed to draw two pictures on cardstock. These can be anything your kid wants, so long as there is one thing being chased and a chaser. I copied a template for a mouse chasing cheese for our first version.

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Travis of course chose two Star Wars characters for a second version! We colored in the images, then cut out.

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You’ll also need to cut a rectangle from cardstock measuring 1×2 inches for each image.

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Cut 1-inch pieces of straw. Place a straw piece in the center of each rectangle, using double-sided tape, and fold the cardstock over the straw.

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Attach one of your images to the resulting strip of paper with a second piece of double-sided tape.

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Cut a rubber band open and thread the straw pieces on. Make sure the thing being chased is below the chaser!

As you expand or tauten the elastic, the little straws “run” down it. Travis giggled watching the mouse chase its cheese.

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And loved the Star Wars version!

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Indoor Toys Outside

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We’ve been having fun lately finding ways to make old toys seem new again, whether by dressing them up or moving them from outside to inside. Here’s a third idea!

I gathered together a few indoor toys that I haven’t seen the kids play with much recently and took them outside. The best time of day for this game was in the evening, when the heat of the afternoon had passed. It was the perfect way to fill the after-dinner hour, taking advantage of these last weeks of summer sunlight!

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Veronika immediately got started playing with the items I’d arranged on a picnic blanket. The train set that she normally ignores was soon chugging around.

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And building blocks were fun to build with.

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Then she discovered the joy of tossing the blocks into the grass.

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She delighted in scampering down off the patio, retrieving a block, and tossing it again. She kept this up for quite some time.

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Travis, meanwhile, found new life in old stuffed animals once they were outside in the “wild”.

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There was a very imaginative game at work.

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Of course just by being outside kids can find inspiration for their games and toys. They stopped to watch insects, lay down to look up at the sky, or walked through the grass with bare toes. All while happily being entertained.

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I think we’ll bring a different batch of old toys outside tomorrow!

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Chopstick Challenge

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Chopstick Challenge (8)

After preparing a meal of homemade sushi, Travis was eager to learn how to use chopsticks. I remember learning this same skill as a child, and how tricky it can be! Here were a few fun games (hint: there’s candy involved) that honed his skills.

First up was simply showing him proper form, with the chopstick wedged between thumb and pointer finger. Then I showed him how to place the second chopstick between thumb and forefinger and to use the middle finger on top like a little lever.

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It was tricky, but he was a good sport about it! For the games that followed, he did revert to a typical first-timer move, pinching the items between two chopsticks with one in each hand instead.

His favorite was Color Sorting because of course we used candy.

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Choose any candy with multiple colors and move them from a jumble into color-sorted piles.

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The reward of course was eating them.

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Next up was a Pick-Up Relay. You can play this as a true competition, moving items from a full bowl to an empty one and seeing who’s fastest, but Travis and I worked as a “team”. He tackled the easy item (mini Dandies marshmallows) and I handled the hard one (marbles – tough even for grown-ups!)

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Then we played a Passing Game. Using chopsticks, we passed a rubber band back and forth. Travis loved this one!

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Finally, we played Chopstick in the Hole. Tie a string to a chopstick and then the other end to a player’s wrist.

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The goal was to lower the chopstick into an empty water bottle. There may, in fact, have been some cheating involved.

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But Travis was still so proud!

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Beachy Creature Feet

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It’s just about the end of summer, which means by next year any current flip-fops are not going to fit your kids’ feet anymore. So here’s a fun way to transform those flippies as the season winds down!

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I had each of the kids select which kind of “creature” paws they wanted, care of a few suggestions in Highlights magazine, then helped trace and cut the shapes out on craft foam.

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If your kids truly won’t be wearing their flip-flops again, you can use tacky glue to adhere the foam, as well as additional foam dots or stripes for decoration. If you want a more temporary version (we still have a few beach days left!) use double-stick tape for a fun, reversible transformation.

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They loved stomping around as creatures for a little bit!

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I’d say these were the cutest critters on the beach.

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