A Week in Review April 26-May 2

Our week started last Sunday with a nice drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house.....we took the long way.  I wanted to see what nature we could find. Everyone wasn't pleased with this round about way.  But I was happy, especially finding this pilleated woodpecker

and a log full of sunning painted turtles....photo credit: Mark

I learned to make these "best ever" bookmarks.  Myself and everyone around me is now stocked up with book marks!

Last Monday we have begun our plant unit.  The kids made these cute see through planters at a Lowes Build and Grow clinic.  They are offering another "Mother's Day Planter" clinic for Mother's Day...all for free.

We also sprouted our seeds in ziploc bags....we have never done sprouting this way before, we always used a paper towel and a jar.  I love the compactness of this technique. 

We are kind of amazed at the amount of growth from Monday to Friday...

The bean plants ever burst out of the ziploc bags.

Luke is dissecting a daffodil....

I think daffodils and tulips are the best flower for success in finding all the parts of a flower.

Luke--Triple AAA Ball

Baseball and softball will keep us very busy for the next couple months....

We have 4 kids on 3 different teams. 

Grace--HCA softball

Mark-HCA softball  

Kimberly-girls minor league softball....yes, the temperature for this game was 31 degrees at the start, end at a sultry 38 degrees....Spring sports in Central New York is often closely related to winter sports. 

Danny helped us start a pole bean tee pee.

He got the poles tied together.

Kim and Luke got the ground ready for the seeds.

We also have been working on a lapbook about all things "India"

I will have a full post about the resources I used for this India lapbook within the next week....hopefully.

I keep thinking we are about finished and then one of the kids will send us down another rabbit trail,  At that point I just add another folder to the lapbook and continue. 

Right now we have 4 file folders glued together....and we have just begun the subject of Indian elephants.

I hope everyone has a great week. 

The Story of Stained Glass

 We have enjoyed our study of the Middle Ages. We are starting to wind down and head into the Renaissance era, but before we did I wanted to do one more art project. 

Trying our hand at stained glass art was fun last week. Today we made "stained glass" luminaries.

 The book, The Story of Stained Glass, was just the right length to read aloud before starting our craft.  It gave us the history of stained glass, the purpose of stained glass and how making stained glass has changed over the centuries.

All you need for these luminaries are:

plain jars

Mod Podge

tissue paper

foam brushes

 The first step is to make a design by cutting up and arranging the tissue paper.

When you have the tissue paper ready, start slapping on the mod podge onto the jar.  

Arrange the tissue into its previously planned design.

 Kim had a plan, and that was to have a nice big
"k" on the front of her jar.

Luke's candle looks like a Syracuse basketball inspired luminary.

We made luminaries in the past:

You can see Halloween luminaries  and 

Autumn Luminaries

Sea Foam Painting

 We finished up our last activity in this month's Kiwi Crate:  My Sea Foam Painting.

 Kimberly read the directions and assembled all the supplies.

 Of course, everything was included, except for the paper I put on the table to protect it from the paint.

 In this crate was a one-way straw (just perfect for this artwork).

The then covered the end of the straw with a piece of cloth, secured by a rubber band...all included.

 Luke and Kim added dish soap, water and water color paint into the supplied container.

 Now the fun part, dip the straw into the paint and blow....the bubbles make wonderful designs on the water color paper.

Luke tried to see how high he could make the bubble mountain.

 After they were dry, we decorated them with the supplied colored chalk.

 I love Kimberly's crabs, and

 and Luke's hammerhead shark!

When we received our first Kiwi Crate it came with a poster to put the monthy theme stickers on...ours has been filled to capacity.

Today we made a little chart for our current stickers.

Thanks Kiwi Crate for all the fun you supply to our family.

Opening our July Kiwi Crate-Beach Day

I'm late with our "Opening Our Kiwi Crate" post....but I have to admit we did open it as soon as it arrived. 

In this month's crate was a beach ball....Kimberly immediately opened that and blew it up.  When Luke saw her ball, he found his and was very happy.  (We subscribe with the sibling option, so there is always enough supplies for both kids).

Once they dug out the beachballs, I put the box back together so you can see this month projects.

"crazy crabs" and a "sea foam painting."

They both looked very cute.

We always enjoy the "Explore" magazine.  It is full of activities pages and assorted crafts and also fun with food.

On the last pages of the magazine was a cut out of a shark puppet.  Kimberly did this right away.  (with the sibling pack you receive two magazines)

 It was a cute cut and fold and embellish activity.

 

As always, every single thing needed for each activity is included...including fiber fill, stickers and sticky google eyes.  Each child gets to make 2 crabs.

Kim and Luke were able to craft on their own.

 The sea foam painting looks very cool.  We haven't made these yet...tomorrow is the day for this, so I will post the final results tomorrow night.

Each child has two sheets of water color paper to use...I looking forward to this.

 In the "Explore"magazine were the directions to make a sponge splash ball.

 Here is our version from an older post.

 Great for a hot day...Thanks Kiwi Crate.

The next day we made out Crazy Crabs.

The kids could make these completely on their own. 

Two crabs come in a regular subscription, but with the sibling pack, we have 4 crazy clams.

So cute.

Now, you line them up and roll the beach ball at them, trying to knock off the "shell".  The shells easily go back on. 

I just think these are great.

Tomorrow we will be making our Sea Foam Painting...Hopefully I will post this process and final project tomorrow evening.

Thank you, Kiwi Crate for another fun box.