DIY

No? Then I'll Make It Myself!

Something wonderful has happened here and I just need to talk about it for a moment. In a few instances, when I've said, "No" to something, the kids don't cry, complain or beg. Instead, they say, "OK," walk away, ponder quietly, and then create their own solution, free of charge, without suggestions from adults, on their own. I am so pleasantly surprised. I know this is how it used to be, how it should be, but in my household, it's a miracle. Let me enjoy it.

Case in Point #1 - The Wall Marble Run

Remember, back in our first year of homeschooling, we made a marble run on our wall? The kids remembered too. They were asking to do it again, and, "Where is all that cool pipe insulation stuff?" I informed them that it was so long ago, that "The Cleaning Fairy" must have tossed all the stuff away.

As I braced myself for a few tears, or at the least, begging to go buy it all over again, I opened my eyes to nothing. "Ok," they said and they walked away. They went into our craft closet, got out our big savings of empty toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, plastic bottles, and more.  "Can we use tape on the walls?" "Here," I say as I hand them painter's tape. And off they went.

Later, I was presented with a most awesome Wall Marble Rollercoaster that they had worked really hard to create. All from items we already had. All on their own. All while I had my morning coffee.



Case in Point #2 - The LEGO Advent Calendar


Have you ever gotten a LEGO advent calendar? They are fun but VERY expensive. It is common for me to buy two of many items so that I don't have to deal with "sharing" issues. However, the LEGO advent calendar is so expensive, that I just can't buy two. Even buying last year's model is still very pricey. So, I have only purchased one and they have had to take turns opening odd/even days.

This year, I decided to see if we could skip getting the LEGO advent calendars, leaving more money towards the "under the tree gift" money pool. Again, I braced myself for sad, long faces, heavy sighs, or loud comebacks. Instead, both kids just nodded their heads and said, "OK, we understand."

And again, without my help or knowledge, my kids (I think driven by my oldest one) made their own LEGO advent calendar. They had saved last year's box ( the outer one you see with the doors and scenery, and the inner box that has separate compartments for the pieces). They created 24 vignettes out of LEGO pieces to put into the separate compartments. Then they drew "instructions" and put them on the inside of the doors. After closing all the doors, they had a little trouble with pieces falling from one compartment to another (probably due to sagging of the reused, inner box). No problem! They just turned it on its side, to use gravity in their favor.

It's during moments like this that I am most proud of them. I can hear the critics saying it should always be like this, but it hasn't been for us. I really believe that slowing our family down and homeschooling is what is bringing this lifestyle into our lives, as it should be.

Money Saving Tip

Or Money Boxes?

So far ever fall, before we begin our studies, we seem to do a big art projects. The first year was our classroom mural. The second year was another wall mural. Well, we ran out of walls to paint. So, our painting project was much smaller this year.

This fall, we decided to paint money jars. The kids get an allowance each month. They will separate their money into the three jars. One to save. We make periodic trips to the bank to deposit their money into their savings accounts. Two to pay taxes. Tax money will be paid back to us parents who are doling out the allowance. This is new. I have, in the past, just taken this money out before I pay them. I have put that money into their savings area and it has become what goes into their savings accounts. This may change, but for now, they will need to save money on their own and the taxes will come back to us, so that they can see how "getting paid" works for working folks. I think it's going to be a bit of a shock to their wallets. And finally, three to spend. This money is theirs to do with whatever they want (and we parents try to grin and bare it when they buy cheap toys and candy.)

Playing with Pastels

Chalky Experiences

I love art, and wish I could create it all. I wish I were better at more mediums. I've been wanting to work with pastels lately, so today was the day.

For now, we just played with blending options and the difference of a white background and a black background.

I asked the kids to draw something that had to do with the ocean, river, water, etc. as we have been studying those ecosystems. My daughter created a sea urchin with a cannon and my son created a Minecraft dirt block.

I'm just happy we all created art with the pastels.

Playing Games

My son has been interested in board games lately, so I decided to do a unit on them. We began our unit as I usually do, with a trip to the library.

We read lots of books on the history of board games, dating back to before Ancient Egyptian times. This was one of the first units we did where I could clearly see history becoming a part of our unit. We did talk briefly about ancient astronomy, but I felt the history in this one more personally as we discussed the first games people played. Where they might have found "playing pieces" and how did the "rules" get passed along?

Finishing off this unit, we made two different games. The first game we constructed was an ancient marble game.







After that, I had each kid think of their own board game and create it. We talked about how many players could play, what the board might look like, will it use dice, what is the object of the game...? I had meant to have the kids write up the instructions, but we never did get around to that. We celebrated their games by playing several rounds of each!

Here, my daughter made a game where you need to build a smoothie by the time your player gets to the middle. She included cards to draw, pieces to represent the smoothie ingredients and a foldable game board.









Here, my son make an ice cream cone shaped game board. Players roll the die and follow a snake-like pattern up the board. Some squares help you move forward, others make you move backwards.

Curiosity Filled the Hat

Curiosity killed that what?

I love watching my seven year old son explore the world of dominos. He sets up domino runs by himself during times when I need to work one-on-one with my older daughter. When he can't figure out what he wants to do, he jumps onto YouTube and finds a new idea. Then he walks to the living room and tries it out himself.

From the other room, we can hear him talking to himself as he sets the dominos up. We can also hear them crashing down, followed by loud sounds of frustration as he sets them back up, or by cheers and pitter patter of feet as he comes to tell us of his successes. These cycles of discovery can go on for a very long time.

I love that my son is able to delve into the world of dominos without worrying about the bell ringing, signifying the end of playtime and that he is allowed to leave them up for days at a time instead of having to clean up after 15 minutes. Perhaps he's missing out on learning how to share, take turns and from the creativity of others. But for now, he gets unlimited time to discover his own originality unhampered by others.