Homemade Gak {Slimey Science Fun}

Many of the Christmas gifts we gave last year were homemade, and this fun science experiment and texture toy was one of them. The girls and I had a lot of fun making gak for their boy cousins. It is kind of a cross between slime and Silly Putty--not as dry or firm as Silly Putty, but not quite as gooey as slime.  The properties of this stuff make it a lot of fun to play with.  You can shape it, break it off,  pour it, make noises with it...noises that little boys find quite funny. Of course, after my girls had such fun making it, they wanted some of their own.  We made theirs in pink of course.

Dump in (2) 4 oz. bottles of Elmer's glue --I used the regular washable Elmer's school glue. Fill the empty glue bottles with water; swish it around and dump it in with the glue.  Add a few drops of food coloring for a little excitement. The girls loved stirring in the food coloring.

In a measuring cup, add a teaspoon of borax to a 1/2 cup of warm water.  Stir well.  Add the borax water to the glue.   Borax can be found near the laundry and detergent products in most grocery stores.

 At first, you will think you have done something wrong because the mixture will be stringy and watery.  Keep working it.  I ended up using my hands as it seemed to be the easiest way to mix it evenly.

Eventually, the mixture will coagulate.  It can take 5 minutes or so.

 Squish it. Squash it.

 Shape it. 

 Our full product line.  We used empty peanut butter jars to store it.

If you're interested in some of the science and history of the stuff, check out Steve Spangler's Science Experiments.  He has a lot of other fun, simple science experiments that you can try out with your kids!

If you're concerned about the use of Borax in a child's play mix, you can read this well-balanced article on the properties of  borax.  Personally, I don't have a problem with it.

Toddler Homeschool: Busy Bag Teaching Activities

The girls and I have been working on a daily homeschool schedule in anticipation of the coming school years.  We sit together for about 30 minutes to an hour, working on various learning activities.  The girls really enjoy this structured time, but I must admit that I often feel unprepared to teach Leah.  She is only two years old, but she runs to the table, ready for school as soon as I call for school to start.  I have found a couple of activities that I have rotated throughout the weeks, but her attention span is still rather short.  

Below are a few of the activities that she really enjoyed.  

Cereal Sorting: Color Differentiation and Recognition

Froot Loops cereal

6 bowls (the one I used are from IKEA and match the cereal perfectly!)

Toothpick Drop: Fine Motor Skill Development

Empty Parmesan shaker

Regular or Colored toothpicks

(You could use colored toothpicks and place colored paper hole reinforcements to guide which color toothpick to place in shaker holes.)

Cereal Stacking: Hand-Eye Coordination

Play-Doh

Bamboo Skewers

Circular Cereal (Cheerios, Froot Loops, Apple Jax)

 I started out by turning the sharp end of the bamboo skewers into the Play-doh, but Leah was not coordinated enough to push the small-holed cereal over the blunt end.  I did end up turning the skewers around.  She didn't seem to be bothered by the sharp ends, but this was definitely a monitored activity!

Warning: This activity can devolve into a scattered mess!

Something Fun Friday: Q-Tip Autumn Trees

Autumn, with its majestic color scheme and crisp morning breath, has gloriously swept into our little corner of the world.  We celebrated by making a simple rendition of the breath-taking color transformation we've been watching.

I got the idea for this simple art project from Pinterest--where else?!  The original inspiration is from an Italian teaching site called La Classe della Maestra Valentina; at least, I think it's Italian!  

I started with a couple pieces of cardstock.  I free-handed a simple tree trunk and used a cereal bowl to create a round tree canopy.

I was afraid of the potential disaster of 2 kids + 5 paint colors, so I used an old egg carton to dispense the paint.  I only let them dip one color at a time.  They wore those awesome bibs from Ikea, and we kept the used Q-tips contained to a peanut butter lid.  

Leah tired of this project pretty quickly, but Grace loved it.  So did I!  Very therapeutic!

Homemade Finger Paint {Something Fun Friday}

Grace and I read a Fancy Nancy book about the aspiring artist, so Grace has been begging me to paint.  I didn't have any paint, so I googled "homemade finger paint" and found this recipe from I Can Teach My Child.  It whipped up in less than 5 minutes, and the girls had a ball!

The recipe made about two cups, so I left half of it untinted and popped it in the refrigerator for another day.  Of which I am sure there will be one.  Grace is already asking to do it again.

 A clean palette

 Mm-mmm.  Tasty.

Clean-up sink party!

Something Fun Friday {Valentine's Day Cards}

Today I'm guest posting over at Cotton+Wood, a dear friend's sweet blog, so please go check out my love story!

In other news, the girls had a fabulous time making Valentine's Day cards one afternoon.  Grace really has stick people down flat. She's even starting to accessorize their faces with smiles in different colored markers.  These little milestones are so fun to watch.

Leah, on the other hand, has started accessorizing her own smile with different colored markers.  Lovely.

Something Fun Friday {Pre-K Workbook}

As is true of any 3 year old, Grace's mind is a sponge, soaking in information and spitting out questions at a dizzying rate.  While at Dollar Tree the other day, I found an endcap full of workbooks for $1.  I found one for pre-school age made by Fisher-Price.  We have been working on a few pages each day.

My goal is to do something educational daily, even it's just a few minutes.  Here's why:

• Teaching and learning time creates a bonding moment between Grace and me.  Sometimes the day gets full, and she and I both need that time to tie a few heart strings.
• Small steps (hopefully) prepare me for future homeschooling schedule.  I figure if I ease into homeschooling slowly, by the time I have to do this for real, it should be a part of our routine.  I'm not lying when I say homeschooling scares me silly.  My biggest concern is striking the balance of proper education, family time, and keeping the home in working order.  
• Directed activity calms Grace.  She is at the age where she needs some play time structure.  She gets bored and begins to misbehave.  If she's gotten to that point, I know I missed my cues to direct her mind to something structured.
• It's fun!  It really is amazing to watch little children as they learn and discover.  Their joy of learning is truly infectious and delightful.

Sometimes I fail to be consistent.  I get busy, so I put it off, and it gets late.  Dinner has to be fixed and daddy gets home.  No one wants to do school once our favorite person is home for the day!  

Leah has an insatiable appetite for crayons. We can't keep her out of them!

I would love to hear any other homeschoolers out there with suggestions for establishing/easing into a school time routine with pre-school age children.  

Something Fun Friday {Hand Tree}

This doesn't require much explanation.  I traced her hand, but Grace colored the tree and cut a good bit of the "leaves".  I poured a gob of glue on a piece of paper, and then showed her how to lightly dab the paper pieces with the glue. I also gave her a damp paper towel to wipe her hands periodically.