I AM A ROBOT

It is just plain old fun to act like a robot. It entertains us, any way.

I made a bean bag toss game for my children that can also be used in my classroom. It can be used for motor skills, but the two holes make sorting activities totally doable. (Maybe the robot only likes to eat green things or pictures that start with the/r/ sound, everything else goes into the tool box).

Or...
CB: What do they eat?
M: They need some sort of energy source. Like a battery, or a generator, or solar panels.
D: Gasoline or steam.
CB: Some robots eat toast.

The Toss Box
I had planned to do a little tutorial, but someone's loving husband accidentally cleared my memory card. He felt bad.

So, I will just tell you about the box part: I cut the holes in a cool box that already had a handle. (I wanted it to be portable so I could tote it around easily, but I suppose that part is not truly necessary.)

I painted the entire box with acrylic paint. (It took several coats, primer might have been a better way to start.)

The entire box was then sprayed with a clear coat.

I cut out felt pieces and hot glued them to the box.

Sock Beanbags
I made the beanbags later so I have pictures of this part for you:

I learned this at an Early Childhood conference, but can't remember who the presenter was.

Start with a sock (I used baby socks, but you can use adult socks too)


Cut the top portion into 5 or 6 strips. You want these long enough that they are not too difficult to tie later.


Spread the strips and fill with beans


Tie a simple knot with strips across from each other.


Continue tying knots until all of the strips have been used at least once and the closure seems secure.


Make a whole bunch!


Have fun tossing!

You can prop the box up or lay it down depending on the level of difficulty you are after.


Linked up to Fireflies and Jellybeans, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Fingerprints on the Fridge, and Today's Creative Blog!

Homemade Sidewalk Paint

Sometimes being wrong can be sweet.

Example:

surprisingly yummy

When I first saw sidewalk paint, I thought it was a ridiculous idea. It has since become my go to gift for small children because it is awesome.

Just the other day I thought, "It is too bad you can't make your own sidewalk paint."

Once again being wrong turned out to be oh so sweet...

http://www.hipmountainmamablog.com/2010/07/homemade-sidewalk-paint.html

note: When we made ours, we used a fork to stir because it can get pretty gloppy at the beginning. I thought I had messed up the recipe, but it turned out just fine.

This paint was a huge success, our first encounter warranted 3 batches because we kept running out and we needed more colors.

(the commercial paint sat forgotten for most of our painting session)

This is our "swampy green" made with one drop of each of the basic food coloring colors. It was by far our favorite. The girl has a thing for swamps, strange?


BBD led the discovery that the more liquid-y texture made pouring and puddling a fun new artistic technique. It was also fun to poke and walk through.


Linked up to Fireflies and Jellybeans, Somewhat Simple, Tatertots and Jello, Fingerprints on the Fridge, and Today's Creative Blog!

Little Monsters

May 2010

We put to use CB's monsters that on a stormy day she had designed to be used in the future for hopscotch.


The only problem was the little buggers kept trundling off course from the breeze.

We solved that with a little ingenuity, rocks, and tape.


Before we could fully enjoy our own cleverness, however, we were distracted by a different sort of monster.




A: I don't know what he's doing.
M: He's climbing.
A: He's silly! He says, "Is this a jungle gym?"

C: Where is he going?

A: Now he can be snug as a bug! (gives him a leaf for a blanket) If he gets hungry, he can eat his blanket.

C: He's walkin!

A: He doesn't want to go out. Come on little guy. I think he's enjoying his new home. (explaining to the roly poly why he must be returned to the wild) I wish you could stay, but you can't stay alive.

C: Does he want a carrot?

That Street

May 2010

The children and I enjoy the little jaunt down to the mailbox on fine weather days. (We have not had too many of those lately.)

After retrieving the mail, I turned to head home, but BBD said with great excitement, "I wanna go that street!"

So we took off for a good ole walk around the block. It is a pretty big block, but no big deal. We have gone for this very same stroll countless times before.

But this time was different. I realized, too late, that we had never gone for this walk with the children actually walking. As in not being passengers in a stroller or wagon.

Clearly, they are not ready for such a trek.

Now, technically we live in a desert, but the weather was delightfully gentle. However, watching our excursion, it may have appeared that we were stumbling our way through the blistering Sahara.

CB picked me some, er, flowers near the beginning of our walk. Later, it felt like much later, she says, "These flowers are getting thirsty". To which her brother replies, "I'm getting thirsty too." And then began the listing of what we would do when we got home. You may have been led to believe that we had been separated from our home by natural disaster or incarceration. There would be eating, drinking, and general merry making with the reunion of much missed friends and tv shows.

They each tripped over their poor, overworked feet no less than 4 times--each. I felt this may appear to reflect poorly on my mothering skills- clearly these children have been drugged or are never let out of the house. It's not like I could pick them both up and carry them. The Wii fit tells me I am "still in pretty good shape" (thanks for throwing in the still, Wii, thanks a bunch), but lets face it, I would snap like a twig. And then where would we be? Overheated in a heap, half a block (aka a world away) from home.

The sighting of the house brought rejoicing. From all of us.

Lesson learned:

Makin' Monsters

CB decided she wanted to draw some monsters.

10 of them, so I should help.

I know I should be used to the way she talks, but she still amazes me...

"See this one? This one right here? It has 9 pounds of love packed in!"


Of course, they were numbered on the back and lined up in order.

Good Idea

Of course, this project ended with acrylic paint EVERYWHERE. The real trick was how they managed to get so much of it UNDER the drop cloths...

Daddy says to me, "Really? Was this a good idea?"
My response, "No! It was YOUR idea!"

Naturally Beautiful

We, okay mostly I, made these leaf crowns. The children helped with the leaf gathering.

CB made me a leaf ring as a thank you. The girl has a gift for accessorizing.


Want to make your own leaf crown?

Check out: http://twigandtoadstool.blogspot.com/2010/08/leaf-crowns.html (love this blog)