Cody Gets a Makeover

Cody is the most patient cat in the universe.

Adventure Playground

Remember when we were kids and we could go outside, play with whatever we found, get messy, do things maybe not so safe, and we had a great time doing it? There's a place that still holds this a sacred rite of passage for kids. Berkeley's Adventure Playground. 

Each child has to do a small chore - find nails or scrap, pick up trash, locate nail points sticking out of wood.  Then they get access to tools for the rest of the day.  Tools include: C-clamps, saws. hammers (3 nails at a time), paint, rasps, magnets, and probably some other things I didn't notice. 

What do they get to do?  Whatever they want.  Rules are: no painting on signs. Must wear shoes. Have fun. That's it. They make play structures every week, based on materials they have on-hand.

They then disassemble, with the assistance of kids, a structure every week and build another one.  How friggin' fun is that?!?  

My absolute favorite thing about this place is how much of a "Yes" place this is.

"Mom, can I saw this board?"

"Yes."

"Mom, can I paint this?"

"Yes"

"Mom, can I hammer this?"

"Darling, the universe will be happier if you do." 

Did I mention it's absolutely free?

Glad to have remembered this awesome place. It goes back to weekend-only hours after this week, but must remember it for those times when we all need to just pound some nails randomly into wood. 

Play invitation: Fuzz Balls and Chopsticks

Super easy set-up, super fun results.  A pack of 80 colored pompoms, a few implements (tiny spoons, kid chopsticks....), and 6-cup muffin tins.  One instruction: sort. 

They had a lot of fun with it, using different tools and different sorting methods.  The only sticking point is (a) Erin only ended up with 1 purple pompom and (b) I could only find one of the "kid" chopsticks.  I pulled out some regular chopsticks and told the kids that the young 2 class in Robin's preschool did this activity with regular chopsticks, hoping to inspire them to at least try. To no avail.  Nonetheless they had fun. And easy setup/cleanup means it was an all-around win.

Fun with Clay

I picked up some modeling clay at the dollar store (LOVE that place).  The kids went to town!  Over one hour of free form play.  Robin started by using each stick as its own thing, then resorted to making teeny pieces and constructing the longest archipelago known to Casa de McMiller.

Erin busied herself with making "Mini-Me's".  Note similar pose. 

That was a fine $2. 

Play Invitation: String Obstacle Course

While the girls were watching a show, I set up an obstacle course in the hallway with some string and tape. 

When their show was over, they found their path to the playroom obstructed.  They joyfully climbed, wriggled, stretched above, under and around.  They giggled so much, then they got their favorite stuffed animals to try it out. 

After about 5 minutes, they just crashed through it. 

A fun activity, but generally I like the play time to be longer than the time it took to set it up.  Next time I'd make individual pieces of string rather than one long one. It might take them longer to crash it down. Or not. 

Play invitation: Foam shapes in the tub

I bought a pack of colored foam sheets from the dollar store.  1 pack made tons of shapes.  I sprinkled a handfull in the tub and called the girls for bath.

They spent nearly 30 minutes making everything from people to birds, houses, cars. 

I honestly can't believe how much fun the kids had with this one. So simple! Lots of giggles, lots of creativity, lots of fun!  

How To Make A Scientist

OK, we bought this kit from a friend's recommendation.  It came with everything you need on a wet bench: a beaker, flask, funnel, goggles, test tubes, test tube racks (very important), tweezers, beaker, magnifying glass.  And 10 experiments outlined on laminated cards. Granted, we'd already done every experiment on the cards, but because we now have the official tools of the trade, the experiments took on more luster. 

I walked them through 4 or so experiments on the cards, a bit concerned this would be a play land flop - an expensive toy that has about 5 minutes play time before ending up in the recycling bin.   

Then, a few hours later, the girls took the lab equipment into the bathroom and started running their own experiments. 

This is what I'd hoped for. Forget the laminated cards, we're gonna need more vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring!!!!

New Park

We live in a small, semi-suburban community.  So when there's a new playground at a local park, it's something not to be missed.

It might not look like much to the un-indoctirnated folk. But this is epic. It's 3 stories.  With 2 slides. One enclosed, one bumpy.  There are 6 music "stations", a food serving area, climbing wall, double-helix stairs (no, I couldn't resist the small genetics lesson there), precariously oriented step ladder, and zip line. Not to guild the lilly, but there's cattle grazing all around the park, so if the kids get tired of the myriad play options they can go watch cows chewing cud.

Really, what's not 120% awesome about this?

Project: Silly Putty

I first heard about how to make your own silly putty from my boy's Chuck and Josh*.

Ingredients: 

2 tbs water

2 tbs white glue (like Elmer's)

Food coloring

1.5-2 tbs borax

Mix the first three ingredients together thoroughly.  Here, Robin wanted white silly putty so we didn't use the food coloring.  But really, one or two drops is enough.

Sprinkle the borax while stirring.  It's a mild irritant, so I did this carefully while the girls stirred slowly.  

It's like magic - you can see the polymerization as soon as the granules touch the liquid.

When it looks like it's almost completely together, knead for a few minutes.  I did this part as I wanted the grains to mix in as much as possible. 

NOTE OF CAUTION: DO NOT get this on fabric or hair.  Or a disposable pull-up.  Also, it's totally not edible so if your kids are kind of orally interested, maybe try a good playdough recipe. 

Then, have fun! The girls played with it for about 1.5 hours.  The silly putty became everything - ropes, necklaces, snakes, even flashlights, dogs, you name it.  They let it ooze on the glass table and poked into it to make faces.  It was really cool to see them so engaged. 

* Seriously, if you aren't already listening to these guys, go to iTunes or whatever you use, and subscribe, free, to Stuff You Should Know. You'll thank me.  Or maybe not when you spend the next week on a binge, getting caught up over the last 450 podcasts.

WW: Mixed Media Construction

Project: Pipe Cleaner Sight Words

I saw this idea on Pinterest (where else).  Set out a bunch of cards with sight words on them.  Put out a fist full of letter beads and some pipe cleaners.  Let the fun begin! 

Robin tested it out first for me. Her favorite letter is, of course "R" so she liked picking them out and lacing them on the pipe cleaners. 

I set out the invitation to Erin starting just with the letter beads and pipe cleaners.  She first made a bracelet with her name on it and some heart beads, for Brian to take when he goes to PDX so he can think of her. 

I then presented her with the list of 30 words they're working on in her kindergarten. (No, not all at the same time. They've covered about 5 so far.)  She got excited and tore through about 10 of them, reading the words with no problem and stringing the beads happily.  A good 15 minutes of focused activity! Then she said she was done.  I'd say it was a success! 

Robin enjoyed some more bead stringing and made a necklace. 

MUD!

Our back yard is filled with mud in preparation for the concrete slab to be poured. The girls took every advantage of it. 

The clean up had to be strategic. Thank goodness for oversized beach towels.

Surprise package!

We got a surprise package in the mail today!  It was from a dear grad school friend, Dr. Deanne. 

In it was 3 Science Magazines, 3 fresh Mad Libs, a lovely note, AND ..... a 7 pack of stick-on mustaches.

Do they make us look sophisticated or what? 

Then the girls decided to try the new facial decorations in other ways. 

Thank you, Deanne!  We're loving the 'stashes and we will have so much fun with the Mad Libs on our drive to Yosemite on Sunday!  You rock! 

A Swingin' Good Time

We had another fantastically fun evening at the local park for a free concert, popcorn, hot dogs, ice cream, and play.

 The band was a local swing band, and had a guest singer dressed to the nines in a purple suit.

 

Reason #72 why I love my husband ...

... he has a wonderful way of encouraging fun.

Brian is in PDX (the normal 2 day every 3 week trip).  He usually leaves a little something taped to the window for the girls - pop rocks, $1.  He went all out this time and set up a construction zone for the kids in the garage:

Erin has been happily hammering for 30 minutes.  Brian is awesome.

Robin Rides, Erin Instructs

There's so much going on in this movie, I won't spend time talking about it. Just will tag it with a bunch of things and let you enjoy!

Play time: Water beads

I've been reading about water beads for sensory play and finally figured out what water beads are. They are small polymer beads that expand greatly in water.  They come in a rainbow of colors, are meant for flower cuttings/soilless plant growing, and they are very inexpensive. 

Mixed up a first batch.  The packet on the left is 3 grams.  The bowl on the right is two packets worth, soaked in water for 2 hours.  They swell for 4 hours, so they probably could get bigger.

I set out the beads with some bowls and spoons as a first foray into water bead play.  No explanation, just the invitation.

The girls LOVED it, and played for about 45 minutes.  First, exploration, "They feel squishy, they feel slippery, they bounce, they shoot when I squeeze them, they tickle. " Then projects. Pouring into bowls, mixing, spooning, bouncing. Then gear shifting as we put them in baggies to squish around.

Finally moved it outside to the water table.  Lots of giggles, lots of good fun.  And they watered the potted plants, placing many of the water beads right where they're "supposed" to go.

We had so much fun and I bought so many packets, we'll share the love and try a McMiller PDX giveaway.  I'll mail a packet to the first 10 people who leave a comment.

Tape part II

Remember this?

It's morphed into this:



Tape ... who knew it could be such a fun toy?

And man, I love the sibling play.

**** OK, don't know why there's no sound on the video.  That's part of the extreme cuteness because Robin is chatting away the entire time.  Will work on that tomorrow.  If anyone else is getting audio, let me know.

Tinker Toys: an oldie but a goodie!

Grandma and Grandpa brought over Brian's old set of Tinker Toys from when he was a boy.  Erin and he got straight to work on it this morning. 

The first creation?  A robot, of course.  It can sit, bend, reach, do all kinds of robot things. 

The construction site.  This toy, though messy, is a hit!  

WW: Swing