Making Clouds

We took this terrific book, Explore Spring! 25 Great Ways to Learn About Spring by Maxine Anderson, out of the library. It is full of kid friendly experiments and fun facts. The first activity Lu wanted to try was the Make Your Own Cloud experiment.

Luckily the experiment required common household items.

The directions were clear and simple.

1,2,3...





Success! Our own little cloud.

Dying Yarn In the Microwave

Hello! I know it has been ages. I have lots to catch you up on. But first things first, my friend PW brought this cool method for dying yarn to my attention. My girls loved this little science experiment. The really cool part of the process is watching the water turn clear after microwaving. The yarn sucks up all the dye. Plus, it makes incredibly vibrant colored yarn. We'll be making God's Eyes with our yarn.

  The technique is so simple and uses common household materials. The only thing I had to buy was 100% wool white yarn. Adult supervision is highly recommended! Note from the trenches: wipe up splatters as soon as the occur. I made several batches and then went to wipe out the inside of the microwave. My microwave interior is now blue.

Here is the Youtube Video

Happy Mother's Day

Love to all the crafty Mamas out there! Enjoy your day!

Happy Easter

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

Much Love, Mama King

Hello From An Absentee Crafter

Sorry it has been ages since our last craft installment. Technical difficulties aside, we have been having fun taking turns getting sick. Em just finished day 10 of Amoxicillan and now Lu is sick. We have been like this for weeks. We get a few days of healthy and then...boom! Someone else gets sick. I know "sharing is caring" but enough already!

Hopefully Spring will bring sunshine, daffodils and healthy kids!

Check out Parent Map for some fun Easter Crafts...including mine :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm still here. Contemplating changing blog hosting sites. Stay tuned...

Technical Difficulties

This is the second day I can not upload photos. Will try to figure this out this weekend. If any one knows why this might be happening leave me a comment. Thanks for being patient!

A lesson in giving...

 

Just before the Holidays we received a World Wildlife Fund Catalog in the mail. The girls and I discussed adopting an animal. The girls thought it was a great idea. We looked through the catalog and chose the Giant Panda to adopt. I designated a jar the "Panda Fund" and the saving began. Lu and Em have been saving for several months and finally have enough ($25) saved to adopt their panda.

This has been a great experience for the girls on so many levels. We have learned about giving, China, Pandas, protecting the environment, math (counting our coins weekly, sometimes daily), patience, selflessness and gratitude.


I would really like to continue the theme of giving/gratitude. What ways do you incorporate these lessons into fun and meaningful activities?

Kids Craft: A Pirate's Life For Me...

The girls have been playing Pirate lately. It may be because Disney has just released a new cartoon called, Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

I decided they needed an X to mark the spot. I cut out a red X out of left over felt and a couple dozen brown "dashes" to point in the direction of the treasure. Two decorated paper towel rolls (telescopes), a shoe box full of "treasure" and two left over pirate hats from Lu's birthday and we had all the makings of a great pirate adventure.

You all know by now that crafting is a compulsion with me. Therefore you know I couldn't just stop there....

I made a Pirate X softie. Much more durable and fun to play with. How cute would this be in a pirate themed gift. A wooden paintable pirate chest filled with this X, gold coins, a plastic telescope, eye patch...

This would be a fun party favor for a pirate themed birthday...

I used a blanket stitch and filled the felt X with poly fill.

Yo ho ho! Happy hunting!