Two Weeks with Dad

Dad took some vacation time at home with us, so we've been enjoying all sorts of fun.  Genevieve started the week pressing flowers and designing a rocket ship.  Tobias has been playing with his magnet trains, observing which side attracts best and saying "Croo croo.". We have taken quite a few walks down to the train station and echo tunnel for them as well.  We had fun at Hawkins Park, which has a train theme to the toddler area, so we played trains.  Genevieve acted out several Thomas and Dinosaur Train stories.

Genevieve has been really interested in crystals and fossils, so she enjoyed the Dinosaur Train special, "What's at the Center of the Earth.". She also watched the episode where they discussed the fact that some deserts may have once been oceans.  We experimented with sand and water, noticing how the water shapes the sand.  We tried to let the water evaporate to turn it into a desert, but Tobias had other plans.  But we had other fun, using an ice cube and powder paint to demonstrate how glaciers changed the land.  We also used some kitchen liquids to make a density column like the layers of the Earth.  We read several books about crystals, rocks and the Earth from Eyewitness books, Magic School Bus, and National Geographic.  She grew some crystals with dad, broke open a geode and stopped at an amazing local rock shop.  We dissolved salt, sugar and Epsom salt in different jars of water to observe the dissolving process and let the water evaporate so we could compare the crystals after.

We enjoyed two weeks of Camp Creativity.  The first week was princess themed.  Genevieve created some photo props and a bead crown.  She drew some great pictures of a castle, a dragon breathing fire, and a prince and princess.  The second week was safari themed, so she made some binoculars out of toilet paper tubes.  After class, we headed to the pet store.

The library brought in a juggler/origami artist, which Genevieve really enjoyed.  She is always trying to juggle.  We read Enigma by Graeme Base and The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola in keeping with this theme.  We played a group game, trying to keep the balloon from hitting the floor and counting our hits.

We had a zoo class this week about animal tracks.  They looked at feet, and Genevieve did a great job matching the prints to the creature that made them.  She made a clay handprint and a finger print giraffe.  They got to see a bobcat up close, which was impressive and we looked at cat footprints to discuss the different shapes and uses.  As a family, we talked about other things that trackers might use like scat, feathers, and effects on terrain.  When we walk along shopping centers, we like to note where we see a lot of bird poop and see if there is a nest above that spot.  We also took a walk around a duck pond, noting the animals we saw.

Genevieve is very interested in what letter words start with, so we've been talking a lot about beginning word sounds.  We've done workbook pages and ABC Mouse activities around that theme.

We read the book Star Stuff about Carl Sagan and went out one night to look at the stars.  We played several games, enjoyed some activity sticks.  Genevieve led an experiment to observe which of her nature items would float and which sinks.  We had our regular gymnastics and soccer.  Genevieve enjoyed a visit from a puppy, but it was a little overwhelming for Tobias.  We explored a local classic car show.  We finally added the last pictures to our travel book and made a decoupage frame for dad of photos.  She made a bookmark for dad as well.  She has been trying to help in the kitchen as much as possible too.