The Solar Eclipse

This week we invited friends over to celebrate the solar eclipse.  We served bagels because they are ring shaped and crescent-shaped croissants.  Everyone had some solar glasses and we talked about how it isn't safe to look at the sun without these glasses.  We made some pinhole cameras too, which worked pretty well at showing the eclipse  and also make fun shadow art.  We dropped balls into a tray of sand to recreate the surface of the moon.  We also had some shaving cream and liquid water color to paint the sky, making fluffy clouds.

Besides the eclipse, we had art class where we painted a canvas and used gems to create a shape.  It started as a heart, but Genevieve decided she wanted to make broccoli instead.  While waiting for it to dry, she also painted a rock and drew Pete the Cat holding broccoli.

We played some Peg + Cat games, and watched some Peg + Cat which led to her, unprompted, explain that zero means nothing.  We've done some cleaning, everyone taking turns sweeping and scrubbing.  She also made a treasure map for Grandma Stacey.  We've played a lot of trains and building as well.

Planes, Trains and Star Mobiles

This weekend, we finished our session of soccer and then went to Michael's for their Saturday morning craft.  Genevieve made a cupcake keychain and painted a happiness rock.  In the evening, we watched the stars come out, but the mosquitoes chased us inside before we could see the Perseids.

Sunday we enjoyed some time at the Crocker Art Museum which has some very colorful pieces both kids enjoyed and an installation called Plink which had several sparkly triangles and triangles for the kids to use for building.  They have art activities for kids, as well but Genevieve was having too much fun with everything else.  We then walked to the Railroad museum in Old Town Sacramento, which had large train engines and cars to explore and several train tables on the top floor.  On the way there, we stopped at the School House.  After our busy morning, we hung up Genevieve's solar system and created the constellations Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and the big Dipper with her glow stars.  These are great constellations for young astronomers as Cepheus is basically a house shape, with a triangle on top of a square and Cassiopeia is a W.

We went to a park with a train theme for a playdate.  We took some walks to the train station this week as well, and read some of our favorite Thomas stories.  We had a second park play date later in the week as well, trying out a new park.

We made some paper airplanes and compared how the different styles fly.  Then we launched some stomp rockets and noticed how they fly differently.  For a different look at propulsion, we blew up a balloon and then just let it fly.  We've been noticing airplanes that fly by as well.

We did a few more experiments from Nick Arnolds  DIY Science book.  Genevieve used a balloon, funnel and bottle to observe how a lung works and explored camouflage by hiding "bugs" she cut out on different colors of paper.

We took another trip to Rocking Jump, the trampoline place, where the kids had great fun bouncing, playing dodgeball, and balance beaming through the foam pit.  We then went right next door to Imagine That, where the kids had a blast exploring the exhibits.

We ended our week by making a solar system mobile.  Genevieve painted a Styrofoam ball to be the Sun and some paper stars and the Earth.  We tied them to some sticks, and are noticing balance in action.

Family Time

We started this week with a trip to see Grandparents and visiting family.  Genevieve got to finish the cookies she started with Grandma and hopped in and out of several board games like Alhambra and Takenoko.  She likes Alhambra because it is a castle building game, and we match colors while talking about more and less.  Takenoko is a fun game with a panda figure and pink bamboo so it's a big hit too.  When they weren't playing board games, the let Grandpa chase them around and play outside with them.  Genevieve also talked about crystals with her Grandpa since she's been digging for them lately.

She thought about skipping storytime to play with brother, but decided to finish the stories and then find Tobias.  She had fun playing zoo detective and feeding the giraffes during her class at the Sacramento Zoo.  They made little detective outfits to go with class.

When we weren't in classes, we spent a lot of time taking walks to the train station and the playground.  We've also been enjoying some time in the backyard, watching our other pumpkins grow and launching rockets.

Science Potpourri

Summer classes are wrapping up and we are getting ready to assemble our fall schedule for September, but that doesn't mean we have to stop experimenting at home.

We started our week by carving a pumpkin.  One of our pumpkins was orange, and Genevieve wants it to be Halloween already so we worked together to carve it.  And we've observed the changes in it over the past week.  Jack-o'-lanterns aren't meant for 100+° F weather.

Genevieve painted some treasure chests to get ready for her play date with her science friend Mary.  They played games and used magnifying glasses to examine crystals.  Then we used 2 kits from National Geographic to dig for fossils and rocks.  The rock kit worked well.  The "dirt" was easier to break up and the rocks were easy to identify.  The fossil kit may was more difficult to dig into, and I'm not sure if it's because more moisture had leeched from the dig site because it had been boxed for awhile or because it started out drier to accommodate the more intricate detail.  The fossil kit also has some more delicate fossils that may break if your little paleontologist isn't careful and is a little more difficult to match some of the fossils to the ones in the book.

Thursday was a Predator and Prey themed zoo class.  They concentrated on three main prey - insects, fish and small animals.  Then they tried to identify some predators that ate that kind of prey.  They met a lizard and a hawk, and we're able to watch the otters eat.  The teacher had prepared some textured frog pictures for them to paint with water colors.  She made another worksheet to fill out at the zoo.  This time we named some predators and prey, and observed the zebras, giraffes, and lions.

We borrowed a book from the library called DIY Science by Nick Arnold.  I know him from the Horrible Science series, and I really enjoyed this collection of experiments.  Genevieve picked a few of the water ones, like using a coin to test surface tension.

Finally, daddy went to the art store with Genevieve and they created a glow in the dark solar system.  We experimented with mixing colors to create secondary colors.  She used those colors to paint a picture of herself feeling sad because she had to go to her room and a spider for Halloween.

Ending July

We started this week examining our kitchen crystals that we've been allowing to reform.  We pulled out our microscope and magnifying glass and scraped some samples to investigate.

This was the last week for Camp Creativity.  This week's theme was All About Me.  They painted picture frames to look like a house, and Genevieve painted a unique upside down polka-dot house.  They each were allowed to pick two foam figures to represent family or friends and pick some foam sticker clothing.  The take home journal page had her draw  a map of her own country.  She made a great island and made houses for all her friends.  Tobias great time exploring the store during class as well.  We ended with our usual walk to the pet store afterwards.

Instead of storytime this week the library had a messy art day.  Genevieve painted a mural and played with water beads.  They both enjoyed some water and sand play.

We tried out a Rocking Jump and enjoyed trampoline time as a family while we are between gymnastics sessions.  Another local library made paper rockets and launched them, so Genevieve joined in with that.  The paper rocket actually worked on our stomp launcher, until they put it in our pool.

We ended the week visiting grandparents. Tobias and Genevieve worked together to create a pillow fort. Genevieve convinced Grandma Stacey to make cookies with her too.

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.

Rockets Red Glare

Genevieve has been remembering seeing fireworks out the window with Grandma last year, so she's been excited for this week.  We got a few poppers to talk about fireworks safety and watched fireworks on TV since we were too tired to stay up for the local show.  We played Hanabi, which has been a great opportunity for practicing our numbers and counting.  We read The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller and some of the Felicity books from the American Girl Series.

We've also been playing with force this week.  We got some stomp rockets and had great fun running after them.  They also experimented with dad to see how high they could bounce balls.

We've been doing the Hokey Pokey and playing some Hide and Seek this week.  We also had a fun game night where Genevieve did pretty well at Takaido.  Camp Creativity was Frozen themed this week so Genevieve made a Model Magic Olaf and a snowflake out of beads.  Genevieve has practiced making some of her letters and numbers as well.