Work Hard, Play Harder: Sew Much Fun

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” (Ecc. 3:1) Join us as we explore a season of fun and family! Help us discover new ways to enjoy family time and build lasting memories.

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Now I know sewing might not be fun for everyone. To be honest, at times, it isn’t much fun for me. (At least, not in those moments when I am wrestling with my machine or trying to stuff an oversized pillow and sew it shut.) Generally though, sewing is a lot of fun!

There’s nothing quite like taking a scrap of fabric, or an old item you plan to reuse, and turning it into something creative and unique. My girls have been practically begging me to dig out the sewing machine (I keep it tucked away, we don’t have room for a sewing area in our house. I wish!) and teach them the ropes. This week, that’s just what we did!

While I usually tend to jump into life’s activities full throttle, I am trying to understand that kids usually do not do well with this method; especially when it comes to new skills being learned. I thought we had better ease our way into machine sewing and did some online searching for the perfect project to start us off.

What I found was an amazing website, with a section specifically designed for teaching little people how to sew. Skip to My Lou was just what I was looking for. I downloaded her helpful practice pages and off we went!

Click on the picture to be directed to the Skip to My Lou website.

So far, the kids are really liking it. Even my little man was excited to get in on the fun. He was the first to test out the machine. (As he is the youngest, I thought it best to let him go first and not test his patience.) They all did a wonderful job on their projects.

The first sheet, dot-to-dot, we did with a simple stitch. Nothing fancy, just an opportunity for them to better learn the skill and how to work the machine. The second sheet, the maze, we chose to be a little more creative. For each line of the maze, the kids were allowed to test out various patterns that came on our sewing machine. All together, we have over 26 different stitches to work with.

We learned a lot today! We experimented with stitch length, width, and tension. They learned how to thread the machine and thread the bobbin. They learned how to start off a project, turn corners, and finish neatly.

As this was the kids’ first attempt at machine sewing, we thought doing these two sheets was enough for one day. After all, one machine and four kids takes a lot of time! In the future, I might need to invest in one more; just so the kids aren’t having to wait as long to get some work in. We’ll see…

For future projects, because there will be future projects, I think we will be using quite a few ideas found on Nana Company; as well as Skip to My Lou. Nana Company has a plethora of ideas, starting with THIS adorable snack mat.

A great day of fun. Plus, it knocked another ‘pin’ off my list of ‘to-dos’!

Time to Chime In: Do your children sew? Who taught them and how often do they put their skills to use?

Art Attack: The Eensie-Weensie Spider

In a world of busy-ness and responsibility, it’s just as important to take a few moments exploring the creative side of life. Join us as we share ideas on how to get those imaginative juices flowing and explore a world of art!

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Never mistake simple for easy. For example, one of our summer art projects is to decorate a spider printout in the most creative way possible. Simple, yes; easy, not necessarily!

A basic spider shape is being provided to all four of our children. Each child is to then take this outline, cut it out, adhere it to black card stock and then decorate it however they’d like. The challenge: To be as neat as possible and to think outside the box.

Are their spiders going to be realistic or creative? Will they paint their spiders, color them with markers, cover them in glitter, or perhaps try embossing powder? (Oh; maybe we should buy some flocking and give that a whirl! Good idea…) The only limit given is that they cannot use food to decorate their creations. Not only do they need to concern themselves with the body of the spider, which is provided, but they also need to create legs for their arachnid. Eyes might be a good idea, as well.

No other embellishments may be made to the 8×10 card stock; this is a test of their spider only. They are being judged based on their adherence to the rules and their imaginations.

This is going to be an interesting entry. Each year, we do a competition of this sort and it always proves to be fun. A few of the kids tend to lean towards reality, while the other two prefer to come up with their own designs. I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Should you care to join in the fun, here is a quick printout which you can use with your own kiddos. Simply print, cut, glue and decorate!

Feel free to print this out and try your own project at home!

If you do decide to try out this project, please shoot us an email and share pictures of your results. We’d enjoy cheering you on and sharing in the fun.

Time to Chime In: Would your children prefer to create a realistic spider or fictional?

The Mad Scientist: The Hunt is On

It is I, the mad scientist! Join me and my minions as we study some of God’s amazing creatures; learning tons of fun facts along the way.

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The weather is too beautiful to remain indoors all week long. I think it is high time we got on some walking shoes and explored the world of birds!

To help us on our quest, head over to Home School Creations and take a look at THIS awesome Bird Nature Study Printable. These sheets will help us get the most out of our adventure. (Jolanthe has a superb list of bird activities, printouts, and more which you might want to peruse as well. She is a valuable source for research and information.)

For our purposes, we will simply snag the Bird Nature Study sheets and head into the wild unknown. (Okay, not so unknown. We’ve actually gone to this park before, but it’s been a very long time.)

Our field trip (and science lesson) for the week is going to be at Descanso Gardens. They have wonderful walking paths, a hedge maze for the littles, a rose garden for mom, and a fairly decent sized lake for bird watching. At the lake, there are helpful guides to assist with your bird watching endeavors. We will use these, along with our printouts, to explore the world of birds.

If you are not able to head into the great outdoors or have no nature center nearby, consider checking out Birds of the Bible for Kids; right here on WordPress! Birds of the Bible is an incredible resource; they have so much to offer. Daily posts are uploaded with helpful information and resources about various birds mentioned in the Bible. If you haven’t already started following them, you are definitely missing out!

There you have it. Simple and sweet. The perfect way to study God’s creatures, get some exercise, and make memories. Bird watching! Now; go have some fun…

Time to Chime In: Are you a bird watcher? We are thinking of putting up a hummingbird feeder; any tips you can give us?

Geography Quest: Midwest States, West North Central

All aboard the HSM Express! Join us as we take a quick tour of the United States. Expect to learn a little geography, history, social studies, and more. Definitely plan on having tons of fun. 

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Once more, we find ourselves on a journey around the United States. This week, we will be taking a trip through half of the MidWest states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.

As before, we are going to start off our adventure with some handy-dandy coloring pages for each state. This will give the littles something to work on while we learn about each state’s topography. You can find coloring pages HERE:

Click on the image to view this image via Crayola.com

Now that we have learned a little about what each state looks like, let’s take a few minutes to discover a tad more. (Please note: This is meant to be short, sweet, and as fun as possible; not long and arduous. Choose which areas to cover with care, noting which events can be accompanied by activities.)

North Dakota
Plains Indians
Grizzly Bears

South Dakota
Deadwood
Sitting Bull
Black Hills
Mt. Rushmore

Nebraska
The Great American Desert
Arbor Day
Kool-Aid
Mammoth Fossils

Kansas
American Bison
Amelia Earhart

Minnesota
The Minnesota Territory
Twine Ball
Stapler (invented)
Minneapolis Skyway

Iowa
Early Explorers
The Mississippi River
Herbert Hoover
John Wayne

Missouri
Dred Scott Decision
The Missouri Compromise
World’s Fair (Invention of Ice Tea/Ice Cream Cones)

I thought it would be appropriate to start off our lessons learning a little more about the Plains Indians. There are so many different tribes to discover and learn about! HERE is a helpful map indicating each tribe’s region. If you have time, consider doing an activity or craft based on a particular tribe!

Our kiddos have already been familiarized with Mt. Rushmore, so we thought we’d tackle Deadwood this go ’round. Dress up like cowboys and write-up some ‘laws of the land’; just so outlaws would know where they stand.

To honor Arbor Day, do a little yard work; prune a few trees, fertilize roses, and spruce up the garden. To help you cool off, consider drinking a little punch!

‘T’ would not let me live it down if we didn’t at least mention Amelia Earhart, her all time favorite gal. I think she likes her adventurous spirit and ‘can do’ attitude.

The idea of being able to walk five entire blocks without actually stepping one foot out-of-doors is remarkable, in my mind. We definitely need to spend a few moments talking about the Minneapolis Skyway. How is this structure a benefit? Are people really enjoying its use?

One of my grandmother’s favorite actors was John Wayne. If you can find one, watch one of his famous movies; especially those that also star his sons!

The Dred Scott Decision is not one to be missed. Take a closer look at the case and discuss the implications of the court’s verdict.

I always try to end on a happy note as often as possible. This week, our geography quest ends with a scoop of ice cream! A box full of cones stands at the ready and three flavors are ready to be devoured. Delicious!

Time to Chime In: Do you have a favorite John Wayne movie? Which would you recommend? (Mine has always been Hatari; not his typical cowboy film. There is a very funny story that goes with this. Remind me to tell it sometime.)

Help us Out: For added fun, we are trying to collect a postcard from each of the fifty states! If you, or someone you know, lives in one of these five states; would you consider mailing us a quick postcard? Email us for the address and, as an added bonus, we’ll mail one back to you!

How Pinteresting: Shrinky Dinky Doo

One ‘pin’ a week; that is the goal. Nothing too fancy, nothing too far-fetched; just a good opportunity to finally test out a few of those Pinterest ideas and see which ones really work! Join along and chime in; let us know which projects you’ve been working on and how they’ve turned out!

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To be honest, we’ve done this before. It wasn’t a success, but we’ve done it. How could we have gone wrong, you ask? Simple; we didn’t follow the directions!

This week’s project was to re-tackle Shrinky Dink. We tried this experiment last summer and had no success. The ink we used to color our images kept coming off and the projects ended up breaking on us, due to our mishandling of the material. This year, we were determined to conquer this challenge and figure out how to create a masterpiece with Shrinky Dink.

Click on the picture to follow the Pinterest link! (Original image not mine.)

This project is fairly simple and straightforward; if you follow the directions, that is. Here is what you’ll need:

Shrinky Dink
Alcohol Based Inks
Pencils
Stamps (optional)
StayzOn Stamp Pad (optional)
An Oven (either toaster or traditional)
Scissors
Corner Punch (optional)

Creating these beauties is fairly easy. Draw your image onto the Shrinky Dink paper; color the image using alcohol based inks; cut out the image; then bake it in your oven until the image shrinks down in size and flattens out. Carefully remove your projects from the oven and allow them to cool for a moment. Once they are finished; have fun!

If you’d like, you could use stamps and a StayzOn ink pad to create your images as well. Simply ink your stamp; stamp the image; and color it. The rest of the steps are the same.

What did we do differently this year? Well, here are a few tips on what we did wrong last year and how we did things this year:

• Draw and color on the correct side of the Shrinky Dink. Last year, a few of our kiddos got a little confused.
• Use the correct colored pens. Last year, we thought we could get away with using Crayola markers. It didn’t work out so well. This year, we used colored Sharpies and Pantone markers.
• Use the right ink pad; no water based stamp pads will work. Definitely stick with StayzOn!
• Place the projects face down in the correct manner and not too close to one another, when putting them in the oven. Ours tended to stick to each other, if placed too near. Plus, if put the wrong side up, they will curl in upon themselves and turn into a sticky mess which will break if you try to fix them.
• Use a corner punch for square objects, especially if you are making jewelry (as shown in the above picture). Once shrunk, this material will get very sharp on the edges and cut little fingers, if you aren’t careful.

With these tips in mind, we proceeded with caution. We are very happy to say this year’s projects turned out wonderfully! Our girls even decided to be especially creative and use the Shrinky Dink to make Father’s Day cards for the men in our lives. They turned out beautifully!

Given that we payed attention to instructions, we had a blast and were successful in our endeavors. Let this be a lesson for all our future projects. Yet another successful ‘pin’. (Well, this time around!)

Time To Chime In: Have you ever made jewelry out of Shrinky Dink? Share your creativity!

Care to participate in next week’s Pinteresting project? Take a look at THIS link to get a head start on next week’s ‘pin’!

 

Work Hard, Play Harder: The Read-a-thon

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…” (Ecc. 3:1) Join us as we explore a season of fun and family! Help us discover new ways to enjoy family time and build lasting memories.

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I am an avid reader. Everyone in my immediate family is; from the man, all the way down to the little man. Us in a bookstore is a dangerous thing, my friend. One way our family enjoys having fun is through our local library, participating in the summer reading program.

Now, I understand that reading it not fun for everyone. For those who do not enjoy, I am truly sorry. There is an entire world you are missing.

As parents, one way we can inspire our children to read, is to read ourselves! Whenever a parent shares their struggle in getting a child to read, the first question I ask is how often they, as parents, read. Often, the answer is, “hardly ever”. We cannot expect our children to do that which we do not model for them. If you want your children to enjoy reading, you must be excited about reading yourself.

Back to the point at hand… One way to encourage a love of reading in the entire family, is the summer reading program! Everyone, from pop down to the little people, are free to join in. (Disclaimer: I should specify that our local library has a program for everyone; no matter the age. I understand not all libraries do this.)

During the summer reading program, we turn in weekly reading logs to earn prizes for our hard work. At the end of summer, there are special prizes awarded to those with the most reading tickets! Our kids walk away each week with a cute, little prize. I usually walk away with raffle tickets towards the bigger prizes.

At the end of summer, the library hosts a huge end of summer party. For completing the reading program, you get tickets for free ice cream, face painting, balloon animals, and more!

So, what do you do if your library doesn’t host a summer reading program? If you have the time, I would highly recommend organizing a committee to get a program started! Offer to help out at the library or find out how to bring such a program to your area. Lacking in time? (Aren’t we all?) Consider hosting your own ‘family reading program’! Set a goal for each member of your family and announce prizes for each week’s goal. At the end of the summer, have a party to celebrate all your hard work and remember all the fun books you’ve read.

Our library picks a theme each year. In fact, I think the entire state of California is using this current theme. This year, we are focusing on “Paws to Read”. Get it? We are using an animal theme to help children get excited about reading. We are welcome to read any book in the library, but we get extra credit for reading books about animals; fiction or non.

Reading is loads of fun! (At least for us.) I cannot imagine summer time without the summer reading program. For our family, the reading program also means lots of fun and tons of memories.

Time to Chime In: What is your fondest memory from a summer reading experience?

Art Attack: Computer Challenged

In a world of busy-ness and responsibility, it’s just as important to take a few moments exploring the creative side of life. Join us as we share ideas on how to get those imaginative juices flowing and explore a world of art!

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This summer our art is full of personal challenges. We’ve attempted to recreate the past, color creatively, and more! This week’s challenge: computer art!

Instead of using a traditional form of art, our kids were given the task of creating a completely digital piece of artwork. They could use reference, but the work had to be entirely their own handiwork.

How is this done? Well, first off, you need the right tools. Luckily, I’m married to an artist!

Our kids used Photoshop to create their images. They first used the drawing tool to get the initial design. They then used a myriad of other helpful tools included in the program to color, highlight, and detail their project. Besides Photoshop, our kids were given short lessons on how to use a drawing tablet.

Unfortunately, you will need the right tools to complete this challenge. Unlike traditional art, digital art is all about having the right program and equipment. While we understand this is not feasible for everyone, if you can afford to go this route, we highly recommend it.

A previous digital project, completed by my son.

In the current age of technology, digital art is the standard. Does this mean traditional artists are a thing of the past? No; heaven forbid! (My man still likes painting.) What it does mean, is that if you want to work at art for a living, digital is a necessity. There are very few companies who will accept hand drawn art any longer. We have come to a place in time where everyone expects their product to be emailed, downloaded, and Drop Boxed. They want to be able to change colors, angles, and styles at the drop of a hat. This is almost impossible with hand-drawn art; unless, of course, you don’t mind spending hours at a drawing board adjusting clients’ requests.

Our challenge is a tough one this week, but well worth the effort. Our children are having fun. The only rule is that they be as creative as possible; nothing else. The goal is to better learn the tools at hand and eventually to master the art of digital media.

Time to Chime In: Do you own any computer art programs? Which do you favor and how often are your children using it?

The Mad Scientist: Bird Brains

It is I, the mad scientist! Join me and my minions as we study some of God’s amazing creatures; learning tons of fun facts along the way.

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Several years ago, we bought our little “Mouse” parakeets. Since their introduction into our home, she has learned so much about caring for her little friends and been dedicated in training them to be people friendly. In their honor, we will spend the next two weeks learning a little more about our winged friends!

As always, it is best to start at the beginning. Our first lesson is to review the life cycle of birds. To spice things up a little, we can focus on birds that ‘break the mold’, such as Mound Builders.

After our quick review, it might be best to dig a little deeper for the older kids in the crowd. Let’s take a few moments and study the body structure of these flying creatures.

Now, the internal workings…

A thorough study of birds would not be complete without discussing various wing structures (including an in-depth look at feathers) and beak variations. This would be the perfect time to dig out our microscope and take a closer look at the feathers collected around the bird-cage! As for beaks, it’s time to head over to YouTube for a short lecture.

The circle of life doesn’t affect our fish friends alone. It’s time to discover just where our birds fit into the food chain.

My kids would think our lesson incomplete if we didn’t include some type of craft into our activities. To finish off our day, I think we should put our sewing skills to some use and make our own birds!

Whew! That is quite a bit to cover in one morning. I think it’s time to curl up and relax. Perhaps we’ll head out back to feed our outdoor bird friends and enjoy the lovely afternoon.

Time to Chime In: Did you know you can teach parakeets to talk? It seems we are out of luck though, putting two birds together hinders them from speaking. They tend to talk only when they are alone, needing the interaction with people not found from another bird. Have you ever taught a bird to speak? Give us some tips!

Geography Quest: Midwest States, East North Central

All aboard the HSM Express! Join us as we take a quick tour of the United States. Expect to learn a little geography, history, social studies, and more. Definitely plan on having tons of fun. 

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Once more, we find ourselves on a journey around the United States. This week, we will be taking a trip through half of the MidWest states: Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

As before, we are going to start off our adventure with some handy-dandy coloring pages for each state. This will give the littles something to work on while we learn about each state’s topography. You can find coloring pages HERE:

Compliments of Crayola.com

Now that we have learned a little about what each state looks like, let’s take a few minutes to discover a tad more. (Please note: This is meant to be short, sweet, and as fun as possible; not long and arduous. Choose which areas to cover with care, noting which events can be accompanied by activities.)

Michigan
Motor City/Ford Cars
Detroit Zoo
Michigan Post Office

Ohio
Famous Textbooks (McGuffy Readers and More)
Public Service (First Fire Station/Ambulance Service)
First Airplane/Wright Brothers
Thomas Edison

Wisconsin
“Alice in Dairyland”
Toilet Paper Capital

Illinois
Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow
First Aquarium
First Skyscraper
13 Amendment

Indiana
Underground Railroad
Indianapolis 500
Raggedy Ann

The MidWest states are the bread and butter of the US, literally. From the MidWest, we receive the bulk of our wheat and dairy products. Besides agricultural pursuits, the MidWest is the meeting point of both coastal regions; making these states the focal point for transportation.

Let’s start our journey learning a little more about Ford Motor Cars and Motor City. The history of this region is quite fascinating and sad, when you see the state of this area now; it has become a modern ghost town and a ghetto. This is the perfect time to learn more about cars themselves; how engines work and the advancements made since Ford’s time.

Speaking of transportation, this is a great segue into the Michigan Post Office, which still operates in sending mail to active ships at work! Wow! From here, let’s stop over in Ohio to learn a little more about the Wright Brothers and their invention; the airplane. I think we’ll take a few moments to make our own planes, either from paper or using a modeling kit.

Wisconsin fascinates me, so I think we’ll stop there next and learn more about “Alice in Dairyland”. Every year, a “Dairy Queen” is chosen. She travels the state and represents the dairy industry. Let’s host our own “Alice…” competition and pick our own Dairy Queen! Since Wisconsin happens to be the toilet paper capital of the US, maybe we will design a dress made from tp and have her model it for us!

While touring Indiana and Illinois, we turn to a more serious topic: The Underground Railroad. Let’s spend a few moments talking about slavery; the south’s belief that slavery was necessary, the north’s desire to rid themselves of this crime, and the fight to bring freedom to all. I think we’ll take some time to read through a few of our favorite books which mention the underground railroad; Addy (an American Girl book), The House of Dies Drear (a classic), and perhaps a few more.

I think it might be good to end on a lighter note. Let’s turn our attention once more to cars and the Indianapolis 500. We can dig out the bucket of Matchbox cars and get to some racing fun!

For the girls in the crowd, let’s take out our dolls and learn a little about Raggedy Ann. If you have never read the stories of Raggedy Ann, we highly recommend checking out a few on your next visit to the library. In the meantime, here is a great coloring page to help you out:

I think it might be time for a snack. There’s nothing like the classic standby, bread and butter. So, here is where we end our journey for the week. With glass of milk in hand and a plate of toast, we happily add our stamps to our passport books.

Time to Chime In: Which book is a ‘must read’ when studying the Underground Railroad?

Help us Out: For added fun, we are trying to collect a postcard from each of the fifty states! If you, or someone you know, lives in one of these five states; would you consider mailing us a quick postcard? Email us for the address and, as an added bonus, we’ll mail one back to you!

Art Attack: Now and Then

In a world of busy-ness and responsibility, it’s just as important to take few moments exploring the creative side of life. Join us as we share ideas on how to get those imaginative juices flowing and explore a world of art!

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My kids are growing up. Aren’t they all? There’s nothing quite like looking back through the years of pictures and remembering when they were just little things, content to sit on our laps.

One of our summer projects is to look back over the years of collected images and make an attempt at recreating them!

Each of our girls were tasked with looking back through the thousands of pictures taken, finding one or two creative shots, and then reshooting that person in the same setting. The difficulty lies not in the taking of the picture, but rather in making the new picture resemble the old one as closely as possible.

A sample given for the competition.

Here were a few key elements they were looking for:

• Is there similar clothing they can wear?
• Is the environment the same?
• Is the pose being replicated?
• Are props used in the original photo available for use in the new?

We found that choosing an appropriate picture could be quite challenging. Our children are still young, choosing a picture which could be recreated would be difficult. Pictures of newborns just didn’t seem to work and we couldn’t use pictures taken in the last few years, as those would have been too similar to how they look now. A bit of a trial!

Photos have been chosen; ones they feel are able to be reproduced with a minimum amount of difficulty. Now, they will be spending the greater part of the week setting up their shots and finally taking them.

This is a fun art project for anyone! Consider taking your own photos and doing the same. Looking back on the memories and ‘remembering when’ is so much fun, especially for the kids. Seeing the then and now, side by side, is truly precious. These will definitely need to be framed.

Time to Chime In: Have you ever recreated a picture taken of your children? Have you done this for yourself?