How to Make a Pretzel Cabin and Saltine Village

Callie's log cabin inspired by Caleb...

Mariah's masterpiece inspired by the love of glue dispensing!

Steps:

1. Give your children the materials (pretzels, saltines, a cardboard plate and elmers)

2. Say nothing. NOTHING. Don't say, "Okay, so you just do this..." Let THEM figure it out. The variety is astounding.

It it interesting to note that some people think vertically and some horizontally... at least this project they did. :)

How to teach Guitar

I pulled out my guitar today. I showed them how it works REALLY briefly... just defining stuff and why it's there. Then I gave them the rules, no turning the white knobs at the end and no hitting hard. Then, they were allowed the freedom. Callie instantly took like August Rush and started making overtones and drumming and strumming and testing it out. She took note of where it was louder, where softer, where higher pitched, where lower pitched. With pick... without pick. Up and down the bridge. She spent an 1/2 hour independently on it. It was amazing to watch! She can learn so much if I just keep my BIG OLE MOUTH SHUT!!!

How to Build a Horse Protector....

As mentioned earlier, my kids were inspired to take some toys outside and play make-believe among the weeds. Their favorite outdoor friends were their Melissa and Doug horses. Unfortunately, they were easily lost among the late growing winter grasses before mowing season, thus when mowing season had begun... a little horse was mangled to its destruction. Callie, realized that something had to be done to protect her dear horses from the evil monster lawn mower. She build this incredibly detailed structure out of rocks and twig scaffolding, with a grass roof similar to the Little House dugout in Plum Creek. Now her horses have a safe dwelling away from the mower.
Note: When children have REAL motivation... they build and create AMAZING things. Had I said, "Callie, go build a house" she would have made a dinky pathetic little thing... for my approval.

How to Build a Log Cabin- part 2

So, earlier on this year we posted about the log cabin we were building. It has sat half constructed for some time now... so I asked my husband if he could please fell the dead tree in the back yard. He watched a you tube video about how to get a tree to fall the way you want it too, but clearly, gravity is more powerful than the mind. Luckily, our chickens survived and we were able to reconstruct the damage. :) And, now the log cabin is done... and it's raining!

How to Make Chocolate on a Stick

These are some slap happy testimonials of chocolate on a stick. All you do is melt some chocolate chips and pour the chocolate into your typical candy molds. I just happened to add craisins and marshmallows to make it not so thickly chocolate. Then, cool it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Voila! Presto! Yummo!

How to Make a Volcano

The defacto volcano of sorts is certainly exciting, but probably isn't perfect, because it lasts all but a second or two. Anyway, here are my tips for enjoying volcano fun:

1. Let the kids build the volcano themselves... preferably outdoors with no limits to size and materials.

2. Let the kids pour the vinegar themselves... they get to feel confident in what they CAN do in this world where they feel limited.

3. Sing Jimmy Buffets song, "I don't know where I'm a gonna go when the vol- cano blows!"

4. Feed the kids chocolate afterwards. Then their mouths look like volcanoes too. ;)

How to Make Play Doh

As you can see, the beautiful all natural ingredient of Cream of Tartar is the key. Yes, there are other variations, some that even include peanut butter. BUT... traditional play doh is a simple process using the ingredient Cream of Tartar. If you are wondering what Cream of Tartar is... but aren't curious enough to look it up... it is a substance created when one turns grape into wine. I.E. a by-product of wine making. (Name deriving from the chemical composition of potassium acid tartrate) It is all natural and is commonly used to make souffles and candies of sorts. I used almost the entire jar yesterday. Made four large batches of Play doh.

Here is the recipe:

3 cups flour blended with 3 cups water in pot on stove.
Add 1 cup salt.
Add 6 teaspoons Cream of Tartar.
Add 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Food coloring (plan on using most of the tube for good color)

Heat on medium/high heat until it clumps up good enough to look sort of like playdoh.

Throw on a surface (I use a wooden cutting board) and knead until smooth and clumps are out/color mixed well.

Let cool. Let play.

We made green for St. Patricks day, yellow just because, purple for princesses and brown for monkeys. When I get out to get some more Cream of Tartar we will make pink, blue and orange. :)

Clay Happy!!!

How to Make a Fairy Crown

Callie came in from outside yesterday with a big ole handful of weeds. "whatcha doin?" I asked. "Making a fairy crown" she says. "Oh" I replied. "Mom, do you have some duct tape?"
"What for?" I asked not thinking she would use duct tape to make a fairy crown.
She then explained that she planned to tape it together.
"Are you sure you want to use duct tape?" I asked.
"No... sigh" Callie looked disgruntled.
"Would you like for me to help you Callie?" I offered.
"YEAH!!!" she said relieved.
"Ok... I will go get some string".
So we proceeded to search out some embroidery floss, cut off a 20-25 inch strand... tied it around the first flowers stem... then wrapped it around and around adding a new week every inch or so.
Voila! A fairy crown. We made one for Mariah too, which she rejected and dad wore the rest of the night.

How to Discover Tones...

After leaving my kids alone with the glasses and the water for a good 10 minutes, then sitting QUIETLY and observing... for another 20 or so; Callie says to me, "Hey, the smaller water makes the higher noise and the higher water makes the lower noise". Children need not be taught. They need the environment to learn... and they need to be left alone... guided when WANTED and free to experience all that is around them. How many adults do you know (ask yourself first) that know which would make the higher pitch?!

This was SOOOOO fun! I was in heaven. Mariah was learning her dexterity, balance (how to pour and how to spill) while Callie was discovering a whole slough of physics. The non-verbal questions she asked herself were: "If I put the spoon in the cup and make the water rise higher, will the pitch go lower?", and "If I put a paper towel in the cup, will it mute the pitch in the way the spoon just did", and "can I get ALL my cups to be the same pitch?" and "what happens if my cups are touching" and "why don't they ring the same when they touch" and etc. etc. etc. How awe inspiring. I just ordered a new AMAZING book. It is hot off the press and being pre-ordered right now... check it out. Already bought mine... http://www.amazon.com/Making-Musical-Instruments-Kids-Projects/dp/1884365485/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237255980&sr=8-1

How to Stack Storm Style

I believe in the power of the Dixie Cup. Great invention. I would never use it for it's intended purpose, drinking... although, I can see why others would. I have always been a drink out of cupped hand girl, or bend beneath the faucet type. Case in point, Dixie cups have many uses... my favorite of which is PLAY. Costco sells a big-ole pack of these. Give your kids some time with these, and maybe they can be like this little wonder... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQTS8wMnOpM

How to Encourage Creativity

I could attempt to write a book on this topic. But, I will keep it short and simple today. If you struggle with your kids NOT wanting to be alone... or saying "I'm bored" all the time... you can probably blame it on TV and movies. I don't say that to sabotage the wonderful invention... I say that simply as matter of fact. Within two weeks of our cable being shut off to save finances, both my daughters stopped being bored... because they were given the TIME to learn to entertain themselves.

All children need time alone. Unfortunately, the world has convinced many that if you leave your kids alone... you are neglecting them. Society would make us think we have to entertain our children at all waking hours... or give them something else (TV) to entertain them when we cannot. Naptime anyone? Don't worry... I have been there too... and it seemed a little too idealistic to believe we could live without TV. I must say... YES... you can live without T.V. and what a better life!!!

When you see your children inventing things, creating stores, parties, cards, clubs, forts and the whole slough of other things they have the power to create... you will begin to see the value in what I am saying. They don't need to be entertained ALL the time by some outside source. They actually (and so do we mom's) have the ability to create fun for ourselves... regardless of financial means... or circumstances. Believe it or not, the pioneers had a good ole time, with making many uses out of a stick. That is not BOREDOM... that is genius. We are basically idiots if we can't make fun out of a stick or a box. (seen that book series)

Boring people are boring. Geniuses are Creative.

I, for one, am planning on raising geniuses... without the assistance of a T.V.

How to Enjoy a Sunday

Sunday's are beautiful days... especially when there is beautiful weather. Sunday's are for pondering. Sunday's are for appreciation. Sunday's are for wonder and amazement at all of God's creations. Sunday's are for reading, writing, singing and resting. Sunday's are for reflection of all of life's joys and wonders. Sunday's are for service and charity. Charity in the sense that you grow your capacity for love of others. We had a wonderful Sunday this week. Although we were sad to miss church due to colds, we were joyful to formally (with spring dresses) breathe in the beauty of the natural back yard. Callie picked bouquets of "weed" flowers, and Mariah sang on the swing. Norah and I sat and felt grateful watching. What a beautiful day. What unlimited joy can be found!!!

What Sunday's shouldn't be: restrictive and limiting... once again... the disease of boredom. I know because I used to live that paradigm. Creativity with holier limits... for the benefit and bettering of all. Think about it.

How to Learn About Sewing Machines

Callie wanted to learn about who invented the sewing machine. As with the computer, and many other inventions it is impossible to pin down ONE person to the creation of such a magnificent machine. You could read for hours on the topic (I did) and still not really know WHO to attribute it to. Singer made a whole bunch of money off his innovations, but certainly did NOT invent the machine... and was at least the 20th person down the line to tinker with the idea.

This idea is great though... and there is probably a mom and pop shop in your town that would have one of these older machines, but I happened to have one in my home. This was Justin's grandma's machine. It is incredibly complicated, hard to use and yet yields very simple results. It will only to a single straight stitch, but the effort to get it to do that straight stitch is extraordinary. It basically gave us a headache looking at the manual together and trying to get the bobbin in. But, once the power was working... the kids LOVED pushing the level to make the needle pulse and Mariah was LOVIN' turning the control wheel!! I am glad the machine was at least heavy duty steel.

It was a simple lesson. People have ideas... do the best they can... and then the next person can improve it a bit. All of us contribute a little to great things. The key is to keep trying. And the best successes come from failures. Not that this machine is a failure... but I am sure glad there were people dissatisfied with it. It makes me appreciate my Pfaff a lot more!!!

How to Learn the Senses

What they love to eat... illustrated on gigantic tongues for dramatic effect!! :)

There are a lot of things adults take for granted. The senses is definitely one of them. We eat, touch, smell, hear and see so many things... really not recognizing how valuable they are to us.

I started this whole activity by making a gift bag, with tissue paper filled with 5 cut-outs. One hand, one tongue, one eye, one ear and one nose. Each kid took a turn picking a gift out of the bag. The idea is that all these wonderful senses are a gift from God, to protect us... to help us in this mortal journey. They not only protect us from harm, and teach us things... they can bring us great joy. So, each sense we had an activity that went along with it.

Sound: I had the kids close their eyes and listen to different things in the kitchen. I opened the fridge door, pushed buttons on the microwave, turned on the faucet etc. They had to guess what I was doing just by listening.

Sight: We mostly learned sight by all the ways its awful not to have it. The kids closed their eyes most of the time, because we truly rely on sight more than anything else. No wonder we are so slow to faith!! We talked about colors and knowing how far things are away from us.

Touch: I put a bunch of objects into bags and had the kids feel and desribe what they felt. Some pokey things, soft things, hard things, sticky things etc. They LOVED it. Then I showed them what it was. Sometimes, you can tell what things are just by feeling them... but kids are VERY slow to trust that.

Taste: This was a fun one... ofcourse kids love to taste everything... almost. They love treats anyways. I had them close their eyes and I put stuff like salty chips, squishy marshmallows etc, on their tongues and told them to describe it. Basically we talked about what "sour" means. What "spicy" means. What "bitter" means. What "sweet" means. My kids call toothpaste, soda, salsa and lemons spicy... so it was time to define things a little more. :) It worked pretty well.

Smell: Just like touch, I stuffed a bunch of smelly stuff into bags and had them guess what it was. Cleaners, deoderant, a diaper, chocolate etc. They knew chocolate boy!! :)

Anyway, it was lots of fun. You can try it any time!!

How to Have Fun

Step One: Forget vanity.
Step Two: Live while you can.
Step Three: (Automatic if you follow 1 and 2) Never regret it.

How to Waterproof Gloves for Snow

If you are like me... you live in a place where snow like this only happens once in a blue moon. Boy do we LOVE those blue moons!! But, because of the infrequency of such events, we are hardly prepared... adequately for long lengths of snow. Surely some of you have had a similar experience... 3o minutes getting dressed... 10 minutes outside... an hour wiping tears and doing laundry. Well, today was a new day. I was bound and determined to NOT let that happen. So, I pulled out my stash of Wal Mart bags and duct taped them to my children. Yes, Duct taped. You laugh... BUT 2 hours after dressing... they came indoors, all smiles, ready for hot cocoa. Just like the dream would illustrate. Happy days in the snow... thanks to duct tape!!