A look at our week in pictures:
Monday's theme was Pools and Painting. Read more here:
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/07/pools-and-painting.html
Tuesday was a free day. The above and following pictures sums up the kid's day pretty well: building with the Duplo's (they had some pretty interesting and intricate buildings), building with the Gears! Gears! Gears! (
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Gears/dp/B00000DMCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406581927&sr=8-1&keywords=gears), they all attempted rolling skating, and played with dolls, Barbie's and Ninja Turtles.
Elizabeth tried out the doll stroller.....and got mad when she couldn't get herself out.
The kids got a special treat for afternoon snack.
Wednesday was Little People Day. I brought all of the Little People sets outside and let the kids create their own town with unlimited space. All of the kids enjoyed playing with the sets outside, but it was the two oldest kids (both six) who played with it ALL day long. Little People sets may have for ages 1 1/2 to 5 on the box, but these sets have gotten more than enough play well beyond five years!
Miss E has to have babies, keys, purses, and a stroller outside for her to play. She also has to have the red and yellow cozy coupe within view at all times. She's had a tough time this summer learning to share it with the other kids.
The kids were more than taken with a cicada on the swing set. I required the hub's help in removing the bug.
The kids watched a Little People movie before naps.
I had the kids use up the last of the metallic paint on animal figurines I found on clearance at Walmart.
Thursday's theme was Field Day #3. Read more here:
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/07/field-day-3.html
Thursday was also school registration for Mr. Max. Just 3 more weeks until he's in 1st grade!!
Friday the kids did several experiments. The first thing the was building a sail boat (I found a kit in the Dollar section at Target). They had to follow the directions (on their own, I helped very little) and once the glue dried, we tested the sail boat out to see if it floated. They had success! They were quite thrilled and are anxiously waiting to put it in the little swimming pool in the backyard.
We tried to make duck calling straw, but those were completely unsuccessful. So instead we turned it into rocket straws. The kids LOVED these and shot these across the living room for a good 30 minutes before they lost interest. The biggest issue we had with the rocket straws was spit. A couple of the smaller kids were spit as they blew into the straws which made the "rockets" stick to the straw. Otherwise this was a great activity for all ages (I had kids ages 2 to 6 that day).
Another unsuccessful experiment, but something that still held the kids interest: Color Symphony. The colors were suppose to come together but not mix according to what I found online. Didn't happen with ours, but the kids liked blowing the colors together. The bottom of the pan looked cool too.
The last experiment/activity of the day: make your own marble races. I gave the kids two pool sticks, scissors, and marbles and let them create their own. They got pretty creative with the marble runs they made.....and I'm still finding marbles all over the house. I'll have to remember this activity for winter time.
I can't believe that we're winding down with summer already. Several of the kids only have a few weeks until school begins and I'll be busier than ever! This summer has been quite cool compared the our last two summers. I rather disappointed that it hasn't been warm enough to do a lot of the water activities I had planned for summer, but I'm keeping them in the book for next summer. The next few weeks we'll be trying to fit in a lot of the theme days, finishing up work books, and enjoying the beautiful weather that Iowa has given us the last few weeks.
