Blast Off!

This week's theme for the Smart Summer challenge was outer space.  Right up our alley!  We had a lot of fun with this one, even if I didn't get pictures of all the different activities.  I'm trying to worry more about the "doing" than the "documenting", because sometimes it's the reverse, and that's not always as much fun!

Our local science museum recently remodeled their "Science of Flight" exhibit.  We are members to the museum, and that expense was so worth it!  I can't count how many times we've been there just this summer.  The Munchkin has taken several classes there as well.  This week, he was actually taking a "Pirate Science" class, and one day after it was over, we stayed for a couple hours exploring. 

The Sprout had fun playing with components of the Astronaut Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations.  He loves matching, shadow matching, sorting and the like, and I usually turn the magnet pages into "dot dot paint" pages.  He also made his own rocket!

We went for a "Space Walk" as I called it, walking out the distance between the planets to get an idea of how far apart they from each other.  I got the idea from Life in the Unknown.  I printed out the planets from the Solar System Preschool Pack at 1+1+1=1, laminated them (because I'm addicted to my laminating machine) and off we went.  We should have done this at, oh, say 4 o'clock in the morning instead of 11:30 in the morning because it was already h-o-t.  Still fun though!



I'm standing where the Sun was, and if you can see the 3 year old on the green Gator, he's out near Neptune.

Sprout and I spent an afternoon at the library picking out books.  Ok, I picked out the books and he ran around like a 3 year old.  :)  I also forgot how much I love some of the science shows we get through various sources (Netflix, satellite channels, our own collection).

Books We Read

Space Boy by Leo Landry (Sprout's favorite!)
Astro Bunnies by Christine Loomis
What the Sun Sees; What the Moon Sees by Nancy Tafuri
Shine Moon Shine by David Conway
Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin
Spacy Riddles by Katy Hall (a hit with Munchkin!)

Shows We Watched
LeapFrog: Math Adventure to the Moon
Space Buddies
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, the Adventure Begins (yes, we needed to watch that one this week!)
Traveler's Guide to the Planets, several episodes

The Munchkin also found a new app for the iPod that he wanted to play, Puzzle Planets, and he seemed to be having fun with it. 

There were many other activities that I would have loved to fit in (like eating the astronaut ice cream that I forgot I bought!) and since this is a popular topic in our house, I'm sure we'll be doing the rest of them soon!

Everything Else...

matching up kites and their tails by color

So, for a while I've been thinking that I wanted to create a separate blog for everything but cooking.  I just couldn't decide if I should commit to one more thing or not.  But sometimes, I want to prattle on about homeschooling, scrapbooking, or other random things, and don't feel like putting in on Alphabet Soup.  Why?  I don't know.  I guess it's just always been a food & cooking blog, and I wasn't sure if I should change that now. 

Anyway, so here I am!  We'll see how this goes, and how long this lasts.  :)  Summer is crazy around here.  I know most people talk about the "lazy days of summer" but we don't really seem to get those at my house.  Most of it is by my own doing, I realize that, but with different camps, classes, and outings, our schedule changes week to week and it just makes for crazy days.  Add in the fact that we live just far enough out of town to make driving a pain (but not quite far enough for me to flat out say "no") and well...I feel like I spend my days going back and forth and back and forth.  Oh well.  It's the life I choose, so I guess I shouldn't really complain...but I do!

I found the Smart Summer Challenge on Facebook, and it's actually what motivated me to finally get this blog up.  The Munchkin has been getting in lots of learning activities this summer, with various camps and classes, but I've been making more of an effort to do stuff with the Sprout that might actually teach him something in the long run, even if he doesn't realize it.  ;)  We're not having structured school by any means.  Just trying to do fun things that get him engaged and keep me from losing my mind. 

Back in May I bought myself a laminating machine for Teacher Appreciation Week.  :)  I love that thing.  I've used it to make several activities for the Sprout so far, and have many more planned.  I just need more cardstock and printer ink.  :)

This week was mostly the letter K, and a few others thrown in because that's what I had printed up.  I've been working on letter recognition with him, as well as counting, colors, and shapes.  You know, typical preschool stuff.  Here are some of the resources I've found. 

Letter of the Week, from Confessions of a Homeschooler
Printables from 1+1+1=1
Printables from Homeschool Creations

And there are so many more!  I've discovered that he loves dot painting, and so I've googled a bunch of those.  I've even created a few things of my own with my scrapbooking software, and have ideas for a few more.  I always laughed at the idea of file folder games, but I printed one up for letter matching, and he really liked it.

he loves lacing cards

A lot of these activities I got ready to keep him occupied during the hour that the Munchkin was at swimming lessons every day this week and next.  He's liked them more than I thought he would, so this weekend I'm hoping to get a few more made up to take next week.  My parents have been watching the Squirt while we're at swimming, so the Sprout and I have had some much enjoyed one-on-one time!

Enjoy!  :)