Startin' Summer and How to Build a Village

I don't think I mentioned before that our family just picked up and MOVED to a NEW STATE for the SUMMER. But that's what we did 3 days ago. We are away for 3 months trying out a place we've never been to during my husband's internship. And one of the things I miss the most (other than knowing people, having friends, and not getting lost driving around town) is that I had to leave my PROJECT ROOM behind.

I PLANNED for our SUMMER PROJECTS because I don't think I can make it 3 months without them. Just this morning Jay was telling me he was ready for a project and wondered where it was. Don't worry little buddy, I got it covered. I planned out a bunch of summer projects for the road. Did I mention that we could only bring what would FIT IN OUR TINY CAR?

So, today we began to build our village (more about that below). But not before we made a trip to the local thrift store to make up for not being able to bring a few things with us. May I just tell you that I always FEEL SO BLESSED when I go to the thrift store? I LOVE the TREASURE HUNT of it all. I always come away feeling like I've won a prize. I don't know if everyone feels that way. But seriously, I found just what I was looking for and felt so stinkin' LUCKY!

Want to see what I mean? I always feel like I can actually find REAL educational toys, not just stuff. Here are some of our finds:

This train was a .50 and if you look closely you can see that it is clear so that all the gears in this wind-up train (it has a key sticking out toward you) move and you can SEE them turn!

Children's encyclopedia, children's science book, subtraction wrap-ups game, scale, Spanish book, Nature books, shapes manipulative and little houses for OUR VILLAGE were all a quarter each!!  We also picked up a package of extra large construction paper $1, and a telling time game for $2.  I love treasure hunting at the thrift store :)

How do you plan your summer?  Do you plan your summer out, or just fly by the seat of your pants? Definitions of summertime vary. Since my kids aren't in school the only major difference is that we are in a NEW state/house/city..... But there are a few tricks up my sleeve for how we are going to learn and have fun this summer. I like to do both: plan and fly. So now that I have absolutely no ties (relatively few people know I'm even here) we are free from most commitments and able to spend our days however we choose.
Regardless of how much planning you like to do, there are probably certain things you don't want to miss out on. Write them down so you get to enjoy them.  Summer seems to slip by so fast!

This is a fun way to display summer goals. Mine are probably just going to be displayed on the refrigerator. I did remember to pack a magnet :)

Here are some of my "Project Goals" (since we are more likely to do them if I actually write them down)
FAMILY: Swim a ton, build a village (see below), read a lot, play outside a lot, explore our new state, leave the TV off even though we are excited to have one that works :)

Jay: finish learning to tell time and understand the calendar better
learn to read music
learn 2 songs by rote, 1 by notes (hopefully we have a piano to borrow since we left ours behind)
Be able to write all lowercase letters too (the right way)
learn about/how to count money
start math program

Kay:
Learn to recognize all of the uppercase alphabet letters
finish shapes and colors
start math program


Thoughts on Building a Village:

This Little Project has 3 goals in mind: 1) Create an ongoing project for the kids and me to do together, 2) Create a new set of toys for them to play with that inspire creativity (since we couldn't bring many toys with us).  3) Try to use things we already have in our home so that it is inexpensive (I packed a little lunch box with as many little fabrics, trims, threads, etc. as I could!)

At first I thought I would make one of those floor mats where there are roads and different things and buildings all flat on the mat. Then I got a better idea: make it 3D so that the buildings weren't flat, but real. Then I got an even better idea this morning: Don't make it a mat where everything stays stuck, but make it where each piece is separate so that when it gets played with it can be a NEW VILLAGE EVERY TIME by simply rearranging it.

We have a pool in the complex we are living in. We've never had so much access to the pool. I could see us spending a lot of time there. It's indoor so I don't even have to do the sunscreen fight:) The kiddos are thrilled, so naturally we started with that item in our village.

see any resemblance?  Daddy and Jay at the pool...
It started with a piece of felt folded over to make it thicker.  Then some fabric glue "liquid stitch" and some trims and sequins turned it into our pool.  


I'll post about building our village over the summer and feel free to join in for This Little Project.

Smart Snacking

I love it when meals are meaningful learning experiences. Why not have a little fun with your food? We must be on a bit of a food project kick around here. We had a Smart Snacking Shape Matching game for our snack yesterday. The kids loved matching the cracker shapes with the cheese shapes.



To make your Smart Snacking Matching Game you need:
cheese, various shapes of crackers, knife, circular object (I used one end of a plastic egg).
The crackers we used were: circle: ritz, square: zesta, oval: flipsides, hexagon: wheat thins- 5 grain, rectangular: graham crackers, triangle: zesta cut in half along the dots :)

{Little Project Tip:} To make hexagonally shaped cheese, just cut each corner off the square.  I "stamped" the cheese circles with one end of a plastic egg, but I think a cap from a milk or juice bottle may work too.

To play the Smart Snacking Game: Separate the shapes of crackers and cheese and then have each child take a turn picking a cracker shape and matching it to the cheese shape.  Then eat :)

{Little Project Tip:} This would be a really fun snack for a play date or pre-school activity too!
Enjoy This Little Project!

Fish Food

You might say that we've been playing with our food around here, and it sure makes life more fun :)
Here is what we call "Fish Food." The little ice fish are made with the ice tray from IKEA
We make them with various kinds/colors of juice so that our fish come out looking like different species.  Orange juice works well for gold fish.
{Little Project Tip:} When you are serving these it's best to put the fish in RIGHT before you serve them.  The juice melts faster than regular water ice cubes.  It also helps the fish last longer if your beverage is already quite cold.  

Also, If you make juice fish ice you may want to serve them in juice, otherwise if you add them to just water it tastes like really watered down juice with the fish ice in it :)

Since we are not allowed to have pets where we live, this will have to do!  Enjoy This Little Project!

Lunch Puzzles

Get ready for a Yummy Little Project that is sooo easy and fun!  We call these Lunch Puzzles.  You can vary the difficulty level for older and younger kids to make lunch time even more fun!

I have been blessed to have easy eaters at my house (knock on wood) so I never wanted to ruin that by using the cut outs you can buy that remove the crust...because what if they decided they didn't want to eat the crust anymore after that?  

To make Lunch Puzzles all you need is a sandwich (or toast) and a cookie cutter of your choice.  Just cut through the sandwich with your cookie cutter and mix up the pieces to see if your child can put it together. For more puzzle fun, you can do cut outs of fruit too!

 

To play the Lunch Puzzle Game: You mix up the pieces on the plate when you serve it and see who can put their lunch puzzle together the fastest. 

This Lunch Puzzle is on the EASY level. It is just the cut out and the side pieces (mix them up before serving.)

To make the Lunch Puzzle more challenging for older children: cut the side pieces into smaller pieces and/or cut the original cut-out into more pieces too.  If you have trouble getting your kids to sit and eat lunch, this should be a fun game to play.  Take it to the next level by having a contest for who can FINISH eating all of their lunch puzzle.  If you offer a small prize for winning the game it's not bribery, right? ;)

Enjoy This Yummy Little Project!

On Vacation...

We've been to 5 states in the past few days.  Oh what fun it is to travel when the kiddos sleep and aren't crying.  No computer means no blogging, but don't worry it doesn't mean no Little Projects.  Now we are at my sisters house on the east coast...so stay tuned for more fun Little Projects...and happy weekend to YOU!

Organizing: The Books

I've blogged before about how I love the library. We currently have 51 items checked out. We were there three times this past week. I love it. My kiddos love it. AND we have an awesome library. 

But...

That is a lot of stuff to keep track of. So I have established a new system. It works like this:
There are 2 Big baskets to hold the checked out items.

There are certain times when we get them out so that they don't get mixed in with home stuff.

We keep this library bag next to the baskets. {I LOVE these bags and they are so affordable!!!} 

When we are done with a library item it goes into the library bag and then it is ready to go the next time we go back. This way I don't have to try to remember to take a bag with us to carry checked-out items in.  I used to always forget!  Kay will run around the library if I let her down and trying to hold onto her with a pile of books in my arms was...impossible...but it's easy with my favorite bag!

We're loosing fewer things and returning more as soon as we are done with them. That is the kind of Little Project I should do more of around here ;)