6ichthusfish

Making Christmas Decorations & Bird boxes...

We went to the same place we've been going to for 'Paddle Power' to make Christmas decorations with natural materials.  There was a variety of foliage like ivy, holly, pine branches and other greenery, with baubles and pipe cleaners too.

 

For the table decorations the children covered half a potato with foil and gouged out a hole to hold the candle.  They then spiked the potato with a bradawl and stuck their choice of foliage into the pierced holes...

 

 Smurf made a very bushy table decoration!

 

They also made hanging decorations by threading the foliage through some thick string.  I have one in the hallway and two in the lounge.  After this activity we went outside for a brisk frosty walk...

 

After lunch we made bird boxes and an insect home. 

 

 

Smurf made an insect home...

 

 

T-g made a blue-tit bird box...

 

The children really enjoyed the woodwork and I'd like to organise some more learning in that area if I can.  An action packed day for sure!

Paddle Power...

Yesterday the home-schooled three started a six week course of canoeing called 'Paddle Power'.  Chef and Tiger-girl in their canoe...

 

 

 

Smurf was there too (less photo opps)...

 

The guy running it had a great way with kids.  Well worth £5 per person.  Looking forward to the next 5 sessions.

 

Yep... lovin the outdoor adventurous side of things.

Borscht Soup.... (!)

OK... it's no secret I am not the world's keenest cook.  I love to wash-up if someone else cooks.  The family gets fed.   What can I say.  So when Smurf asked me "What does Borscht Soup taste like?"  I had no idea (would you?)  My obvious answer was "Why do you wannna know what Borscht Soup tastes like anyway?"  And his answer was "I read about it in a book."  Obviously. He's reading an adventure story called 'Alexi's Secret Mission' about a boy who smuggles Bibles in his home country of Russia.  That's where the Borscht Soup comes in.  This conversation blossomed into some serious excitement about a boy who was going to research the ingredients and method to make some Borscht Soup, write out a (doubled) shopping list to get what was needed and then make some.  He watched countless 'You Tube' clips  and cooking site clips on how to make it (who knew there would be so many!).  He took notes and compiled a shopping list (doubled as I said because we generally double all things we cook as this is a hungry family of 6 we're talking about).  So yesterday was the day he made some.  Chef was the other cook involved.

First there was some peeling...

 

...then there was some chopping (lots of chopping)...

...some team-work went on too...

A dollop of sour cream went on top and here's the finished soup (it's supposed to be chunky)...

...buttered Tiger bread to go with it..YUM! 

 

London Landmarks ADVENT Calendar...

Yay for Advent!    We made a big London Landmarks Advent Calendar which we hung with pride of place in the lounge ...

I put some treats inside 'Day 1' which was 'Big Ben'...

This was a big project as it turned out.  I'd had the idea from Gail Bartel's blog here but I wanted an educational slant on the project (you know me).   We began with online research last week, choosing 25 famous London landmarks which we wanted to put on our Advent calendar.  Then we gathered up 25 small boxes (different shapes).  We used a couple of tourist picture maps to help place the boxes on the backing paper, (very!) roughly in the right place.  They chose a maltesers box to be Buckingham Palace and located it fairly central on the paper...

...adding more and more boxes to be the different landmarks..... then, once all 25 boxes were on the paper, they drew around each one and labelled it...  

  (at this point somebody actually labelled a landmark 'Nelson's COLON' by mistake...heehee)

Each box was painted with gesso...

I showed the children how to use photoshop PSE5 to size the different photos that they'd chosen to fit the different boxes.  This took a while.  Then the photos of the landmarks were cut out and laid on the corresponding boxes and there was a bit more final fiddling...

 

Then the background was painted...

...and the photos were stuck onto the boxes as 'flaps' so that the flap could be lifted to reveal the treats.

Each box was glued firmly down...

The flaps turned out to be a bit too flappy and had to be blu-tak shut.  Then they took turns adding numbers and a title with stickers... 

 

We were all pretty proud of our Advent Calendar (and yep it was educational too!)  There is a fairly huge splash of artistic interpretation on the placement of these landmarks...oh & the keen eyed folks among you may notice 'The Tate Modern' in place of 'The Tate Gallery'.  That's because we've been to 'The Tate Modern' and loved it and wanted it on the calendar but stricktly speaking it's off too far right-ish.  but we're OK with that.

The magnetic Advent Calendar that I made was a hit too.  I put all the little squares on the fridge...

...to be transferred each day to the baking tray in the lounge...

 

This will be our fourth Christmas here. Yay

Swotting for a Maths Test...

Smurf has a big maths test coming up, where he'll be tested on maths definitions (among other things).  So we made some cards to match terms with definitions...

 

 

He now confidently knows his divisors from his dividends & quotients, not to mention being able to define the commutative and associative properties of addition.  He can tell the difference (!) between the minuend & subtrahend.  This boy has started off the school year like a wippet!

 

  

Bob the Builder x2

Chef & Smurf have worked hard together to build a little brick house from a kit Chef bought.  To begin with they laid out all their bricks & prepared to mix the mortar...

 As the foundations were laid, Roman had a good look at their progress...

 

The levels started to rise...

Plans were carefully consulted...

 

The outhouse roof goes on and the door is put in..

 

Work is complete and the Playmobil Dude can move in (note how he has a sword... perhaps it's a dodgey neighbourhood)...

  

(notice the toilet that Smurf built - there's no door so I expect it would be a bit chilly!)

Once dried overnight, the builders can rub off the extra messy mortar and display their finished house.  What I love about this project is that the bricks can be re-used - all you have to do is put the house in water & the mortar will dissolve.  An afternoon of fulfilling construction for less than a fiver.  Yay  :)

 

Haden Hill House Museum...

After the children had done some school-work this morning, we decided to take an educational trip to Haden Hill House Museum in the afternoon.  One of the great things we enjoyed about that museum was how "up close & personal" you could get to the exhibits.  Below, the twins are in the housekeepers room... 

 

Smurf liked all the hands-on artifacts...

 

Roman loves History & absorbs facts like a sponge.  He's not as keen on being photographed though :(  

Thre was a box of stuff in most of the rooms and Smurf enjoyed a rummage through...

 

Tiger-girl & I both liked the old toy where you swing the ball around and the chickens peck the board...

 

There was a range of old toys to interact with.  Smurf looks a lot like the artful Dodger in the pic below... (!)

 

Some of the manequins were interesting (!)...

 

 

One of the rooms was an exhibit about the 1960's.  Brill scooters & MOD stuff.

 

  

The Museum was free and well worth a visit.

 

Work experience for the big son...

Roman went to stay with his auntie & uncle (blog name for uncle is 'Foghorn') to gain some work experience as Auntie is a chiropodist with her own practice.

 

It was such a great opportunity for Roman to learn about the medical profession & his Auntie provided lots of new experiences.  He learned all about record keeping on the computer...

 

Answering the phone ...

 

Sterilization of tools and the importance of hygiene...

 

 

He learned to check the different pulses in the foot ...

 

 

There was a feeling test...

  

 

Roman also got to observe his Auntie carrying out many different procedures.  He really enjoyed his week of work experience and is keener than ever to be a doctor.

 

He also enjoyed spending time with his cousins  :)

 

Looking back to Easter fun in the past...

Having written several Easter posts recently, I had a peek back in the archives to look at Easter fun from the past.  I went 'digital' (camera wise) back in 2006, so without going out to the garage & rooting out old (yet-to-be-organised) photos from boxes in a hard-to-reach-places (which ain't gonna happen) -  2006 is as far back as I can go easily...  OK, so...  Below is a picture from 2006 when we met with other homeschoolers in a co-operative and helped each other.  The children were making Easter gifts to sell and raise money for missions & outings...

 

I remember we put chocolate eggs & other goodies into mugs which we tied up all prettily with tissue paper & ribbon...

 

 

They sold every last one to eager Bible College students (& made a fair few quid for overseas missions & our group too).

 

That same year they made hot-cross-buns with one of the Bible College students.

 

 

 

 

 

Then they decorated some eggs...

 

Eggy vehicles were a popular choice as I remember...

 

 

Moving on to 2007... Tiger-girl made a cute choccy nest with chick & eggs, when she was at 'BROWNIES' (as I remember, you had to have your own teeth!?!)...

 

We enjoyed the chocolate fountain...

 

 

Last year, in 2008, we had our friends over for the day after Church.  The children decorated a tin to collect eggs in which they gathered on an Easter egg hunt, following clues around our house...

 

 

 

Everyone enjoyed the egg hunt.

It has been fun to look back at all the different Easter fun we've had in the last few years.  Good times  :)

Simple electronics...

For Christmas, Roman bought Smurf a couple of simple electronics kits.  Well, today was the day that they put together the electronic alarm...

 

Smurf loved having his big bro' help... but I'm told he did most of it himself.

 

 

A simple circuit which includes a switch, resistor, motor, LED light & buzzer.  [And Yep... the revolving flashing alarm does get on your nerves after a while!]