exploration lab:: fizz and color

In exploration lab posts, I plan to share open ended activities that are suited for older children. I see so many great sensory experiences for younger kids all over the web (and many I remember doing with my kids when they were little). I want to highlight the ones that work with older kids too. Sometimes they are the same, and sometimes you can add a little something extra because the kids are older. 

A classic is vinegar and baking soda. My kids have loved this lab since they were really young. We love using muffin tins and baking sheets to pile on the baking soda. Droppers, syringes and straws are great for controlling the amount of vinegar.  We like to color the vinegar and mix colors. Also, we add lots of glitter, colored sand, flowers, plastic animals and by the end, our hands to really feel the fizzing power. 

This is not a science lesson. The material are simply provided and the experiments change each time. If your kids want to know the WHY, you can read here.

Do you play with vinegar and baking soda? Any new ideas that your explorations have led you to?

tent camping

A beautiful weekend in the woods. I took no pictures except for these few in the very last hour.

That was on purpose.

But, if I had I would have shared images of:
deer and eagles,
fires and wool blankets,
champagne and burnt marshmallows,
historical "crackers" snapping whips at scrub cows,
endless mock battles and impromptu plays by the fireside.

Sometimes it is better to experience it all without trying to capture it.

I hope your weekend was as good.

{this moment}:: first site of 2012

image from the week. no words. via soulemama.

take your kids to a protest

I believe that part of the job of adults (parents, teachers, leaders) is to show children how to effectively and lawfully exercise their voices in a democracy. Some ways our family has done this is by taking our kids with us when we vote (and talking about the candidates and procedures) and writing lots of letters to companies that have let us down or city commissioners that are making decisions that effect us.

More recently, we have taken to the streets. 

When I received a call from PETA telling me there was a protest opportunity outside the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, I mentioned it to my daughter and asked if she was interested in attending. "Of course!" she exclaimed without missing a beat. And so, our family was sucked into the vortex of a new project (this happens all the time with interest led learning). 

We spent the next day talking about the issue of wild animals in entertainment, organizing a transportation schedule, and creating signs. Excitement was high and the next morning when the temperature dipped to freezing, I thought my Florida kids would balk at standing in the cold. But no, they were still ready, so we loaded up two parents, one grandparent and three eager kids. 

With a few dozens other folks, they stood holding their signs and received an overwhelmingly positive response from cars honking and giving the thumbs up sign. While some people might be apathetic, I can not think of anyone who really supports the treatment that elephants receive in order to make them perform in the circus. The other protesters and reporters were very generous with their interest and compliments of the kids. The whole day was a success and they returned home feeling really satisfied. 

Our family has strongly opposed using wild animals in entertainment since our Roots and Shoots group visited the Center for Great Apes (a retirement facility for chimps and orangutans from circuses and the movie industry). Kids are sensitive to many oppressed beings and if they had any clue as to what really happens in order to make that elephant sit on a stool or a chimp "play" a violin, they could not be dragged into the circus. It is not entertaining and we as humans should be so much better than this.

But please don't believe me. Research it for yourself. After I did, I quickly decided that I am not willing to pay money to ensure that baby elephants are separated from their mothers, beaten and psychologically broken so I can see them do inane tricks. 

ordinary

"No child on earth was ever meant to be ordinary."

Annie Dillard

a new start

For the past few years, I have picked a word to motivate and inspire my year, but this year that idea felt a little flat. Too vague, not enough teeth. So, for the first time in a while, I made a list of things I want to do. Not resolutions, more like adventures or missions. Here are mine:

-read more classics. i read too many nonfiction books. i want to fill in some gaps. i am interested in dickens and raymond chandler, also virginia woolf.

-nurture my friendships and creative connections. when i am stressed or tired, i am very quick to cancel things or stop pursuing social fun. however, usually that is exactly what revives me - so i need to stop doing that.

-take more pictures, learn more about my camera, try some dark room processing

-get my paperwork in order (boring, but important)

-travel always, near and far and as much as possible

-finish renovating our house so we can sell it

-drink more tea and less coffee

-watch more films instead of bad sitcoms or horrible reality shows. we have been on a late 60's - early 70's movie kick and i am really enjoying it. recently, we watched the graduate, valley of dolls and alice doesn't live here anymore. so much interesting visual culture and social history.

-make some movies with my kids. the technology is so easy now, we are brimming with ideas and i have been inspired by several film making projects. i really want to do this.

-continue honing our family routine and learning adventures. as passion driven homeschoolers, it takes an enormous effort to supply the right environment for all of us to thrive. we are always working on that. this year, there are some new learning community opportunities and bigger projects planned!

there are more, but if i can follow these interests this year, i will be happy, engaged and challenged. and that is a pretty great state to be in.

what about you? what are thinking about for this year?

hey, mom - look what i made from trash!

It never stops amazing me, after all the presents have been opened and all the candy eaten, we go back to what we love. 


Building with recyclables, using the glue gun, creating our own battle ships and worlds of adventure. And that is why January is my favorite month. We get back to us.