Teaching our Children
Teaching Our Children: How to Build a Catapult
A fun little experiment for the whole family
The girls were talking with Jake recently about catapults. He decided to make it a teachable moment for the kids. They worked on designing and building a catapult. It was a lot of fun to watch them working together. The girls were super excited to see how well their catapult experiment worked! Thankful for a husband who takes the time to do fun and educational activities with the kids. Great memories with their Daddy!
Jake & the girls catapult design
Little pieces of the catapult that the girls have sanded
Brina working hard
Karlie sanding her piece of the catapult
Teamwork!
Ready to launch the first unsuspecting acorn across the driveway! It worked really well! 🙂
Science Experiment: Why Do Leaves Change Colors?
Why do leaves change colors?
Recently we did a science experiment with the kids. We were talking about leaves and why they change colors. In the Spring and Summer they are various shades of green, but once the cold weather of Fall hits the leaves start changing colors.
What is chromatography? The definition of chromatography is the separation of mixtures into their constituents by preferential adsorption by a solid, as a column of silica (column chromatography) or a strip of filter paper (paper chromatography) or by a gel. We decided to uncover the rainbow of colors found in each leaf. The kids picked 9 leaves to experiment.
Science Experiment Items:
- Leaves (different colors and types)
- White Coffee Filters
- Rubbing Alcohol
- Scissors
The leaves contain a green pigment, chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is used to capture sunlight. By using chromatography you will be able to see the different colors present in the leaves.
Collect a variety of leaves to test. Pour 1/4 inch of rubbing alcohol into the bottom of a jar. Cut the leaves into small pieces and put each leaf into its own container. Cut the coffee filter into 1 inch strips. Put a strip of coffee filter in each container (the bottom of the strip should touch the rubbing alcohol) and you can fold the top of the strip over the top of the container.
Watch carefully as the rubbing alcohol moves up the coffee filter paper. You will notice the colors moving up the paper as well. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for the rubbing to move up the paper.
We did the experiment saw the results and then “just for fun” we left it overnight to see what would happen.
One of the girls picked out 2 dark green leaves and one flower petal to test in this experiment. I figured they might as well see what happens with it too!
One of the girls picked out a red, yellow, and orange leaf to experiment with today!
Check out the cool colors!
What one of the leaves looked after sitting over night; after the rubbing alcohol evaporated.
As you can see the red flower petals (in the container on the left) did not amount to much color on the paper. The other two leaves did great!
Some cool colors found in these leaves.
Our 9 different leaf experiments and the colors we found inside them. We found the most variety of colors in the dark green leaves. The lighter colors on the left were ones that were turning colors (yellow, orange, and red leaves). The one on the right that looks almost white with a very faint yellow color is the red flower petal. Glad I let the kids experiment with that too even though it wasn’t a leaf, it was still a good learning lesson.Recipes: Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits
Homemade Dog Biscuits
The dog at our house is super spoiled, even though she doesn’t realize it. And at times she probably doesn’t deserve to be spoiled, like when she shreds our Wall Street Journal. Guess she is no different than humans, we are spoiled and blessed with so much yet we tend to act out. Overall she’s a wonderful dog, well behaved, and is super great with the kids even if she does get herself into trouble at times.
There is a certain child in our family that especially has a soft spot for animals. She has been BEGGING me to make dog biscuit treats with her for our black, furry, four-legged, mischievous family member! Our family had a roasted chicken a few days ago so I decided it was time to experiment with Homemade Dog Biscuits. The biscuits turned out really well and Skipper, our black lab, now has a giant baggie of homemade dog biscuits. She seems to think they are AMAZING, but she is not a picky eater. The girls love giving her the homemade treats too so everyone’s happy (or at least should be).
Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits:
- 1 cup Hot Water
- 2 tablespoons Milk
- 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
- 3/4 cup Vegetable or Canola Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup of diced Chicken pieces (we used the heart, liver, gizzard, and pieces of chicken)
- 5 cups Flour
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside. Stir all ingredients together to make a thick dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 3 minutes. Roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes (we used a dog bone and bear). Place the cookies on the baking sheet and cook for 35 minutes, turn off oven and leave in the oven for additional 20 minutes. The edges should be slightly brown. Remove from oven and cool. Store in a Ziplock bag or air tight container in the fridge.
Tray full of Homemade Chicken Flavored Dog Biscuits!
The puppy in our family is very happy to get her special homemade treats.
My Little Chef: Homemade Apple Crisp
Brina’s Homemade Apple Crisp was delicious!
Brina wanted to make homemade apple crisp for the family. She loves to cook and spend time with us in the kitchen. Thankful for her willingness to learn how to cook. She is becoming a great chef!
Mixing up the crisp, the spoon wasn’t working well so she used her fingers.
Freshly cubed apples sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.
Homemade Apple Crisp ready to go into the oven.
Freshly baked apple crisp!
School Projects: Book Report on Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne
Brina’s Book Report
Recently, the girls had to the do a book report for school. Brina read the book Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne for her book report. She had to come up with a box or container for her book report. Jake helped her put together this super cool tree house for her book report. She had a blast picking out the perfect branch, helping Jake cut it, glue together the pieces, put the tree house together, and decorate it. Karlie read the book Foal in the Fog by Ben M. Baglio for her book report.
Brina’s tree house had a slot in the top where she could store all her book report papers and items for her presentation.
Brina picked out a variety of pictures and put her information on the base of the tree house.
Her tree house turned out really well and she did awesome well on her book report presentation! Her tree house was picked to be put on display in their school library!
School Projects: Book Report on Foal in the Fog by Ben M. Baglio
Karlie’s Book Report
Recently, the girls had to the do a book report for school. Karlie read the book Foal in the Fog by Ben M. Baglio for her book report. She had to come up with a box or container for her book report. The barn was the perfect box for this book report. She was really excited about doing her book report. Brina did a book report too on Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne
Foal in the Fog with pictures of horses and ponies on the outside!
The other side of her barn with more pictures!
Her book report with all the details of the book per the teacher’s instructions. Inside the box she put items that relate to her book – horse, black lab, saddle, pictures, bales of hay, fences, and horse shoes.
Karlie’s barn box for her book report turned out really well and she did a great job on her presentation! Her barn is on display at their school library!
Holiday Gift Giving: Space Scouts
One of the kids in our family is all about space, planets, astronauts, and more! It is her dream to one day be an astronaut and go to Mars. Recently, I discovered this program called Space Scouts that I am looking forward to checking out. It might be something really fun for her to explore and learn more about space in the process.
If you have a child that loves Space and wants to learn more it may be a great program for you too! Space Scouts monthly subscription club for kids is a delightful learning adventure aimed at discovering the wonders of the universe! Each month your child will explore a new place in space — stepping into the worlds of space exploration, space science, and astronomy. Join Roxy and Jett as they scout about the galaxy engaging your child in fun learning activities, hands-on discovery, and exciting challenges. Packages arrive each month filled with fun additions to your collection — magnets, stickers, toys, and more!
Space Scouts is a stellar vehicle for launching your child’s interest in science & technology! This is not your typical grab-bag subscription box. Space Scouts is a fun, educational experience where each month builds upon the previous. It’s a great way to learn! Price is affordable at $11.95 per month + $3.00 shipping. Discounts for multi-month purchase. Space Scouts is designed for kids age 6+.
Visit Space Scouts website to learn more! What’s even better is you can get a 20% discount – when you use promo code USFAMILY20 at checkout. The promotional code gives you a 20% discount on initial purchase of any Space Scouts subscription plan. The code expires on December 31, 2014 so sign up soon.
Free Ebooks: Smart School Time Recipes, 9 Types of Copycat Girl Scout Cookies, Baking with Kids, Just Desserts, and more
The price to download these books is currently $0.00 (although the price may change at any time, please confirm prior to downloading). The ebooks are specifically for Kindles, however, you can click here and download the free application that allows you to read Kindle ebooks on your PC.
Download a free copy of Smart School Time Recipes: The Breakfast, Snack, and Lunchbox Cookbook for Healthy Kids and Adults by Alisa Marie Fleming
Download a free copy of 9 Types of Copycat Girl Scout Cookies: Your Favorite Copycat Girl Scout Cookie Flavors by Prime Publishing
Download a free copy of Baking With Kids: Cupcakes, Cookies, and Just Plain Fun for Kids by Dennis Weaver
Download a free copy of Just Desserts by Kemberlee Shortland
Download a free copy of Easy Recipes for Back to School: A Short Collection of Recipes from the Cookbook Wholesome – Feed Your Family for Less by Caitriona Redmond
Download a free copy of Best Homemade Bread Recipes: Delicious Bread Recipes in Quick & Easy Ways by Olivia
Download a free copy of The Perfect Pie: A Handbook for Pie Lovers by Dennis Weaver
Download a free copy of Slow Cooker Recipes: 30 Of The Most Healthy and Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes by Stacey Turner
Download a free copy of Baking in Your Skillet: A Collection of Skillet Recipes by Dennis Weaver
Life’s Little Hiccups: An Apology Letter
An apology letter written by Karlie and Brina
The other day Jake went into the garage and noticed one of his boards had a letter written on it from the girls. They also included a diagram and frowny face. Next to the letter was a broken board. The letter said:
Daddy I am very sorry we broke your board. We were trying to carry two water buckets.
Love Karlie and Brina
The girls were bringing water to the goats. Instead of carrying one bucket at a time they decided to use one of Jake’s “boards” to carry two buckets together and save time. They were thinking creatively, however, the board they chose was not strong enough to hold two full water buckets so it broke. They tried to fix the board by taping it together, but with no luck. After some discussion they decided to write a letter admitting their mistake and apologize to their Dad for breaking his board.
The board they broke. They tried taping it together with painters tape!
The good, bad, and ugly:
Bad – they used a board without permission in the first place
Ugly – something was broken in the process
Good – they admitted their mistake and apologized for it
Even though they did something wrong I was happy to see they confessed to their mistake. Although, we teach the girls right and wrong you never know what they will do. Thankful for those moments when they admit when they are wrong and apologize. It makes a parents heart happy to know the kids are trying. What they did wasn’t horrible and they were trying to find a more efficient way to take care of their animals, but they still needed to let us know about it.
School Projects: Science Current Event Articles
The kids recently did a school project for Science Extra Credit. They had to compile a variety of science current event articles. The articles were cut out of current local newspapers, Wall Street Journal, magazines, and more. They read the articles, glued them to construction paper, and wrote a summary about each one.
The articles were on the following science categories – Animals, Electricity, Plants, Space, and Weather. All the subjects are ones that the kids will be studying this year in school. The kids had one week to put together all their articles for science extra credit. The girls worked on their articles every day after homework, before school each morning, and even gave up some of their free time to do more articles.
We are so proud of how hard they worked all week. By the end of the week they learned a lot about the various science subjects they will be studying in school. They did more articles than we realized too. Between the two girls these are the number of science articles they completed in one week:
- Animals – 9
- Electricity – 7
- Plants – 8
- Space -10
- Weather – 8
Way to go kids! Thrilled that they love learning so much! It will benefit them throughout the entire year!
