Today I attempted to add some fun stuff to our homeschool day by allowing/forcing the kids to do a couple of projects.
One was a Mammoth Excavation Kit that I ordered months ago but hadn't found the time to bring out.
Elder son, N., is interested in prehistoric creatures so I thought he'd enjoy a little "hands on" experience. Turns out I seriously overestimated the appeal of excavating pieces of a plastic mammoth out of a block of ice :). Several of us took turns syringing warm water over the block for what seemed like hours before using tweezers to pick out the pieces. Long after our enthusiasm had waned, the mammoth was fully excavated and N. assembled the skeleton.
Our other attempt at hands on today was making butter from heavy cream. Most of you probably did this early in your educational career (more of you than have excavated mammoths, for instance). You pour heavy whipping cream in a jar and shake, long after the novelty of shaking has worn off. You end up with a lovely lump of butter and sore arms :).
I guess it's evident that we're not very project-oriented in our homeschool. My kids seem to prefer getting the required stuff done and using their free time for projects of their own design. While it's nice to change things up every now and then, I'll think we'll stick with what works for us (and causes Mom much less cleanup).
Later Days!
Kelly
2 comments:
I love how excited N. looks! I am going to have to try the heavy cream project. I've been wanting to tone up the ol' arms! :)
If you ever want another project to do, let me know, and I can give you the "recipe" for making ice cream in a Zip Loc bag. Now that's a workout for your hands, but it's fun, especially when it's so warm outside, and you want something cool.
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