Pinning Version 2.0

At the beginning of December we did a pushpin activity that was a huge success with the kids. The activity is wonderful because it is a great fine motor activity and allows work on concepts and patterns as well.

I decided to revisit the activity with a cardboard box instead of cork coasters. I took a big cardbox box and taped construction paper to it. I traced simple shapes onto the paper with stencils. Then I gave each child a bowl of pushpins and let them go to it. They loved it. Ava needed help because she was forced to use her left hand. I pushed each pin in halfway for her and then she pushed it the rest of the way. The kids loved the activity and spent at least half an hour the first time we played with it. They've revisited the activity several times since then as well.

Unintended Realism

I wanted to do a volcano experiment at home. We had played around with baking soda and vinegar before, but not in volcano form. I knew the children would really enjoy it. I just wanted to do it in a way that the model could be reused time and time again.

I had a brilliant idea. I took a plastic needlepoint sheet and made a cone out of it. I held it in shape with fishing line. Then I hot glued glass gems all over it and glued the thing into a plastic container. It was all easy to rinse, let dry, and use again.

See...here it is. I thought it turned out pretty well for about an hour of work. Note: Exhibit A

I gathered the vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring and filled a flower vase tube with some baking soda and inserted it into the top of the volcano. Note: Exhibit B

We mixed up some red vinegar and poured it in. It worked beautifully. Note: Exhibit C

I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. The children were asking to see it again and again. I knew that the whole thing would rinse easily and dry in a couple of hours. I was mentally patting myself on the back.

Then suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and one of the glass gems shot off the side of the mountain. This was quickly followed several more. And then many more. Apparently the baking soda and vinegar reaction was releasing the hot glue. They achieved a pretty surprising distance. I told the children it was like a real volcano shooting out rocks. I suppose the effect of shooting rocks fit the volcano theme rather well. And the children absolutely loved it. But my volcano was disintegrating before my eyes.

And this is what was left. Note: Exhibit D.

Sigh. Any suggestions for a better method of attaching the glass gems?

The Weekly Review: Week 46

This week's weekly review sponsored by:
Injury, Illness, Injury, and more Illness

Weekly Trauma Winner

Coming in with a total score of three, Ava is the clear winner with one late night on-call pediatrician phone call (croup and stridor), one pediatrician office visit (ear infection), and one specialist visit (orthopedist for broken hand).

Weekly Trauma Runner-Up

Coming in a distant second with a total score of one, Michael is the runner-up with one late night on-call pediatrician phone call for suspected head injury symptoms. He does get bonus points for behaving bizarrely enough that I was seriously concerned I had managed to cause a frontal brain injury by slamming a doorknob into his forehead.

Bonus Pictorial Review of Star Illness of the Week - Broken Hand