Similes, kindergarten-style

I'm going through last year's kindergarten work by Hen. I imagine he won't care to see any of this when he's older, and he'll likely think I'm a bit of a nut for saving so much of it, but how can I get rid of this fantastic work product?

The kids in Hen's class read Crazy Like a Fox by Loreen Leedy to learn about similes. They then had to choose a word to complete the simile. Here are Hen's…

It's as soft as a jellyfish.

It's as tough as a rhino.

It's amazing like an electric eel.

And the one he made up all on his own…

As pokey as a pufferfish.

There are little pictures he drew for each one that are all awesome. Needless to say, this will be an assignment I keep at least for a little while.

The last lunch for our kindergartener

It seemed like taking a picture of Hen's last kindergarten meal is a post-worthy thing to do. He requested pizza and also had fruit salad (blueberries, mango, and strawberries), red bell peppers and cucumbers, and a no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookie. To drink, a water bottle filled with homemade lemonade.

First Official BCCCA/ORCA Finishers' Party!

Safranit Molly hosts a party for the students at Hen's school who finish reading the books on the Beverly Cleary's Children's Choice Award (BCCCA) and Oregon Readers' Choice Award (ORCA) lists, and this year she asked me to help with the party. Um…

Yes, please!

The party doubled in size from last year but we, sadly, didn't have any takers in the middle school category. We're working on a devious plan to try and get those older kids involved next year. We had two kindergarteners who participated by having the books read to them - Hen was one, of course. And over 20 other students who completed the challenge and attended the party.

Safranit Molly lined up awesome prizes, each student got a finishers' bookmark, sparkly pencil, and a list of books nominated for next year's BCCCA and ORCA reading challenge so they could get started early. The party included having their pictures taken holding their favorite book, eating snacks, enjoying a short movie about a girl who hated books, and celebrating with cupcakes. Fun was had by all. Of course, there were pictures…

Get the party started

Girl who hates books movie short

Crazy reading challenge finishers

Green screen photo op, ya'll

Fun photo

To check out the rest of the party pics, click here.

Henry the hamantaschen

It's Purim time and today there was a celebration at Hen's school best described to me as the "Jewish Halloween". Hen originally requested a jellyfish costume but the day before yesterday he changed his mind and requested I make him a hamantaschen costume instead. I didn't have directions but it was pretty easy to quickly sew one together using a couple items from JoAnn's Fabrics.

The "I'm Bored" jar

Dr. A at McMiller PDX recently blogged about using an "I'm Bored" jar to give kids something to do when they start complaining about having nothing to do. Because we, too, have a kid who sometimes can be bored playing by himself* this sounded like a jar we needed to have. And so here it is...

Our jar activities are mostly weighted towards fun with a few chores just to keep the kid honest. Here's a sampling of the fighting boredom cards used in our jar:

1. Paint the Sistine Chapel - where the parent tapes a roll of paper to the underside of the table, lays down a drop cloth, gives the kid paints and brushes, and lets him be a little Michelangelo 
2. Take ten interesting photos - this is the one that Miss E had to do (for the uninitiated, Miss E is Dr. A's daughter)
3. Find five toys to donate 
4. Make a mini movie 
5. Go on a candy hunt - I raid the candy drawer, hide pieces around our building, and set him loose
6. Make a bird feeder - we'd probably need to go to the store to get the supplies but that, too, would be something to do
7. Go to the park
8. Complete a page of math
9. Create a treasure map
10. Make pet rocks

I'm pretty sure Hen will want to look at all the suggestions and select the one that sounds the most fun but we won't let him get away with that. Oh no, we will not.

*Note: I wrote playing by himself not with himself. I'm quite sure when we hit that phase, Hen won't be bored. He'll just be in his room with the door closed a lot.

Crafts: Valentine crayon decorations

Hen wasn't able to celebrate Valentine's Day at school but that didn't stop us from having a special day at home. A few weeks before, Hen and I made melted crayon hearts, an idea I got after borrowing Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts from the library. These definitely require parental involvement as a hot iron is needed to melt the crayons. I also used a Microplane grater after determining that the crayon sharpener took too long to get the needed shavings for the project. (And I did end up grating a bit off the old finger - whoops.)

To do this project you need the following:
wax paper
parchment paper
iron
ironing board (or other appropriate surface for ironing)
crayons (grated or shaved)

1. Grate the crayons - I highly recommend making individual piles of each color.
2. Cut off a piece of wax paper - 12"x12" is a good size.
3. Fold the wax paper in half and open it again.
4. Sprinkle a light layer of shaved/grated crayons pieces on one side of the wax paper, staying clear of the edges.
5. Fold the wax paper in half again and fold all the edges closed. (1/2 to 3/4 of an inch is good.)
6. Place wax paper between two pieces of parchment paper to prevent wax from melting and sticking onto the ironing board (or whatever surface you're using to iron the item on) and the iron.
7. Run the iron across the parchment paper until the crayon has melted.
8. Hang wax paper to cool and then cut into desired shape.

This was a lot of fun and they look very cool. One note, if you decide to make these for yourself, if the crayon shavings/gratings aren't equally distributed, the item will lean to whatever side is heavier should you choose to hang them. (See orange heart in the third picture from the top.) I plan on making clover leaves for St. Patrick's Day next month.

Hen's poem to Ellie

Ellie, sweet Ellie,
With a little cute head.
I love you because
you have a golden ear.

PJA Pride

Hen's in the PJA promo! I am so very pleased with our school choice. Hen is doing really well there, the people are great, and it's just such an encouraging and creative environment. We are very lucky to be able to send Hen there. You can see him here or, if you're interested in what his school is all about, watch the whole video below. (His three second appearance starts at 4:36.)




In other school news, the teachers working in Portland's public schools have voted to strike if a deal can't be reached on their contract negotiations. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this'll be resolved to their satisfaction.

PAJAMA DAY!

FIRST OFFICIAL PAJAMA DAY PHOTO

Hen is wearing flannel pajama pants decorated with skiing moose and bears made by grandma, a red American Apparel long-sleeve  shirt, and slippers also made by grandma. He's standing next to his classmate Zoe - in all of her pajama fabulousness. Zoe is the daughter of one of my college professors. Small world, eh?

Hen's poem to Mamoe

Mamoe, sweet Mamoe,
with a little furry head.
Cudding with you
is best,
for me
and you.

Kindergarten, day one

Well, we got the kid this far. I'd say we're doing all right. Of course, there were pictures...

the whole kid

from above

flying

ghost student

smile

all about the sweater vest

Wicket the chinchilla

drawing bubbles and Harry Potter

Tomorrow is the first day of school

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last day before school starts

Hen started his last free weekday before starting a minimum of 13* years of schooling by searching for Ribbit the frog that his papa found for him the day before. This was followed by a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. Then the lad got to play with his mama's Harry Potter LEGOs. He never gets to play with his mama's Harry Potter LEGOs. This was quite the treat. It should be noted he did very well and as of the writing of this post, no structures have been permanently damaged and no pieces are missing. He just enjoyed a hot chocolate with marshmallows, and we are watching, per Hen's request, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Afterwards he would like to play sea creatures and I will totally oblige him.

*I was going to write 17 but chose to leave him the option of taking a year off to travel or join the Peace Corps, etc., once he's done with high school. 

Totally Irresponsible Science: The Sandwich-Bag Bomb

The directions for this experiment stated there could be a mess so we gathered all the necessary items - baking soda, vinegar, warm water, paper towels, and sealable plastic bags - and took them outside. If there's going to be a mess, I'd rather have it all over the sidewalk than all over my kitchen. It was wildly successful but finding a couple bags without holes proved quite difficult (next time I shall buy Ziploc, Western Family). Also, the book mentions a 2 - 5 hour window for time. I'm guessing they are assuming that after you do it once, your kid will want to do it again and again and again and again and five more times because in actuality just going through it once took about five minutes.

On a side note, with all the government spying going on I'm curious to see if the use of the word "bomb" will draw any attention. Will government agents come to my house? Will they want to know if I have a pressure cooker?

things you'll need

that's baking soda, that is

water

vinegar

preparing for the drop

do step 6 quickly, particularly the seal part

a reaction happens

it continues to happen

the satisfying pop let's you know when you're done

Totally Irresponsible Science: Can You Hold, Please?

And now, another fun science experiment brought to you from the folks at Totally Irresponsible Science! (Go buy your copy now. You won't regret it.) Ice cubes, salt, and string are all you need for this experiment. The directions also called for an aluminum pie plate but I just used some tinfoil. I see no reason why any plate, dish, pan or other wouldn't work for this.

Note: We used kosher salt that has larger crystals than regular table salt. Methinks the results of our second experiment using the giant ice cubes Hen's papa has in his bourbon - the large ice cube epic fail - would have been different had we been using regular salt instead. But we got it to work with the smaller ice cube so don't be discouraged from giving this one a try.

Give the ice cube a quick rinse and then place it on the pie plate and lay the string across it.

Add the salt, keeping as much as possible on the actual ice cube and string.

Count to 15 and lift using the two sides of the strings. It's like magic but is really science so how awesome is that?

Science Fun and Experiment #2 - Ivory soap in the microwave

Thank goodness for people who write books and blogs and tell us about all of these cool things to try. Ivory soap in the microwave, who would have thunk it? (Answer: Not me.) It just so happens that we have Ivory soap in the house and we also have a microwave so we decided to go for it. Of course, there were pictures...

For this experiment you'll need one kid, one bar of soap, one microwave-safe plate, and a microwave. You can also use food coloring if you feel so inclined.

In goes the soap!

Nothing special, it's just a bar of soap.

Navigating the complex screens of the microwave.

We tried one second (nothing), five seconds (still nothing), fifteen seconds (little something), and then leapt to 30 seconds.

This is what we saw.

Exteme closeup.

Poke the soap time. Note: It can be hot in the center so be careful.

It's over when it turns into dust.

School clothes

When dropping off my nephew the other day, Gavin spent a few minutes showing me all of the cool things he recently bought with his mom for the coming school year. Hen already has a drawer of clothes a size or two larger than what he's currently wearing so he does have a couple outfits to start school with but it just happens that we were at the mall the other day and Nordstrom was having their anniversary sale and Hen found a few pieces that he wanted to get. So, here's a preview of what Hen will look like as a kindergartener.

Totally Irresponsible Science: Marshmallows on Steroids

One bag of marshmallows and a vacuum storage jar (or FoodSaver) is all you need for this experiment. But if you also have a cousin Gavin on hand, he's an excellent lab technician.

Note: Kids love to eat marshmallows before, during, and after this experiment.

Loosely fill the container with marshmallows.

Put on the lid.

Get the air out. (For the FoodSaver that means pressing a button.)

Experience science and WATCH THOSE MARSHMALLOWS GROW!

On the right, the regular marshmallow. On the left, the marshmallow on steroids.

How it works: Pumping the air out reduces the air pressure inside and the marshmallows expand to fill the space. Voilà!

Our secondary experiement was food-related. Our hypothesis was that the marshmallows would taste the same after the experiment. We were, however, proven wrong as all three members working on said experiment preferred the previously puffed up marshmallows to those straight out of the bag.