Fun With Baking Soda and Vinegar

Today is Blaze's 100th day of school for this school year, so I decided we should do something fun for science today. We tried to explode a plastic zip-lock bag. It was fun, but didn't have the results we expected.

1/2 Cup of vinegar
1/4 Cup of water
1/4 Cup of baking soda wrapped in a paper towel
sealed inside a zip-lock bag

Shake a little.





That is one tough bag!


We also used baking soda and vinegar to blow up a balloon.

Children's Day at the Florida History Museum

Today's outing was to the Florida History Museum, where they were having their annual Children's Day.



Before entering the building, we went to look at the statues on the museum grounds, which we had missed last time we visited the museum.







Inside the museum, there were various dance and musical performances going on throughout the day.



There were, also, some really cool science exhibits.







There were games to play and lots of coloring pages.



There was a very long line for balloon animals, but DH and Blaze kindly stood in it, while the toddler and I wandered around, took a ride in a time machine, and visited with some of her friends.



We made it back to the line just in time to get this dog balloon, which was soon partially disassembled.



Robin Hood battles the evil dog snake:

The Homeschool Social Studies Fair

This afternoon, the Tallahassee Homeschool Group held a Social Studies Fair at the public library. Blaze chose China as his subject, so we have been reading about China, watching movies, and building the display he took to the fair today.





Part of the display was a chance for people to use chopsticks to move yarn "noodles" from a take-out box to a bowl.



There were regular chopsticks for the older children to try and chopsticks with special clips for the younger children.



There were, also, paper dragons to play with.



Blaze did not give an oral presentation (he just wasn't comfortable with that idea), but several other children did.







Originally, Blaze's display was going to include a model of The Great Wall of China, but the model is taking longer to build that I anticipated. He's going to keep working on it, but it didn't go with us today.

Torreya State Park

We've had a very good MLK Day. DH had the day off, so we slept late, watched President Obama's second inauguration, and then explored another state park that we had never visited before.

Torreya State Park:









It was a gray day, but the temperature was nice for taking a long walk in the woods (68 degrees or so).













We walked to the primitive campsites that overlook the river and then stopped at the playground on our way back to the car.



It's funny that no matter how tired Blaze is from walking (he was so tired towards the end of our walk, that his weak leg had become wobbly, and he kept turning his ankle), he still has energy to swing.

The Tiniest Steampunk: Part Two

The Accessories: 



This little headband is made out of scrap leather and natural colored cotton lace. If you print the pattern image as a full page, it should be the correct size for a preschool child.



The elastic is cut to the measurements of the individual child's head.



The toddler-size utility belt was made from a woven belt that my son had grown out of and two pockets cut from a pair of worn out children's cargo pants. When I cut the pockets out, I included the fabric above the pocket with the belt loop and sewed that flap of fabric down in back of the pocket. The belt loops are now what these pockets are hanging from on the belt.

Cutting a woven belt down to a smaller size is amazingly easy. Simply pry off the metal clip that keeps the end of the belt from unraveling, cut the belt to the desired size, and replace the clip using a pair of pliers to squeeze it tightly together.



The boots I'm including with this outfit are not Victorian looking in the least, but with a small child, I think comfort is more important than authenticity. 

 

The Tiniest Steampunk, Part One

I am working on a steampunk outfit for a little girl who is having her second birthday this week. I'm using many of the inexpensive costuming techniques I've used in the past, everything is just smaller.

Brown and black striped leggings (made following the same directions as Blaze's striped pants found here).







The last piece of the window valance I used to make my bustle, was the perfect size for a toddler skirt.







I have had three toddlers of my own and watched countless others, so I know that white shirts and active children do not go well together. A dye job and the removal of the elastic along the hem, made this blouse more what I had in mind.





I am now working on the accessories to go with this outfit.

A Return to Lessons

Our holiday break is over and today is our first day back to our normal homeschool schedule.

The last day before our winter break, we finished reading The Last Safe House, a book about the underground railroad.



Today, we resumed our lessons by reading about 1/4 of the book The Day Fort Sumter Was Fired On, about the beginning of the Civil War.



We managed to fit a little bit of history into our winter break time, as well, by visiting the Museum of Florida History (free admission).



There are lots of hands-on activities for children of all ages at the museum. Blaze may have understood more of the history behind the exhibits, but the two year old we took with us had fun, too.











An electric car from 1911:



There were very few people at the museum, even though it was a Saturday, which allowed the children to move through the exhibits at their own pace and play around. This reminded me a bit of when Ula was little and liked the way her voice echoed through the halls full of animal exhibits at the Field Museum.