My commitment to school projects quickly fell by the wayside with the baby, and the move, and sickness, and....well, my aversion to school projects. But as part of our astronomy course (yes, we're still working through it) we were supposed to build a model of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system. Which happens to be on the planet Mars.
I had everything I needed in the cupboard so I assigned a big to a little and let them go for it. Hailey and Ethan made one, and Sierra and Eli made the other. I encouraged, and took pictures :)They built salt dough volcanos and let them dry overnight. Then a little baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring created our explosion. A great time was had by all. They worked really well as teams, and the girls were good at letting the boys share fully in the fun. I really should do this more often, I remind myself. Again.
In the interest of becoming a more projecty mom, Hailey made Turkish Delight to cap off a unit on Turkey. The instructions in the geography book seemed quite simple, the ingredients few, and I thought the kids would really enjoy having some with a little tea in the afternoon.
Hailey thought it was a grand idea and was soon mixing and stirring away in the kitchen. After getting the mixture to the required temperature she poured it in the dish and waited for it to set. And waited...And waited.
Several hours later we still had a gooey mess in the dish and I decided I would look online and see if I could find any tips. Did you know that in Turkey the apprenticeship to learn the art of the delight is 7 years long? No?? Me either. Did you know that once the ingredients reach the desired temperature one must stir constantly for anywhere between 3 and 6 hours, depending on the size of the batch, while watching for the mysterious 5 minute window wherein the goo becomes just the right consistency? A minute or two on either side and your delight is decidedly less delightful and is headed for the garbage disposal. Yea, I didn't know that either.
So, the fun little project that was to afford a tasty treat for tea time was, as you may have guessed, a flop. But we did learn a lot about why we've never had it before!
This is the solar system. No really, it is. Or rather a representation of it.
And so is this.
The boys and I made the one on the top, and the girls made the one on the bottom. The balloon model is the first project in the super cool astronomy curriculum we began this semester. The other one is a kit the girls have had for some time, but I never let them do it cuz you know...it's messy. I'm not a project mom. There, I said it. My name is Michele and I hate crafts. Maybe there is a 12-step program for people like me.
I want to be cool and creative. I want to let my kids do all the neat experiments and build, and paint and create all the stuff they envision. But when it comes right down to it, the mess and the time and the million other things to do usually push projects right on out the window.So, I have resolved to do all of the astronomy projects as they come up. To that end I purchased the Box of Stuff that is supposed to contain everything I need to complete said projects. Thus ending the excuses of the I haven't gone to the store, didn't know I needed it, can't find it, will look for it later, variety. This is project one, and all of the children were THRILLED that they got to do it. Astronomy is the new favorite thing around here :)Wish me luck! I think I can, I think I can...
