Friday, September 26, 2008

Boat Fun!

Last week, we read My Blue Boat and did lots of fun things to go with:

* painted with blue and green watercolors to make the water look used in the book:
* made stars on the bathroom wall by shining a flashlight through a piece of black paper with small holes in it.
* tried to make boats out of styrofoam egg cartons, that did not work. So, I tried to freeze a hunk of blue water in a loaf pan with a straw in it and a sail taped onto the straw. I thought this was going to be a huge success until Rachel pulled the 9x13 dish holding these boats off onto the floor and shattered the dish into a zillion pieces. No one was hurt - but it was not fun - just so you all know that not everything is rosy around here! :) I took pix of the screaming children too - but will spare them the embarassment.

* rode around in a blue laundry basket doing everything the boat did:* had a fun lunch of boat sandwich, star cheese, goldfish and Jell-O water:* danced with the whales while watching Fantasia!

We had a fun week!! I wanted to take the girls downtown and do a boat ride - but it was too expensive, I think they had fun doing things at home anyway!

18 comments:

Lura said...

Cute activities! I bet they had a blast. As someone who has also broken a 9x13 Pyrex dish, I feel your pain! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Monica! I know you are already done with your lesson but just another idea for boats (you might already know) is... Take a bar of ivory soap, scoop out the center (not all the way to the bottom) put a straw in with a paper flag on top. Good for the bathtub!!

Judy said...

Your activities just blow my mind!! Where do you get all you energy from!

letterstoelijah said...

How sweet!

Have you ever read five in a row? http://www.fiveinarow.com/B4FIVEINAROW.html even if you haven't read the text book they have an awesome book list for the young ones - plus a great bulletin board for suggestion for themes.

Awesome photos. Have a great weekend!

Katy said...

What super fun ideas Monica! :) I love all the things your mind thinks up!!! Looks like the girls had a lot of fun! :)

Elise said...

Cute ideas!! Thanks for letting us see the not so fun part too.
Elise

Meghan said...

Holy Cow I just found your blog thru Mom Advice & I love it!
I totally bookmarked it.
You have some great ideas that I can work on with my 2 yr old!!!

Thanks!

NanaNor's said...

Hi Monica, Great pics', love your posts! As I watched the news last night about the tropical storm battering your coast I lifted you and yours up to the Father for protection-I pray you are not getting hammered too hard.
Blessings,
Noreen
PS-I'm going to try some of these crafts with my grandkids.

Jenny said...

What great ideas! I'm curious about the jello water...the kids probably didn't drink it warm, but if you cool it, doesn't the jello thicken?

Tracey said...

How about make a boat out of a blue sponge and floating boats in the bathtub!

Wendi said...

Except for the mishap, it looks like lots of fun!

Monica Wilkinson said...

Thanks for the great boat suggestion! I hadn't thought of either of them!

Vintage Mommy: on the Jell-O, I made apple juice flavored Jell-O which I colored blue with food coloring. I let it set fully so it was truly Jell-O ~ I just wanted it to represent water. I also saw a super cute idea on line about letting Jell-O sit partially and then putting gummy fish in and letting it get firm. It looked like the fish were swimming in the water! :)

Monica Wilkinson said...

Letterstoelijah: Yes, we are using Before Five In A Row to guide our homeschooling this year! I love it!

Anonymous said...

You are SOOO creative!! I wish I could come up with ideas like that......TOO CUTE!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness -- if school is always this fun, these little ladies will love learning! :) Thanks for the photos -- love to all, Mom/Grammie

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I'm new here. I just love reading your website. I didn't discover FIAR until my youngest was past preschool, but we've done FIAR and now we just started BYFIAR. Thanks for sharing.

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

Hey! I have those same rugs in my kitchen!

I broke a Pyrex too - I had it on the stove and turned the wrong burner on.

I love how you are posting activities you do with your little ones!

Anonymous said...

You are doing such a great job of setting your girls up to be great readers. My mother who is enjoying who first year as a retired school teacher. Told me when I had my first child to read 10 books a day to him. Which I started doing. I love to read to my children. I enjoy how you are creating activities to go along with what you are reading.

You inspired me to do a post. I think you will apperciate it. Please come check it out.
www.simplyafamily.blogspot.com