Animal Secret Adventures!

   One of the Children’s Museums near our home is currently having a temporary animal secrets exhibit. They also offer special classes for homeschoolers. Chickadee and I decided to try our first class with them learning about Animal Secrets! Chickadee is an animal lover through and through. (If she could move to a farm tomorrow she would do it in heartbeat! And we can’t seem to take enough trips to the zoo in her mind!) Anyways, we headed into the museum a bit early as I wanted to give Chickadee time to explore the new exhibit before the class actually began. It is definitely an exhibit worth seeing! 

Here she is measuring a bear cub and she could tell me that it was shorter than her, but longer than she was!

 This area was a waterfall/creek play area with lots of animals that live near a river or creek. She had fun playing with the eagles and putting their nests in the trees!

This was a cave you could look inside! You could also go in an find different things that live/hide  in caves!

This was one of chickadees favorite parts- a tree! She got to dress-up like a chipmunk and collect acorns to store in her tree! She had a lot of fun exploring the exhibit and we have been back to visit again before they take this excellent exhibit away!

After awhile it was time for the class to begin! We met with all the other participants and headed to where we would hold class. Chickadee was given a "top secret" envelope and told she was not an Animal Detective! Included inside was a passport of sorts that had 7 different stations she had to complete and get stamped. They included: "Math the feces to the Species," "Find Your Furry Friends," "Make a Geode," "Eat Like an Insect," Making Tracks to a New Species," "Owl Pellet Dissection," and "Animal Interaction."  Some of her favorite activities were the Geode making (an art project), stamping animal tracks, matching animal skulls and pelts, and seeing the real owls they brought in! 

   We saw two different owls- a screech owl (the tiny one in the above picture- it was FULL grown!) and a barred owl (in the picture below). Both of the owls had been rescued from injuries and now live at a State Park animal center. It was very informational and neat to see the owls up close! 

Overall, we had a wonderful day and learned a lot! We will definitely be participating in more homeschool programs through our local museums! 

Until life's next adventure,

~B

Storybook Adventures!

Storybook Adventures!

  Our local homeschool group had a “Storybook Character Party” for Preschool ages to 5^th grade. We all got together for a time of fun and fellowship and the kids had a blast dressing up as their favorite storybook character. Chickadee went as “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and thanks to some great PJ’s we found at the store (AND on the clearance rack!!) we put together a really cute costume for her! She even won a prize for “most creative!” Here is a picture of my very hungry caterpillar:

We used craft foam for the legs and face mask and I had the laminated food pieces from my public school teaching days. I strung them on a piece of yarn so she could wear them as a necklace and retell the story! She had a blast and making her costume was a lot of fun and we did it together!  Some of the other kids dressed up as Franklin (the turtle), King Arthur, Jonathan Parks, Sofia the First, Harry Potter, and a Bride.  The party itself was also a lot of fun. The kids got to make their own story books, create some bookmarks to take home,  we played a Dr. Seuss themed relay game, and of course we had snacks!

   For the relay game, the kids each picked a book paper out of the bag with a Dr. Seuss book written on it and instructions, then they had to run down to the other end, find the “prop” (if needed) and complete the activity. Some examples were “Get the apple and walk back balancing it on your head” (from 10 Apples Up On Top). Another was “find the socks and crawl back like a fox” (from Fox in Socks). Another card said hop down and back (from Hop on Pop), etc. They had a lot of fun acting out different Dr. Seuss titles!

Overall it was a fun day and we look forward to more fun times with our Co-Op friends!

Until life’s next adventure,

~B

Adventures Away!

 Hello and Happy Spring! We are back online and I apologize for the absence. We have been traveling, preparing for my sisters upcoming wedding, attending our local Co-Op classes and staying very busy! Then, my computer crashed so we had to do our research before buying another one and then we had internet problem! However, all those things seem to be fixed! Watch for many upcoming posts about what we have been up do during our absence including our new geography study, our fairy tales unit study, and many topics! I hope you are all enjoying this nice weather that has finally come to us in the Midwest after many, MANY weeks of uncomfortably cold winter air!

Until life’s next adventure,

~B