In the last week and a half we explored a bunch more activities, and while none were a complete bust, some garnered more excitement. We we really enjoyed creating the Bee Bath, especially after being inspired by the one my friend Sara did with her kids. Both came out so pretty and it was fun to collect and reuse natural objects. Still haven’t seen a bee actually bathe, but we are making sure to continually keep it full and at the ready.
We watched 3 empathy stories read aloud: Enemy Pie, Hey Little Ant and The Monster Who Lost His Mean and had a great conversation about friendship and respect. This also lead to the discovery of Fixed Fairy Tails on YouTube from HISHE Kids. I wouldn’t say they kindled deep discussions, but the pragmatic Fairy Tale “solutions” are pretty cleaver and amusing. Check out the quick fixes to Goldilocks, The Gingerbread Man and Little Miss Muffet for a chuckle.
A few other quick notes…
- National Geographic Kids is a good source for basic research on animals. We looked up some fun facts on few of his “stuffies”. Lots of info on hippos, coati, dogs and tigers, but surprisingly not much on cows, except their contribution to climate change.
- I’ve love how Spare the Rock Spoil the Child is so eclectic and listenable, even if my kid barely notices it’s on. The occasional song catches his attention, like Esta es Tu Tierra from Sonia de la Santos on the July 5 playlist. I also heard him singing Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem’s Green Grass Grows All Around from the July 12 playlist, so I figure he must be subconsciously absorbing the music 🙂
- We started our summer scavenger hunt while on a neighborhood walk the other day. 9 items down, 26 to go.
- My kid tried Water Cycle from Blazer Fresh a few times and I realized that following choreography is slightly intimidating to him. I’m not going to push it. If he’d rather “breakdance” by spinning in a circle and rolling on the ground right now, more power to him.
- He did a few math problems with chalk before moving on to shading the porch with color. It’s cool how chalk brings out the grain.
Lastly, we have started the Miles Traveled Log and it hits home how hard it is in Covid-times to get my kid the kind of physical outlet he had with school/camp <sigh>. I’ll keep working on it.