Pinata Please!

All this Birthday boy wanted was a pinata!  We've made pinatas in the past, but this year we gave in a bought one!  In case you want to make your own, here are directions:  http://mrsodaniels.blogspot.com/2015/01/kaos-defeated-skylanders-party.html?m=1
I had my son make the bags to hold the loot,  We chose Chewbacca to go with the Star Wars theme. It was an easy project and he enjoyed making them for his party.

 I made his cake.  9" round cake and whipped cream icing.  For the Storm Trooper, I printed out a design I found online, taped wax paper on top, melted chocolate chips, and put in a small Ziploc bag.  Cut the tip off one corner and squeeze out the chocolate on the design.  Put in freezer until firm and placed on top of the cake!

We also did the Lightsaber pool noodles.  They were a "hit" too!

Writing Numbers can be FUN!

My son was turning 4 so we were looking at different ways to show the number 4!  We counted fingers and toes, Goldfish, crackers, and rocks at the beach.  He wanted to write the number so I showed him as I said my number rhyme.  He immediately learned the rhyme and was making fours.  (I wasn't focusing on the pencil grip, I wanted him to feel successful making the number.)

"Down, over, out the door.  That's the way you make a four!"
There are rhymes for all the numbers that are catchy and easy to learn.
Tips: There are all sorts of surfaces to practice writing letters and numbers.  We love "back writing" with your finger.  Practice writing on mom's back.  Or go outside and write with a paintbrush in a bucket of water.

Sweet Potato Experiment

There are lots of experiments online that show the results of growing an organic vs. non-organic potato but we wanted to try it ourselves.  We took two sweet potato from Trader Joes, one "Organic" and one "Non-Organic" and put them in cups suspended in water halfway by toothpicks.  We placed them in a sunny window and added water as needed.  Within ONE week there were sprouts from the Organic potato, nothing on the non-organic.  About 4 weeks into the experiment, we decided to throw the non-organic potato away because it was starting to get slimy on the bottom and still NO GROWTH! 

It was fun to watch the organic sweet potato grow because it was like Jack in the Beanstalk!  It grew so fast and the boys got excited!  After 10 weeks and a windowsill full of sweet potato vines, it was time to do the final measure and plant into the ground.

Hmmm, I see something!

Wow, that's tall!

Check out these roots!!!!

Time to plant!

Unfortunately our experiment ended when we found out that rabbits enjoy the leaves of a sweet potato.  Within a few days, all the leaves were gone!

It was a great opportunity to talk about organic vs. non-organic, pesticides in our food and how it changes the food we eat, the role of water and sun to help things grow, measuring the growth of the vine, shape of leaves and for fun, reading Jack and the Beanstalk and creative writing.

Here is a great video to show your kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ugqjGgWNAY