Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Playing with Clay
Mikro made the angler fish. The rest are mine. Can't wait to see how they look fired... The glazed ones are done with Amaco underglaze (sets that look like pan watercolors), with a clear gloss glaze over the top...
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Our Week Recapped
Monday was academics at home, and making clay fish. And there were Legos and K'Nex, and some neighborhood basketball as well.
Tuesday was Native American Architecture class. Mikro made a canoe, and a three sisters garden for the model village. He also worked on the longhouse. They put in sleeping platforms and started working on the outer bark covering. It doesn't seem like there will be enough time to finish it, so it is likely to be displayed in an "under construction" state. I'm really impressed by how well Mikro has worked with other kids, and how willing he is to try new things, like sculpting in clay and using a hot glue gun. He is usually fairly timid about tasks that require a lot of fine motor skills, but he has jumped right in and made real progress. He is really starting to enjoy building and crafting. He also had great fun with his friends at the park afterward. We are soooo sick of winter around here, I've pulled out our brightest colored clothes to try and cheer us up a bit, and maybe inspire Mother Nature to finally give us some Spring...
Wednesday was library day. We picked up and dropped off, but also spent some time reading there (yay-- books I didn't actually have to cart home!) We are perilously close to our library's 50 book borrowing limit... Mikro also built a periscope from a science kit.
Thursday was working at home again. And delivering our Quarterly Report to the school district. And doing our Illustration Friday pieces. We also listened to the Roald Dahl Audio Collection that we borrowed from NYPL as an audio book. Mikro saw these balloons stuck in a tree, and thought they looked like early Easter eggs... I was just glad for some color other than winter grey!
Friday was the much looked forward to beginning of the spring series of classes at the Science Museum of Long Island. This week's theme was ecology. They made a food web, created terrariums, and took a nature hike. I got to hang out with my grownup friends, and meet an adorable brand new little baby. We met up with Kev and some local friends at GCT and rode home together, with Mikro regaling the other family with tales of his make believe planet, Skafeedra, and its ecosystems.
Yesterday my back decided to protest how much running around we've been doing. I can hardly move. (Hopefully it will chill out by Tuesday, so we can make it into the city for our final session of Native American Architecture.) Kev and Mikro spent the day reading about and playing with their new Arduino electronics kit and building circuits. They started off with a simple circuit that lighted a single LED, then moved on to multiple LEDs flashing in patterns (starting with the one given in the directions for the "sketch" (or program) and then inventing patterns of their own, and figuring out how to write the code. (See my very short YouTube video of the flashing LEDs posted yesterday.) At this stage, it is mostly Kev doing the figuring and talking Mikro through it. But Mikro did do some of the actual building himself. They also got a simple motor running before quiting for the night.
Today Kevin is half snoozing through the NASCAR race on TV, while Mikro works on his library pile. He's done some math reading, some science (he is really into reading about robots, and is looking forward to building one with his dad some day...), and even some history. I owe him some BrainPOP and Dreambox Math time on the computer, too...
Tuesday was Native American Architecture class. Mikro made a canoe, and a three sisters garden for the model village. He also worked on the longhouse. They put in sleeping platforms and started working on the outer bark covering. It doesn't seem like there will be enough time to finish it, so it is likely to be displayed in an "under construction" state. I'm really impressed by how well Mikro has worked with other kids, and how willing he is to try new things, like sculpting in clay and using a hot glue gun. He is usually fairly timid about tasks that require a lot of fine motor skills, but he has jumped right in and made real progress. He is really starting to enjoy building and crafting. He also had great fun with his friends at the park afterward. We are soooo sick of winter around here, I've pulled out our brightest colored clothes to try and cheer us up a bit, and maybe inspire Mother Nature to finally give us some Spring...
Wednesday was library day. We picked up and dropped off, but also spent some time reading there (yay-- books I didn't actually have to cart home!) We are perilously close to our library's 50 book borrowing limit... Mikro also built a periscope from a science kit.
Thursday was working at home again. And delivering our Quarterly Report to the school district. And doing our Illustration Friday pieces. We also listened to the Roald Dahl Audio Collection that we borrowed from NYPL as an audio book. Mikro saw these balloons stuck in a tree, and thought they looked like early Easter eggs... I was just glad for some color other than winter grey!
Friday was the much looked forward to beginning of the spring series of classes at the Science Museum of Long Island. This week's theme was ecology. They made a food web, created terrariums, and took a nature hike. I got to hang out with my grownup friends, and meet an adorable brand new little baby. We met up with Kev and some local friends at GCT and rode home together, with Mikro regaling the other family with tales of his make believe planet, Skafeedra, and its ecosystems.
Yesterday my back decided to protest how much running around we've been doing. I can hardly move. (Hopefully it will chill out by Tuesday, so we can make it into the city for our final session of Native American Architecture.) Kev and Mikro spent the day reading about and playing with their new Arduino electronics kit and building circuits. They started off with a simple circuit that lighted a single LED, then moved on to multiple LEDs flashing in patterns (starting with the one given in the directions for the "sketch" (or program) and then inventing patterns of their own, and figuring out how to write the code. (See my very short YouTube video of the flashing LEDs posted yesterday.) At this stage, it is mostly Kev doing the figuring and talking Mikro through it. But Mikro did do some of the actual building himself. They also got a simple motor running before quiting for the night.
Today Kevin is half snoozing through the NASCAR race on TV, while Mikro works on his library pile. He's done some math reading, some science (he is really into reading about robots, and is looking forward to building one with his dad some day...), and even some history. I owe him some BrainPOP and Dreambox Math time on the computer, too...
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sporting clays and low fire clay...
Well, not really. The skeet shooting set I gave Kev for our anniversary has a laser (or maybe infrared?) gun and plastic discs which shatter when they are hit by the light beam from the laser pistol, and can be snapped back together and reused. It is a fun game, except that it is really persnicketty about whether the discs are loaded just exactly right...
And the other sort of clay was lots of fun for Mikro. He made an angler fish and a long skinny fish. I made the other two.
And the other sort of clay was lots of fun for Mikro. He made an angler fish and a long skinny fish. I made the other two.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Great Backyard Bird Count, Day 1 and Other Fun
Today was the first day of GBBC. Mikro and I were thrilled to have a beautiful spring-like day for it. Kev says it was 65 degrees in NYC! We took our sketchbooks and my camera out to the Blue Beast (my car) and used it as a bird blind.
Today's Count:
Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 1357-1455
60 degrees F, sunny, clear skies, residual snow cover 3"-12".
1 seagull (We have to check the bird book to figure out which species);
2 House Sparrows;
3 Mourning Doves;
2 Downy Woodpeckers;
4 American Crows;
and I heard a white breasted nuthatch.
Mikro tried drawing some birds, and I gave him a quick drawing lesson...
And then I let cabin-fevered boy loose to play in the sunshine. He goofed around with a garden spade in the snow, pulled some weeds and turned them into imaginary creatures with complex adaptations to their environments, and just generally ran around and had fun. We have been indoors too much lately, courtesy of the nasty winter weather. It was great to have a break from it, though I hear there is snow in the extended forecast...
But there were also signs of spring...
Back indoors, there has been lots of playdoughing going on. Mikro made me a really cute little gnome, but Mr. Gnome had an unfortunate accident with a hot cup of tea and ended up rather the worse for being dunked. As did I, since I discovered his plight by drinking the tea, which tasted horrible and chemical-ish...
And we've both been doing a fair amount of drawing. I really liked Mikro's crocodile! And he is almost done with the pile of overdue library books. Hurray!
Today's Count:
Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 1357-1455
60 degrees F, sunny, clear skies, residual snow cover 3"-12".
1 seagull (We have to check the bird book to figure out which species);
2 House Sparrows;
3 Mourning Doves;
2 Downy Woodpeckers;
4 American Crows;
and I heard a white breasted nuthatch.
Mikro tried drawing some birds, and I gave him a quick drawing lesson...
And then I let cabin-fevered boy loose to play in the sunshine. He goofed around with a garden spade in the snow, pulled some weeds and turned them into imaginary creatures with complex adaptations to their environments, and just generally ran around and had fun. We have been indoors too much lately, courtesy of the nasty winter weather. It was great to have a break from it, though I hear there is snow in the extended forecast...
But there were also signs of spring...
Back indoors, there has been lots of playdoughing going on. Mikro made me a really cute little gnome, but Mr. Gnome had an unfortunate accident with a hot cup of tea and ended up rather the worse for being dunked. As did I, since I discovered his plight by drinking the tea, which tasted horrible and chemical-ish...
And we've both been doing a fair amount of drawing. I really liked Mikro's crocodile! And he is almost done with the pile of overdue library books. Hurray!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Making Clay
Our nearby county park has a wonderful Nature Center which runs free educational programs on the weekends. They also host the Homeschool Nature Class that Mikro attends. Today, we went to this:
THE CLAY OF CROTON
Details: Native American residents of Croton Point made pots from the abundant clay beds of Croton Point. Follow in their footsteps by learning about Native American pottery traditions.
We started off by harvesting fragments of oyster shells near the river.
Then we ground them into powder with a rock.
Next, we ground lumps of clay into powder. (It was too cold today to go dig it out, unfortunately... so we used some that Scott had on hand.)
Then we mixed the powdered clay and shells with some Hudson River sand, added water, and made clay. Messy, but so much fun!
We got to make something with our clay-- Kev did a pinch pot, and I did a little bird, which park naturalist Scott tells me looks like a whippoorwill. Mikro Mr. Sensory chose to watch rather than get his hands all goopy.
Next Thursday is our last Homeschool Nature Class until mid-January, and the kids are going to get to do this clay project. Hopefully Mikro will be more willing to participate then, since he seems bound and determined to keep up with the other kids...
THE CLAY OF CROTON
Details: Native American residents of Croton Point made pots from the abundant clay beds of Croton Point. Follow in their footsteps by learning about Native American pottery traditions.
We started off by harvesting fragments of oyster shells near the river.
Then we ground them into powder with a rock.
Next, we ground lumps of clay into powder. (It was too cold today to go dig it out, unfortunately... so we used some that Scott had on hand.)
Then we mixed the powdered clay and shells with some Hudson River sand, added water, and made clay. Messy, but so much fun!
We got to make something with our clay-- Kev did a pinch pot, and I did a little bird, which park naturalist Scott tells me looks like a whippoorwill. Mikro Mr. Sensory chose to watch rather than get his hands all goopy.
Next Thursday is our last Homeschool Nature Class until mid-January, and the kids are going to get to do this clay project. Hopefully Mikro will be more willing to participate then, since he seems bound and determined to keep up with the other kids...
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