Geography Project | Cuneiform Tablet

For history we've been talking about Egypt and one project that Zoey did this week that she enjoyed was to create a clay tablet using cuneiform script. We had some basic air dry clay that she rolled out into the shape of a rectangular tablet (keeping it thick enough so it would be somewhat sturdy upon drying) and then she took a knife and wrote out (something of her choosing) by pressing the designs into the clay. It took about a day to dry.

Super simple project for when you are studying Egypt and want something with little prep!

Making Hydrogen

Zoey has been reading the Itch series of books (written by Simon Mayo) lately. I brought home the first book to read myself to see if it might make for a good book club book for my tweens at the library this summer but she got a hold of it first, and is now on to the second book. She LOVES them! Kind of disappointing that there are only three books in the series though.

I was on the phone yesterday and saw that Zoey was digging around and putting together all sorts of things in the kitchen...batteries, paperclips, etc. and I quickly got off so I could see what was going on. She was determined to see if she could create hydrogen. It was kind of hard to take pictures of this project, but she did it and was happy with the outcome...it was cool to see her excitement and witness the process of figuring it all out on her own. This has nothing to do with what she is studying in science right now but rather was purely interest led, based on the books that she is reading (on her own) for fun! Yay!

Do you allow for impromptu rabbit trails through your days of learning with your child? I'm really trying to let this happen more often, as I truly believe whatever is being sought out independently, becomes more meaningful through the very act of free choice.

Geography Project | Creating a Rain Stick

We've been so busy this week! Lots of fun projects happening around here, some planned and some that weren't, but all have been meaningful. Today I'm sharing a geography art project that was scheduled in Zoey's curriculum this week. She was to create a Brazilian rain stick. I had a real rain stick made of dried bamboo when I was a kid...my dad had brought it home from one of his art shows for me as a gift. I think it broke when I had a little boy over to babysit at some point during my teenage years...I remember that it was really cool though and I loved making the sounds of rainstorms with it. 

I was tickled to discover that Zoey got to make this for a project and even more tickled to discover that it actually sounded pretty good for being handmade and pretty simplistic in nature. Here are the details and her finished project...

Hope you're having a great week!