We Built a Flappet!

Joey, Johnny, Madi, and I headed to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today for Steve Gerberich's Build a Flappet workshop. Steve just finished a successful run of his Holiday Springs and Sprockets exhibit which delighted visitors to the museum including us. Last year after the show, he ran a Gravity Racer workshop where the kids built cars and raced them. This year the idea was to build some sort of animal and use strings to move it's wings, fins, hands, etc. Thus, a flappet.

Thankfully, Aunt Debbie showed up to help out. With hot glue guns, saws, screwdrivers, etc. the kids and I really needed the help.

First the kids built the base using precut wood pieces and the hot glue guns. We used a drill to put 3 holes in the base and put eyelets in the holes. The strings would later travel through the holes.

Second, the kids picked their animal and Aunt Debbie and I traced the figures onto a piece of cardboard folded in half. I then used a saw to cut through both layers of the cardboard at the same time to make two identical copies of the body parts.

Third, we were back over at the hot glue gun table actually assembling the flapper. It took some thought (and asking for help) to get the body facing correctly on the vertical stick so that the string would work correctly.

Fourth, the kids painted their flappets. Made did an excellent job with her orange cat with black stripes.

Fifth, I put the strings throug the eyelets and used a screwdrier to poke wholes through the cardboard where needed. The flappet has come to life.

I really think Steve's concept of building a flappet was a great idea. The kids enjoyed working with the tools and designing their own special flappets. You can see from their proud faces with their finished flappets that the workshop was a very meaningful experience for them.

More pictures from today's trip to the museum and the flappet workshop are here.

Mr. Elf

Well, I did say that it was the Year of the Elf at our house a week or so ago, and I was not kidding. The elf theme continues!

After we visited the Steve Gerberich Holiday Springs and Sprockets exhibit at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham a few weekends ago, Joey started asking to make his own elf. I told him that mom didn't have the right equipment (bandsaw) to make a wooden elf but that I thought we could make a pretty good elf out of cardboard. So, I picked up a few boxes at WM on Friday, and Saturday morning we set out to build our elf. I modeled our elf loosely after the one in this picture:



First, I traced the necessary body parts onto the cardboard. The arm/hand of the elf is Joey's arm/hand. Then I used a box cutter to cut out the pieces. It went better than I thought. I was easily able to cut the cardboard. Then Joey, with a little help from me, painted the elf. Mostly I just spread out any extra thick paint on the front and then painted the backs of the pieces and set them off to dry. Then yesterday, after drying overnight, I used a hot glue gun to put him together. That also went better than expected. The glue really holds the cardboard great. Using some craft supplies I already had around the house, we were able to design a decent face. Of course I took some pics along the way and after he was done.

Joey's pretty happy, so mom's happy.

The Year of the Elf

Ya know, kids are always going to be into something. Thomas, McQueen, Mario. The list is never ending, and before you know it one thing is out and a new thing is in.

Well this year for Christmas, elves are in at our house! It all started with Joey's first grade teacher, Mrs. Cherry, introducing the kids to The Elf on the Shelf.

If you aren't familiar with this tradition, an elf and a book come in this neat box. You get them out each Christmas. The child/children get to name the elf and are absolutely not allowed to touch the elf. The parent or other adult moves the elf around each day in secret but of course the kids think the elf is moving on his own. The story goes that the elf flies home to Santa each day to give a behavior type progress report on the child to Santa and then returns back 'home' and just lands in a different spot. Or, he wants a different vantage point to watch their behavior.

So, Joey was coming home from school every day for a week talking up a storm about Eddie Elf in class. I had no clue... He was even drawing Eddie and writing stories about him. So, we used a Borders gift card that we had lying around to order our own Elf on the Shelf which we named Elfy. (In the collage above he's center top row).

Then we were in the thrift store, Guardian Angel, and found Giant and Snowy...the two white elves in the collage above. 70's vintage or older antiques to be precise.


I found the cup elf and Swingset elf as Joey calls him in the attic with the boxes of stuff off my childhood tree. eBay showed me what the cup elf was really for.

And, lastly, I picked up a couple of doll type elves at Hallmark.

Let me make it very clear. I have to remember to move the elves or I'm in big trouble. One day the elves were running late and I had to move them while the kids were at school!

Joey's already asking if one of the elves can watch guard over him in his room all year long:-) And, in the picture of him and the tree above, he's dressed like an elf with hat, green shirt, and red/green elfy pants.

It's a wonderful tradition and not too late to start with your own kids. I can't say that it's helping with behavior very much, but it sure is fun!

Holiday Springs and Sprockets

g
The boys and I took our monthly trip to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today. The main reason for going this time was to see the Holiday Springs and Sprockets exhibit. Regulars to my blog may remember that the boys and I first encountered Steve Gerberich and this exhibit last year. Joey fell in love with the machines and gadgets and came home drawing what he'd seen and coming up with his own machines. So, it was a must for us to go back and see this year's exhibit.

Let me say, that I was really impressed! We rounded the corner to room with the display and saw this wonderful train taking up a good part of the room. Johnny is still so into trains. His face lit up. He was thrilled. Joey was also fascinated by the machines again. I think he made the most comments on the candy cane factory machine (I'm sorry, I didn't write down the exact name and neglected to take pictures of the exhibit signs.) I took many pictures even bringing in my tripod so that I could make use of available light instead of using a flash. I really like some of the things I was able to capture. What you can't get from the pictures is all the movement going on, the delight of the children experiencing the exhibit, and all the sounds as the various move. It's quite a clatter. So, enjoy my pics, but then go visit in person if you can. The exhibit is open until 1/3/10.

Because of the rain and low temps today, we actually spent most of our visit indoors. That's pretty unusual to us. But, I'm very pleased to say that we were perfectly entertained doing inside things today. We spent a lot of time playing on the spinning table. I don't know what else to call it, but there's a disc even with the table surface that spins and you can try your hand at manuevering wooden wheels, tops, and balls across the spinning service. We were able to get wheels to 'ride' without the rest of the car. Way cool! We also spent time at what I'm going to call the Google Earth table. Wow! It's a round table that tilts and spins left and right. I was able to zoom in on downtown Raleigh and make out some of the Capital buildings. Wow! This new attraction was a hit with both the kids and their adults. The boys were getting frustrated with me because I wanted to play with the table too:-)

Both boys visited the Science Lab today where we learned about the various types of skin, fur, and feathers that animals use to stay warm in the winter. Unlike humans who have to put on sweaters and jackets, animals have built in warming systems. This lab invovled the use of microscopes. We even got to test out a higher powered USB connected computer one! The kids also made a coat for their 'animal' and participated in an experiment to see if their 'coat' would keep their animal warm. In other words, how fast would hot water get cold in a canister protected by their coat.

All fun stuff!

We saw the Chick-fil-A cow which is always a hit with the boys.

We even made it outside for a an hour midday and walked the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind loop. We said hi to Ranger Greg and looked at tadpoles stranded on the wetlands shore by the swell of water that followed the recent heavy rains.

Most exciting of all during our outside time, though, was running into aniaml trainer Erin by Max the steer. She let the boys help give Max his hay. Johnny was giggling so loud as Max ate from him pile that it would have really warmed your heart if you heard it. Joey was pretty excited about the experience to, and always comes away from visiting with the animals thinking that he wants to work with them when he grows up. Cute. Thanks, Erin!

Like I said, many things to do at the museum summer or winter, outside or inside, and now is a particularly good time to visit with the Holiday Springs and Sprockets exhibit in town.

The best pics that I took today are here on Picasa and here on SmugMug.

One last note. We had hoped that Madi would be able to come with us today, but sadly she's got the cold crud that's going around and wasn't up to coming. Hopefully next trip. We missed her.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

When we were out Friday night, we saw a lot of Christmas decorations up already. The boys have been asking for days to put stuff up, so we worked yesterday on getting the inflatables up. I figured the weather was nice and I had the time, so why not delight two little boys...

Halloween Spooktacular at the Museum of Life and Science

The boys and I went to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham today for their Halloween Spooktacular event. On the drive to the museum, the fall colors were out in all their glory, but it was rainy and dark out. We were glad to have some special activities to do inside at the museum once we got there. It was a little after 10, and our timing was great to get in on all the special events going on. First, it was up to the Chemistry Lab for some Spooky Chemistry presented by the Research Triangle Park Profressional Chapter Alpha Chi Sigma Fraternity. The kids wrote their names using laundry detergent with whiteners and learned and watched it light up under a black light. They learned the difference between fluorescent and phosphorescent. The kids did a candy chromatography lab using the dye from M&M candies. They saw capillary action move salt water and the dye up a piece of paper. That was cool. They also made some fluorescent slime. We thoroughly enjoyed this lab. Joey got to sit up at the chemistry table, and it was great to see him participating while Johnny and I cheered him on and took pictures.

Next, we checked out Wolfman Tim's Halloween Village. Think tables with a huge village scene of houses, graveyards, a Scare Fair (like state fair but spooky), a train, and lots of neat lights. The boys and I were fascinated by this. They kept pressing the buttons to light stuff up and make the train go. Meanwhile, mom was busy trying to capture the village in pictures.

There was also a great magician's show that we were able to attend in the afternoon. Joshua Lozoff performed some Deep Magic and included the kids in the audience throughout his show. He talked about how his fascination with magic started as a child when he went to see a magician for the first time. At the end of the show, he invited a child up on stage to help him teach the audience a basic magic trick using a hollowed out egg and a scarf. We all enjoyed seeing the behind the scenes steps necessary to pull off the trick. And he even threw in an extra trick at the end with a real egg. Really cool stuff, and Joey is asking to learn some magic of his own now.

Because of the rain, we never made it out to Explore the Wild today. Bummer. We did see Ranger Greg assisting some museum visitors with his golf cart and got to briefly say hello.

Thankfully, it was just sprinkling when it was time for our train ride. It was great to see Richard back driving the train. We'd missed him.

We made it over to the butterfly house just in time for the release. It was, um, extra crowded today. Thanks to the kindness of a child that got a butterfly put on their hand, they shared with Johnny who shared with Joey and we got to visit with a very nice Halloween colored butterfly. Getting lucky enough to hold a butterfly is always very special to the boys.

As you can see, we had another fun-packed day at the museum. Rain or shine it's a great place to be. And, we'll be back soon!

The rest of today's best pics can be found here (got forward in the album).

The Vollmer Farm

The boys and I went to The Vollmer Farm today. This is our 3rd year going, and it just gets better every year. We spent nearly 5 hours at the farm on the back 40 and picking our pumpkin up front. The boys got to bounce, slide, ride, run, and laugh. All of the usual stuff. But, what was extra special this year was the Autumn Princess. She rode with us out to the back 40, waved at us countless times during the day, posed for pictures with the boys multiple times, and took an extra few minutes at the end of the day to read the boys two books. She took on a Santa type quality for them and made out time today extra special. Until next year...

The rest of the best of today's pictures are here.