Remember Constructo Straws?

The Ipswich Art Gallery had a climbing web and constructo straws for the kids.  The straws evoked some wonderful creations!

 This creation seemed to be some sort of flying weapon.

 The girls worked together to build a house (and had to defend it numerous times from male invaders/destroyers)

Torso, legs, tail, and feet of a creature.  M added straws to the front of the feet to keep it from tipping forwards.

Tim Tam Cheesecake

So proud of this young chef!

Brisbane Int'l Science Festival

The kids and I spent a day at the Brisbane International Science Festival.  We went mainly to see the sea turtle hatchlings but we also spent time viewing a coral reef through virual reality goggles, making 3D shorebirds (flying and standing) using 2D templates, holding a Golden Orb Spider (E's highlight), holding stick insect hatchlings, and generally exploring the exhibits in the Queensland Museum.  Great day out!

Micro Drawing and Microscopes

We took a trip with homeschoolers to the Ipswich Art Gallery to participate in the workshop Micro Drawing and Microscopes.  It was fantastic!  A bit of science and a bit of art.  The scientist artists talked about how these two fields have historically overlapped and how the microscopic world has influenced, not only art but architecture as well!

The kids, after listening to an overview on the topic, split into two groups: one group learned about how to use a microscope then had a chance to look at many different creatures and everyday items under the microscope and could draw any interesting things they saw.  E especially liked looking at the insects one can find in compost.

The other group chose an enlarged photo to project on a piece of paper hanging on the wall.  They could use multiple photos if they desired.  They then drew all or part of the enlarged photos and added color using watercolor or markers to create their work of art.

Minecraft

M decided he was going to make a Minecraft costume.  Tim took him to some stores to find boxes.  He designed, cut, and constructed the body parts.  E helped him paint it.  He truly is our Mr. Maker.

State Library Activities

For Christmas Tim and I gave M a three-day workshop on virtual reality.  He spent three days creating a virtual world using some virtual reality software as well as exploring some virtual worlds that the instructors had made.  He enjoyed this experience immensely.

During the school holidays the Queensland State Library always has activities for the kids.  The girls spent one morning creating, writing and, illustrating a story.  The workshop leader then made a color copy of it that they could take home.

All three kids spent a couple hours making Minecraft-like figures that were scanned and projected onto a screen.  They used a 2D template so they had to imagine how the 3D figure would look. 

Glass Painting Workshop

The kids spent some of the day learning the process of painting on glass.  They all were able to bring home the glass cup which they painted.

Making Stress Balls

M and A made stress balls to sell at a homeschool market.  They had separate stalls: M also sold raffle tickets for a bag of Lego Technics and had a few lucky dips.  A sold the stress balls and lucky dips.  For some reason, although she sold her stress balls for one dollar each and M sold his for fifty cents, A sold most of her batch well before M sold his.  They used flour and two balloons to make each stress ball.

Trip to Environmental Centre at Nudgee Creek

The kids and I went for a day trip to the Nudgee Creek Environmental Centre.  The leaders taught the children how to catch yabbis and sift through the sand to find them and other creatures.  The kids also learned how the aboriginal people used nets to catch whiting in the shallow waters of the estuary.

After our time at the beach, the older kids spent time studying the sea life under microscopes and sketching what they saw.  The younger kids used clay to construct 3D replicas of some of the sea life.  A and E made snails.

Our last activity was walking the boardwalk through the mangroves along the edge of the creek.  We watched Fiddler Crabs in the muddy areas and learned about the root systems of the mangroves.  We also learned that the mangroves excrete the salt from the water on their leaves: we were able to see the salt crystals and taste the salt.

Loom Band Creations

M has been highly interested in creating 3D creatures with loom bands over the past two years.  Youtube videos are his main resource.  He has a whole box of his creations.  At two homeschool markets last year, he made loom band creations to sell and had a raffle for one as well (he made cupcakes and raffled a gummi bear).  His latest creation was a dragon.

A has also begun to make loom band creations but she tends to design her own.  Most recently, she made a family of snakes.

Learning to Mend Clothes

I taught E and A to sew patches on their clothes.  I drew the patch, threaded the needle, and started and finished the sewing.  They cut out the patches and completed the stitching.  They were very proud of their work!