It’s been a while, but I am back with another installment of Pinterest Preview – a peak at what happens when the pins come to play at our house!
First off, I stumbled on this link for a Movable Hand at De Tout et de Rein Caroline. (Don’t worry, for those of you who are not Francophiles, there is a translation button, though you really can get all the information you need from the photos.) As soon as I saw it, I knew one of my sons in particular (who has a penchant for construction and creation) would love it. It was particularly timely as we were currently reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret
It was really quite easy, though the most tedious part for me was cutting all the notches for each joint. It was a great learning activity however, as we actually traced my son’s hand for the paper outline and then roughly measured the spacing of his own knuckles for position the joints. It was interesting to watch him examine his own hand and how it works and see it applied in this model. Pull the strings, and the fingers bend. It’s almost as exciting as building a robot. We both enjoyed it! (My hand in the picture above had already enjoyed a bit of use and is missing the beads on the last two fingers. Just pointing it out so I don’t confuse you!)
On the same theme of book activities, we also tried out this recipe for Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs from the Whimsical Princess. Not that you need a reason to make these, but we were having a book celebration after finishing Mr. Popper’s Penguins
The recipe was pretty simple and certainly tasty. I only wish I had formed them a bit smaller. It’s too easy to make them large…but not so easy to eat such a large sample of this rich treat. (OK, it was easy for me, but not so much for my kids.) So don’t get so eager to finish up (like I did) that you begin to make mammoth-sized peanut butter patties!
The next activity is thanks to one of my friends. After asking me for a science activity suggestion for her daughter’s school assignment, I referred her to my Science Board on Pinterest. They picked up this Blobs in a Bottle activity from Science Bob’s and then thoughtfully brought the bottles over when they were finished so my boys and I could enjoy them as well. It was mesmorizing to watch the lava lamp-like motion as the Alka-Seltzer sent colored bubbles up through the oil. As a bonus, the Science Bob site gives a great explanation along with the instructions to that you get both the how-to as well as the why.
I love Pinterest for all the new ideas, but I also love running into an old classic that I’ve forgotten about. We had tons of fun making these Colorful Pasta structures, thanks to The Chocolate Muffin Tree. My oldest son loved running our low-heat glue gun, and I loved analyzing how – similar to the progression of block play – my younger builders created flat structures while my older builders created structures that went upward and had more dimension. All builders were engaged and enthused, and we can’t wait to try it out again! (Don’t you love my little guy’s costume as well? Firefighter helmet, secret agent glasses, and superhero cape. Why not?)
I did have one unsuccessful attempt at a pin. After seeing this pin for glow in the dark bubbles (the link doesn’t go to an active page, which should have been my first clue) I knew I had to try it. I’m not sure if I used the wrong size glow sticks or the wrong size bubbles, but while there was a bit of glowing at the bottom of their bubble bottles, the bubbles didn’t glow at all. We tried it out in our garage, so the disappointment didn’t last long, as we simply flipped the lights back on and my boys had a blast just blowing bubbles! If you’ve tried this one out and have been able to get it to work, please let me in on your secret!
And it may be a bit off-topic, but one of my favorite pins I just have to share is this link to Jesse Rosten’s hilarious video,Fotoshop by Adobé . It’s an infomercial spoof based on society’s unrealistic standard of beauty. So funny and so poignant at the same time.
How about you? What have been some of your favorite adventures in Pinterest?
Love these ideas! Keep them coming
Little Feet Child Care