FIELD TRIP: Cinderella and a park

Pagentry and sparkles steal the show for Cinderella at the Children's Theater. This was our second time seeing this particular show at CTC. It was mostly the same, with a few jokes updated. The kids love the glamour and glitz. The Boy talked for a long time about poor Cinderalla - I hope the show taught them compassion for those who are in rough circumstances.

Afterwards, the day was nice so we ran around in the bowl in the park across the street from the MIA.

FIELD TRIP: Ice Skating at Loring Park

Loring Park was a lovely place to celebrate our winter weather during the Holidazzle festivities. We were there at the tail end, but the ice was still good and the crisp air made us feel alive. We brought our own skates, but they had free rentals, courtesy of Wells Fargo, and a nice warming house -- important if you have kiddos!

FIELD TRIP: The Hub Bike shop

We got a behind-the-scenes tour at The Hub Bike Shop in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities' only cooperatively owned bike shop, and, oh, was it interesting. There are so many bikes stored up in the ceiling in the back, and they kids got the opportunity to bring one down and up. Then they learned a bit about how to take care of their own bikes, including how to check their tire pressure and then fill it up. What a great neighborhood business!

 About the Hub:
The Hub is a worker-owned and democratically-run workplace focused on providing excellent bicycle products and services. All workers have opportunities to vote on different aspects of the business, and have equal access to information.  The Hub is firmly committed to donating labor, money, and merchandise in order to support various community initiatives throughout the year.  The business dedicated 5% of profits to supporting the cycling community, the community at large, and the environment.

• In addition to new products, we also provide 2nd hand bikes at the 3020 Minnehaha location.
• The Hub’s “People and the Planet Fund” donates a portion of profits to supporting the community and helping the environment.

 A Green Business:

• We recycle tires and tubes leftover from our repairs and are now offering this service to you. We will take limited quantities of tires and tubes with any purchase
• Metal is separated and taken to the scrap yard
• Plastics are separated into 5 different types and recycled
• We use and/or offer a selection of plant based chain lubes and bio-degradable grease
• The vast majority of Hubsters bike daily all year round. This includes for work, for getting around town, and for fun
• We use 100% post-consumer, recycled paper products

Podcasts offer free audio stories for kids - check out Podcast Addicts today

When you have a concussion, there isn't much you can do. You can't watch television or read. You don't feel well enough to get up and run around. And so, you're left with audio books.

We were glad when a fellow homeschooling friend showed us Podcast Addict and helped us subscribe to a number of podcasts. Audio stories for free! That's the best.

And then Daddy gave up one of his monthly Audible books for us, and we spent hours listening to Anne of Green Gables, who went from one scrap to another. What a trial she was. And how much we love her!

If you're looking for some great podcasts for young kids, this is what we love:

Brains On! Science podcast for kids

Brains On!® is a science podcast for curious kids and adults from American Public Media. Co-hosted each week by kid scientists and reporters from public radio, we ask questions ranging from the science behind sneezing to how to translate the purr of cats, and go wherever the answers take us.

The Story Home Children's Audio Stories

A wonderful world of stories awaits you at The Story Home, read by a very special storyteller named Alan. Here you will find enchanting original children's tales that cannot be found anywhere else.

 

Story Pirates

Story Pirates is a group of world-class actors, comedians, improvisers and musicians who adapt stories written by kids into sketch comedy and musical theater.

Barefoot Books

 Discover a weekly selection of award-winning children's stories and songs from Barefoot Books. We are an independent publisher specializing in carefully crafted books, gifts and digital content for children that combine the best of the present with the best of the past to educate our children as the caretakers of tomorrow. These classic children’s stories, fairy tales, poems and songs tap into the wisdom of many cultures, while never forgetting that childhood is a time for fun.

Sparkle Stories

Sparkle Stories produces original audio stories for families around the world. Each week on the Sparkle Stories Podcast, we'll be sharing a Free Story from one of our Original Story Series.

FIELD TRIP: Textile Center offers felting class for youngsters

Introduce the kiddos to yarn at the Textile Center off University in Minneapolis.

Our homeschool group headed there one day in March for storytime, an art project and a tour. I was quite impressed with the art work in the building, and of course, we wanted everything in the gift shop, being the yarn lovers we are!

Our field trip began with a story... "Wilbur" by Leslie Helakoski, the tale of a crazy sheep that doesn't quite fit in.

Then the kiddos selected fistfuls of fiber and dipped smaller amounts of it in soapy water. They worked the fiber in their hands until...

They had made felted balls!

Next the kids used a needle and thread to sew them together an fashion key chains.

The Weaver's Guild of Minnesota occupies a few rooms in the Textile Center.

The Textile Center's mission is to honor textile traditions, promote excellence and innovation, and inspire widespread participation in fiber art. Admission is free and open to the public. A variety of classes are offered regularly. Explore basketmaking, weaving, beading, crochet, felting, knitting, needlework, embroidery, quilting and sewing.

Since its founding in 1940 by six women, including Hilma Berglund, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota has established itself as a nationally-recognized resource for the arts of weaving, spinning, and dyeing. The Guild offers classes and events year round, serving nearly 700 new and experienced fiber artists each year. It was the catalyst in the formation of the Textile Center, where the Guild currently maintains classroom, retail, and library space.

The artwork on display was simply amazing. What a person can do with lace and dirt...

 The Inside Out Outside In: Domestic Commitments exhibit is by by Sandra Menefee Taylor, and was viewed March 10 – April 30, 2016. The current exhibit, "A Common Thread," is open through Feb. 25.

This "lace" was formed by shaking dirt through a piece of lace to see the lacy pattern on the ground. Breathtakingly beautiful, isn't it?

Because we were so close, we checked out the "Witches Tower" in Prospect Park. What lively play it sparked!

Simple, easy road trip activity

You know how playdough will keep kids occupied for forever? No mom wants to bring playdough on a car trip (imagine that cleaning disaster!), but I have another option for you.

Pipe cleaners.

Yep, give them a bag of pipe cleaners and the kiddos in the backseat will make amazing sculptures, jewelry, mustaches, and more.

Try it. You'll always keep some in your Road Trip Activity bag!

AUTHOR ALERT: We met Belinda Jensen!

We really enjoyed meeting the author of Bel the Weather Girl when she did a book-signing at Scout and Morgan Book Store in Cambridge in August 2016. Bel is one of our new favorite book characters. We've been learning tons about weather! One of the things I like most about the books is that there is an easy-to-do experiment at the back of every one.

Plus, we like supporting local, Minnesota authors. Belinda Jensen is a homegrown, female author that you'll recognize from Channel 11. She's the kind of person I hold up as a role model for my kiddos.

About Belinda (from her web site):
Belinda Jensen has been a meteorologist for 25 years and has been curious about the weather since she was an elementary school student! She is now the Chief Meteorologist for KARE 11 News, the NBC affiliate in Minneapolis/St. Paul.


Belinda loves to visit classrooms to share her passion and enthusiasm for weather-related topics, and during those many visits she’s discovered that for some students, weather is an exciting mystery—but that for others, it’s a scary subject. Believing that knowledge is power, Belinda developed a series of engaging and enlightening presentations that reveal the science behind weather, and discovered, just as she hoped, that children aren’t nearly as frightened when they are informed.

Belinda continues to pursue her goal to help kids understand the science and mystery of weather with her series of children’s books featuring the character “Bel the Weather Girl,” who, like Belinda herself, is already fascinated with the weather as an 8-year-old. 

Although Belinda herself has never feared the weather, her own 8-year-old daughter along with her 6 year old Bernese Mountain Dog are both very apprehensive about weather and provided her true inspiration for the series.

Belinda grew up in the upper Midwest, sometimes dubbed the “Super Bowl of weather.”

From the web site:
Bad weather can be scary—but not for Bel the Weather Girl! Her mom the meteorologist has taught eight-year-old Bel a lot about what makes the wind whirl and the thunder roar. Now Bel is sharing fun weather facts with her cousin Dylan, whose fear of storms is soothed by Bel’s weather-ready tips.
Weather is powerful and sometimes unpredictable, but each of the books in this science-based series offers young readers a playful yet fact-filled explanation for a different weather wonder. As Bel likes to say, “Every day is another weather day”—and every day is also an opportunity to read about another adventure featuring Bel, Dylan, and Stormy the Weather Dog!

Read 'em all yourself!
- The Sky Stirs Up Trouble: Tornadoes
- A Party for Clouds: Thunderstorms
- Raindrops on a Roller Coaster: Hail
- A Snowstorm Shows Off: Blizzards
- Spinning Wind and Water: Hurricanes
- Weather Clues in the Sky: Clouds




Get lesson plans for teachers/homeschoolers here.

Flat Katy on adventure

Are you traveling with the family? Are you going somewhere without the kids? Bring Flat Katy with and share her adventures via Instagram. It'll be fun!

Our Flat Katy is a fabric paper-doll sort of thing that Grandma found at a craft sale. Yours might be a paper drawing. It might be Flat Stanley or Flat Sarah. Get creative.

Flat Katy at Mount Rushmore

Flat Katy at West Yellowstone KOA

Flat Katy at the beach in Monterrey, CA

Flat Katy on a covered wagon in Nebraska (Great River Archway)

FIAR: Visit to Italy through Papa Piccolo

Ah, Italy. Bellissimo Italiano.

With The Girl's love of language and my love of travel, we could have kept going forever with this study on Italy. And The Boy was along for the ride. (Well, mostly the catnip tea, which he can't get enough of.)

As always, we started off with the Homeschool Share lapbook; here is the link to the one on Italy.

I love the free country landmark sheets from Education.com, because they show the flag, and important landmarks, with a few other activities. Here's the link for the one on Italy. 

COLOR THEORY
The color wheel is fundamental to good art, and so we did a few experiments with colored water, a handout protected within a ziplock bag, and eye droppers. Here is the link to the free printable we used. The artwork we made on a paper towel was hung up and displayed for several months. It was so cool!

Here's the color wheel activity page that served as our guide (and reminder).  Here's another color wheel handout we used.

We meant to paint like Michelangelo by taping paper to the bottom of a table, but never did because then I saw the idea of re-creating a taller structure so folks could stand and paint the bottom of a surface (like this), and thought that would be so much better. Better, but not something I figured out how to do. Another time.

ARTISTS: MICHELANGELO AND DAVINCI
There is so much about the Renaissance and artwork that we could have talked about, but this time around I thought we would just get to know a few of the artists. I started off with focusing on Michelangelo, but then tales of Leonardo da Vinci slipped in.

FIAR: Italian adventures with Papa Piccolo

Cats. 
Italy.

Two of my favorite things in the world. Yep, I fell in love with "Papa Piccolo" by Carol Talley when I looked at the cover image! And so did the kiddos.

We had a great time rowing through this book, and really delved into Italian culture, checking out the language, music and history. Plus we learned everything we could about Venice -- oh, what a lovely city that is! We learned about the great artists like Michaelangelo and Leonardo daVinci, and threw in some color theory and drawing lessons.

We also focused on cats, learning facts about that breed of animal. And then we threw in some herb lessons on catnip for fun!

WE READ
Olivia goes to Venice by Ian Falconer
Madeline and the Cats of Rome by Marciano, John Bemelman (Fun to revisit one of our past FIAR characters!)
Owls: Hunters of the night by Elaine Landeau
Big Cats: Hunters of the night by Elaine Landeau
Raccoons: Scavengers of the night by Elaine Landeau
Night animals by Cohen, Daniel
Night animals by Selsam, Millicent E.
Dark emperor & other poems of the night by Sidman, Joyce
Italy ABCs : a book about the people and places of Italy (Country ABCs) by Katz Cooper, Sharon
Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice by Claudia Mauner
The orphan singer by McCully, Emily Arnold
Gabriella’s song by Fleming, Candace
This is Venice by M. Sasek
Angelo by Macaulay, David
Michelangelo (Getting to know the world’s greatest artists) by Venezia, Mike
Michelangelo : the Renaissance (Ticktock essential artists) by Spence, David
Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore
Six Dinner Sid: A Highland Adventure by Inga Moore
Socks by Cleary, Beverly
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
Cats (Pets plus) by Head, Honor
Cat (Eyewitness (Dorling Kindersley Limited)) by Clutton-Brock, Juliet
Why do Cats Meow?
Cats by DK Publishing
The dog who had kittens by Robertus, Polly M.
Five little kittens by Jewell, Nancy
Wish Come True Cat by Ragnhild Scamell
If You Give A Cat A Cupcake by Laura Numeroff
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Moses the Kitten by James Herriot

WE DID
Rowing through "Papa Piccolo" gave us the excuse to learn about Marco Polo, the great teen explorer who traveled between Italy and China. Wow. We watched several videos about him as a family. I didn't find any good children's books about Marco Polo, just longer chapter books geared towards readers.

But we used this map to learn about his route, and read through the biographical information on the site.

Click here to read about all the cat activities we embarked upon.

Click here to read about all the virtual traveling we did to Italy.