Thursday, August 23, 2012

Writing journals

  An interesting way to keep record of what we do, or have done during the day, is writing journals. I strongly recommend this to everyone, especially kids.
The idea of keeping their own journal, has to do specifically with putting the pen down to paper and start writing what comes to their mind. And what about grammar and spelling? You may wonder, well... that is important too. But in 1rst place children should be encouraged to write everything that they can think of or just remember. This activity will help them to enhance the following:
1) to develop the ability of remembering what they've done, and in case a funny anecode is worth telling , they will have it there, written down, to re-read it in the future.
2) it helps to develop fluency. Sometimes, kids know how to write accurately but they run out of words easily. Writing journals gives them the freedom of putting their own ideas onto paper, wihout stopping. Moreover, the flow of thoughts will come out rapidly in the form of natural sentences.
3) to encourage them to have their own diary, but in a book format. The purpose is not writing  short sentences, but whole stories, with their own words, and full of their own feelings. That means, to write events as they see, or feel them.
Once they've finished their journals, they can re-read them after some hours or even the following day. It's precisely then when they should correct their grammar mistakes, spelling and punctuation. But the story is already there, composed and ready to be read!
Where to write?
It can be a cheap notebook, or a couple of pages you may then join all together. The idea is that the kids have their own record of stories and anecdotes.
An important tip!
Children may write whenever they want, but finding a certian moment, such as before going to bed, or after lunch, This, can give them the opportunity of finding their own time for doing things. And of course, they can add drawings if they desire!

I'm back

  Hey ppl! How is it going? If you read us daily, you may have noticed, we haven't been able to publish any post these last days, due to technical problems with the pc.
Fortunately, we are back again, to go on posting and sharing ideas!
We hope to see you around as usual!
Warm regards =)

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Playing with soap bubbles


  Making homemade bubbles has always been fun for both parents and kids. This kind of product can be found on market, but there is a cheapest way of making it. I will give you one easy recipe, which I've tried and it has proved to be successful. Remember to remind kids of being careful with dish soap, not to drink it or touch their eyes.That's very important!  Playing safe is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Here goes the recipe...
Liquid Soap

You'll need...
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 1/4 tablespoons dish soap
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons glycerin

Instructions
  • Mix and leave overnight before using.Then, pour it into a plastic bottle. You may add coloured ink if you want, or leave it as it is.

 Blowers or Wands

  • You may use pipe cleaners or straws. Twist them and make the desired shape. It can be an oval, a circle or a star!


Friday, August 17, 2012

Phrase of the Day

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on the Treasure Island.
- Walt Disney -

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Your own quick sand!

Making experiments with kids is fascinating. And the'd love to make quick sand. Let's see how it works.

You will need...
Half a cup of water
1 cup of maize cornflour
A plastic container
A spoon

Steps 
a) First, mix  the cornflour and water  in the container to make your own instant quick sand. Remember not too solid ok?. Then, stir slowly and drip the quick sand to show it is a liquid. Stirring it quickly will make it hard, so you'd better do it fast. Remember that quick sand is messy, try to play with it outside and don’t forget to stir just before you use it. You just need t stir instant quicksand just before you use it. It's always like that!

The phenomena explanation

If you add just the right amount of water to cornflour it becomes very thick when you stir it quickly. So,  Stirring slowly allows more water between the cornflour grains, letting them slide over each other much easier. Moreover,   if you poke it slowly it doesn’t mix up the mixture in the same way, leaving it runny.  It works in much the same way as real quick sand.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Homemade fabric fragrance


  Typically people buy fabric perfumes on market. They are not expensive and some of them smell really good. But there are others, who never buy these things, but they would like to try one of this, at least once. Normally, I prepare this myself, because I never find the smell I like, so I guess this is a good alternative for you too. Let me show you how to produce a homemade fabric scent, with very little money. You can use it either for curtains, kids’ cushions, clothes, carpets and so on.

You’ll need the following…
1) Cereal alcohol
2) Water
3) Essential oils.
4) One unused spray bottle where to pour our perfume.

Steps
a) Choose the scent you like the most (or the one your kids adore). If you want to create a lively atmosphere you can choose lemon, orange, or mint. On the contrary, if you want to generate a relaxing atmosphere you may choose lavender or vanilla. Or if you want to create a fruity perfume, you may combine strawberry, plums, blueberry and apple.
b) Pour 15 drops inside the bottle.
c) Fill in half of the bottle with cereal alcohol, and half with water.
d) Put the bottle lid and shake for some minutes. After this, put the bottle in a dark place, it can be a kitchen drawer or somewhere in the garage. After 2 days, shake it again, and spray over a surface to see whether it needs more scent or not.
If you like it the way it is, start using it around your house. Kids will love it!

Phrase of the day

Whatever you are, be a good one.
 - Abraham Lincoln -