Bird Seed Paper, Gummy Bears & More

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It is that time of year again when things get crazy hectic for us and we don't stop for months. With free movies at the theater, discounted days at one of the local public pools, summer fun with our local homeschooling group, camping, fair for 4-H & more, it is hard to stay on track some days with school work. Luckily we homeschooling and there are many learning opportunities in all that we do. We've even had some life experiences recently. In late May we had an electrical fire in our outside breaker box and then in early June we had a hot water tank leak. Needless to say, things are never dull around here!

A few weeks ago we made Bird Seed Paper from our Green Kids Crafts kit. We started by taking several sheets of scrap paper and ripping it up into smaller pieces. We then added the paper to our blender and filled it with water just above the paper, and blended it. After it was mixed we poured it into a 10 x 13 baking sheet that had water covering the bottom and sprinkled our bird seed (included in the kit) over the top. Yang then used her hands, for a second, to mix everything together. There was a small screen, about 5 x 7, included in our kit, that we dipped into the mixture. We then held it over the baking dish while the water drained out.

Blending water with shredded paper.

Straining the water through the screen.

Once the water had stopped pouring out we placed the screen on a folder dish towel, and then used another dish towel to squeeze out an excess water. We removed the screen and placed then 'paper' between a piece of felt to dry for 24 hours.

So a few weeks ago I posted this picture on our facebook page, and asked if anyone knew what we would be making. We had one good guess of Jello Gigglers. It was a close guess but we where actually making gummies. We bought a mold online and watched several videos on YouTube to find the perfect recipe. 

At the end of the summer last year we discovered a local spray park. We didn't get a chance to visit it last year but it has been a huge hit this year. Yang wakes each morning and ask how many lessons she has to do before we can go to the spray park. I love seeing this motivation in her as she has not complained once about having to do school. Now, to figure out how to keep that momentum going once the park closes at the end of summer. What keeps your kids inspired to do structured learning without complaining?