Dragon Habitats

K has started playing a game on The Daddy's iPhone called Dragonvale. The object is to breed and hatch different dragons, and build different habitats for them. This morning I suggested that we build a few different "habitats" to try out ourselves. K decided which habitats he wanted to build, then he and I (with help from T and Ky) gathered pillows and blankets, moved tables and chairs, and set to work building a "Fire Habitat," "Ice Habitat," "Earth Habitat," and "Plant Habitat." (Pretend Play, Science)

 (Fire habitat- top centre, Ice habitat- centre right, Plant habitat- bottom)

 

(Earth habitat- foreground, Plant habitat- background)

As K put the final touches on the habitats I went to search for some books about dragons. I didn't find any, but I found a book about volcanoes, one about Antarctica, one about rocks and minerals and one about plants. I added the appropriate book to each habitat. K assigned everyone to their own habitat. (T and Ky were not quiet as cooperative as he would have liked!) I was given the Ice Habitat and he took the Fire Habitat. Ky and T were assigned the Earth and Plant Habitats, however, they preferred to hang out in K's Fire Habitat. (Gross Motor, Leadership)

I pretended to be really cold in my Ice Habitat and K invited me into the Fire Habitat to warm up :) As we looked through the volcano book in the fire habitat the furnace came on and started to puff up the duvet that was covering the vent. K and his sisters had a blast jumping, crawling and stomping all over it as they tried to squish it back down. K exclaimed, "It's coming up like a VOLCANO! Just like my habitat!" I got some vinegar and baking soda out while K found a jar and plastic tray. He poured some vinegar into the jar and added baking soda to it. After a few trials of adding baking soda to the vinegar he decided to try adding vinegar to the baking soda, and dipping his hand in the baking soda and putting them into the tray of over-flowed vinegar. (Compassion, Literacy, Gross Motor, Science) 

After we ran out of baking soda and I washed up, Ky moved herself into the Ice Habitat. T joined her shortly afterwards. K joined them and began looking through the book about Antarctica. He asked questions whenever a picture triggered a thought (ex. "Is this where Santa lives?" "Do polar bears eat penguins? What are they doing? Why? What is that? etc...) (Literacy, Language, Cognitive skills)

We were so busy in the habitats that we missed lunch! We had a late lunch, and decided to head outside to enjoy the rain (and the many puddles it brought!) K's friend came over to play and the Plant Habitat and Earth Habitat have been put on hold until the interest strikes again.

Kataky's Mama

Science, Math and LEGO

Well, we've had a busy couple of weeks! Last week K was in a bit of "a mood" all week. He wasn't very interested in doing much of anything it seemed (except bugging his sisters!) We still managed to be somewhat productive though. On Monday we went to the Science Centre where we met an old friend of mine. We got to tour the Living Earth and the Science Arcade with him. K favourite part was turning on a light bulb with his body by touching the electricity ball. (I wish I had pictures but my camera battery died! ) We also got to go on a virtual trip to mars (which was his second favourite part of the day.) We spent a fair amount of time in the KidSpark area. Let me tell you it is AMAZING for kids! There is so much for children of all ages to touch and build and experiment and explore. 

 

(T in the KidSpark area fitting square shaped wooden blocks through the holes in foam blocks)

To try to help K break out of his mood later in the week we had a "Beach Party" in the bathtub. They spent almost 2 hours in and out of the tub. K practiced holding his breath, floating and his "ice cream scoop" strokes. He showed his sisters how to blow bubbles in the water and encouraged them to try it too! They collected shells from the bottom of the "ocean" and after I got to be the tickle shark trying to tickle them.

(K showing Ky how to blow bubbles in the water)

This week K practiced spelling out word families (eg. cat, hat, mat, etc... gum, hum, bum, etc..) K was having fun figuring out how to spell each word and discovering the sound pattern, until he realized we were "doing school." (My fault. I told T that we were "working" and then K was "too tired" to do anymore.) We also continued with money math. I drew 5 circles on a wipe off board and chose a number. K filled the circles with different combinations of coins to equal the number chosen.

(K's combinations for $0.25) 

 

We took turns choosing numbers and making coin combinations. I would make a mistake for K to check and correct my work. 

We spent a lot of time building with LEGO this week. We built space ships, and the moon, spy houses and cars, boats, and animals. He also built a catapult that actually works! We made a trip to the LEGO store to pick up a few new pieces and K loved the build a mini figure station and put a few combinations together before settling on bringing the spy home.

(The moon, space ships and catapult with his new mini figures)

A few more pictures from the past couple of weeks:

 (Exploring soap bubbles)

(Making moon rocks with warm rocks and crayons)

(K rearranging the furniture to build a fort)

 

 

Kataky's Mama