Science, Making/Art, Fun

I promise not to turn this into a running commentary on my grandson projects, but for those who are interested (lmk pro or con), I've started doing more planning for our Friday afternoons together. I pick him up at school, take him to get a smoothie on Mission St -- an entertainment in its own right, then to a playground to burn off some of his boy energy, and then to his room for an hour or two. I used to bring a duffel bag full of stuff to play with. He calls me "barka" for a reason that will always remain unfathomable because he was so young when he started, so the duffel became known as "the barka bag." But now that he has a vocabulary and can articulate his curiousity (why do cars have letters and numbers on the back?) I've started planning more consciously around making activities, science, art, and fun. For those who are interested, here is my planning document.

For example:

JANUARY 9

MAKE: 

• Marshmallow + toothpicks tower challenge

• Cardboard Solar System color and hang one or two planets (bring painted box, instant glue, black thread, scissors, planet templates, instruction book)

• For Mamie: How to zoom out to solar system from Google Earth: https://www.tiktok.com/@wathmal/video/7400163389252668690

SCIENCE:

• Salt crystals + watercolor (bring salt, petri dishes, coffee filter, watercolors, cards)

• Observe under microscope

• Bring printout

• Bring science prompts

• For Mamie: Salt crystal zoom video: https://www.tiktok.com/@macrofying/video/7012260337755983110

GIFT:

• Small treasure box

JANUARY 16

MAKE: 

• Marble Run (bring cardboard, box cutter, craft sticks, glue gun and glue stick – install last three sticks together)

ART:

• Marble + paint in box

SCIENCE:

• Cup and string sound experiment (cups, string, bluetooth speaker – try vibrations with water bowl first)

• Bring printout

• For Mamie:  10 min Video of fundamental science behind sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24yESm63tSY

GIFT: 

• Small music box

etc...