Bridging part 3: Powder Puff Derby!!!

I just realized I missed the post about finishing up our Girl Scout year. Sorry :(

To finish up the year girls got the honors of making their own cars and parents as well as other family was welcomed to join in on the races.

We started with a check in and weighed all the cars. This year we were not strict on the rule but next year we will be following the Cub scout Derby rules. 

While I ran check in Justin set up the tracks. 

The girls were so thrilled that after the race the girls did not want to stop. 

Everyone was excited to show off the cars and want to do it again. 

Brook won and there was no competing against her car this year. Maybe next year we will make some adjustments to our car. 

We finished the year with a bang! 

Bridging part 2

For our Bridging we want to do something special and remarkable each year. We decided on mini piñatas filled with confetti and glitter with the patch on the inside. 

WARNING THIS TAKES A LOT OF TIME!!

Do not try to do this project quickly because it needs time to dry and if you do fringe that is another painstaking process. 

Items needed: 

Card stock

scissors

glue

crepe paper

confetti

glitter

string

hot glue gun 

First you need a templet: Which I found here 

Print the templet out on card stock to save a step other wise you need to transfer your templet to card stock. 

 

 In the small square center which will be the bottom you need cut out a square so you can have a "door" that pulls open. I put the crepe paper but only glue at the exterior edge because I wanted the center to not be crazy strong.

Now for the fringe paper. I cut a ton of paper and then fringe the entire thing so when I glued it on it would look nice. 

Then I made my bottom. You need to use the hot glue or super glue or something so the cord stays attached to the bottom when you pull the "door". Otherwise this will not work and you will have kids staring at the piñata trying to figure out what happened. 

 I glued the paper on in a pattern using the girl scout green and white. I also somehow managed to line it all up too.

 Glue it on all of the sides and set aside to dry. Do not try to use a heat gun to speed the process up this resulted in almost burning my house because apparently this is extremely flammable.

 Now we trim the sides so the fringe is not in the way of glueing the sides down.

 I very carefully snaked the string through the paper on the bottom and closed it up

 Then you get the two sides glued together and let it dry.

 Now is the best part fill with glitter and confetti. We even put our bridge in so it would fall on the girls. At least in theory it would.

 I learned how to make this better for next time and am glad the girls had fun. I am not 100 % sure I want to do it each bridging ceremony big they take so long to make and clean up but the girls loved it.

Marble Maze!!!!

So we have a pack we are starting up this fall. I have been on the hunt for inexpensive ideas for our recruitment events that are still fun and captivating. I was reading a book on Stem learning and decided this was the right direction. We spent less than $5 in supplies. 

You will need a small thick chunk of wood

nails

paint

rubber bands 

a marble

We used a scrap piece of wood and not realizing it the wood was bowed which honestly just adds to it. 

The longest I took was measuring out the boarder and marking my squares. 

Then I started painting my squares

The center is all done and drying right now.

Starting my boarders.

Then I painted the trim and back.

I painted a white trim to help break it up a tad.

 I decided I wanted a sealer to help protect the board in the upcoming years. This is not required but will help protect the tracks.

 Each corner needs to be nailed so you can change the tracks as often as you want.

Then add the rubber bands. Feel free to make it as easy or as difficult as you would like. Gill-G quickly attached himself to this game and has us feeling like we should make more for home. Check out the kids blogs about making each their own.

Lessons in chalk

 Sitting around the table doing lessons get boring after awhile. With my ADHD and Hulk Man's never ending energy we need to come up with new ways to learn. Besides who does not like playing with chalk? Depending on the day will really determine what we do in chalk, some lessons just does not work outside. 

I think our favorite lesson was trying to draw the solar system and then realizing we needed more space. Next time we will search for a massive parking lot to try that. After that first solar system project I realized how excited the kids were to do their work with chalk. At our next trip to Hulk Man's speech group Yasser, Gill-G, and I practiced our writing.

                                                                   

Gill-G was actually thrilled to trace this way, not that school work has ever been a struggle with him. Some days he fights with us because he does not want to go to sleep because he is doing school work. Yasser is the really stubborn one and will fight. But for 40 mins she happily sat sounding out words and writing in chalk.  

Honestly the hippy in me was screaming for joy because this was a never ending supply for writing. The next rain storm or the next spraying of water gives us new writing space. It is a win win either way we look at it. 

Pixy Cubes

I keep looking for new games to play with the kids but also want something that is going to help teach. One day I came across Pixy Cubes which is meant for 6+ kids. I decided that I was going to buy it for my kids anyways. 

Yasser loved it and after 20 minutes of explaining her the point of the game she finally got it. The boys are a little trickier. Gill-G understood matching the card part of the game but the time and beating people was difficult. 

So we altered the rules a lot. We gave them longer study time. The best part is classroom use because it is problem solving!! 

I just gave Gill-G cards and the dice and let him think through which ones he needed and put the puzzle together. He loved it. Hulk man like stacking it more than anything but it was nice finding a game that did not cost a small fortune and has a variety of uses for me. Looking forward to our next game.  Check out Pixy Cubes!!