DIY Friday - Project #3

For our third DIY Salvager project, we decided on some clothespin racers found on the Almost Unschoolers blog. We thought it would be cool to make clothespin monster truck racers by using big plastic juice lids for wheels instead of buttons! But we ( meaning me) also didn't think about the relative size of the lids to the clothespin, and if they would actually fit, before we started the project!

So the little voyagers designed and colored paper hubcaps to fit inside the lids...

And they cut them out...

And they colored their clothespin with sharpie markers...

 Measured the straws...

Cut them...

I drilled holes in the lids...

 We attached the wheels... (these ones are backwards - they needed to have the flat surface facing inside) attempted to put the monster wheels on the clothespins... and quickly learned they wouldn't work! Too Big! The front and back wheels touched because the clothespin wasn't long enough, so the wheels wouldn't spin...OOPS!

But no worries, we had a whole bag of lids, and so we dug out some smaller ones, cut the hubcaps down to size...

And finished putting the racers together.....again!

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And then it was

RACE TIME!

We made some predictions -- High Ramp, Low Ramp, Faster, Slower, Distance... While racing the little cars down our ramp was great fun, they weren't exactly built for a science experiment. The wheels tip out and don't stay lined up when little voyagers put too much pressure on them. This was a reoccurring problem with little Spiderman's racer.

So, even though our science experiments were a bit of a flop, the little voyagers sure did have fun racing the clothespin cars. 

It kept them busy for quite some time!

DIY FRIDAY- Project #2

This Week's DIY project was the "Watch Me Grow" game. We found this project on The Crafty Crow, who linked to El Hada De Papel:

Materials/Supplies Needed

toilet paper tubes (or any paper tube cut to size)
cardboard strips cut to width of flattened toilet paper tube
ruler (with centimeters, if available)
pens, pencils, markers or crayons
die (for playing the game)

 Using the ruler, mark each centimeter on the long sides of cardboard strip. 

We marked 27 centimeters, but 30 is a nice round number ;-)

(Number the lines on both sides to make addition easier when playing the game.)

 Flatten paper tube and draw a person, animal, or any creature that has legs.

Draw legs so they match up with the paper rolls legs, when it is slid onto the cardboard strip.

All Done! 

Ready to Play?

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Race to the Top!

          How to Play the Game            

1. Start with your toilet paper roll at the bottom of the card board.

2.Roll a die.

3.Then move up that many lines.

4.Pass the die to the next person.

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Who ever gets to the top first wins!

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Credits: "How to Play the Game" instructions written by Rosetta.

How to modify the game for more advanced math students:  You can make this game harder by having the children roll two dice and have them subtract the lowest number rolled from the highest number rolled :)

DIY Friday -- Our First Project

Weaving with Nature

A piece of artwork made out of things found in nature.

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How to make a Nature Weave:

1. Take a nature walk and gather leaves, sticks, bark, etc.

2. Gather the following materials:

  

Cardboard

String, twine or yarn 

Scissors

3. Sort nature collection.

4. Make a loom.

      a. Cut slits about ½ to 1 inch apart on opposite ends of cardboard

      b. Loop twine up and down over slits

5. Start weaving!

 a. Choose a strong stick to weave first

 b. Weave over, under, over, under…..

     

 c. Second row, weave under, over, under over…..

    

 d. Continue repeating (b) and (c) until the loom is filled. 

 

Use a strong  stick for the last row.

6. Display your art work.

Choose to take it off the loom, or leave it on LIKE WE DID!

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Credits: How-to written by Rosetta, who also took many of the pictures.