If your kids are anything like mine, they have a toybox full of perfectly good toys, but would rather play with the empty toilet paper roll, an empty cereal box, and some tape. This week's mid-week morsel offers two great books full of ideas to keep boys and girls busy for the whole year. I originally discovered these books two years ago when Homeschool Freebie of the Day posted them on their website. I was reminded of them this past week when the books were re-posted. They were written around the turn of the 20th century, but still offer ideas and games for children today.
In the preface of The American Girls Handybook the authors state, "One of our objects is to impress upon the minds of the girls the fact that they all possess talent and ability to achieve more than they suppose possible..." The books cover topics ranging from pressing flowers to homemade Christmas gifts. The Girls' book 1 contains spring and summer activities, while the girls' book 2 contains autumn and winter activities.
In the preface of The American Boys Handybook the author states, "The sports, amusements, and games embraced in this book are intended to reach the average American boy of any age, not too young to fly a kite or too old to enjoy a good day's fishing." The books contain every interest from choosing and caring for dogs to snowball warfare. The boys' book 1 contains spring and summer activities, and the boys' book 2 contains autumn and winter activities.
Karissa
Winter is upon us. Whether you live in the North or South, the snowflake is a recognizable symbol of winter. They are so beautiful and interesting; I thought it fitting to write a post about snow to commemorate the Winter Solstice.
I love watching fluffy white flakes fall from the sky, but what makes snow white? Well, it's not really. It's actually clear, like glass. Snow crystals, again like glass, partially reflect light. Have you ever seen a pile of crushed glass? The light reflecting from the clear glass appears white. The same phenomenon happens with snow crystals.
Snow is frozen water, right? So what makes snow different than sleet and ice? The difference is in when the water turns to ice. Sleet and freezing rain are actual drops of water that freeze as they fall from the sky. Snow is created in the clouds when water vapor condenses directly into ice, and not water drops.
Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Professor of Physics at Caltech created a wonderful website all about snowflakes. There he has a photo gallery full of pictures of actual snowflakes, tons of information about the science behind snow, information about creating your own snow, and some science-based activities for kids. I highly recommend his website.
If you're looking for more than science, I found that as well. Snowflakes make great decorations that you can leave up all winter long. Country Living and Better Homes and Gardens both have nice collections of snowflake decorations. I also found informative how-to's on making snowflake window clings, borax crystal snowflakes, and even a quilled snowflake ornament.
Of course, there are always paper snowflakes. Here are instructions for your basic 6-pointed paper snowflake. For more stylized snowflakes, check out these Star Wars, ballerina, and 3-D snowflakes. Jessica Jones, a blogger at How About Orange, has a fan-tastic paper snowflake tutorial. eHow even has instructions for making a paper snowflake chain!
If you're the kind of person who prefers to stand outside and catch snow in your mouth, perhaps you'd be interested in making some snow ice cream. This first recipe is very similar to how my dad made it when I was a kid. The next one uses sweetened condensed milk, and the last one has egg in it.
Finally, if you're like me and live someplace where it doesn't snow, occasionally you miss it. Even if you don't miss the cold, snow is beautiful. Steve Spangler Science sells instant snow powder. Just add water for an "eruption of fluffy snow".
All this talk of snow is giving me cold chills. I think I'll have a hot drink and snuggle under a blanket. How do snowflakes inspire you in the winter?
Karissa
