This theme week is similar to Under the Sea week in that it allows us to make some scientific discoveries about life in these places versus our home, on the land. And I tried to break this topic up into 2 parts: flying machines and flying animals. You'll probably notice that we went a little heavy on the flying machines because both Mia and I are more mechanically-minded so it's just where our interests took us this week. We started by pulling out our kite and flying it in the park one afternoon. We have a delta kite which just refers to its triangular shape. These kites are known for being easy to fly and its shape was a good conversation starter about wings and airplanes. Before dinner one evening, Mia made some paper airplanes with her dad and we noticed that their pointed shape looked a lot like our kite. Would they fly the same? Whose airplane would go the farthest? Why? To take it a step farther, we built a balsa wood airplane with a rubber band "motor." You can find really inexpensive kits for these at Hobby Lobby. I showed her how we can store some energy in the rubber band and then we launched it around the park. I made no mention of Newton's laws of motion or things like kinetic energy, but we covered all of it. And maybe when she's sitting in science class one day, she'll think back on our fun afternoon in the park.
Mia currently has a pretty big interest in outer space and I'm considering doing a whole Space theme week in the future, but we included a bit this week to hold her over. If your kid is really into space too, check out the science aisle at Hobby Lobby. They sell all kinds of model rocket kits and supplies. For a fun space-themed snack, I gave Mia her first taste of astronaut ice cream. Another cool Hobby Lobby find! She was a little disappointed that it wasn't like Earth ice cream but we talked about gravity and why astronaut ice cream has to be different. She has the movie Home and there is a part where the invading Boovs gather up all the humans and they temporarily suspend gravity. That visual was helpful when talking about gravity together.
Up in the Air week seemed like the perfect time to collaborate with the sun to create some art. And we tried it a few different ways ranging from super simple & cheap to messy & more expensive. The easiest way to make sun art is to use colored construction paper. You know how that stuff fades so easily? Well, we exploited that this week. We each picked a piece of paper and set them out on a bright sun exposed window ledge. We just arranged some small toys and blocks so their weight kept everything in place but if you use light objects like feathers and leaves, then you can lay an acrylic sheet overtop (Home Depot sells cheap precut sheets in the window aisle). We left them out for a whole afternoon and they turned out pretty neat but we needed more. Luckily, I also found sun print paper at Hobby Lobby and we arranged found leaves into patterns inspired by the sun. We love how these turned out (pictured below)! The third method we tried is with a relatively new product called Inkodye. It's a light sensitive dye that you can use on pretty much any material. We tested it out on some scrap fabric with a leaf design and it's very promising. We're already making bigger plans to try it with a photo transparency design on a T-shirt.
As a super special treat, I got Mia up really early over the weekend to drive down to Colorado Springs to see the sunrise hot air ballon ascension at the Labor Day Lift Off. I went by myself last year and it was such a magical sight that I knew I had to return and bring her. It was so special to not only have some alone time with her, but to also see her face as those balloons began lifting up off the ground.
And lastly, we spent some time exploring those animals in the sky -- birds. I found a small wooden bird house in the unfinished wood section at the craft store (not Hobby Lobby this time, ha!) and Mia painted it entirely gold and hung it on our balcony. A house fit for a queen bird! We also made a special zoo trip with a focus on birds. She fed sugar water to the lorikeets and we also watched the Wildlife Show featuring many different species of birds. Her favorite was the black vulture Igor who swooped and flew over our heads. I'm just thankful Igor didn't poop on us. Can't say as much for the lorikeets.
A summary of all Up in the Air week activities with links:
ACTIVITIES: Flew a kite at the park, Made a rubber band-propelled balsa wood airplane, Learned how to fold paper airplanes, Talked about gravity
ART PROJECTS: Made sun art three ways, Painted a wooden bird house
OUTINGS: Went to the Labor Day Lift Off balloon festival in Colorado Springs to watch the balloons launch, Looked for flying animals at the zoo and fed the lorikeets
SNACK: Astronaut ice cream
BOOKS: The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola, Hello, My Name is Ruby by Philip C. Stead, Looking Down by Steve Jenkins, Fireflies in the Night by Judy Hawes
BIBLE STORY: Ascension
If you'd like to share a photo of your kid doing theme week activities, you can email it to me (email button in the left menu) or tag me on your Facebook photo or use the hashtag #weeklytoddlerthemes on Instagram (if you are private, just make sure I'm following you or tag me in the photo).
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