Float Your Boat

All the rain we've had this summer left plenty of puddles.....which I find are good for a handful of things.

A. Stomping in. Obviously.

B. Stomping in hard enough to splash your brother, sister, mom, or dad.

C. Heroically saving a drowning worms life. You'll feel good about yourself all day if you fish those guys out and drop them safely in the grass- I guarantee it.

D. Floating handmade boats.

This summer I somewhat mastered the art of paper boat making during Cantigny's Wild Wednesday program. And when I say mastered, I mean I can make three basic kinds of boats, I am not an origami guru by any means. Please don't ask to see an intricate flower, or crane, or gorilla.

But these three boats, look out- I've got them down!

My favorite- the canoe- is illustrated step by step below. By the time you scroll to the last picture you too will be a nautically themed origami wizard....at least when it comes to little paper canoes. And with a little patience (on your part) and a little practice (on their part) your children will be folding and sailing boats by bath time!

So, grab a square of colored paper- the bigger the better for your first try ( I recommend using actual origami paper that is colored on one side) and start to scroll...

Start with your paper colored side up.


Fold it in half.


Fold it in half again, to create a square.


Unfold the entire paper so that you have a windowpane of creases.


Fold in one side to meet the center line. Repeat on the other side.




Fold up each corner to meet the middle line.



Fold each edge up to the middle line to form shallow a triangle. It is okay if they overlap in the middle.



Fold the top and bottom points in to the middle line.



Pinch the boat in half so that you see the colored paper through the center line.


Carefully turn the boat inside out so that the color is on the outside. Slowly shape the folds into the general boat shape.



To make the folds crisper and to help your boat stand up, refold the colored edges back down and press the boat flat. At this point, your children can also add some details- crayons work best as they will not run when wet.



Pop your boat back up, shape it and take it sailing! (I advise adding a tow line in case your little boat sails out of arms reach.) Don't leave your canoe in the water too long or the water will soak through the paper and capsize your vessel.



It's also fun to craft little boats out of natural materials. Collect nutshells, pinecones, sticks, leaves and flowers with your children then piece together a fleet of rafts, sailboats and cruisers. Half the fun is the sink or float test when you first set them in the water!

As Mark Twain put it, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So go, grab your kids and set sail.

Confession

Not sure how to start this one....but I've been reminded that blogging is about sharing real life events, and being honest about what happens during those events.

So, I'll just lay it out there (gulp)...I killed Phil.

I feel awful and am so ashamed! It was a total accident! He was temporarily left in my car....on a 90+ degree day...and well, was steamed.

It was quite a traumatic discovery once I had the "oh no!" moment of realizing he was still in my car.

So, I'm off "class pets" for now. (by the way, if Phil's death wasn't enough- before he passed, the three harvester ants I fed him from the ant farm, attacked him. Yep- full blown attack. His weekend babysitter was kind enough to intervene, but not before Phil lost a portion of his tail. Poor, poor Phil.)

So, I will definitely not be having any more live creatures in my office.

We've Got Ourselves a Stowaway!

A few days ago I prepared a fish bowl with a few rocks, some mud, a couple of plants and water for the pair of frogs I was planning to catch to show to the preschool aged children for this week's pond themed storytime program- Sprouts.

The idea was to walk along one of Cantigny's creek beds and scoop up a few hoppers into my handy dandy coffee can turned frog net. I would just keep the frogs for a day or two, to show the Sprouts.

Well, out with the frogs and in with the baby lizard! Yep- a lizard! And not one that I caught along Cantigny's creek beds. This tiny one rode to Cantigny in a philodendron plant and was delivered to our greenhouse. Luckily, he was spotted and after a game of chase, was captured in a jelly jar.

Knowing that I was preparing for frogs, the horticulture department called me up and offered me their stowaway.

My frog habitat is now home to the only and only, Phil. Named after the plant he got a free ride to Illinois on. And thanks to a bit of Internet sleuthing, I believe he (err..I guess, he could be a she?)is a Brown Anole. He is about two inches long from nose to tail and is a tanny brown color, although I think his skin is able to change colors a bit as it has been varied shades of brown.



Brown Anole's are common in Florida and, pretty much unheard of in Illinois. They eat mainly insects and can grow to be about 5-8 inches long.

For the time being, I have him in our fish bowl and am trying to tempt him with whatver little insects I can find, and catch. But, so far he has turned his nose up at the millipedes and worms I've offered.

So, I hate to admit it, but today I dropped the three remaining ants from my ant farm (see June's posts) in with Phil.

I expected a feeding frenzy, but actually, I think poor little Phil is actually scared of the ants! He runs away from them when they come near him and hides behind the plants. I hope to catch a few smaller ants and maybe a roly poly or two to get him through the weekend.

I'll post an update next week!

Feelin Hot, Hot, Hot

Ok, so I picked the coolest day this week to write this...so maybe stop reading now and come back tomorrow when it is supposed to be 93 degrees and uber humid...it will be much more inspirational then.

I mean it...seriously, stop reading and go play outside in this 80-something degree cool wave. I'll meetcha back here tomorrow.



Hello again old friend. (pretend it's tomorrow) Phew! It is steamy out there isn't it? What a change from yesterday. But- good thing you came by today- prepare yourself, after you read through this short list of fun things to do outside on a hot day you won't be able to stop yourself from grabbing all the kids you know, slathering them with SPF and dragging them out of the air conditioning.

So, without further ado...

Top 20 Things to Do Outside on a Hot Day

20. Go swimming- be it pool, pond, creek or ocean or in my case- the plastic baby pool in my backyard, if I can get my son to scootch over
19. Fly a kite.
18. Play shadow tag by stepping on eachother's shadows.
17. Eat a popsicle. Save packing materials and make your own pops by inserting a craft stick into a cup of juice and leaving it in the freezer for a few hours.
16. Go creek walking.
15. Make sun tea by putting a few tea bags into a large glass jar of water and leaving the jar out in the sun for a few hours. Enjoy over ice with honey or sugar added or a fruit or mint garnish. Ooo la la!
14. Make sunprints. Sign your children up for our Sunpainted T's class on August 3rd and they can make an awesome back to school t-shirt with the sun's help! To register,click here.
13. Have a watermelon seed spitting contest or play "Greased Watermelon"- rub margarine, butter or shortening all over a watermelon then toss it in the pool or lake and let everyone try to catch it- and hold onto it!
12. Blow bubbles. Make your own bubble juice with dishsoap and water...some say add a little sugar, corn syrup or glycerin (avaiable at pharmacies) to make longer lasting strong bubbles.
11. Chase bugs.
10. Tie-dye with berry juice. Blend up fresh or frozen berries to a watery smoothie consistency then dip white or light colored clothing in! Allow to dry flat in the sun then machine wash on own in cold water.
9. Build a fort.
8. Paint yourself...with washable paints, mud, or even pudding- then hose off!
7. Go on a picnic.
6. Watch the clouds.
5. Play a classic outdoor game like Hide and Seek, Sardines or Ghosts in the Graveyard.
4. Read outside. I suggest doing so in a hammock if you have one.
3. Build boat out of natural items and launch it in a nearby puddle, pond or creek. Try this for free during Wild Wednesday- July 14 and August 11- from 1-3 pm at Cantigny!
2. Hug a tree and enjoy it's cool shade.
1. Go to Cantigny!