Paul Revere's Ride/Mudroom
This past week we read the book Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with pictures by Ted Rand. We really enjoyed the poem (our second poem this year); the children enjoyed the illustrations. I tried to just absorb this book, the story, the theme, the history behind it. I want the children to remember Paul Revere and be familiar with the American Revolution. We defined such terms as "minutemen" and "grenadiers" and talked about Boston, Massachusetts.
Other than our practice subtracting dates each day we did not have a ton of hands-on activities that paired with this book. Much of our time together was spent looking at the illustrations and talking about the story. I did incorporate some science experiments, however. We discussed fog formation (Over land or water). Simply, there are 3 things necessary to make fog: water (moisture), heat, cold. Fog can be made on a mirror by exhaling warm moist air onto the cold glass. We tried putting our hand to a mirror and exhaling leaving a crisp hand print surrounded by foggy glass. This can also be seen on a window in winter. We then proceeded to make fog in a bottle by partially filling a bottle with boiling water and then setting an ice cube on top. Fog quickly filled the empty space in the bottle. We removed the ice cube and rinsed out the fogginess and then replaced the ice cube many times. The children loved watching the fog form. Hopefully the next warm morning this spring when the melting snow creates a heavy fog, the children will understand what is happening.
We also had two half-day play-dates this week enjoying time at church with friends and a morning with Grandma. It was a pretty laid back week.
Over the last couple of weeks we've worked a little bit on making our mudroom a functional space. Winter requires coats, hats, boots and mittens for everyone and we all come in from playing in the snow wet and dripping. Making our mudroom a more functional became my priority shortly after moving-in. We built a bench along the whole wall providing storage below for shoes and bin storage for hats/mittens. The bead board above the bench protects the wall from water damage and will hold hooks for bags, towels, coats, etc. The horse coat hanger holds sentimental value as well as the kids coats/ski bibs. The bins on the shelf help organize cleaning supplies etc. Enjoy the before, after and process pictures.
Other than our practice subtracting dates each day we did not have a ton of hands-on activities that paired with this book. Much of our time together was spent looking at the illustrations and talking about the story. I did incorporate some science experiments, however. We discussed fog formation (Over land or water). Simply, there are 3 things necessary to make fog: water (moisture), heat, cold. Fog can be made on a mirror by exhaling warm moist air onto the cold glass. We tried putting our hand to a mirror and exhaling leaving a crisp hand print surrounded by foggy glass. This can also be seen on a window in winter. We then proceeded to make fog in a bottle by partially filling a bottle with boiling water and then setting an ice cube on top. Fog quickly filled the empty space in the bottle. We removed the ice cube and rinsed out the fogginess and then replaced the ice cube many times. The children loved watching the fog form. Hopefully the next warm morning this spring when the melting snow creates a heavy fog, the children will understand what is happening.
We also had two half-day play-dates this week enjoying time at church with friends and a morning with Grandma. It was a pretty laid back week.
Over the last couple of weeks we've worked a little bit on making our mudroom a functional space. Winter requires coats, hats, boots and mittens for everyone and we all come in from playing in the snow wet and dripping. Making our mudroom a more functional became my priority shortly after moving-in. We built a bench along the whole wall providing storage below for shoes and bin storage for hats/mittens. The bead board above the bench protects the wall from water damage and will hold hooks for bags, towels, coats, etc. The horse coat hanger holds sentimental value as well as the kids coats/ski bibs. The bins on the shelf help organize cleaning supplies etc. Enjoy the before, after and process pictures.
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