Junior Scrabble

I didn't know this existed until my partner bought it for his older children, but we didn't really look at it as Reuben can't read or write confidently yet. Then he spotted it today and wanted to give it a go, it was a lot of fun and he started making some words. Isaac also joined in, mainly counting the letters.

 

 

We have the Mattel version with a double board, one side is like a picture crossword and is suitable for ages (I'd say) 4 to 6, the other side looks more like a conventional scrabble board but without values allocated to letters and no complex scoring system.

What I also liked about the game was the fact that the boys didn't really have to play a "proper" game, they could just mess around with the letters and familiarise themselves with how words are made.

 







Dr Frankenstein's body lab

As Halloween excitement mounts even the ipad is seeing more ghoulish and weird applications.
Our new acquisition is this body lab app from DK publishers.

You have to put all the body parts together (in under 20 seconds for each category, so the boys like to do it slowly, again and again! And I did the quick bit to unlock the next category), when you have enough body parts to make a living creature, you have to put these together and give it a jolt, see what happens!

Aside from the huge enjoyment both boys are getting out of this app, the big plus is that they are familiarising themselves with the human body and how everything fits together (you can pause the game and find out more about what the body parts are), and of course its fun to see if your monster will live! IT'S ALIIIIIIIVEEEEEE!!!

More cooperative board games!

We really have got the bug now! I ordered these two great games from Peaceable Kingdom and we've not put them down since (and they are a lot cheaper than the Myriad ones).

Count your chickens!

For ages 3+ so we could all play this one.
The baby chicks have flown the coop! All players work together to help Mother Hen collect her chicks and bring them back to the coop. To start, players place the 40 baby chicks all around the board. Mother Hen is on start. The object of the game is to get all 40 baby chicks back inside the coop before Mother Hen gets to the last space on the board. Players spin and move Mother Hen, counting the number of spaces she travels. For each space travelled, players collect that number of baby chick markers and place them in the coop. But watch out for the fox! If the spinner lands on the fox a baby chick is removed from the coop. Players take turns, but work together – players count aloud together, collect the number chicks together and, if they collect them all, players win together!


Race to the treasure!

Ok, I REALLY like this one, ages 5+ so Isaac could not play it but Reuben (4 and a half) is fine with it, he even understands the use of coordinates.
Players try to beat the Ogre to the treasure by creating a path from START to END. Along the way they need to collect 3 keys to open the treasure. Players strategize, cooperate and build the path together. If they do it before the Ogre gets there, they win!

Nature Detectives

As we are all huge lovers of the woods (and we are lucky we live near the National Forest) we found the children's website from the Woodland Trust a treasure trove of ideas.
It's called Nature Detectives and is just jam-packed with activities.

You can download an impressive amount of activities ideas, worksheets, recognition sheets, booklets, arts and crafts ideas, seasonal activities, you name it!

This is the Halloween activity booklet (click on image to download)

And the Autumn activity booklet (click on image to download)

For a small subscription fee you can join the Nature Detectives club and you will receive some extra material and weekly challenges, we joined but in all honesty (with the huge amount of stuff available for free on the website) we haven't done a challenge in months...
Our favourite resources are the recognition sheets (plants, birds, etc.) and making things (dens, fairy houses, etc.) and we like the seasonal activities.

The boys running in the Outwoods

5 minute halloween ghosts and bats

This was so quick and so effective I had to share!
Reuben needed some ghosts RIGHT NOW (he is very excited about Halloween) so we looked around the house for some handy materials to make some ghosts he could hang from his walls.

We first scrunched up some silver (kitchen) foil for the head, then we got a square of kitchen tissue paper and tied it around the head with some thread. Reuben drew the faces and I sewed some thread through the top of their heads to allow them to hang. Done!

Then of course we needed bats, even easier!
We used this picture:

Printed the bats out, cut them and added some string to hang them up with.

And Reuben's room is ready to be decorated!

Normandy

We spent a week in Normandy recently, I will post more on the history and all the things the boys learnt, but I wanted to share some photos of our favourite things first.

Collecting shells

The cathedral in Bayeux

Decorating trees with shells

Music by the pool

Shells and sails

Analysing the tapestry at Bayeux

Chic playground in Coutances

Running on the beach

We stayed at La Coquerie so lots of poultry decor!

Little ninja at Mount St Michel

Supper with Ipad

One more shell

One very deep hole

Abbey courtyard at Mount St Michel, with swords!

Cool displays at Bayeux

Resting warriors, at Mount St Michel

Tag outside the cathedral in Bayeux

D-day landing beaches

Nobel prize winner was told at school he had no chance in the sciences

Today John Gurdon must be a very pleased man at having jointly won the Nobel prize in medicine and a little bemused at the emergence of a school report from when he was 15 saying:

"I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous; if he can't learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him."

But he seems to possess a great sense of humour, as the BBC reports:
Sir John Gurdon is relishing the story about his failings at school and how his teachers ridiculed any notion that he might pursue a career as a scientist. Dressed casually in a sweater, and rushed from his labs in Cambridge to face the world's media, a fine sense of humour allowed him to take today's tumult in his stride. When I met him, he admitted to being bemused that a Nobel attracted so much more attention than any other prize. I asked what he thought of the 50-year gap between publishing his ground-breaking paper, in 1962, and winning the award only now. Actually, he said, the experiment on the frog cells was carried out back in 1958 - "rather a long time ago", but he said, with infinite patience, that science works best by making sure one's theories are right.

I just loved this story and wanted to share!