The Family O | Tag Archive

A Field Trip to the Denver Zoo

Filed under Blogging, Homeschooling, Kid Fun, Thankful For by Mrs. O on January 25, 2012 at 6:41 pm {no comments}

A Field Trip to the Denver Zoo

Thanks to Groupon we were able to spend 5 wonderful hours at the Zoo. We went in late November. It was chilly that morning but I checked the weather and it promised to be warm. It ended up being about 57 degrees, for a Coloradan(oan?) that is practically Summer, lol.

When we arrived we were all bundled up and the skies were gray, it was 9:45. By the time we left, we were hot, without coats and the skies were blue. I love Autumn in Colorado, bright blue skies, brisk fresh air.

There were not many people there, so we took our time, enjoyed every sight to see. We rambled along and learned a lot, talked about everything. We sat and had a leisurely lunch next to the Seals, they are so cute and fun to watch. We were happy to have Cousin Adam along with us. The entire field trip was fantastic.

How far can you jump?

Cute little Snow Fox

A Unique Creature – The Okapis – a cousin of the giraffe (look at his head). He had a super-velvety coat.

The Majestic Lion

Samuel with a lizard, I love his reflection on the glass!

Playing iSpy fish

Climbing the Hippo Statue

I love these animal flags! This picture was taken on the way out, check out the blue sky and compare to the first picture, that is why I love Colorado!

After such a fun-filled gorgeous day, we didn’t want it to end so we topped it off with some choclate milks at a downtown Starbucks.

Brothers enjoying a beverage.

Checking out the sights

In the words of my oldest “This was one of the best days ever!”

Adventures in My Father’s World Week 2 -Jesus Suncatcher

Filed under Blogging, Homeschooling, Kid Fun by Mrs. O on October 5, 2011 at 8:30 pm {no comments}

We are loving Adventures in My Fathers World. The Bible portion starts with Jesus, His birth, on to when he starts preaching. We are also learning the different names of Jesus. During week 2 we got to make a Jesus suncatcher. The was fun and easy. This final result is pretty!

You need Wax Paper, crayon shavings, glue, scissors, construction paper, an iron and newsprint.

Cut out 2” letters from construction paper

Arrange the letters on wax paper and sprinkle on the crayon shavings, be conservative.

Place another sheet of wax paper on top, cover with newsprint and iron on low. Be sure to have paper under the wax as well.

We added construction paper border to match our letters.

hanging in the window

We will definitely use this technique to create other projects in the future. I am thinking maybe a Mayflower silhouette with blue and white crayons shavings, with yellow for a sun.

Our Classroom for a Perfect Autumn Day

Filed under Blogging, Homeschooling, Inspiration, Kid Fun, Thankful For by Mrs. O on October 2, 2011 at 7:15 pm {2 comments}

A couple of Fridays ago we took class outdoors, what a breath of fresh air! It was amazing, fantastic, refreshing and down right FUN!

We love going to Hudson Gardens, several acres of God’s beautiful creation! We searched for leaves, watched ducks and geese, chased butterflies and bugs, tumbled in the grass and climbed a rock cave, we even did some bird watching.

Since we are now into to the Fall, we were thrilled to see the …

Hay Maze!

and…

Pumpkin Patch!

We also checked out a Leaf Explorer Pack from the Office, we learned all about leaves and trees. There were a ton of fun activities and surprises in the pack.

We also took along this, (thanks Scribbit!):

Thank you God for the Best classroom we could ever ask for!

Adventures in My Fathers World Wk.2, Columbus’ Ships

Filed under Homeschooling, Kid Fun by Mrs. O on September 16, 2011 at 11:24 am {no comments}

We are using Adventures in My Fathers World for our school year. I have a 2nd Grader, Kindergartner, and Preschooler; so far it is working very well. We started off the year by learning about Leif Ericson and Christopher Columbus. The boys have been fascinated. We used a wall map and a globe to trace the explorers routes.

We heard about how long they were out to sea and the hardships involved in such journeys. My boys were wondering why it would take so long to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This came after they asked how long it would take in a plane. I had the opportunity to explain Sailboats and their dependence on the wind.

One of the hands on assignments for Week #2 is making Christopher Columbus’ ships and use the sails to move them across the water.

We used aluminum foil, craft sticks, modeling clay, thick paper

We folded 12″x12″ squares of foil in half then in half and then one more time. Then we folded the sides up to create the boat. We used a dab of modeling clay to hold the craft stick and then attached sails made from resume paper and voila, we had a Nina, Pinto and Santa Maria.

All three ships with Christopher Columbus in the lead. I was not thrilled that Mr. Columbus is a skeleton but the boys scrambled to find some lego men,

boys gotta love em!

After the ships were complete we had them set sail in the best make-shift ocean we could find… the bathtub. They worked really well. The rules: you can only blow on the sail to move your boat. We used straws. The boys loved it! One word of caution - if you have an eager preschooler perhaps wait until naptime to do this. Our lil guy sunk our ships in under 3 minutes.