21.12.2011 - Mr Archimedes' Bath

We read a book entitled " Mr Archimedes' Bath" about Mr Archimedes who sat inside bathtub of water and found that the water rose. The animals who joined him in the bath all kept blaming each other for causing the water level to rise.  

After reading the book, I asked S, how come the water rose inside the bath. He thought for awhile and said, "When you are sitting in the water, you are using the space of the water. The water will squash together, so it will go up." This was not directly explained in the storybook, so, I could see that he understood the concept. 


The book was simple and did not mention about the Archimedes principle, by the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes.
"Archimedes reportedly proclaimed "Eureka!" when he stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose - he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This relation is known as Archimedes' principle."
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(word)

20.12.11 - Lego workshop, robot and house

This is their lego "workshop". Everyday, they would be hard at work at their workshop, tinkering with the pieces and coming up with something new. I tried to organise the lego pieces according to their shapes, but it keeps getting mixed up.

Their lego "workshop". 

S made this lego robot, with a blaster that can move its arms and legs. 

S has been requesting me for lego doors, but I don't have any, so he made this house without doors. He has also been requesting for lego technic. However, in Malaysia, lego technic is sold in boxes, with specific designs whereas I would like to have assorted lego technic parts.

19.12.11 - Lego vehicles

S made these lego vehicles on his own, without referring to any pictures.

A snowplough in shaving foam "snow". 

A race car

This vehicle has a compartment that can open and close

A tow vehicle with an arm that can move up and down

A vehicle with weapons

18.12.11 - Toy creations

S made these items  from his toys.

A car

A telescope

An excavator

16.12.11 - Creative play at the park

At the park, the boys pretended to be firemen attending to a fire.

E is driving the fire engine

S climbed a ladder to put out the fire using a fire hose. (This is the highest he has ever climbed) on this structure. 

14.12.11 - Lego trucks and vehicles

Here's are more of S creations of vehicles from lego. He made everything from scratch without referring to any pictures. I don't think I can even make these myself.

It is the largest vehicle that he has ever made with lego blocks

He even put lights and grille for the car

From the front angle

A fire engine with a ladder that can move up and down. 

17.12.11 - Christmas craft workshop with Magic Nuudles

The boys attended another Christmas workshop in 1Utama - this one was conducted using Magic Nuudles. It is a type of biodegradable building blocks that looks like junk food and can stick together with just a little bit of water. It is said to be safe even if it is consumed. S called it "magic mee", thinking of "noodles". The kids were divided into 2 age groups, age 4 - 6 years old and 7 - 12 years old. My boys joined the younger group.

Ms. Penny conducted the session. 

Colourful. It can be cut into smaller pieces with a knife or scissors. Many passers-by kept stopping at our table, picked up a piece and pressed it to see what it was. 

The younger group were given a piece of paper to colour and to stick the magic nuudles onto the paper. The best decorated work would be awarded a prize. 

E chose a duck and coloured and decorated the picture the best he could.  

A group of older children made a turtle. 

E was called on stage to receive his prize for the most creative piece of work

This is his prize - a box of 100 pcs Magic Nuudles. Top and bottom right: The front and back of the box.  

16.12.11 - Robot from boxes

S likes to play with boxes and is always asking me to make transformer robot costume from cardboard that he can wear. I don't know how to make those, (they seemed so complicated) so, he did the best that he could on his own, with the pieces of cardboard that he found around the house, while I was busy with my work.

14.12.11 - Unshrinking plastic craft

I wanted to make a shrinkable plastic craft keychain. We had done one before at a workshop in Pusat Sains Negara last year. I was told by some friends to use plasti which had number 6 in the triangle. So, after looking through my recycled stuff, I found 2 pieces of plastic, and the boys drew vehicles on the plastic using a permanent OHP Pen.

Before

However, after I put them into the oven, the plastic didn't shrink nor harden. The transparent plastic changed colour to white. Another transparent plastic sort of melted. As I was doing it, I was also concerned if it was safe to melt these in the oven, which we also use for baking, as I could smell some light chemical fumes.

After

It didn't work. I need to check again, which is the correct plastic. I saw a packet of shrinkable plastic in Daiso, selling for RM5. I think I should get that instead.

14.12.11 - Lego experiments in water

We filled up a tub of water and the boys made some lego 'vehicles' that could float in the water. They tested out their designs and kept improvising their designs to make them float in water. Unknowingly, they are learning science and having fun at the same time.

The blue lego on top didn't float so well, so S thought about it and decided to fix to flat "wings"

Fixing the large flat "wings"

It floated very well and S was pleased with the result 

12.12.11 - Outdoor learning at the park

In the morning, we went to the park near our house. Although, it was 10+ am, it was still shady under the trees. They did some collage and some pages of activity books outdoors for a change. Their sessions were interspersed with running around in the park. It was quite nice there under the shady trees, with fresh air and I thought that I should bring them there more often and have our learning sessions outdoors instead of being cooped up in the house. The mornings are quite pleasant as there's no one around and no mosquitoes either. Except for that pesky fly that kept hovering near us.

Making a collage

Fiercely independent boy who wants to cut the paper by himself

File Folder Game: Matching butterfly wings 

11.12.11 - Cycling at Kiara Park

The boys went cycling at Kiara Park again. E brought along his "lunch box" storage case to collect seeds and stuff. S went through the whole circuit, but E didn't and took a short cut across the stream.

We rested awhile at a bench, while the boys went to collect crescent shaped leaves. They said it looked like the moon.