I’m going to pretend I didn’t just see aisle after aisle of Christmas supplies at a store last week (it’s barely September!) and start preparing for the closest upcoming holiday instead: Halloween.
Our children and I are fortunate that Matt is so imaginative. While I have always been at a loss trying to come up with good ideas for costumes and pumpkin-carving projects, he has loved Halloween—and its countless creative opportunities—since childhood.
Four of these masks were designed and assembled from scratch, and the other is based upon one in Making Masks by Renee Schwartz. Matt constructed all of them. At our children’s request, he designed the felt penguin and bear masks for Halloween two years ago, and he made the foam-sheet fox mask for Kelly last year. Timmy’s 2009 costume included a foam-sheet shark visor (not pictured), purchased for $2 at Michaels, which served as the inspiration for Kelly’s fox.
The last two masks were made purely for fun and not worn for Halloween. The paper dragon mask can be found in Renee Schwartz’s book, and Speedy was inspired, of course, by Looney Tunes. (Kelly went through a phase a couple of years ago during which she was completely smitten with Speedy Gonzales.)
Erect-crested Penguin Mask in felt, thread and elastic (10/08)
Brown Bear Mask in felt, thread and elastic (10/08)
Red Fox Mask in sheet foam, hot glue and elastic (10/09)
Blue DragonMask in archival craft paper, glue and elastic (~5/08)
Speedy Gonzales Mask in cardboard, marker, crayon, elastic and staples (~5/08)
These paintings are based upon pond life our children got to examine “up close and personal” this spring when Matt took them exploring around a small vernal pool in the woods near our house. (His background in biology comes in handy on such homeschooling expeditions.)
Kelly’s watercolor includes bloodworms, caddisfly larvae, leopard frog eggs and wood frog eggs, snails and two tadpoles. Timmy’s painting, which is of the pretzel bucket of water and critters temporarily collected from the pond, features most of the same elements—plus mosquito larvae.
Pond Life by Kelly Bohan (May 2010, 8 years)
(Not So) Still Life in Jar by Timmy Bohan (May 2010, 5 years)
Matt took the following photos and movie last June using pond water samples and a teaching microscope with dual-objective lens.
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa
One of the goals of this blog is to help parents and caregivers enrich their own lives and those of their children through service to others. We’ve already featured Better World Books, a social enterprise that offers great deals and supports wonderful causes. This post introduces Room to Read, one of Better World’s five primary nonprofit literacy partners.
According to their website, Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in the developing world by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. “Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls have the skills and support needed to complete their secondary education.”
Since 2000 Room to Read has supported over four million children by providing better access to education.
Room to Read has built 1,128 schools and established 10,000 bilingual libraries.
Room to Read has published 433 original local language children’s books, in 22 languages, representing more than 4.1 million books.
To date, Room to Read has distributed over 7.4 million children’s books that include original Room to Read titles, donated English-language books and local language books.
In 2009, Room to Read established a library every 4 hours, distributed an average of 3 books a minute, constructed one school every day, and provided over 1.7 million school days to girls who would never have had the opportunity to receive an education.
If you and your children want to help Room to Read, simply donate books FREE through Better World Books. Use a local library drop-off, if available, or take advantage of Better World’s offer to provide free shipping. Other options include volunteering in Room to Read’s San Francisco Global Office or organizing a book drive in your area. Click here for more information about volunteering with Room to Read.
Note: we are not part of BetterWorldBooks.com’s affiliate program, and we are not paid if you choose to order from their site.
LEGOs are a great alternative to screen time, and in our opinion, every child should have access to them. Rather than invest in video games or other screen-based entertainment, we’ve opted for LEGOs and similar creative, brain-boosting options such as Tinker Toys and marble runs. If cost is a concern, try eBay or craigslist. On a couple of occasions, we’ve doubled our LEGO collection for just a few dollars via lucky yard-sale finds.
We heartily disagree with anyone who thinks LEGOs are just for boys or that girls only like the pink ones. Both of our children enjoy LEGOs and have played with them for years. It seems that these simple blocks have a universal appeal that spans continents and generations. Parents and grandparents around the world can join in the fun.
Though most of the vehicles shown here represent a group effort with Matt (Dad) acting as the lead designer, Kelly and Timmy have come up with countless variations of their own. Their ideas inspire him and vice versa. These images were pulled from several years’ worth of photos.
Jet Train by Matt Bohan
Bullet Train (a.k.a. Asleep at the Wheel) by Matt and Timmy Bohan
Super Locomotive by Matt Bohan with help from Kelly and Timmy
(as seen in the previous post Trains, Trains, Trains)
“Plar” by Kelly Bohan (based upon her plane-car “invention” around age 4)
Car Bridge by Kelly Bohan
Common Car by Kelly Bohan (“…because we like to rebuild it.”)
It’s handy to have paper and pencils or crayons readily available. These drawings began while I was on the phone and the children were bored. In the end they had so much fun with them that they carried the shark theme into their next Painting Sunday.
