Mad Scientist "Sensory/Feel Boxes" For Halloween

I remember when I was in school my favorite thing that we did at Halloween parties were the "feel boxes".   So, I have made them a few times for Elijah's parties... Trying to pass on the memories, ya know?

Generally, I use the book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat.  Which works great!

However, since I had already done that for him, I wanted to switch things up a bit this year.  I decided to do a mad scientist theme because he is SUPER into SCIENCE right now.   And I wrote a poem to go along with materials I already had for the most part.  

Here's the poem:

The mad scientist is crazy!

The mad scientist is a loon!

He tip-toes from beaker to beaker

In circles around the room.

Always checking concoctions

that bubble, fizz, and pop.

Shelves upon shelves of goodies

In cabinets from floor to top.

Sneak a peek inside?

You may not like what you will find

Some jars green and gooey

Filled with slime of the Ogre kind.

Dig around a little deeper

And three brown boxes you will see

Each labeled “Hazardous” or “Toxic”

To keep out you and me.

But fear not my little friend

It’s not as bad as all that

In box one you’ll find monster fur

And the wings of a bat.

Box two has a most unique surprise

Cold, slippery and thin

Just wiggly little worms 

Touch them and you will grin. 

Box three is last but not least

Reach in and you will be

Feeling something spectacular

The sharp points of werewolf teeth.

But you better be extra careful

Snooping around the room 

The mad scientist is crazy!

The mad scientist is a loon!

The  materials I used for each:

Ogre Slime- Mystery Matter: 2 cups Corn Starch, about one cup of water, 3-5 drops of green food coloring (Great for science lesson too! It exhibits characteristics of both a solid and a liquid depending on how you use it.)

Monster Fur- Cotton Balls, Pulled Apart

Bat Wings- Dried Apricots or Dried Apples

Worms- Cooked Spaghetti (cook it a long time... it will get very slimy)

Werewolf Teeth - Candy Corn
Another tip- wet wipe containers work well for the boxes! :)

This is an example of the labels that I used for the boxes.

* I'll post pictures tomorrow!! :-)

Scholastic Story Starters = WONDERFUL WRITING FUN!!

I just happened across this website called Scholastic Story Starters for our little thinkers in grades K-6.... AND IT IS WONDERFUL!  I can see this working well for parents or teachers.  

Here are some screenshots of possibilities.

Step One: Choose Genre.

Step Two: Name & Grade Level

Step Three: Spin for your prompt.

Step Four: Choose Format.

Step Five: WRITE, WRITE, WRITE.

Step SIX- Share your writing with your friends & family.

Six steps to a fun writing project at home or at school.  

Calling all SUPER HERO SCIENTISTS!

Okay, this is one of my favorite things! I cannot wait to do this lesson with our kiddos (and my son) on Saturday at The Center for Gifted Studies Super Saturday Class.  I am leaving this free for the first 20 downloads.  All I ask is that you either follow/share my blog or follow me on TPT.

I'll post pics of kids doing this activity later this week.

Enjoy!! :-)

Download this Unit FREE FOR THE FIRST 20 followers! :-)

Spelling, Spelling, Bo-Belling...

Ugh.  Spelling.
I ALWAYS hated spelling in school.
ALWAYS. (Period, end of sentence.)

Now, I watch my little thinker struggle with it.
(Yes, struggling is a part of being a little thinker.)
Little E. doesn't hate spelling.
He's got a good teacher that gives fun assignments.
Like go outside and write your spelling words with sidewalk chalk.
Where were the sidewalk chalk assignments in the 90's?

Anyway, we are always on the hunt for something we can do to keep spelling fun for Little E.
My husband uses this website with his class.
www.spellingcity.com
Some of this site is for "Pay" members only.
We don't do the pay parts.
There are lots of options that are free.

Check it out. :-)

All Children ARE Artist... (& Thinkers)

I love this.
I believe this.
But not necessarily limited to art.
All forms of creativity
Creative Play
Creative Writing
Creative Problem Solving
Creative Thinking
Innovation
Somewhere along the way
We begin to feel the need to be streamlined.
So the question is...
How do we foster it?
The answer won't be found in a box.
Or another brick in the wall.
Maybe the first step is awareness.
I believe this.
Do you?

*Image from lionheartedstuff.tumblr.com

It takes a village.

It takes a village to raise little thinkers. 
I'm thankful for my village. 


Joe had a stroke before he was born; so, he's learning to walk a little later than most  babies.

Which is hard because these fun little toys...

don't provide my sweet pea with enough support for balance.  I mean really, it basically looks like a lawn mower.  Think of the shape... How many people with mobility issues do you see walking with things like this?   That wasn't what my boy needed.

Then I was on pinterest and came across this toddler that was dressed as the old man from UP for Halloween. Low and behold, if that kid didn't have a tiny walker made from PVC pipe.

The great news is you an buy PVC walkers from medical/special needs companies... 

The bad news is they cost $300 or more.  

I'm luck to have a big thinker in my family.  

This guy...

I've got a pretty good big brother.  He looked at the picture and said he could make it. 

And make it he did!!  Look at those WKU Decals, Name & Shiny Red Paint!  

He loves it! :)

Even when he falls, he laughs.

*Thanks to Little E for anticipating the fall.  The pillows were his idea...such a good little thinker.

Wanna see Joe learning to walk with his shiny new walker?

"OOOOOKAY!"  Joe always says this when he is learning something new.  

You can hear it at the end.  :-)

Can you hear Little E cheering him on! He's a great big brother too. 

But you know the best thing about this walker?  

Joe feels so proud and independent when he's standing, holding on.  

It breaks his villagers hearts.  He calls it his "ishous" aka delicious. 

Grin on, sweet boy.  Your village is proud of ya too. 

Election Unit for Young (or Old) Big Thinkers!

Today's ago I got this idea for an election unit... So yesterday I spent A LOT of time creating it.  The good news is.... IT'S FREE FOR A SHORT TIME on my TPT store.  Please, check it out. Use it at home or school with your young thinkers.

When I made this pack I really was thinking at first that I would making it just for kids at school.  However, the more I thought about it I realized that it could work for families too.  Granted you may not go through every piece or have your young thinkers write down research but it would provide good talking points.

Please visit my TPT STORE for this item.

For Example:  Little E has always been into elections. (Last time around he was for "The Cain" often arguing with his dad who was for O-Rock.)  But this time he heard the part in the debate where Mitt Romney mentioned getting rid of Big Bird.  Since hearing that information he has made it his mission to bring awareness to this issue. (He tells EVERYONE!)  That really struck a cord with him.   So, we have conversations around the "Big Issues" as they relate to my six year old Little E.

I have left some of the big issue pages blank so young thinkers can write in their own big issues.  Our schema determines the issues that are important to us; therefore, it is interesting to find out what interests our kids.  Kids are never too young to learn about democracy... and more importantly KIDS are never to young to THINK about BIG IDEAS! :)