Memorization Book

I saw this idea somewhere recently and thought it would be perfect for my dishwashing time. I've already been practicing memorizing songs and poems during the dishes, so when I saw the idea for a memorization book I thought it would expand my endeavors.

The idea is to write down lyrics or poems you want to memorize in a little book, then carry it with you and when you have down time (waiting rooms, check out lines, doing the dishes) you can pop this little book out of your pocket or purse and study. Keeping a small book close will make learning easier and more convenient.

Making and decorating it is the fun part, though. This is pretty similar to other books I've made on this blog, but with a cover glued to the outside. If you make the cover from card stock, the book is a little prettier and good bit sturdier.

1. Fold 3-4 sheets of regular letter paper and 1 sheet of card stock in half. 

2. Cut along the fold, and stack, so you have 6-8 sheets of paper. Use one of the cardstock halves for another book.

3. Fold the books in half again.

4. Sew with a sewing machine down the fold of the white paper, binding the pages together. You can use a stapler if you'd rather.

5. Apply rubber cement to the inside of the card stock and the outside of the book. Allow them to dry completely.

6. Mount the white paper inside the card stock so that the two gluey sides are touching. Press to seal the glue together.

7. Now start writing!

In addition to a few prayers and psalms, I've also been memorizing fun songs to sing with the girls. Muppets are a personal favorite. I think a book like this would be great for kids who are a bit older than mine, who can write a read. And I always love adding a new handmade book to the kids shelf.

So here's a quick Muppet song to sing while you wash your dishes:

This looks familiar, vaguely familiar,Almost unreal, yet, it's too soon to feel yet.Close to my soul, and yet so far away.I'm going to go back there someday.
Sun rises, night falls, sometimes the sky calls.Is that a song there, and do I belong there?I've never been there, but I know the way.I'm going to go back there someday.
Come and go with me, it's more fun to share,We'll both be completely at home in midair.We're flyin', not walkin', on featherless wings.We can hold onto love like invisible strings.
There's not a word yet for old friends who've just met.Part heaven, part space, or have I found my place?You can just visit, but I plan to stay.I'm going to go back there someday.I'm going to go back there someday.

A Bag for Ruthie

 

My sewing is sporadic these days, so its nice to put something together, and see it turn out well. My sister's dog Ruthie spends a couple of days each week at doggie day-care, and she was in need of a new travel bag. This bag is kind of like most of the other bags I make: square, box corners, pockets on the inside - except much bigger. Much, much bigger.

I also made her some dog toys from the left over fabric scraps. That's right, coordinating bag and toys. She's a lucky dog.

We made the Solar System.

The girls and I took another stab at flour dough crafts this week with a solar system mobile. I found several nice pictures of the planets and their relative scale, thanks to google image search, and mixed up some dough. This was a fun project for too many reasons:
1. Because my kids love anything outer space-y
2. Because we all love to get our hands into something
3. Because, unlike last time we played with flour dough, this time I used food coloring to dye the dough, so there was no messy painting involved
4. Because, I didn't have to buy anything
5. Because, it combined arts, science and math
6. Because, its so pretty!

My flour dough recipe came from an 80's Childcraft (the Make and Do volume) with awesome illustrations. We baked the dough for about 2 hours at 250 degrees. You don't have to bake the dough, unless you want to speed the process, but the idea is to dry it out with out browning it - so don't set the oven any higher than 250.

The school-y part was talking about scale and colors. We mixed colors, learning how to mix green, gray, orange and brown. Plus, we talked about big and small and all the sizes in between. Ours aren't really to scale (especially the sun as you may notice) - we had a limited amount of dough and cookie cutter sizes, but the variation in sizes was on the right level for their age group.

We flattened the dough and cut circles from biscuit cutters, jar lids, chap stick caps, and pen caps - all providing various sizes of circles. We added distinguishing marks - the red spot for Jupiter, the rings for Saturn and Uranus, water and land for earth, tails on the comets. Once they were on the pan, I made a hole in each by wiggling a straight pin near the top. After they were baked, I used this hole to hang them like ornaments from a tension rod.

Our actual discussion of science was integrated into the making. We talked about how close a planet is to a sun affects how hot it is, how tiny the moon is compared to the other planets, how Earth is the only planet people can live on, etc, etc. They are really into space, so most of this is repeated facts they already know - but of course, little ones like this like repetition. 

Ready for the oven. We made a (not to scale) rocket ship from leftover dough.

Earth and her moon

Saturn - the ring wraps all the way around, of course.

Jupiter with her red spot.

We all loved the finished product, and I hope it hangs in their window for a long time to come. At least until their old enough to do another one. :)