“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.”... and LEGO

As the school year comes to its final week I am reminded that it's business as usual for us homeschooling families. There are no term times for Opeie and although he gets to spend some awesome quality time with his brother over the 6 week holiday, our learning continues because the home education has become a way of life now. This morning as we chatted about what we were going to be doing, I said 'time for us to wind down a little this week' but with out realising we transformed our morning game of hockey to a fun spelling exercise. This is the magic of being a creative and ever evolving teacher to an equally creative 6-year-old.

There is something to learn in literally everything we do and LEGO has added creativity into so many of our fun activities. The building, following instructions and symmetry of many of the builds have been such great lessons for home education and the huge variety of parts, figures and animals mean that there is no end to the mini role playing we can do, which does wonders for both creative thinking and confidence building. Remember our post about the Berlin wall?



The great thing about LEGO is that they are constantly reinventing themselves with new themes and when it comes to their brand, LEGO City has for us been the strongest line for its educational value. This range has given us the chance to talk about volcanoes, arctic exploration, Space and last year the Fun in the park kit gave us such an amazing chance to talk about diversity throughout the world.





LEGO has now joined forces with National Geographic kids on their LEGO City jungle range, which has again given us everything that we need for another LEGO themed project. Weve been learning about the wildlife that can be found in the jungle, different foods that can grow in the climate and about indiginous tribes that live in these jungle areas. as with many of the newer city kits we've also been able to cover the importance of gathering information and learning from these areas and what a huge part science plays in findings.



"The partnership has come about to inspire children to explore, discover and learn about jungles and the importance of their preservation", Which really is a great reason to be partnering up. I like to think that a lot of Opeie's learning is making him more aware of his surroundings and he is also receiving a great understanding of the amazing world that is out there for him to investigate.









the new range has been a huge hit with the boys and Opeie's new love of jungle animals has got him looking at the Jungle exploration site kit and the Jungle halftrack mission kit so that he can roleplay with the new jungle cats from the range (I'd like to get my hands on these myself).

The entire range can be found HERE.

This amazing team up also offers LEGO fans the chance to win a very exciting prize with the LEGO City Jungle competition. Further details can be found at www.lego.com/jungle

Good luck to any of you entering.

"There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another."

It's science time again and we've been making water walk! No! we're not crazy but like myself, my little lab partner is very inquisitive and when we stumbled across this experiment online we knew we had to give it a try. When looking for experiments for a 5-year-old it can be difficult to find the right level of interest. I don't want to set up an experiment that is too simple so his attention sways but I also don't want something that he can't fully understand or get involved in. Walking water is the perfect experiment for a 5-year-old. 

You start off with an odd number of cups, preferably the same size. We used 7 but the experiment could work perfectly with 5, even 3 cups depending on the amount of food colourings you have to hand. We filled every other cup with water (around 2/3) and then mixed different food colours to the cups with water in (Red - Empty - Yellow - Empty - Blue - Empty - Red).

We then took 6 squares of disposable kitchen towel and folded them up, placing one end in the coloured water and the other in the empty cup, forming a chain along the 7. All that was left to do then was to wait, which was probably the most difficult task for Opeie as he wanted the magic to happen there and then. I knew that this was going to be annoying for Opeie so I set up another experiment while we waited, to teach Opeie how to test density (which I will write about very soon).

Well... I'm sure you can imagine what happened, no need for me to explain. The experiment turned out amazing! and was another great activity explaining the basics of colour theory!  Most importantly though the experiment was a fun and stimulating activity for my ever curious mini lab partner.

"Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science."

Recently we had every intention of having a Science week but one thing lead to another and that week we ended up having a couple of science days and moving on. We did lots of research together, reading books and I spent many evenings watching Youtube videos of fun experiments for me and Opeie to have a go at. He loves anything that makes a mess so we decided that our first experiment was going to be 'Magnetic slime'.

I thought it best to make the slime first and then ask Opeie for his hypothesis on what he thought was going to happen. I had never done this experiment before and I was really shocked at just how simple it was to make the slime, It is the perfect experiment for a 5-year-old as there is no huge amount of effort and the end result is great, So, Goggles on!

Firstly we filled a third of a jar up with PVA glue that we had picked up from our local pound store. You can pick up loads of great experiment ingredients from there and we managed to get things for another four experiments. We then added the same amount of water to the jar and gave it a stir. "It doesn't look like slime at all!" said my disheartened little lab partner.

In a separate jar, we mixed a small amount of water with a teaspoon of borax that we had picked up online. After also giving that a stir Opeie slowly added the Borax mix to the PVA and water cocktail, a little bit at a time. Very quickly the consistency of the mixture changed which got my lab partner very excited, we had slime! and it was great. greasy and gross, perfect for a children's science experiment.

Now it was time to add the final ingredient to our slime, iron fillings, which again we had picked up online. On the youtube video that I had watched, the people doing the experiment seemed to be very sparse with the Iron filings but we found that we needed to be quite liberal with them to get the effect that we needed, so if you are giving this a go don't be reluctant to put lots in.

And here is where we ran into our big problem. It turns out that you cannot get the desired effect from using fridge and other magnets that you may have around the house. For the experiment to work well you need a Neodymium magnet to get the sort of reaction that will make a science-curious child go 'Uhhhhhhh.....'. So at this point in the experiment, we had to scrap the slime, as it turns out that after making phone calls to every hardware store I could find in Shropshire, no-one sells Neodymium magnets. We did, however, purchase some online and two days later we went through all of the previous steps again, this time though at the request of Opeie we added some food colouring for effect.

At this point, I asked Opeie what he thought was going to happen when he held the magnet close to our slime. We had had a conversation about what a hypothesis was so he knew what was coming. We learned about magnets before so he explained that he thought that the slime would move towards the magnet, bright as a button that one.

The reaction from the slime was even better than I was expecting and Opeie's little face was all that I was hoping for. We had a brief chat about what was happening to the magnet and the slime but it was clear that Opeie had his own investigations to get underway, plus his friends had joined us outside and they all wanted a demonstration.

"I'm spinning around, move out of my way..."

I like to squeeze as many little activities as I can in to each day. The boys had their friend Keira round for the afternoon and they were playing indoors because of the rainy weather. They wanted to make strange concoctions with their test tubes and pippets so I sorted out some ingredients and bowls and let them get on with it. The rain soon stopped and inevitably they wanted to get straight outside on bikes and scooters which gave me the idea to merge the two activities together to show them how a centrifuge works.

I explained what a centrifuge was and how they are used and then we got started on our experiment by filling two small jars with oil, vinegar and mustard. We then turned Seth's bike upside down and attached one of the jars to the reflector. We then peddled the bike by hand as fast as we could. We had to start the experiment again when I realised we had filled the jars up too far but the second attempt went perfectly and the ingredients separated which the kids found really interesting.

There is so much time in a day, you can squeeze all manner if interesting little activities in to keep the kids entertained and we all love a mini science experiment.

"Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand."

Opeie's self guided learning over the last year or so has made our choice to continue home educating run smoothly, he has a genuine interest in learning about all sorts of things and we read so much throughout the week. Dinosaurs are still taking up a lot of our time and I'm learning just as much as he is (about all sorts of things). Did you know that animals with trunks are proboscidean? Well I didn't until recently when My clever little 4 year old told me.

Despite dinosaurs and large mammals being at the forefront of our play he has also taken a keen interest in science and the human anatomy. We were having a conversation one day about blood flowing around our body and he looked really excited and said 'daddy can we go to the library tomorrow and get some books about blood please?', I love seeing how excited he get about things, his passion for learning is contagious.

So we've been learning about all sorts and a few days back we were reading about joints, muscles and tendons from a book Opeie had chosen from the library. Which brought us on to a fun science activity. Firstly we drew around our hands and cut them out.

We then flattened some drinking straws and lay them along each finger marking the point where each joint was. We cut small triangle sections at each marking and attached them to each finger.

We then threaded string up each straw and attached the string to the tip of the finger. Then holding the palm of the hand between our thumb and forefinger we pulled the string, simulating the movement of all the joints on our own hands. It was a quick yet fun craft session which Opeie found really interesting.

I'm hoping that this new found love of science continues as i was loving all the experiments we did last year with Seth but he seemed to lose interest after a while (I'm really missing the lab we created in Seth's room too since we moved). I think its time now to get our lab coats at the ready and to dig out the microscope, beakers and chemicals so we can get properly stuck in to some science fun.

"Magnetism, as you recall from physics class, is a powerful force that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators."

Being able to stay home and teach Opeie is a dream come true, I craved this for so long but I used to get a little anxious at the thought of it. would I be any good?, what if I end up holding him back? and how will i know what and when to teach him? It turns out though that if you have a curious child who is always asking questions then it makes things pretty easy.

We recently watched the Postman pat movie, firstly if you are a parent that hasn't been subjected to it yet then do everything you can to steer clear, it is an utter load of tripe! But... it did give us the starting block for a fun lesson in magnetism. At the end of the film one of the characters lifts up a wrapped package and points it at a robot. us older folk would understand what it was as it was a horseshoe shaped package. Opeie was confused though and wondered how the robot knew it was a magnet and was being pulled apart by it. Cue a morning of activities all based around what manets are attracted too and how they work. 

Opeie being the clever boy that he is jumped straight in with his scientific hypothesis 'magnets stick to shiny things!'

To start with we needed a collection of items so we could determine what sorts of things actually were attracted, so we searched all the messy draws (we've all got them) and looked through the 'bits and bobs' boxes in the boys room until we had a fun selection.

We take our science very seriously at the Gifts from the Pirates HQ and made sure we documented our findings clearly. I asked Opeie to smile if he thought the item would be attracted to the magnet and pull a sad face if it wasn't going to. What do you know, Opeie was right, Golf balls aren't magnetic.

It was interesting going through all of the items and seeing that Opeie knew exactly what he was talking about. He laughed at the plastic and rubber items knowing full well that they were not going to stick to anything. When he saw something shiny coming though the excitement started...

(i used to stick my tongue out like that when i was concentrating too!)

 Our excited little scientist ploughed through all the items in no time, he was correct with most of his choices but was confused by the plastic cat ball which stuck to the magnet straight away. It seemed like everything he believed was being tested, why was this happening? After a long deliberation and a full examination of the item in question, Opeie came to the very intelligent conclusion that the magnet was in fact attracted to the small steel bell inside.

Feeling confident Opeie went off looking for places to stick his magnet but was feeling deflated when his hypothesis was shattered. While trying to connect the magnet with the carpet bars joining the flooring to the kitchen. Much to his disappointment, Not all shiny things are magnetic! Its important to be wrong at times, it keeps you grounded. I'm not sure how much that applies to a three year old though.

After we had completed our collection of items it was time for a couple of fun games. I fetched a jar of water from the kitchen and asked Opeie if he could get out a small steel marble i had dropped inside. Of course his first instinct was to dunk his hand in. I explained that he couldn't get his hand wet and he looked really confused. I slyly nudged the the magnet with my elbow and he soon got the hint...

I tried the next game using the ball and magnet through the table but we were using a children's science magnet, which wasn't very strong so i fetched one of the boys canvas' from the wall in their room. Opeie sat underneath and controlled the steel marble from below which he thought was loads of fun. After we had finished i placed a a spanner up top and attached the magnet below "wow that's cool" said and excited little scientist.

Well i may not have enjoyed the film (seriously its bloody awful) but something good came out of Postman Pat and his x-factor style singing robots, hell bent on world postal domination. Maybe if we watch some Fireman Sam we can have an activity based on the theory of relativity.