What We've Been Up To #22

Here's what we've been doing in the first half of this autumn term...

Enjoying the new trampoline (we put it up after the building work was all done)

Trying out his new bed in the loft room

New bed for Zachary too

Zachary continues his schoolwork - maths, spellings and journal each day before breakfast 

In our Ancient Civilisation studies, we moved onto the Assyrians; this is a board game we created to demonstrate how war-like they were

Dressing up and making hats for our China project

Building our own great wall of China

Turning the great wall into a ping pong net (ping pong is popular in China)

Football club at Head Hub (one of the home ed groups we go to)

Making bird feeders at Head Hub

Hanging them up in the garden for the birds; they only seemed to like the Cheerios, not the seeds!

Riding on the bikes at Hedge group (another home ed group)

Adding Mentos to lemonade to create a big carbon dioxide explosion at Hedge

Mixing bicarbonate of soda with vinegar and watching the reaction

More fun play outside at Hedge

A last ice cream at Orange Elephant parlour before it closes for the winter

Exploring the maize maze hand in hand

A visit to Knightshayes, a Victorian Country House

Dressing up in the servants' quarters

Looking smart

Shaping butter in the kitchens

We saw a huge newt in the pond here

Enjoying the hot September weather by creating a water slide

Re-enacting an Assyrian siege, using battering rams and siege towers (which were lined with iron to make them flame-proof)

Colouring in Chinese Dragon pictures to make our lanterns

Our finished Chinese lanterns

 

Playing a Chinese fortune sticks game

Making gingerbread cuneiform tablets at Head Hub

Junk modelling at Head Hub

Playing shopkeepers at Hedge group

Using cabbage juice as an indicator for testing pH at Hedge group

Properties of materials in Mystery Science - making a hat that is well suited to a desert island

Exploring dens at Haldon Forest

Enjoying the Zog walk at Haldon Forest, with our friend Noah

Playing giant Jenga at Fab Club

Making our own version of Assyrian cherubs

Testing the insulating properties of materials by grabbing bottles of hot and cold water with different 'gloves'

The Chinese pig dances to the Chinese music

Chinese fans

Kids in China like playing this game, called Round and Round, in which the blindfolded child is the spinner

We made some Chinese Chicken Chow Mein for Daddy (and everyone) to try

Preparing for our new country project on America

Doing a British Isles jigsaw at Head Hub

The tuff tray activity was picking up coloured pasta shapes with wooden tweezers

We made some amazing coloured fish at Head Hub

Naughty Tahlia spent ages setting up her dolls' tea party instead of going to sleep!

Playing trains after Whipton toddler group

Dressing as a pretty princess

We didn't have the chance to do this diffusion experiment at Head Hub, so we did it at home (using skittles and water)

Making the mixture to grow our own ruby crystals

 

Making a volcano using plaster of Paris. Then we erupted it, using bicarb and vinegar through a tube

Dressing up at Okehampton Museum. We were pleased to have Uncle Humphrey and Auntie Amanda visiting us from Florida, USA

Building at Okehampton Museum

Exploring the graveyard at the top of Brent Tor

Having a rest at the top with Auncle Humphrey, Auntie Amanda, Auntie Marilla and Grandma Jeanette

A family game of Rummikub

It was Daddy's birthday, and he had lots of help opening his presents

One of Daddy's favourite presents

Playing with the trains at Darts Farm

Visiting The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter

Setting up a little house and stables

Zachary was excited to see a real cuneiform tablet at the museum

Making a Roman mosaic

Listening to a man talking

Exeter Cathedral

Playing some party games for Daddy's birthday

Daddy's birthday treat meal: an indoor BBQ

"Happy Birthday to you"

Building the tallest tower (just before it collapses) at the House of Marbles

Our friend Harrison is now joining us for our country projects; here, they are doing a flag hunt for USA state flags and checking them off the list

Harrison's baby sister, Elizabeth

Making our own American cornbread (which they all thought was delicious!)

Making vegan chocolate mousse at Head Hub with Shireen

Painting clumps of ice cubes to resemble gemstones

Making greetings cards using acrylic paints and a salad spinner

Spinning the card around to spread the paint

Enjoying the chocolate mousse

Building Lego houses at Bumble's house

Jory built a very neat back garden with double slide (and a lift)

Snuggle time!

Tahlia built an ultimate Princess Castle with a car park for all her visitors; Jory added a public transport link

Making chainmail as part of our Assyrians project. The Assyrians were the first people group to smelt their own iron; this gave them a huge advantage in Mesopotamia (Middle East) and helped them expand their empire.

Making kadeh (sweet Assyrian pastry)

Making chocolate peanut butter cookies as part of our USA project

Squidging a peanut butter cup into each cookie

Making an edible model of the heart at Head Hub

Yum!

A theatre workshop at Head Hub; the children then did a performance as characters from Toy Story

French class at Head Hub

Playing Snakes and Ladders at the World of Country Life, Exmouth

Learning about magnets at Hedge group

Using a magnetic ball to pick up some little counters

Building a tower out of storage tubs. Unfortunately, they had to empty all the toys out first!

We'll be carrying on as normal this half term, as Daddy is working, but we'll be looking forward to Grandma Jeanette and Grandad Harry visiting in early November (and, of course, Mummy's birthday!).