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I am going to be bringing you a new regular feature here at The Mad House, After School Fun (thanks to the Evil Overlord for making me a snazzy badge!). During the summer my boys who are seven and eight tend to play out after school. There is lots of cricket, football (soccer) and bike […]
So on to the Spy Gear kit we were sent. The biggest hits were the Stealth com walkie talkies as they didn’t need to use their hands. They loved these and have been played with a lot. They go in to their bedroom and communicate. Mini caught me out with the Micro Agent Motion Alarm as he put it in his bedroom, so when I went in it set the alarm off. He is very protective of his room and all his books and hates people going in it, including Maxi’s friends when they visit, so this was one of his favorite items.
The Night Goggles have come in to their own now the nights are getting darker and Mini can even use them over his prescription goggles. The Spike Mic Launcher did not survive Alvin and was an early casualty of #MadPup! Both boys like the Field Agent Spy Watch, but found it difficult to put on themselves.
Overall the Spy Gear stuff is great and I can see us getting a lot of play out of it.
After school fun – Lets be a spy and how to leave a secret message Read More »
axi is currently working on shapes at school in maths and this week brought home an Islamic pattern sheet and he had to identify a number of polygons on it and colour them all in different colours. Maxi is 8 years old and in Year 4 at school (key stage 2).
tangram
For someone like me that finds this type of mathematics really hard it is nigh on impossible to look at that page and see anything other than triangles.
Thankfully First 4 Magnets had sent us a magnetic tangram this week. We were sent the yellow one and it retails at £1.99.
Complete square measures 125mm x 125mm
Seven separate magnetic shapes
Made from high-quality die cut foam on a flexible magnetic backing
These challenging and addictive puzzles are based on the ancient Chinese tangram puzzle. Each puzzle is made from premium foam with a flexible magnetic backing providing a secure grip to a steel surface like your fridge. Each puzzle is die cut and supplied as a square so you can easily break the individual shapes apart to create new shapes. A tangram contains a small square, two small isosceles triangles, a medium-sized isosceles triangle, two large isosceles triangles, and a parallelogram. An isosceles triangle has two equal angles and two equal sides. A parallelogram is a four-sided figure with each side parallel to the opposite side.
When I received it I put it on the fridge and everyone in the house has played with it, including Maxi’s friends who have come to visit. I decided to set some challenges for the boys to follow some patterns using the tangram and it was great fun for everyone.
On the suggestion of Cathy from Nurturestore this weekend will be spent turning a sleeper offcut in to a geoboard.
Hands on Maths for Maxi (year 4 or 8 year old) – Shapes Read More »
Today is such a beautiful autumn day so we decided to take a walk in our neighbourhood and the boys grabbed their cameras so they could snap their images for the Kids Capture the colour competition. We were like pied pipers and started the walk with two children and a dog and ended up with
Call it what you will, summer holiday bucket list, summer activities, summer wish list. Here is our list!
Geocaching is a great way to get out and about and treasure hunt with Children. For the uninitiated Geocaching is an outdoor activity where you navigate to a cache (or treasure for children ) using GPS. Now that most of us have built in GPS on our mobile phone this is a great family activity and it is becoming
You are one of 7 billion humans on earth – the densest planet in a 4.6 billion year old solar system. You are in a galaxy spanning around 110,000 light years, in a universe containing an estimated 9 sextillion stars. With the right technology you could see over 142,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometres into space. Humans have been practicing forms of astronomy for centuries, but the developments we have made from the 19th Century onwards have been particularly illuminating, and we now know more than ever before about the universe.
It’s no wonder that people are so fascinated with what lies beyond our humble planet. The most exciting part is that star gazing is now a pastime that is available to everybody with a desire to learn more about our solar system.
Not only is amateur astronomy a fascinating hobby, it’s also a great way to spend time with your kids and bring what they learn in school to life. To make stargazing a truly rewarding experience, you’ll need a telescope and a good place to spot the stars. While there are plenty of stargazing spots in the great outdoors, having your very own indoor observatory is even more convenient.
If you have a loft , this can be the perfect place to set up. Not only is it convenient to star gaze in the comfort of your own home, but it is also a good way to make the most of your loft and save it from becoming a dumping ground and a wasted space. It’s common for lofts to go unused, and this is one way to ensure you’re getting value out of every room in your house.
However, you might need to do some renovating to ensure it’s the perfect stargazing space you’re after. If you have a sky light, or are thinking about adding one for star gazing, it may help you to get more use out of your loft as an additional room during the day too. You might want to consider making it a bit more comfortable with some seats, a carpet and maybe even a lick of paint.
Budgeting for this project may take a bit of planning. Whether you save up to pay for your loft-turned-observatory, or look into whether a loan may help you cover the costs, it’s best to sort out the budget ahead of time.
In addition to stargazing among the comforts of your own home, you’ll probably have an Internet connection handy and can easily find out what you’re looking at. This will also allow you to check if there is anything particular to look out for that night. Sites like astronomy.co.uk are great for finding out what’s happening each night in theUK, and you get the satisfaction of understanding what you’re looking at and learning how to find different planets, stars and other phenomenon.
Some exciting sights to see from your loft over the rest of 2012 include a lunar eclipse in late November, Jupiter reaching its closest point to the Earth in early December and the Geminids Meteor Shower in mid-December. So, get your telescope at the ready and head up to the loft for some magical views of the night sky.
As you probably gathered I believe in the wonder and joys of Christmas and want to welcome my boys to the warm arms of tradition. I want them to relish advent each year, which is why I made our advent stockings last year. I wanted to make each day special in its own right, without
Our advent activities, one mum creating traditions Read More »
In an homage blatant copying of Chris at Thinly Spread, I bring you our favorite weekend Autumn Walk. Now I am pretty lucky in the once the boys get started on a walk they love them and often it is MadDad and I who start back first. We live in a very beautiful part of
