Autumn is coming...

Sometimes you get an idea in your head and it never looks the same when it's done.  This little project ended up looking even better :)

We got our new (massive) noticeboard delivered yesterday and it looked a bit 'industrial', so as Autumn is approaching I thought we could 'theme it up' a bit...

I found some colouring in pages for leaves, like these ones from Crayola http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/autumn-leaves-coloring-page/ and we used a mix of yellow, orange and red to do some sponge painting.  I think the sponge effect works really well on the leaves, little fingers did a great job.

If you google a search for 'Autumn colouring in pages' you get a good load of pictures to choose from - we also chose a kite and a scarecrow.



I love the colours!

Once they were dry, I cut them all out and added them to the noticeboard

Not sure the photo does them justice and we may have to do some more to put all around to cover the metal parts.

And just in case you are wondering where the Star Wars twist is.... Well it seems some AT-AT's found there way onto the board too:

Boat building

Ok so it's not quite Star Wars, but this activity never ceases to amaze me how long it keeps little (and big) fingers amused..  We've done this before, but as I had more than one set of little fingers to keep amused it seemed the perfect thing to do again.

All you need is a few plastic tubs, some odd craft stuff and water.  Luckily the weather seems to have picked up again today and we were able to get the small paddling pool out which did just the job!

We always make sure the boats have a name, this time around we had: Daisy, The Happy Minion, Roger and the Death Star mark II (Star Wars always creeps in somewhere)

Last time we did this the big pool was out so we raced them, all you need is a light breeze and it's amazing how fast they go...!

The planet Hoth

So it seems we've now started a 'thing'.... it started with a simple idea for a volcano that turned into a planet... and now we're building the entire galaxy from far, far away...

Next up : Hoth.

First the usual research and planning - drawings of the layout and key features, photos and a story board and a look at what sort of planet it would be etc..

For each planet we make we try to use different materials and craft techniques.  Hoth was going to mostly be about air drying clay...

We used:

A blue pet litter tray (we've started bulk buying these now!)
Cotton wool
Air drying clay
Paints
Cardstock
Star Wars Hoth images, I found some great ones here: http://alphamom.com/family-fun/holidays/celebrate-star-wars-day-may-the-fourth-be-with-you/

Because we had already decided on which elements to make, we started with the clay and made up various things like an AT-ST, AT-AT, snow speeder, probe droid and, of course, an x-wing.












We used matchsticks to hold the 'limbs' together and for a bit of extra stability.  I found some great silver paint at the local Range store which was perfect for the walkers.

Hoth is a snowy planet, so cotton wool the obvious choice for lining.  Then we stuck some card as a backdrop and cut out the pictures to add to the scene.

A last minute addition was the orange tissue paper to make explosions - I think it's quite effective...

I've been informed that out next planet to tackle is Endor (technically a moon but who's going to quibble).

Mustafar

I read a few web posts over the summer on various 'things to do with your child in the holidays', and stumbled across the old classic of a vinegar and baking soda volcano.  I knew this would be a hit so suggested this as an idea one day..

Of course when a 6 year old Star Wars fan is told of erupting volcanoes the first thing they thing of is : Mustafar - the lava planet where Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin have that infamous battle.

This is where the idea literally explodes from making a simply plastic bottle volcano to somehow recreating the lava planet with all the appropriate features.

This is what we started with:

A quite deep pet litter tray
A margarine tub
The bottom half of a squash bottle
Lots of newspaper and glue
Some large stones from the garden
Paint
Sand
Air drying clay

Firstly I cut the squash bottle in half and stuck that and the margarine tub to the bottom of the tray to make them sturdy.

Then we set about making the volcano.  Basically this involved using scrunched up newspaper and layering that up to for a cone shape than coating with glue and more paper for a paper mâché effect.  We build some stones up around it too for a more dramatic effect.

Leave to dry.

The nice thing about this project was that we were able to do a little bit every day and so could really see it taking shape.

Once the paper was dry, it was painted black, with red highlights.
While the paint was drying we took the opportunity to make models of a lava skiff and a droid from the air drying clay - these are the things Obi Wan and Anakin fought on - we couldn't make them float like they did in the movie, so used a few lolly sticks instead (artistic license I call it)

We filled the margarine tub with sand so we had a 'quick sand' area - not really from the film, but we both thought it was a cool idea and acted like a trap for any rogue bounty hunters.
We used sand to fill in some of the gaps in the stones too.

Now for the fun bit!!

There are lots of ways to get an erupting volcano, but this is the best way that I have found.

First fill the centre of the volcano half full with hot tap water, add red food colouring (I used quite a bit for a dramatic effect), a few tablespoons of baking soda and a good couple of squirts of washing up liquid (for extra foam).

At this point I handed over control and half filled a beaker with white vinegar.... add the vinegar to the mix and watch it go !!

 




You can keep adding baking soda and vinegar over and over and get multiple eruptions... we even tried this a few days later and it still worked (although it was starting to look a bit manky at this point)

We learnt loads from doing this.  Not just a science project, but it was planned beforehand with drawings, photos, research on the internet about what type of planet it was, what the terrain would be like and so on... and it was definitely lots of fun!