Little House in the Big Woods Week 4

This week I started school. I now only have the kids 3 days a week and a 2 hour chunk of those days are spent in class. Field trips will be fewer until school lets out.

This week Bo had an Egyptian box. The base is sand and the characters are from the Egypt Toob.

Amelia's was a pond box. The base is water and water beads. The animals came from the River Toob and the lilly pads are cut from green craft foam. They will switch boxes next week.

Tuesday we did boxes and bags. We talked about square dancing and tracking animals, but didn't do anything with that.

Wednesday they once again did boxes, but we went swimming instead of doing bags.

I set up a "store."  "Pa" had skinned a rabbit and earned ten cents from the fur.  ;)  He had to decide what to buy and figure out how much money he owed the "shop keeper." I was very impressed with his abilities here.

Thursday we did bags and boxes. Somebody put sunscreen on the kids, but forgot to do herself and was a bit crispy and didn't want to go swimming.

After Amelia went to sleep we watched a video on honey making. Bo filled out his notebook page and I gave him this page I found on bees to add in there too.

This was the completed page for this week. Up top is a drone bee and some honey. Down below is the difference in deer tracks and human tracks and a buck.

We also made popsicles, but they weren't solid when I left so they ate them with Mom later. Somebody really enjoyed hers.

Little House in the Big Woods Week 3

Though only 3 days, we had another mighty fine week!

Tuesday we went to Wildcat. Right off we found a turtle!

They did bags and boxes when they got home.

We made a paper quilt together. We colored the squares and glued them onto brown paper.

Wednesday we "milked a cow." It was decided that we are glad we don't have to do this to get milk every morning. To make this simply poke holes in the finger tips of latex gloves with a needle. Fill it with water and tie it to the back of a chair. Sissy really liked it.

Then they did bags, while I...

MADE COOKIES! They were simple butter cookies like Ma might have made. I found the recipe on Pinterest. They were delicious.

Bo worked on his page in his folder.

Then we went outside and made a punched tin lantern. To make this freeze water in an empty tin can. Then using a hammer and a nail punch holes in the tin. The ice keeps it from denting. Let the ice melt and you have a little lantern.

Side note: The ice is fun to hit with a hammer once it melts enough you can get it out of the can.

Thursday we did bags and boxes.

Bo and I dipped candles, while Amelia napped. To make this, melt candle wax in a jar. I used a mason jar in a pot of boiling water. Cut a length of wick and dip it in the wax. Let it drip for a minute and then dip it not another mason jar of cold water. Repeat until the candle is a good width. It is cool enough that you can touch it once it has been dipped in the water. This allows you to form it into shapes. I found the supplies at Hobby Lobby.

Little House in the Big Woods Week 2

Week 2 is said and done! Everybody was out of town on Monday, so we only had 3 days this week.

Tuesday we went to George Washington Carver Park. We thought we could beat the rain. We were wrong, but it was still fun. We saw (I almost grabbed) a snake. After getting soaked on the trail, we went through the museum. It included animals, plants, and examples of furniture from that time. We got to go to a one room school set up in there too. It's very interactive and perfect for kids. Nobody was ready to leave, but when 2 buses of students arrived we left. We saw how big a little cabin would be and also a house about the same size as what the house in the Big Woods was. We talked about out houses, sleeping arrangements, the kitchen, and the living room. Bo's glad that his house isn't that small.

Bo's box this week was birds. The base is grass from the Dollar Tree. The nest we made a few summers back and the birds are from the Bird Toob.

Amelia's was a dog box. The base is dog food. The dogs are from a Dog Toob. Both boxes were very simple and they will trade next week!

Of course we did boxes and bags Tuesday after we got back home and dry.

While Amelia slept, Bo and I read chapter 3. This has the story of Pa and the owl. We watched a video on owls and then dissected an owl pellet. It was very exciting! You can find them on Amazon pretty cheap. Bo found a skull and lots of other bones.

Wednesday we started chapter 4, where Ma makes pancake men. I had never made pancakes, but they turned out just fine according to the kids.

It finally got sunny, so we played outside for a long time. Then it was boxes and bags again.

While the littles napped, Bo and I carved soap like Pa whittled Ma's shelf. We used Ivory soap because it's soft and not terribly crumbly. Using craft sticks we drew a shape and carved it out. I attempted a heart and Bo made a claw. This went very well. He loved it!

We also talked about our lungs. To show him how they worked I made a lung model. All the kids got a kick out of it. To make it cut a water bottle in half as you only need the top. Make it long enough a balloon can fit inside. Cut the stem off of a ballon and stretch it around the large hole on the bottom (my white ballon). Next tape another balloon (red) to a straw (blue) so that no air can escape and you can blow up the balloon. Stick the ballon down into the bottle. Cover up the opening around the straw with some play dough (yellow). Now blow into your straw. It was an excellent model, I thought.

This was Bo's page this week. We stapled in a baggie with everything we found in the owl pellet. We also watched a video on rabies (in the story of Uncle Peter's dog keeping the aunt from getting water from the spring it mentioned the dog going mad). Bo filled in what he learned about rabies from the video. It makes animals drool. You get it from getting bit. Humans can get it too.

Thursday it was finally nice outside. The children had been stuck inside together for too long and were arguing all morning. I decided that we were going to the park. We spent 3 hours there and had a wonderful picnic. They played in some water on the rocks and then again on a splash pad. They played hard all day and crashed when we got home. Everybody got some space away from each other and were in much better moods too!

While the kids slept, Bo and I tried finger knitting (Ma knit mittens in chapter 4). Bo wasn't a fan because it took too long, which I figured. We also made snow candy like Laura and Mary did. Since it's May in Missouri we had to use an ice shaver to make some snow. Then we brought 1/4 cup of brown sugar with 1/2 cup of dark molasses to 245 degrees. Then using a measuring cup we dribbled it on our "snow". Then came the taste test. We both agreed that it was TERRIBLE! 

Little House in the Big Woods Week 1

This summer we are going to work our way through Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy. Bo is the only one old enough to do all of the activities and understand the story. The rest are just tagging along. Also we have 2 new kids. Khloe is 4 and Dawson is 3.

Monday we built a log cabin, shed, and barn out of Lincoln Logs. Bo wouldn't allow anything else because it didn't go with the story. The girls also played with rag dolls.

Bo, Amelia and I made shirts. (Left to Right: Bo's, Morgan's, Amelia's).

While the three littles slept, Bo and I went out and shot the BB gun. We decided it would be difficult to hunt for your food. We also discussed gun safety and wolves.

Here are is Bo's box. This year we are going for simplicity and they aren't a main focus.

This is Amelia and Khloe's. (Dawson puts the pieces in his mouth, so he has been kicked out of the boxes.)

Since we didn't have a pig bladder, we blew up a balloon and played with that on Tuesday while the littles slept.

We also had an ice cream break.

We talked about leather and watched a video on tanning hides. Then we made this teepee from leather. We talked about animal tracks as well.

Wednesday was Amelia's last day of school. Daddy watched the other three and sent us out for a special last-day-of-school lunch.

We did boxes and bags.

It finally got warm and sunny, so we played outside!

Then we came in and made butter. The kids had to shake it up for me. When it became butter, we had a special treat of bread, butter, and sugar. Bo told me that he was glad he didn't have to always make the butter like Laura.

Our chapter talked about Jack Frost paintings. Laura and Mary would use a thimble to draw on the windows after a frost. It's May and there's no frost to be seen. We used thimbles and paint instead.

Thursday started out with a field trip. We went to the pet store to see a brindle bulldog like Jack. We pet a husky (Bo's pick).

Once again it was warm! We washed clothes on a washboard and line dried them. "Thank heavens for washers!" Bo cracks me up!

Boxes and bags were enjoyed by all.

We played outside as well.

We came in and colored paper dolls. Yellow- Khloe, Orange- Bo, Scribble girl- Amelia, Scribble boy- Dawson.

Bo has a notebook that we are making, a page a week. He made a minibook about wolves. He drew a bear. I wrote in some gun safety rules and stapled in a piece of leather. I added in a sheet on animal tracks. His paper doll and Jack Frost painting will also be added to the folder.