Homesteading, Homeschooling & Homemaking
Find out how to throw a Reformation Party, so your kids (and you!) can have fun learning about the Reformation!
Last year my sister and I decided to throw a Reformation Party. The kids had so much fun at the party, and both adults and kids learned so much! We are throwing one again this year, so I wanted to share with you how easy it can be to throw a Reformation Party, so you can throw one too! [Read more…]
A free printable for The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017.
I’m sure if you live in the United States, you’ve been hearing a lot about The Great American Eclipse. My family lives very close to an area of totality, so this has been a big deal for months. As a homeschooling mom, of course I had to turn this into an educational experience, so I’ve put together a solar eclipse printable for my family to use.
Obviously, I have to start this out by saying that you should never look at the sun, even during an eclipse, without proper eye protection. Go here to find out what NASA says about eye protection.
Although the solar eclipse is happening tomorrow, I thought I would still share this printable with you, in case you would like to use it too!
Make sure you know what you and your family are looking for before the solar eclipse happens. Some of these phenomena will only be present for a few seconds, so you don’t want to miss them while you’re trying to figure out what they are.
For more information about the items on the solar eclipse printable, you can find them here:
To watch a video about the crescents you can find in the shade under trees, look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRcwoAHdTlI
To watch a video about shadow bands, check here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_XMnU7Ad40
Measure the temperature before the eclipse and during the eclipse to see how much it changed.
Take note of things going on around you. You may be able to see the stars, if you’re in an area away from city lights. You may be able to see some planets, even. The planets that should be visible are Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
We have chickens, so we will be watching to see if they go and roost. We have also heard that sometimes they think it’s a new day and lay eggs again, so we will be watching to see if this occurs.
I’d love to hear what fun things your family notices during the eclipse, so leave me a comment below to let me know!
Today, Miss Magoo is going to show you how to do a pepper and soap experiment! It’s a simple, cheap experiment that demonstrates how surface tension works.
I love how simple this experiment is. It doesn’t require any prep time for the parent.
If you’re wanting to conduct this as a real experiment and not just for fun, don’t forget to go through the scientific method. We use the same method at home that we use in our class at Classical Conversations, so it includes purpose, hypothesis, materials, procedure, results and conclusion. It’s a nice and simple version of the scientific method that works well for young children.
Purpose: To demonstrate surface tension of water.
Hypothesis: Have everyone involved come up with a hypothesis.
Materials needed:
Watch in Youtube: Pepper and Soap Experiment
In case you aren’t a movie watcher (I’m not much of one, so I completely understand) here are the directions (also known as the procedure):
Results: Record what happened when you placed the soapy toothpick in the pepper.
Conclusion: We can see how surface tension in the water works when we touch the soapy toothpick to the peppery water. Pepper is hydrophobic, meaning it repels water. Because there is surface tension on the top of the water, the pepper floats on the top of the water and doesn’t soak up any of the water.
Soap breaks down the surface tension of the water, so as we put the soapy toothpick in the midst of the peppery water, we can see the water pull away from the toothpick, in its attempt to keep its surface tension. When it does this, it carries the pepper with it, causing it to look like the pepper is running away from the toothpick.
I hope you enjoyed this fun and simple pepper and soap experiment Miss Magoo shared today!
Today Miss Magoo is sharing how to do Easy DIY 4th of July Nails! I’m typing for her, but this was her idea to share with you, so I hope you enjoy it!
I like the 4th of July because the fireworks are fun to watch, and I love to play with the ones that pop when you throw them on the ground.
Every year on the 4th, we go to the park for a picnic with family, and then go to my uncle’s house for the fireworks. I get to play with my cousins, and it’s fun. [Read more…]
Find out how to make upcycled Barbie clothes with this simple tutorial!
Welcome back to the Homestead Kids Blog!
Miss Magoo loves leggings. But living on acreage, leggings don’t exactly hold up to the conditions they’re put to every day. So we have a pile of leggings with holes in the knees that need to get patched, and a mom that hates to do mending.
The other day, Miss Magoo asked if she could use a pair of the leggings to make upcycled Barbie clothes out of, so I of course agreed (one less pair to mend!). The Barbie clothes she made turned out so cute, that she wants to share with you how easy it is to make them yourself!
Cut off a piece of the leg however long you want your Barbie’s dress to be. Turn it inside out. Pin onto the Barbie doll so you know how big it needs to be (it needs to be a little bit tight so it doesn’t fall off your Barbie).
Sew along the pin line. Cut the extra fabric off. Make sure not to cut through your stitching.
Turn it right side out. You can be done if you want to be, but putting straps on the dress can help it so the dress isn’t falling down all the time.
If you want to have straps on the dress, cut 2 thin strips of fabric, pin them into place on the Barbie, and then sew the straps into place. Make sure that none of the dress is in the way when you sew the straps on, or you’ll sew it shut.
You can hem the bottom if you want to. But the good thing about jersey fabric is that it doesn’t fray, so you don’t have to hem them, if you don’t want to.
So what do you think? An easy tutorial for upcycled Barbie clothes that even a 7 year old can make! Stop paying ridiculous prices for the junky Barbie clothes you can buy, and make your own!
See the link parties I’m sharing this post at, and don’t forget to share it!