Hands on learning can be such a

fun thing to do! This year I have really started to embrace the hands on approach to learning. It real helps the kids to get a more solid grasp on something when they can think back to doing something. In history we are learning about ancient Egypt and we have been having fun with our projects. The first was making golden bracelets like the Nubians would have given the Egyptians. So easy Melia and Kellina did it. Toilet paper tubes painted gold!The more advanced project was making Egyptian death masks. This was a paper mache nightmare. The results were fabulous though. It was my first experience ever with paper mahe. What a mess! I'm sure there are less messy recipes out there.

All the girls did this project as well, but I think only Samantha learned what they are for.(they are to help your spirit, Ka, find your body in the afterlife) Each mask should look like its maker.

In science we have been studying wind, weather, and water. For wind we made kites. So of course it hasn't been windy. We did try our best though to get the kites up.

Samantha's kite was the lightest because it was made out of plastic. It had the best flight. Melia was the best runner so hers had a small flight. Kellina was giving up before starting. Her kite didn't fly and she was bummed. The girls made their kites out of folded paper.(both were super easy!)

Along with wind we are studying air in general. This has had a lot of fun experiments. One was proving air is always around us even when we can't see it. We did this by pouring air into water or better known as making bubbles in water. We also froze a balloon to see which is heavier cold or hot air. Samantha before we even did the experiment said," Mom it only makes sense that hot air weighs less because if it didn't they would use cold air instead of hot air in hot air balloons." She was right of course. I have no photos but it was fun. For water we learned how water molecules move and shift. We put blue dye in a jar of water. Just a drop. No one could stir it or move it. The girls all guessed what would happen then we watched and waited. I think this was the prettiest hands on thing we've done so far!

I hope that this has inspired you to be a hands on learner with your child. It has taught me just as much if not more then my kids!