Creative Little Hands

[caption id="attachment_2641" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Weather vane we made"][/caption]

The boys decorated two paper plates for their weather vane.  We placed a blob of clay in the center between the two plates so as to hold up the pencil.  The plates are glued together around the edges. The arrow tail (3") and point (3") which we cut from a watercolor painting was inserted at each equal end of the straw and then we placed a pin through the center of it into the eraser of the pencil to allow it to move freely with the breeze.

Boys watching their weather vane for wind direction

Mark it with compass markings N, S, E, W and using the compass we point the plate according to the compass markings and wait for the wind to blow and give you your wind direction.  We have an east wind blowing daily.  We are also logging the information into a Beaufort Scale.

[caption id="attachment_2634" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Their little three wheeler"][/caption]

This is a little three wheeler car that the boys made for their little moose.

[caption id="attachment_2633" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Petit Chenille/Worm"][/caption]

They love to play with clay and have been moulding these little worms inspired by the plentiful Frangipani worms we have in our Frangipani Tree.

[caption id="attachment_2630" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Frangipani Worms"][/caption]

They spend hours, months.. playing with these little worms, building homes and mazes for them.  They are carried around like pets.

[caption id="attachment_2632" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Clay snail"][/caption]

Sasha's snail creation.

[caption id="attachment_2645" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sania's clay house construction"][/caption]

Sania moulded this little clay house which almost looks like a home of a troll, it was for his little moose.

[caption id="attachment_2637" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Cosmos Flowers"][/caption]

These photos were taken a month ago when our cosmos were in full bloom bordering our entire garden.

[caption id="attachment_2639" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Butterfly"][/caption]

They are teeming with bees and butterflies and my honey boxes are overflowing with honey!

[caption id="attachment_2638" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="More cosmos"][/caption]

So pretty - the nice thing about living in the tropics is that when these die, they seed and the seedlings are already up and growing.

[caption id="attachment_2636" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Yellow cosmos"][/caption]

We have yellow cosmos as well.

[caption id="attachment_2635" align="aligncenter" width="533" caption="Green Papayas"][/caption]

So many papayas, they are all ripening.  We, along with the staff and chickens are indulging in all those healthy papayas.

[caption id="attachment_2629" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Cooling off"][/caption]

Sometimes the cows spend hours in our duck pond cooling off.

[caption id="attachment_2631" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sasha driving"][/caption]

My children are driving.  Sasha alone and Sania on my lap but they both work the accelerator.  They help papa drive the tractor too.

 

Third Grade House Building Project

Measuring

When my boys were little we moved to our farm in Dominican Republic.  There were many fences being installed or repaired, we renovated our home and built three cottages. There was and always is someone walking around with a hammer. Sania was one year and able to work a hammer very well.  Hammering nails in the ground, into large trees, into anything soft enough for a nail to penetrate.  As the boys got older they began making little projects of their own, building forts in the garden and throughout our home.  Not a week has gone by where my sofas or tables were not turned upside down to make themselves a house.  Sometimes our living room remained their fort for a week.

Papa helping Sania measure

 I love the Christopherus Waldorf Curriculums and this year in third grade there is more practical, hands on work:  farming, gardening, weather, building and measurement - something my children know how to do very well - they live it.

Sawing the wood

Measuring and sawing their wood pieces.

"The base and the walls are up"

The boys are putting the pieces together.

"Sasha hammering the nails into the wood"

The boys were motivated to build a house of their own after observing and assisting the construction of our own new house.  I shall post photos soon.

Building projects can by found in any of these books:  Housebuilding for Children by Lester Walker. and Carpentry for Children.  The boys plan to make a go-cart for their next project.

Sania

Sania could hammer for hours.  It's not uncommon to find nails in his short's pocket.

"The boys peeping through their window"

Their little window.

Installing the walls

Only the roof left...

"Home in the house"

We are still moving our furniture and belongings from our previous home to this one.  Our parlor was still empty so the boys decided to set up their house in the space.  What I really think is that they wanted to be close to the refrigerator!  As we all know active, growing little boys can eat us out of house and home.  I am grateful for those nutritious coconuts and farm fruit the boys indulge in.

Their little kitchen and garden surrounded by rocks

 As you can see they have their own little dining room set up.  With real plates and cutlery.  You can always tell a bachelors home.  Sasha spends most of their play finding and preparing meals for little Sania who is either the pony or the squirrel.  Sania never has an appetite for real mealtimes.  I wanted to take some photos of their home outside but it's still in my parlor and not sure when they will be moving out.