Heart of the Matter

If you are like me, saying goodbye to summer isn’t as difficult this particular year since the summer weather we are used to simply never arrived. Sad in some ways, but makes you switch gears quickly enough if you aren’t a year-round schooler. We usually *do* some form of school during our summer “break” but this time, we ended up doing a myriad of other things. Change can be good!

We formally begin school this week, a week earlier than normal in our neck of the woods, going by the Public System’s calendar, and in my mind there is nothing sweeter than starting school off with “something fun”. I managed to track down a ton of treasures for this posting; hope you enjoy, and remember, they’ll hardly cost you a thing!

I first saw this game being played at an Historical re-enactment village, then found the instructions in an old book of mine, no longer in print, called Things to Do. Who can pass that title up? The “thing” is Bowling Hoops, and here is how you “do” it:

This is a traditional autumn game and the idea is for the bowler to perform as much as possible with as little effort on his or her part. The difficulty comes in challenging the bowler to run through the rolling hoop, if the hoop is large enough. Parents, do NOT get the notion that you are still young and sprite enough to also do this. Do not ask me how I came to this conclusion.

What you need: if one player, you only need one hoop and a stick or some other item with which to make the hoop roll on its side. If two players, one small hoop, one larger hoop. Two players can attempt to bowl or roll the smaller hoop through the larger one. Simple fun.

Another game involving the hoops is called Turnpikes.

What you need: one large hoop, two stones and several players. The object of the game is to set two stones a bit wider apart than the width of your hoop and the hoop itself needs to be rolled through them as quickly as possible, without touching either of the stones. If it touches or misses the stones’ mark, the next player takes a turn until he or she misses.

One last idea is to play Posting.
What you need: as many players as you can muster up, one large hoop. Have the players stand, ideally, in a circle, at various points. Having players stand in a line will work, too. Choose a player to begin the game, having him or her run with the hoop, rolling or bowling it as quickly as they can, to the first “post” (where the next person in the line or circle is standing). That player then takes the hoop and rolls it as fast as he or she can to the next post and the first player then stands in the vacant spot. The idea is that as the players become more familiar with rolling the hoop, there is no stopping play. The hoop will continue to be rolled from post to post (player to player), picking up speed, making for a very active and fun game.

SO, what about fun for the more sedentary folks? I haven’t forgotten … art ideas abound!

What about the tried and true painted seed pot? All you need are: empty yogurt pots, baby food jars, or another type of container that isn’t needed for anything else, like a purchased clay pot if you choose, some scouring powder (if you wish), pencil and poster paint. These would be a great give to teacher idea, if your children attend any kind of Sunday School program or club. They will also look great decorating a table if you simply cannot bear to part with the finished product.

If you do not want to use the scouring powder, to rub away any lettering on the yogourt pot, you can use paint to cover the entire outside of the pot before sketching out your design. Sketch what you would like to paint onto the pot then paint with colour remembering to not make your brush too wet. Allow the painted pot to dry.

This last art idea requires parent supervision at all times but was just too cool not to share. It is called Paper Butterflies.

What you need: thin paper, a postcard (or piece of cardstock), a sheet of butcher paper, pencil, crayons, glue, cotton balls (or, preferably, the cotton you buy in bags that is already stretched and more like tubes), tape, a hot oven. Where we live, you are permitted to have an outdoor fire as long as you have a source of water or fire extinguisher nearby and are cooking (marshmallows totally count!), so an open fire in a backyard is nothing to blink an eye at around these parts and would be, in my opinion, the preferred method of burning for this idea.

What you do:

1. Draw some lovely butterflies on thin paper (like tracing paper), colouring them and then cutting them out.
2. Glue a piece of 3 inch long cotton to each butterfly
3. With the tape, fasten the end of the cotton to the postcard (or cardstock cut into a rectangle approximately the same size of a postcard)
4. Heat the sheet of butcher paper in the oven for a few minutes
5. Take the paper out of the heat and rub it swiftly using one way strokes
6. Quickly hold the brown heated paper over the butterflies on the postcard or cardstock and they should fly. As soon as the brown paper is cold, they will drop. To make them fly again, simply re-heat the butcher paper.

Kristina is a happily married wife in her eleventh year of homeschooling the flybytheseatofyourpants method. So far her two boys seem intelligible and relatively unscathed. She is an intern Educational Therapist with NILD and in her spare time loves to scrapbook, paint, make linoprints and write novel study guides. In your spare time, check out her blog On Fire.