Cork Rafts Building Challenge

So, what was our cork raft challenge? I challenged my daughter to build a mode of transportation for a family of 4 wooden peg people. The people had to be transported across water. I provided a few supplies; wine corks, toothpicks, paints, cardboard, string and a glue gun…but she had access to any supplies we had in our house.

It took her a couple of hours of thinking and then she got to work. I loved watching her mind work. How would the people fit on the cork? How many corks would she need? How would she bind the corks together? How would whatever she made actually move?

She floated around a few different ideas (pardon the pun), and decided to make a raft. Through trial and error, she decided to tie the corks together with the leather strings. We used the glue gun to adhere the sets of cork together…making a larger raft.

How to move the raft? She decided to use the ends of the string she used to tie the corks together. She braided together  the strings to make a tow rope. Thus, the raft could move across the water.

Once the raft base was built the next challenge was holding the peg family. The solution was to make a “rug” out of cardboard and use the glue gun to adhere it to the raft. My daughter carefully balanced the people on the rug as we placed the raft in the bowl of water.

SUCCESS! The raft floated and was easily towed around the bowl. We hope to take the raft down to the ravine later this week. This was a fabulous science, design and build activity for my daughter. We had great discussions about buoyancy, friction and movement…all topics she is learning about at school right now. This activity was hands on science learning and it was a lot of fun.

How might you and your children have answered the cork raft challenge?

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Green Life ~ Starting Seeds in the Springtime

~:: Kitchen Counter Chronicles ::~

In our attempt to live a “greener” life, we try and grow as many vegetables and herbs in our little urban garden as we can. Each year our crops change. This year we are planning on starting a tea garden…growing our own herbs to use in making teas. The first step to planting our garden is starting seeds in the springtime. So, it’s that time of the year again…time to start some seeds. This is one of those magical experiences. You place a few seeds inside some soil and wait for the plants to appear. It’s so amazing to see the tiny plant peer out through the soil. The last couple of years we have been starting our seeds in egg cartons and toilet paper rolls. This year we reached inside the recycling bin to find a planter for our seeds. I discovered that we have been eating a lot of single serving apple sauces as of late. We have a lot of little plastic containers around. So, we decided to use these containers this year. Here is how we started our seeds…

About Jen:  Welcome! If you are at all like me then everything in your life lands on your kitchen counter!  My name is Jen and I’m a stay-at-home mom to 2 beautifully intelligent little girls. I’m married to a funny, supportive man, who I started dating when I was a teenager! I have decided to share my adventures in crafting, baking, gardening and greening our lives in this blog. We live in a fantastic neighborhood, in Toronto, called the Beach. We love our city…spending time outdoors exploring and indoors using our imaginations.

I like to go inside the kitchen of other amazing woman in a feature I call Kitchen Counter Confidential. I like to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. What I learn…I share with you. Enjoy!

Follow Jen on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest as well.

CONTINUE READING IN THE BACKYARD

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I used to think that a cutting garden was a luxury, reserved solely for people with large properties and lots of room for multiple gardens (think “Martha”? I know I did!).

But since so many of my clients ask for gardens “with flowers for cutting”, I’ve come up with a few tricks for creating traditional front yard gardens that also serve as cutting beds – and you can too!

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Sheri:  Hello! I’m Sheri Silver – I’m a mom of 3 – ages 21, 16 and 3 (yes, you read correctly!). I own my own landscape design firm  and write the blog Donuts, Dresses and Dirt. While there is much gardening content on my blog, it is also the place where I give voice to my other passions – cooking and baking, parenting, and my adventures in and around NYC with my 3 amazing kids!

Find Sheri on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

AUGUST HARVEST ::: Diary of a Tomato

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About Debra: Debra Kam blogs about food and gardening at Diary of a Tomato. She has a culinary degree, has cooked professionally, and is currently training as a Master Food Preserver. She’s a founding board member of Seacoast Eat Local, where she writes about local food and sustainable agriculture. Originally from California, she now lives in Maine with her husband and two cats, where she is still adjusting to winter and wearing shoes. Follow Debra on Pinterest or by RSS.

WITH DADDY IN THE NEW FAMILY KAYAK ::: Hike. Blog. Love

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by the stress of every day family life that you had forgotten to take some time to breath? Our family had just gone through a rough year full of crazy schedules and huge sacrifices. The toll of overworked parents was beginning to be felt immensely by our youngest son. In an attempt to reclaim some sanity in our lives, we made several huge changes. We found that the path back to a peaceful and happy life, however, could happen one father-son fishing trip at a time.

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Lauren: I’m a lover of nature, an avid hiker, a former biochemist and a mama to two boys adopted from across the globe, one who happens to have significant special needs.

I use this blog to chronicle all of our adventures and to also connect with others in the adoption and special needs communities. I love to write and you can see all the other places I write for here. In my spare time I can be found teaching college chemistry and even sometimes never cleaning my house. At the end of the day, if the kids are happy and healthy, mama’s happy too.

On this blog you will see that we love to hike, camp, canoe, kayak, SCUBA dive, cave and explore new places. Most of all, we just love doing life together as a family.  Follow Lauren on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

DANGEROUS FOODS AND PLANTS FOR DOGS ::: Kitchen Counter Chronicles

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Jen:

Welcome! If you are at all like me then everything in your life lands on your kitchen counter!

My name is Jen and I’m a stay-at-home mom to 2 beautifully intelligent little girls. I’m married to a funny, supportive man, who I started dating when I was a teenager! I have decided to share my adventures in crafting, baking, gardening and greening our lives in this blog. We live in a fantastic neighbourhood, in Toronto, called the Beach. We love our city…spending time outdoors exploring and indoors using our imaginations.

I like to go inside the kitchen of other amazing woman in a feature I call Kitchen Counter Confidential. I like to see if the grass really is greener on the other side. What I learn…I share with you. Enjoy!

Follow Tanya on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest as well.

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