January Kiwi Crate update

The kids have completed the two crafts from our January Kiwi Crate and now I'm back with some info.

First, I don't think the sibling add-on was quite worth it for us. While Vivie is a 2-year-old and doesn't share well, I think there still would have been enough materials for her to participate.

I'm dropping the add-on option for the upcoming month (and watch it be the type of month where duplicates would have been worth it!).

Comet toss game:

I had to help with all of the assembly on this one. I didn't read the instructions close enough, and taped the circles wrong, so I had to cut it and retape it (with my tape). That was my fault. I also had to help them assemble their little ball comets.

Johnny enjoyed throwing it and it was good practice for him, since his throwing skills aren't so great. Since it was a frigid day outside, it was nice to have an indoor physical activity to do.

He also got a huge kick out of the bingo card element. Throw the ball to a certain color, mark off that color on your bingo card. I think more bingo is in our future.

We then moved the target rings to our foyer, and dropped the comets from our balcony. That always makes things more fun, right?

We experimented with the comet by taking the ball out, and dropping just the ball or just the fabric square. Didn't work so well. Physics!

Overall, this activity was ok. Nothing mind-blowing, but it was entertaining and something I didn't have to come up with on my own. The ball and fabric square can be re-purposed for something else, but the cardstock rings won't last.

A DIY version could be using rolled up socks and throwing them in different laundry baskets or shoeboxes or such.

Game board:

Since we only had one glue stick and one pack of markers, I did have to round up another glue stick so they could both glue at the same time.

They both used the markers (and it was fine to share the 8 markers) to decorate their game tokens and the game board. Johnny didn't seem to want to decorate much on the board, and at first he liked gluing the pieces on the game board but he got tired of it and I helped him finish.

I just let Vivie do her thing, without much guidance. I figured she didn't need to follow the rules -- she just needed to stay occupied and out of Johnny's hair.

We put the game board together and did two rounds. Johnny won both times and easily understood the rules. It's a simple, Candyland-like game.

We spent about 40 minutes on the game board assembly and playing it.

I haven't done the "explore more" activities yet, but some of the videos and activities sound good.

I think I was more excited about this crate than the kids were, though Johnny says he liked doing it. Perhaps if they were a little bit older, it would have been even better. I thought about saving one game board and materials to do in another year or so, but then I decided to just let Vivie have one now.

Still a fun thing for us and while I'm dropping it down to one child, we'll do a few more months at least (and it does help that I have a referal credit to save $10 off my next crate!).

If you'd like to give it a try, use my referral link to save $10 off your first. Cancel if you don't want to continue.

Results of Kidzmet personality profile

I had Johnny take his first ever personality quiz just now, called Kidzmet. Heh! I took it twice on his behalf (I did the text version and then the visual version and got slightly different results: Introverted Intuitive; Introverted Sensor) and then I had him do the visual one and he got something a little bit different.

All three came up "introverted" just like his parents.

Johnny's result was "introverted thinking."

I think all three types fit him to a degree. And really, what's a personality profile going to show in a 4-year-old? What he's like now isn't indicative of his learning styles on down the road.

I imagine over the coming months and year, learning styles will become more obvious. Right now, the results suggested he learns best by observing.

Also, I'm working my way through Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Pics for Homeschool Curriculum. I figure it would be better for me to work out my teaching style and my kids' learning styles, and determine what I'm seeking from a curriculum so I can make better decisions.

Right now, the "buy too much and figure it out later" approach isn't working :/. lol.

I seem to be a "Competent Carl," and I can see traits of that in Johnny as well.

At this point, I know that I will not, nor likely ever, find a curriculum that perfectly matches my goals with my kids' learning styles. I will have to tweak everything to some degree, no doubt. I know this.

More thoughts on that book to come.

Family Game Night - January 2013 Kiwi Crate contents

We received our second Kiwi Crate in the mail Friday, and I've opened it and looked at the contents and I can't wait to dig in with my kids.

I know it can be a lot of fun for the child to open it himself, but I'd rather have a bit more control of when we do the activities.

I hid the box and photographed it from my closet. Heh.

Since last month's crate was huge success and Vivie participated as well, I thought it would be worth adding the sibling option for an extra $8. Some months it might be well worth the add-on, but others I can see how they could share the contents easily.

For instance, last month's Arctic Adventure was a one-kid option, and there were absolutely enough materials to share.

Here's what's in the box:

My Board Game

• Sturdy game board for decorating and sticking on game pieces (x2)
• Card stock punch-out colorful squares for gluing onto game board (x2)
• Card stock game pieces (x2)
• Glue stick
• Two wooden game tokens to decorate (x2)
• One wood cube block for a colorful die (x2)
• Pack of thin markers. Not marked washable, but then again we're going to color on things that we don't want to smudge with usage  so maybe that's fine for this activity (STAY CLOSE BY THOUGH, EEP!)
• Beautiful instruction guide for making game board and also game instructions

Comet Toss game

• Silky purple square (x2)
• Green squishy ball (x2)
• Bingo card (x2)
• Ribbon (x2)
• Tape squares for assembling the paper loops (! Tape! How about that?)
• Sturdy papers to make circles to toss the comet in (x1 set)
• Instructions

Also included: Two samples of their homemade valentine kits. Looks like we'll have enough materials to make 2 cute little Valentines.

We're going to do the comet toss game after lunch. I've taken the other materials out of the box, so when he opens it we can focus on that one activity.

I think this will be a fun time for us. Kiwi Crate would be a good gift idea to a mom who just had a baby, and who also has 3-7 year-olds. 

P.S. they also have online "explore more" extension activities, featuring book suggestions, online videos to view and more at-home games. 

Here's my affiliate link, good for $10 off your first box (with no commitment for future months but you would need to cancel) and it's also good for a $10 credit for me. Thanks!

Will report back on what the kids thought, and if the sibling add-on pack was worth it.

Free Thornton Burgess books for Kindle

I first became aware of books by Thornton Burgess by browsing the Heart of Dakota curriculum website. The paperbacks aren't expensive -- you can get a boxed set of I think 5-6 titles for under $10 on Rainbow Resource -- but today I found more than 25 titles by the author for free on Kindle.

I don't believe these editions have illustrations (and I'm not sure if all the paperback versions do, aside from the covers). There are some titles that DO have illustrations, but those aren't free. Of course.

Still, free is free and it's a nice way to preview some books or have a bunch of children's read-alouds on hand.

I haven't decided how I'll approach Kindle books with the kids. I think they should have paper books for the most part. But for illustrationless read-alouds...I think a Kindle version isn't such a bad alternative (especially a free one).