Category: Activities

ONOmATOPoEIA

3/31/2020

Another new word (maybe?) and a quick writing activity for children old enough to write. It has the advantage of a few minutes of breathing and stillness.

1. Sit down quietly, inside or outside.
2. Set a timer for three minutes (or five!).
2. Close your eyes.
3. Be silent and listen carefully.
4. Write down everything you hear--try and use "sound" words.
5. Voila! A poem!

Quiet, then
A ticking clock
The fridge gurgles
Far away, a bus rumbles
Creaking cupboards
A whoosh in the the oven
and a metallic jangle
Footsteps above my head?
My own breath
Tick-tock

No one else is up in my house yet! Maybe your house is noisier?

The gas was noisy in my oven this morning because I was baking bread!

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BORED? FIND a FACE

3/24/2020

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Once in a while, I will post a little activity--maybe, while you're stuck at home, you'll stumble on it and think "Why not?"

Thanks to my friend Donna Akrey for this idea.

Here's a new word for you: PAREIDOLIA
1. Use a dictionary or the Internet to figure out what it means.
2. Search your house and yard (if you have one) high and low to find five things that don't have faces, but look like they have faces.
3. Take a picture of each "face" with a phone or make a drawing.

If you have brothers and sisters, try a race--who can find the most "faces" in fifteen minutes?

Think about it . . . why do you think we see "faces" in things?

One of my photos is posted here. Remind you of anything?

And beneath it is a face my son, Sam, found in the floor boards.