Lincoln: 4 Years Old

My boy is four years old. If you ask him, he'll tell you that he is still three because he doesn't "feel like four" yet. He's the most inquisitive, awesome, amazing little man on this planet and it's such a joy to be his mama.

Lincoln,

I can't believe that you are four (whether you think you are or not). It seems in some ways that you were just born yesterday. Four is halfway to eight, which is halfway to sixteen...which scares me to death, so I'll just back off that train of thought right away. Your childhood is going by way faster than I ever imagined it would.

Your delayed speech is a thing long forgotten. People always told me "you just wait until he talks, and you'll wish he'd never learned" - but while some nights I do breathe a little sigh of relief when the house is quiet but for the sounds of you and your sister breathing, that warning could not have been further from reality. I love hearing you talk. I love talking to you. I love that we can now have conversations and talk about the way things make you feel. I love that you have your own opinions on everything and yes, I even kind of secretly love the screaming dinosaur "roars" that terrify your sister out of her mind every.single.day.

I love your over-eager willingness to help and I try to let you whenever I can because your devastation when you are told no is so utterly heartbreaking. You want to be involved in every single thing that is going on, and at least five hundred times a day, you ask me "how come?" You never say "why" and I kind of love that you've adopted your own version of this common childhood question.

You get stronger every day, I think, and you don't really know your own strength. You routinely bowl over your sister and hit mommy in the legs with your head. It's not always on purpose, but we're trying to learn about being gentle either way.

Last summer, I realized that you don't play with cars the same way you once did. Right now, your favorite things to play are Octonauts (we have so many toys I've actually lost track) and puzzles. You're exceptionally talented at big floor puzzles - we have an outer space one that you can do all by yourself!

When you play, you have so much more imagination! I routinely hearing you inventing conversations between your cars, or pretending to be Captain Barnacles when you are playing Octonauts. The cars tend to get grouped by size ("daddy cars," "mommy cars," "brother cars," etc.).

We're still working on night time potty training, but other than that you can go all by yourself most of the time. We almost made it to age 4 without another major injury, but last week you had stitches in your chin. You handled it like a champ and haven't even worried about it since it happened.

We started preschool in the fall, but haven't been able to keep up with a consistent learning schedule. I think it may have been a little too much to expect of you at age three, anyway. We've done more unschooling this fall and winter, and as a result you know most colors, the alphabet, and you can count to sixteen or seventeen. We'll do a more official preschool this fall and I think we'll all be ready for it.

Your favorite books right now are Stanley's Garage, Stanley the Builder, Stanley the Farmer, anything about Curious George, and the Usborne Pull-back Busy Train Book.

I haven't heard you call yourself "Inky" in weeks. I almost can't bear it.

You love going on adventures, and every day you want to know what the plan of action will be. If we're searching for something (or if we're in a store), you like to say "let's split up to cover more ground!" In stores, that's frightening for mom!

You learned how to use Netflix within a day or two of our having a subscription. You relish the freedom of being able to choose your own show to watch and put up quite a fight when I say we have to let Addie choose, too. Your favorite shows are Octonauts (of course), Clifford, Wild Kratts, Busy Town Mysteries, and LaLaLoopsy (which mom and dad really can't stand).

You and Addie are best friends, though you spend more time bickering with each other than playing most days. Maybe that's not entirely true. The screeching and fussing at one another seems to occupy a good portion of our time, however. She wants to do everything that you do and you're not always thrilled about it, but we're working on helping you understand that she looks up to you and you need to be a good example.

Sleeping is still not great, but it's also not terrible. You go to sleep around 8-8:30pm, wake up sometime between midnight and 3am to crawl in bed with mom and dad, then sleep until maybe 6:30 or 7am. A couple weeks ago, you slept in until almost 9 two days in a row and I thought we had a miracle on our hands. Unfortunately, it didn't last. I think you are actually tired most of the time, but you run so fast and fight it so hard that you don't even notice.

Food has taken on a whole new meaning in your life. You've been on a somewhat special diet for several months because I was pretty sure you had a cavity forming on one of your front teeth (good news: that's cleared up now), but in January we went to a specialist as suggested by our chiropractor. She ran some tests and determined that you have a pretty significant yeast imbalance, so we are currently on a diet that consists of no dairy, egg, wheat, gluten, and oats. You have done so much better with all of this than I expected, but finding meals to eat has been a little bit difficult. We're still trying to get you to eat vegetables, but they are hidden in smoothies regularly and you swallow small pieces of them without much fight. You're also able to swallow small vitamin supplements, which is amazing! We're not sure if these diet changes will be permanent or not, but thankfully you've adapted just fine - and I think your palate will continue to improve as your body is healthier and we are able to find more options for you to try.

Most of your shirts are 5T and your pants are 4T. You weigh 42 pounds.

I'm not sure I know how to put into words how precious you are to me. I can't believe that you are four, and I really can't believe that means we are on our way to age five. FIVE. For today, I'm going to enjoy my busy, wild, exhausting, wonderful four-year-old Lincoln as much as I can. Here's to a magical, wonderful year of your childhood together. It may be the best one yet.

Love,
Mommy

Past Birthday Letters to Lincoln

Two | Two and a Half | Three | Three and a Half

Pillow Forts & Family Fun - Our Weekend Recap

Disclosure: thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring today's family fun discussion!

I remember spending hours in forts as a kid - we used my dad's music stands and microphone stands to raise the droopy parts of the blankets so we had a high-vaulted blanket fort in which to have many adventures. It was awesome.

So, when I became a parent - I was super ready for fort-building. And happily, my kids love building forts. At least, they love it in theory. What tends to happen is that I build them an epic place to play, they run in and out of it, and then they have no idea what to do with themselves. We need to do some more work on imaginative play, perhaps?

All that aside, this weekend we decided to turn our kitchen table into a fortress of amazing awesomeness with the help of our toddlers, our vast blanket collection, a plush Bowser (because, mascot), and our couch cushions.

Lincoln and Addie were thrilled with the idea of this fort and were willing and eager assistants who gladly dragged every blanket, pillow, and plush toy they could find into our new play space. They giggled and crawled in and out the door, shrieking in laughter then fighting over who got to sit by the green pillow. Oh, toddler life.

We build forts every now and then, but this one was special because Daddy was home from work and we all got to enjoy the experience as a family! A lot of times our weekends are jam packed with activities and errands, so just having an excuse to crawl under a blanket onto a pile of pillows was fantastic.

And what fort is a great fort without a snack? We popped a bag of sea salt popcorn and camped out in our little fortress to make the most of our adventure!

Every time I do something like this with my kids, I'm reminded that it is so worth it to just put down the phone or computer or hot glue gun and be present with them. Just to enjoy them in their own little world with no expectations is really one of my greatest blessings as a mama.

I know that someday, I'll have forgotten about all the work that went undone and the sleepless nights...and I'll just remember chubby little hands shoving popcorn in my mouth while I get a crick in my neck from being under the kitchen table.

And that's kind of awesome.

Pop Secret knows that fun (like popcorn!) is better when it’s shared. Send Pop Secret your pillow fort stories and pictures on Facebook. You can upload them right to the Pop Secret timeline and tag them #PopSecretForts. Who knows...they might just share a little something back!

Right now, you can also grab a $1 coupon to make your family fun night even more affordable! Tip from a truly frugal (aka broke) mom: building forts is one of the cheapest activities you will ever find!

Many thanks to Pop Secret for sponsoring today’s story! For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

What's On Your... {December 2014}

I will not give up on this series, even if I never remember to post it. Even twice a year is good, right? It will have to do, since the last time I wrote a post for this series was back in May. Maybe I should turn it into a link-up! Would any of you participate?

Dresser | It's a hot mess. Like 13 tubes of lip balm, a bunch of Chewbeads necklaces that my kids beg to drag all over the house, jewelry that still needs to be sorted (it's clear I have other priorities, right?), a stud finder, a box of drill bits, two late 19th-century costume bonnets made out of straw baskets, and I don't even remember what else.

Perennial To Do List | Sewing stuff for my own kids. Editing videos. Figuring out a plan to be an awesome (or, at the very least - functioning) homeschool mom and not fail at preschool whenever we start it up again. MEAL PLAN. Can I meal plan for a year at a time? Because otherwise I feel like I'll never keep up.

Refrigerator Shelves | Leftover Christmas Eve food from my grandparents' house. So Delicious dairy-free Coconut Mint Chocolate milk (not an affiliate link - it's just divine). Fresh blueberries. Raw milk. Expired yogurt.

Itinerary | NOTHING. It is almost January and we are going to have a ton of pj-and-movie days and get our house CLEANED UP. I typically function fine in disaster zones, but it's so bad right now I can't even think about anything else until some of it is clean.

Fantasy Itinerary | I have really been dreaming about Disney lately. That's not in the budget, so to pacify us...for now, I think we're buying 2015 Silver Dollar City season passes!

Playlist | We've been hearing a lot of Christmas music lately, and Lincoln knows all the words to a whole lot of Christmas songs (particularly anything from Rudolph) - so that may be influencing our music selection for awhile. Right now, I'm really enjoying the Into the Woods movie soundtrack (which I got for Christmas, yay me!), William Joseph (awesome pianist), and as always because based on her lyrics, she just gets me...Mindy Gledhill.

Nightstand | Some pajama pants, the baby monitor, a big scratch, and my iPhone charger.

Workout Plan | Um. Bahahahahahahaha.

Phone | Not much storage space. Etsy app that goes "cha-ching" whenever someone buys something from my shop. Ebay app where I stalk vintage American Girl child sized dresses to use for costumes and Hanna Andersson clothes for my kids.

Top 5 List | New year, new goals, a clean house, a content heart, a fresh start.

Bucket List | Everything on my 30 by 30 list - because I've barely touched it and I have under two years to do it all now! Ah!

Mind | Purging, cleaning, and cleansing. I'm so over 2014 and need that lovely January 1 to roll around and inspire me.

Blogroll | I always love When at Home because Kristen is super real. I'm hoping to get back into a blog reading habit in the new year, because I've been so consumed with writing and sharing and chattering online, I have lacked time to network much!

Walls of Your Favorite Room in Your House | It's the Super Nintendo Nursery. Always has been, likely always will be. Though if it could have fewer toys to trip over, that would be lovely.

Last Credit Card Statement | Everything on earth and then some. Ugh. 2015 is going to be the year of banishing credit card debt, as well.

Screensaver | Still the same because it's a perfect shot! A really sweet photo of Addie walking at Silver Dollar City, wearing her sock monkey hat and grinning. It's my favorite.

TV Every Night | When the holiday season hits, we start watching epic movies. In the last couple weeks, we've watched several incarcerations of A Christmas Carol, and moving into the new year, we're starting a Harry Potter marathon. So far (in two nights), we've made it part of the way through Sorcerer's Stone. Clearly, parents get the short end of the stick when it comes to movie-watching ability.

What's up in your life this final week of December?

Merry Christmas!

I hope you've had a wonderful day relaxing with family and friends. We're having fun helping our kids learn about giving and the real reasons we celebrate.

I'm going to be laying kind of low online for the next week - I have a few posts to share with you, but will also be planning for 2015, doing some behind-the-scenes work on my Etsy shop (there's a big sale going on right now), and planning drama classes for next year.

Thank you for spending even a little part of your year here with me on this little blog. It's so wonderful to have each one of you here. I wish you all so many blessings for the new year!

From my family to yours - we wish you a very, very Merry Christmas!

Gifts that Men will Actually Use from Mission Belt Co. - #HolidayGiftGuide2014

Disclosure: I received a sample for review. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. 

I have a hard-to-buy-for man on my Christmas shopping list - do you? Sometimes, it is hard to figure out what to buy Andrew outside of books and movies. I don't want every gift I give him to be shaped like a rectangle and easily predicted! Some years, I do better than others, but this year I was excited to give him the Mission Belt Co. belt a little bit early!

Mission Belt Co. is a socially responsibly company, which focuses on helping people break out of the poverty cycle. This is their mission and that's actually the reason behind the company's name! One dollar from every belt sold goes to fight global hunger and poverty through micro lending. 

I had Andrew browse the selection and he ultimately chose the Chocolate style - a brown leather belt featuring a brown buckle. 

Mission Belt was featured on Shark Tank last year, and with good reason - their design is unique and pretty awesome! Andrew has had the opportunity to wear this belt for the past couple of weeks, and he is definitely pleased with it.

Most belts feature holes at pre-determined distances, but the Mission Belt offers a buckle design that allows the wearer to adjust the size in increments as small as 1/4".

There are sizing instructions included on the website, and even instructions to resize if you need to shorten your belt once it has arrived. Andrew figured out how the buckle system works right away, without any issues.

Most of Mission Belt's belts are priced under $40. If you need to stock up, they offer free standard shipping on all domestic orders over $50!

Andrew really likes the unique buckle system - he says that he usually falls somewhere between the pre-determined holes on other belts, so this is a much more comfortable option. I think we'll probably be purchasing from Mission Belt Co in the future - though it looks like this belt we received is going to last much longer than any other belt he has owned before!

You can check out the selection at Mission Belt, or keep up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the latest updates!


Disclosure: Thank you to Mission Belt for providing my review sample! I received no other compensation and all views expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy.

Zoey's Attic $35 Gift Code Giveaway - #HolidayGiftGuide2014

Disclosure: I received sample products to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own.

I love personalized things, but my kids have fairly unique names. It's not always easy to find a pre-made item featuring their names. That means, when I'm seeking something personalized, I usually either make it myself or turn to small businesses who specialize in the design of unique, personalized gifts! One of my favorite companies is Zoey's Attic and I'm excited to share this wonderful shop with you today.

We were sent a set of Matching Video Game shirts for Andrew and Lincoln to wear - and I think they're so fun!

Lincoln is obsessed right now with playing video games with Daddy. He is a big fan of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda (maybe because those are Daddy's favorite games, too?) and on the weekends, I will frequently find them curled up fighting bad guys together. I thought this shirt set would be a good fit and Lincoln was so excited to have a shirt that matched his daddy's!

Erin Delanty, the owner of Zoey's Attic, was inspired to open her business after the birth of her daughter in 2006. In addition to this awesome geek shirt pair, she offers a wide variety of unique birthday shirts (like Lincoln's 3rd Birthday firetruck shirt), Big Brother/Big Sister shirts, Sibling shirts, Maternity shirts, Holiday shirts, personalized pillows, and so much more! The selection is amazing - I think there is something to fit any occasion or theme!

Zoey's Attic is my go-to for personalized birthday shirts and I've had my eye on some custom pillowcases for Lincoln and Addie for ages! If you're looking for a unique way to announce a new baby at family holiday gatherings this year, there are some super cute pregnancy announcement shirt options!

Visit Zoey's Attic to  You can also follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for all the latest updates.

Giveaway

One Director Jewels reader will win a $35 Gift Code to Zoey's Attic! This giveaway will end on December 26 at 11:59pm CST. This giveaway is open to US readers only. Winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or prize will be forfeited.

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form below (you may need Javascript enabled to see the form and it may take a moment to load)! Once you complete the first entry, the other options will open up so that you can complete them as well. All of the "extra entries" are optional - you can do just one, or as many as you want! Winners will be contacted by email. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: Thank you to Zoey's Attic for providing my review sample and the giveaway prize! I received no other compensation and all views expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Giveaway Policy and my Disclosure Policy.

Code Babies: Picture Books for the Youngest Web Developers - #HolidayGiftGuide2014

Disclosure: I received sample books for review, but no other compensation was received and all views expressed are my own. 

There are books about police officers, firefighters, teachers, doctors, and many other jobs - reading is a great way to introduce kids to a variety of professions. But until recently, there has been a lack of material when it comes to learning about more modern jobs like web developers, content creators, and technical positions. My children are lucky enough to have two parents who work in the online content world, so there's a good chance they'll be learning HTML code right along with addition and subtraction. I was so excited when I came across Code Babies that I knew that these titles would be a perfect fit for this year's holiday gift guide!

With a motto of "It's never too early to develop!", Code Babies currently offers four titles that help introduce kids to the basics of web language. HTML for Babies and CSS for Babies are perhaps not the easiest books to read aloud (they are written in code, after all), but they help kids become acquainted with the look of code and I imagine that will help greatly down the road! Familiarity makes learning new skills so much easier! I love the board book format that these books come in.

The big hit at our house, however, is the picture book ABCs of the Web. Lincoln (my three-year-old) is fascinated by this book. I've actually lost track of how many times we have read it in the past few weeks.

ABCs of the Web is an alphabet book that features a different web element for each letter of the alphabet. My kids have learned about anchor tags, browsers, cookies, domains, and so much more just from this book!

The illustrations by Tom Holmes include adorable little babies both at work and at play, learning about web elements along the way.

Some of the elements are basic - Internet, links, and keywords. Others are a little more in-depth, such as Node.js, Open Source, and PHP. And there are even a couple I had never heard of myself (Google (letter G!) filled me in about Ruby).

These books are cleverly written by John C. Vanden-Heuvel Sr & Audrey Ostrovsky MD, featuring rhyming text around many, many web language vocabulary words. Hearing a three-year-old repeat "rasterize" and "JavaScript" is pretty amusing. One of Lincoln's favorite pages is "S is for SEO" - he loves to trace his way through the maze featured in the illustration.

My favorite part is that it even includes Wordpress as letter W - so I'm able to make a correlation for my kids that W is like what mommy does when working on her computer!

We love these books and will be referring to them often as our kids learn about the basics of web development!

You can purchase Code Babies books on the web, plus keep up with the latest news via Facebook and Twitter! You can even grab some really cute Code Babies t-shirts!

Disclosure: Thank you to Code Babies for providing my samples! I received no other compensation and all views expressed are my own. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy. 

Adelaide: 2 Years Old

Age two sounds a whole lot bigger than age one. At least, today it does.

My princess Adelaide Rose is having a birthday today. We're having a pretty low-key day. It's too cold to go to the zoo like we did last year, and we just felt like taking it easy. She's playing with new birthday toys and we're taking lots of opportunities to celebrate little moments with her. I'm big on everyday adventures and little things that I know I will end up remembering...so, I'm trying to soak up as much of that as I can while I come to terms with the fact that I do not have a "baby" currently.

Milestones: Oh my goodness, Addie. What don't you know how to do? You are proficient at running, climbing, dancing, singing....you name it, we probably do it on a daily basis around here. You're comfortable jumping off Lincoln's toddler bed, you can scale a kitchen chair to gain counter access, and I don't even always have to hold your hand when you are on the stairs.

We've finally had a vast improvement in your sleeping patterns - you now pretty consistently go to sleep somewhere between 8-9:30pm and sleep for usually at least 3-5 hours before waking for the first time. Now, most people might say that's not very good for a little girl who is two, but in our house, it is nothing short of a miracle. Once you're awake, you'll happily cuddle with me and nurse back to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed, and you usually stay there until morning. You have actually slept 9.5 hours THREE times in the last two months, so I have hope that someday I might sleep again.

We never had reflux officially diagnosed, but we started seeing a chiropractor regularly and between having adjustments regularly and just growing bigger, it does not seem to be as much of a problem as it was before.

You are kind of wishy-washy about eating right now. Some days, you like food, but most of the time you prefer to just play with it and then throw it on the kitchen floor. I won't pretend that's not frustrating! I think you're working on your two year molars, so I imagine it hurts to chew right now. We've done lots of soft foods like soup and smoothies recently, and those go over pretty well. You generally like to eat broccoli, pears, apples, carrots, chicken, tomato or broccoli cheddar soup, macaroni and cheese, raisins, grapes, and a few other things.

You are still nursing throughout the day and night. Whenever you decide that you are ready for another nursing session (often 3.8 seconds following the previous one), you sidle up to me and say "I want to nurshhh!" I think nursing has become an occupation for boredom, so I'm trying to encourage you to find other means of entertainment. Being told that you can't nurse at any given moment is equivalent to the end of the world.

Maybe your biggest milestone is your development of language and understanding. Little girl - oh my goodness! I think you know every word there is to know. You use full sentences, all the time. You know exactly what you want and how to communicate that you want it. I only have to remind you to "use words" if you are in a hysterical tantrum. When you were eighteen months old, I was listing off all of the individual words you knew - and since then, you have truly learned more than I could have imagined. I really love being able to communicate with you so well - it makes life less frustrating for both of us.

A few favorite things that you're saying these days:
-"Not worry, mama" or "not worry, brother."
-"I want to read a book a' (with) you!"
-"Where's Inky go?"

You love singing, too, and know at least some of the words to several of Lincoln's favorite songs - Deep and Wide, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Paw Patrol (the theme song), and probably others.

You love coloring (especially with markers), playing outside (the sandbox and slide in our backyard have been your most recent favorites), going for walks, riding in the Ergo, blowing bubbles, and doing anything Lincoln does.

Loves: Currently, you can usually be found carting around the four plush Paw Patrol pups in our collection, plus a few other stuffed dogs. Sometimes Doc McStuffins and crew are along for the ride. You're obsessed with our plush Bowser right now, too.

You like wrapping blankets around you while you're playing, but you dislike being covered with one while you're sleeping.

You can pretty much hold your own with Lincoln these days, but you know that if you start screeching, Mommy will have to come find out what's going on. I think you use that to your advantage pretty frequently. You love playing with Lincoln, though - in spite of your apparent dismay whenever he runs too close to you or snatches away a toy.

 You have been choosing Daddy to snuggle with over me sometimes, and I think it's sweet. You guys have your own special time when you play and watch movies at night while Mommy puts Lincoln to bed. I usually make it downstairs just in time to see you cuddle up with Daddy. So sweet. You ask about Daddy when he is at work or in another room, even.

You love animals and playing dress up and being girly. You have started to pick out some of your own hair accessories each day. I love that you love wearing the bows that I make for you!

One of the cutest things you do is singing "dance together" and twirling around the room with Mommy, Daddy, or Lincoln. The song is found on your Minnie-rella DVD and you think it's the greatest thing. You also like Ring Around the Rosey and the Hokey Pokey.

Hates: You're getting just a little bit better about meeting new people and exploring without mommy. You've hated the church nursery for months and months, but this week you got to move up to the "big kid" class and you just walked in the door happily - then cried when we had to leave. You prefer to warm up to people slowly - if a new person tries to talk to you, you're very shy and usually try to hide.

You still are not a fan of having your teeth brushed. After your dental ordeal earlier this year, I don't really blame you. We faithfully brush your teeth every day. And weirdly enough, you don't hate vitamins! You beg to take your multivitamin "bears," bone/tooth support supplement, and chocolate-flavored cod liver oil. So weird, kid. Really - so weird.

Like most toddlers, you don't like it when you don't get your way. We are working hard right now on learning about obedience and consequences and the like. I won't pretend that that has been fun for any of us.

You seem a little bit frightened of the Abominable Snow Monster in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - but you also like to tell us "he's not scary!" so I'm not sure what's going on in your head.

Weight/Height: I think you weigh a little over 30 pounds and I know you have gotten taller because you have no real problem wearing size 3T leggings and jammies. Your clothes are overall a mix of 2T-3T! You're in size two AppleCheeks cloth diapers. I've toyed with the idea of starting potty training, because I think you can do it....but I have not psyched myself up for that process yet.

If your 2-year molars don't come in soon, I think we are all going to lose our minds! Those mean teeth have been trying to pop through for ages.

You finally have a fair amount of hair, and it's coming in so adorably curly! I am going to cry buckets whenever we have to cut some of your hair, little girl. Buckets.


Last night, I tried to take in every little sighing breath, every squirm and wiggle as you made yourself comfortable in my arms in our now-squeaky rocking chair. Saying goodbye to age one is hard...it's the definitive end of the "baby" stage and you're telling me often (both visually and verbally) that you're a big girl now. You don't have to be too big too fast, little princess. Really. Stay small just as long as you can.

I love you.
Mommy

Does It Sink or Float? - Easy Preschool Science Experiment with Free Printable

 So far in my first year as a homeschool mom, I'm failing. Official preschool sessions do not happen every day, and sometimes not even every week. Sigh. I will continue to tell myself that this year is more about easing into the process and figuring out ways to help them learn. Since they are only three and two years old, I have a little bit of time.

We do still try to incorporate learning into our everyday adventures, even if that just means counting everything we touch, naming colors, and discussing how things work. Last weekend, Daddy was home and decided to put together some fun science experiments for the kids to do - and of course, they both loved it. I wold love to find more time in my day (when they are asleep) to prep crafts and projects for them, because they enjoy it so much!

So anyway - this post is about one of our experiments: Does It Sink or Float?

We gathered a tray, a pitcher filled with water, and a handful of random household objects. Then we set out to teach our kids about The Scientific Method (good basic overview here).

For each experiment, Andrew asked the kids if they thought the item would sink or float, let them hold it (briefly - Addie started eating some of the pieces of our lesson), and recorded their prediction on a Sink or Float chart (keep reading - free printable is at the bottom of the post). 

The first object tested was an apple, and the kids were both very intrigued as it was a floating object! 

Addie's predictions were primarily float at the beginning, while Lincoln's were primarily sink. As the game went on, they got a little better at guessing - or, at least they got lucky. 

You can use really any household items that won't be damaged by water in this game -  here's a list of what we tried.

-Apple
-Crayon
-Leaf
-Rock
-Measuring Spoon
-Regular Spoon
-Coin
-Carrot
-Golf Ball
-Cauliflower
-Toy Zebra

They were most interested in the items that floated - I guess they were more intriguing. 

Keep towels close by if your little helpers want to dig out the items that sink themselves - we had a near catastrophe in the middle of our experiment when water was spilled all over the table (and a pile of receipts and papers). 

What objects would you test in this Sink or Float game?

As promised, here are some free printables to help you enjoy this preschool activity!

Free Printable Object List (includes apple, egg, leaf, spoon, coin, and ice cube)

Free Printable Blank Object List

Happy experimenting!