A Cat and a Mouse

Every day of homeschooling is unique. There is always the reading lesson (Ethan groans) and usually a time to read books, sing songs together and do some social study activity relating to our year-long exploration of the continents. The last couple of days Ethan has been bugging me to help him build a mouse-trap like device. Not a real mouse-trap mind you but like the game called Mousetrap, a contraption consisting of a multitude of small machines using a ball or some other object and a whole host of other materials like boxes and dominoes (You get the picture) I have been hedging a bit because this is not my forte in the least bit. But the glow in Ethan's eyes have softened my reserve and so today we headed for the library and found a book that showcases some physics related contraptions. Ethan chose a mousetrap catapult. So this afternoon we gathered materials, cut cardboard and built our device. And it actually works. You pull back on a rubberband that is connected to a ruler where the mouse sits. Let the rubber band fly and watch the mouse sail through the air. The tethered mouse is then reeled in to his mouse hole for another go. Apparently you can actually use this with a real live cat. While we were away playing with our mouse, Laurel began an art project. She painted a pink cat and then after it dried used the oil pencils for detail(whiskers and claws and beautiful green eyes). She did a great job! I didn't even realize until I started typing this blog that we were thematic in our studies today.