Comments (13)

By Mom Unplugged, December 30, 2007 9:51 pm

The good news (I hope you think it is): I am back. The bad news: We had an adventure-filled trip home from Mexico, came home a day later than planned, I spent all day today unpacking and doing mountains of laundry while attempting to mentally and physically recover from a week away in a foreign country with an almost two year-old. Excuses, excuses, excuses…but it all boils down to the confession that I DIDN’T DO MY OWN UNPLUGGED PROJECT!!!

Perhaps we’ll get to it later this week? Big sigh.

Loser that I am, I am still here offering a humble Mr. Linky to any who might have been more organized, diligent, and available than I. I enjoy collage tremendously and look forward to seeing what you came up with. And if you didn’t quite get to it because of holiday stuff, that is OK too.

More on the trip when I have the time and energy to write about it (tomorrow I hope, but don’t guarantee).

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Next week’s Unplugged Project:

Puzzle

Some ideas (depending on the age of your child):

- Cut up a picture on a cereal box and have your child put it back together (lots of intricate pieces for older kids, just a few simple pieces for younger ones). If you have no available cereal box, glue a magazine page onto some cardboard and then cut.

- Do a family puzzle together. Leave it out on a table all week and put in a few pieces as you all pass by it. See how much you can complete in one week.

- Have your kids (or you, for them to complete), make up crossword, word search, or sudoku puzzles.

- A scavenger hunt? List objects that each child must find in the house or outside. First one with everything wins their choice of family board game to play or book to be read aloud.

What comes to mind for you when you think of puzzle?

Hope to see you next Monday. I promise we’ll be there too!

Comments (9)

By Mom Unplugged, November 11, 2007 10:50 pm

I AM SEEING RED!!

The theme for this week’s Unplugged Project was simply “Red.”

I thought it might be fun to use up some of those catalogs that fill the mailbox at this time of year, so I suggested a red collage. The kids love cutting, so they were all for it.

I had fun with it too and did my own red collage.

First we put on our current favorite kids’ music tape (Wee Sing Around the World), then I put a pile of catalogs on the table (minus the toy catalogs - I don’t need to be giving them any ideas), some scissors, construction paper, glue sticks and we joyfully began cutting away.

OUR GALLERY

5 year-old son: First Collage

5 year-old son: Robot

7 year-old daughter: First Collage

7 year-old daughter: Grapes

Me: Apple

I was going to turn the baby lose with a red crayon or paint, but we never quite got to it this week, so she is absent from the gallery. Oh well.

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I am hoping that after this week, vague ideas are still OK with you all. I think that makes it easier to adapt to all ages, toddler through adult, so we’ll try it again. Plus it’s fun to come up with your own idea (at least I thought so!).

Next week’s project:

“Box”

That’s it. Do something with a box. Paint it. Scribble on it. Decoupage it. Turn it into a dollhouse or toybox or photo storage container. Give it to your kids and turn them loose to see what they do with it. Write a poem about a box if you want! Anything at all, but the main ingredient of your creation must be something to do with a box.

So, “think outside the box” and good luck!

I can’t wait to see more red today, so please put your link in Mr. Linky so I can find you.

Comments (0)

By Mom Unplugged, August 24, 2007 6:15 pm

Varialand is not really a puzzle, I would call it more of a collage. It consists of 80 wooden picture tiles that can be combined any way a child wants to make different scenes. Some tiles are parts of houses, some are clouds in the sky, many are animals or trees.

This is the ultimate in creativity for children. I guarantee that kids will never make the same scene twice!

Plus it is made out of very durable wood. The images are printed on the tiles, not glued on. All in all, this is a toy that should last for generations to come.