http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog Strategies, Tips and Activities for Learning Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:54:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Teachers and parents often use storybooks to inspire art projects. Let's face it, it's an easy transition from storybook to art project. Yet, despite the common appearance of wind in stories (even as a main character in the often re-told fable, The North Wind and the Sun) you ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/kids-art-the-wind/ In the movie Good Will Hunting the main character, Will, uses math trees to solve a problem on a hallway chalkboard at MIT. It is doubtful that math trees had anything to do with a complex problem that took several professors two years to solve—the structure just provided a ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/good-will-hunting-math-trees-for-kids/ There's nothing like searching catapult designs and finding just the right one. If your goal is to build a catapult for kids out of household items, the soup can design offers the perfect blend of simplicity and power. Best of all, you can adjust the launch cup to ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/easy-to-make-catapult-simple-soup-can-design/ One way to keep up with your child's appetite for learning is to change your playbook once in a while. Trot out an activity that's fresh and simple... and unexpected. Here's a bundle of fresh, one minute activities that are quick and easy to set up, but are also ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/one-minute-activities-for-kids-part-2/ Games with string are an old-time favorite for kids. Most classic games consist of making designs using your fingers and a loop of string. But there's lots of other fun things you can do, like make a fishing pole with a magnet, make a kid's crane, measure ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/5-games-with-string/ I recently observed a telling event involving two children engaging in fine motor skills activities. To be candid, I wasn't even thinking of fine motor movements. I was testing a prototype for a catapult design. "...The beauty of fun playtime activities is that kids are making connections ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/fine-motor-skills-activities/ The best part about making catapults: if you keep doing it you get really good at it. You start one day by asking how to make a simple catapult for kids, and before you know it, you've got your own collection. The following method is fun and easy, ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/easy-to-make-catapult-fantastic-soda-can-design/ Spaghetti Box Kids needs photos for the 2011 Halloween Sideshow. Send photos unedited and uncropped to avecchioni (at) spaghettiboxkids.com You can submit multiple photos, as long as the costume is different in each one. (In other words, you can have the same child across different years with different ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/halloween-kids-photos/ If your art routine is beginning to dull, here's a fun project to put the zest back into things. You could easily say this open composition art project approaches elements of surrealism in the spirit of, say--Magritte or Duchamp. In any case, it's fun, it's easy, and it ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/kids-art-open-composition/ The best toys are simple in nature. They are also capable of generating lots of activity. That's what makes catapults for kids such great toys. The designs are plain physics in action, and there's an abundance of games and activities. Most games you can play with ... http://spaghettiboxkids.com/blog/catapult-games-for-kids/