Clay Academy: Week 7 - Canada and Another Zoo Class

Time to pull out the passports again! This week we traveled to Canada while enjoying some in flight activities. Unfortunately, Elianna missed this trip because she was really tired that day and needed her nap.

They all got their passports stamped.

And found Canada on our map.

Other Canada activities we did this week... We found the words to the Canadian national anthem as well as a YouTube video of someone (the girls swore it was iCarly) singing it. We tried to sing along.

We learned about the Inuit people and carved Canadian animals in Ivory soap like they do in soapstone. This was tons of fun, but VERY messy! Kaylin did her polar bear totally by herself.

I helped Annlee draw her polar bear on the soap but she carved it.

Maryella and I worked together on her seal.

They were very proud of their work!

We studied the aurora borealis, or northern lights. This is such a cool phenomenon. The girls are really hoping to go see them in person one day. I'd LOVE that! So neat! We found a YouTube video that explained how they occur.

Then we looked at some pictures of them.

We tried an art technique called crayon resist to attempt to capture these lights on paper. First, you color the lights and the foreground with crayon.

Next, paint over everything with tempera paint. The crayon is supposed to not accept the paint like the rest of the canvas.

Then you wipe off the excess paint and Voila! Beautiful aurora borealis paintings!

We also made a family totem pole. Each of them chose an animal that they felt respresented them and made individual totems. Kaylin picked a swan because they are graceful and sometimes bossy, lol. Her words, not mine!

Annlee chose a cat because they are curious and get scared easily, bless her heart.

Maryella picked a rabbit because they jump a lot and they are sweet and cute, haha.

I made a frog for Elianna because that's one of her favorite animals right now and I didn't want her to feel left out when she woke up.

We then stacked them to make one big family totem pole.

In science, we learned about food chains. I found a Magic School Bus video on YouTube (I love YouTube, by the way!) then the girls drew their own food chains.

Part of our science this week was another trip to the zoo - the girls are loving these! I should mention here that Jeff was out of town all week and I made the drive to Jacksonville by myself with all the girls. I was scared to death, but I made it! Only got on one wrong interstate, haha. While the girls were in their classes, Elianna and I walked around the zoo with some friends. Elianna got to feed a giraffe.

She and Anderson played and had tons of fun together!

This was their favorite exhibit - the rarely seen tiny waterfalls in giant metal tubs, lol. They would have played here all day (except for when they took time out to throw mulch and pick up ants).

Kaylin's class went out into the zoo and she got to pet an alligator. WHAT?!?! Here they are coming back to their class.

Annlee's class talked about how chameleons are able to use camoflauge. They made this cute craft.

Maryella's class learned about tarantulas. When I went to pick her up, they were hiding under the table. She said she was waiting for her prey, lol. When I asked her what she learned about tarantulas, she said that "they don't actually have a poison bite. They shoot little hairs into you that irritate your skin."