Field Trip #1

Now... this is my idea of a great day learning! Savannah, Margaret, and I checked out a pass to the Portland Children's Museum from the library the other day, and spent nearly the entire day at the museum. It was such a fun day, that Savannah has asked me if we can go again. And, since admission is free (checked out the pass from our local library), we're going again!

If asked, Savannah will admit that her favorite parts were playing with the flubber (a substance made from liquid starch and glue - not at all like the movie), and the water. I've promised her that the next time we go, we'll spend more time playing with the water.

Our first stop was the picture frame just inside the door...

I had a hard time getting Margaret to move to something else. Either she wanted to have her picture taken, or she was really trying to find a way to get over the top of the little wall...

Then it was on to play dress up. Savannah loves to perform, so getting her to find an outfit wasn't hard. It was a little hard for her to take her turn - there were a lot of other little children there who were taking longer turns at the microphone. However, Savannah handled herself admirably, and waited patiently, even helping some of the other kids so that she could take a turn. Margaret wanted to get dressed up, but then kept tripping over her outfit. She wasn't sad to take it off.

Playing in the clay was more Savannah's style. We made different shapes and other sorts of fun things - Savannah has a great imagination, but if someone is making something cool, she's also very likely to mimic them.

Then on to an area that Margaret could play in, and I let Savannah play alone for a little bit - always keeping an eye on her - she had a great time playing that she was a patient in a medical clinic; building something in the woodshop, and playing with the trucks and cars in the dig pit; Margaret found the slide and didn't want to leave.

Alas, it was time. We had signed up for a special class (the flubber class...), and we needed to get over to our orientation for that. I came home with some great ideas for things to play in; things like "Oooh-Blech" (equal parts cornstarch and water), Flubber (equal parts liquid starch and white glue), Clean Mash (ivory soap, liquid something that I can't remember, and toilet paper), and clean clay - crayola brand. Margaret didn't much like anything in that little corner - probably because it was way beyond her nap time, but like a little trooper, she continued to hang out and eventually tried all the things that Savannah was well into.

Our final stop was the water works. I know how popular this is with the kids, and decided to wait until we were ready to go home. Margaret didn't want to play - until she figured out that there was water involved. That changed EVERYTHING. She brought the little apron that they wear, stood still while I put it on her, and charged off to the water. Savannah was already building bridges and floating boats. It was a very fun day, and we're looking forward to a return trip. Next time, we'll see if there's another mini class that we can take that will be as entertaining as flubber!