LET KIDS BE BORED

BEING BORED IS ESSENTIAL FOR CREATIVITY

I remember being bored as a kid. I'd be bored with my toys, bored with TV, bored with books, so I'd complain to my parents, "I'm bored". They'd throw back the typical parent response, 'go find something to do'.
I'd trudge back to my room, lie on my bed and be bored. 
But, a little while later I'd be busy again, drawing or cutting up old hockey cards and creating a new game with them. I'd be outside climbing the tree stringing up rope to catch a bird. Something like that. I'd end up creating something; a game, a picture, an inventive bird catcher (that never really worked). That's what you did when you were bored.

Is that still happening today?

It sounds like not that often. With overscheduled kids, working parents that feel guilty 'doing nothing' on a Saturday, cell phones constantly grabbing their attention...there is just no time to 'get bored'.

But, it turns out being bored is very, very, very good for the brain.

There is more and more evidence coming out making the connection between boredom and creative thinking/brain health. Turns out letting our mind wander, getting bored, zoning out, daydreaming, all those kind of things are very important for the brain.

Another one of those perks of slowing life down or simplifying life. Being 'unproductive' is the new productive!

I read a great article - linking boredom and creativity - urging parents to rebel against our culture of 'being productive' at all times and instead take an alternate route and devote time to your inner self (and appearing to be unproductive). This article does a great job of explaining how the brain reacts to boredom.

I also stumbled across a similar podcast explaining how boredom is NEEDED to make the brain as creative as possible. https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-school-of-greatness/e/51883202


Just something to think about. 

SCHOOL LUNCH CONTAINERS

WE'VE HAD A FEW LUNCH CONTAINER SYSTEMS OVER THE YEARS

The foundation for a good school lunch starts, not with food, but, with the containers you send the food in.

Wow, what a good quote I just made up!

Over the years we have had a variety of lunchboxes and for the most part they have all done the job well.

Classic metal box lunch system - apparently not cool for the grade 3 crowd

We started out with a Lock & Lock system. It is an ideal size, with removable compartments that allow a lot of flexibility - the container can hold a sandwich one day and the next day can be transformed into four small containers of [insert food such as chickpeas, chicken, tomatoes, lettuce]. 

These containers are durable - we have been using them consistently for eight years and they are still in mint condition.

Here is a video showing the lock and lock system and how we used it:

Last year we were given a premium lunchbox - A GOGREEN LUNCHBOX - to try out. We teamed up with FENIGO.COM who gave us the lunch containers to review.

The Gogreen is a big container split into different compartments - I think calling it a Bento Box would be fitting. It holds a ton of food (great, for our giant eaters) and it keeps everything in...as in no leaks, even with wet foods!

The Roots Lunchbox from Costco was what Elliott used for his lunches most of last year. He did not like the big Gogreen box ... and I have a feeling taking a giant green lunchbox out of his backpack somehow embarrassed him. So, we bought him a 'generic' lunchbox - the ROOTS one from costco.

There are many other ad hoc containers we use - tupperware, ziplock, sistema. Most of these were smaller containers used for specific purposes like holding sauces, dips, yogurt.

Tupperware snack containers - still going after 10 years

Kids love dip for veggies. Great for ketchup, sour cream, tartar sauce (maybe?)

You might be surprised to learn that we found some of these at the dollar store. Including this very useful yogurt container that keeps yogurt and granola (toppings) separated.

Rubbermaid yogurt container / separator

To see this container in action, here is a little video for you. Be prepared to laugh.

HOCKEY THEMED WORKSHEETS SPELLING

NHL HOCKEY WORKSHEETS TO WORK ON SPELLING

Spelling takes time and repetition - things that can be really boring for some kids. You can add some interest using hockey words.

For kindergarten kiddies you can label equipment and leave out the first letter. They can sound it out and fill it in. Easy, fun, and full of learning.

Primary learners can have more of a challenge (and some fun) unscrambling the words. I've added some hardcore hockey slang in a quiz section at the bottom.

Answers to the quiz above:
WHEELS
TWIG
BISCUIT
BUCKET

Another example of a hockey themed word scramble. This one is tough. 

Answers to the word scramble

1) hockey

2) skate

3) hat trick

4) puck

5) slapshot

6) power play
7) penalty
8) stick
9) boards
10) body check
11) defense
12) forward
13) helmet
14) offside
15) goal
16) assist
17) referee
18) bench
19) water bottle
20) jersey
21) Wayne Gretzky
22) goalie
23) iceing
24) breakaway

MORE HOCKEY THEMED WORKSHEETS - MATH & GEOGRAPHY

AN OLD INDIVIDUAL LIQUOR PERMIT FROM THE 1930s

In the 30's you needed a permit to buy booze!

Way back in the 1930s you could not go out to the corner store and buy a bottle of something [insert poison of choice], no, no, it was very regulated. There was no push by the province's Premier to make beer cheap (FORD and his buck a beer!). No it was a different time when alcohol was the devils juice. Prohibition was on in the States and up here in Canada we were almost as strict. There were many 'dry' places out there.
What I found out was that during this era you had to have a permit to buy liquor. Apparently, it was $2 to buy it and you had to show it everytime you bought booze. You took it with you to the liquor store and they would sign, date, and write what you bought. It sounds like you even had to have it when you bought a beer at a hotel bar. It was a method of tracking drinking habits, and allowed store employees or even police to see how much a person has been drinking and put a stop to it!

I ran across an old liquor permit by chance. I bought a book from a yard sale - A James Bond book, DR. NO (the inspiration for Austin Powers' Dr. Evil) - and this permit was in the book being used as a book mark. 

 The cover feels like a passport - like hard fabric. It was made to last, and it has.

The first page has some interesting personal information. Apparently, the permit was owned by a local resident, Michael McCormick, who was a chauffeur with the City Coach Company.

He did not buy a lot of liquor.
But, very interesting to see how things have changed. The perception of alcohol and the methods used to help alcoholics are vastly different. 

HOCKEY THEMED WORKSHEET FOR MATH AND GEOGRAPHY

MAKING MATH AND GEOGRAPHY FUN USING AN NHL HOCKEY THEME

Do you have hockey obsessed kids? We do. So, I took advantage of that interest in all things hockey and made up some 'fun' problems for the kids to do over the summer break. 


Geography - our middle guy was kind of lost when it came to geography. It was 'boring' to him. But, take a map with NHL logos on it and all of the sudden there is some interest. 
One way to learn the provinces of Canada is by hockey team right?



Math - Math can get tedious, with all the repetition and questions that have no relevance to real-life. Sports can change that! Hockey is full of math; be it stats, probability, jersey numbers...here is a chance to make questions 'fun' and give them life. 

I tried to add some connection to the questions by creating a story - you've been called up to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs! How far do you travel to play the Winnipeg Jets...and the story (and math questions) continue from there.

 My true goal here was to work on geography, so I keep making them refer back to the map...and the math practice is just a bonus.

 I made sure to include a few of the children's fav players to keep their interest peaked. And, a small art break (get creative with jersey design!)

 I have a soft spot for local heros - my fav player when I was growing up was Doug Gilmour. He's from our town, so I tried to make that connection with the kids. It was a great way to drill down to a more local level in the Geography dept.

 Hockey as a theme makes is so easy to incorporate everything from probability, percentages, logic...to FRENCH! Oui! Ils jouent de hockey au Quebéc! So, when you travel to Montreal to play a game get ready to work on some french words.

 Calculating time is easy to work in too - you've calculated how far you need to travel, now, how long will it take to get there? 

 Expanding the map and introducing a few familiar places in the USA is not hard - there are teams in Florida and California. Places they've heard of or been too - Tampa Bay is not far from Disney :) 

 Then just let the creativity fly, like the puck does when the D-man takes a one-T from the blueline...

A NEW BACKYARD DECK

A SMALL DECK MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE

Welcome to the back deck

A small wooden platform was built earlier this month in the backyard of the Place Under The Pine. It was constructed of wood (the species is unknown) and screws (the deck variety). With all hands on deck the platform was constructed in only a few hours. Big hands set the foundation, while little hands worked the drills and screwed in hundreds of deck screws. That was stage one of the project.

A mandate for the deck was to include seating, so naturally the next thing to do was to procure some furniture. The Place Under The Pine did have numerous metal patio chairs that only required a fresh coat of paint and cushions. A fresh and lively turquoise colour was chosen for the chairs and the loveseat. While a contrasting grapefruit / coral paint was chosen for accessories such as side tables and plant stands. Cushions were recovered by Grammy in a great fabric that added some bright colour and interest to the chairs. An inexpensive outdoor carpet, with a fantastic grey and white chevron pattern, was laid down to help define the space. Lastly, the barbeque was placed in the corner on an angle for ease of use and to soften the far corner. A couple of matching plant stands (with dragon lilys) flank the BBQ to finish the space.

With comfortable seating and a cheery colour the citizens of the PUTP will want to spend hours of quality time in the backyard. 

With the deck installed, stepping out of the patio door is now a pleasant experience. The wood is a few inches higher than the ground and makes that first step out almost level. Pre deck there was quite a drop down to an unlevel cement step. Psychologically these couple of inches made the mind feel like one was dropping out of the house into a hard, almost harsh, world. With the first step raised up, the transition from indoors to outdoors is smoother and softer. The notion that the back deck is like 'another room' rings true. Extra living space, check!

Repurposing 'junk' to enhance a side table

This project also gave the citizens of the PUTP a chance to practice some eco-friendly renovation tactics. The small side table in the picture above was found on the side of the road. It was headed for the landfill. The stand was in perfect working conditions, the only problem with it was the outer coating (a thick plastic) was flaking off. With a quart of elbow grease Jen managed to scrap, chip, and sand the coating off. The white circle is a piece of metal the children found 'treasure hunting' one day. It too was headed for the recycling plant until it was discovered that it fit in the stand and provided a base for holding drinks and such. All that was required to finish off this beauty was a coat of spray paint. Being creative and using 'junk' gives the citizens of the PUTP a feeling of satisfaction on so many levels.

PLANTS IN TEACUPS

THE CREATIVE GREENTHUMB

The number of indoor plants found in the Place Under The Pine has always been pitifully low. From the years 2009 to 2017 there was only one solitary christmas cactus (a gift from the minister who performed Jen and Matt's wedding ceremony). Recently, that number has increased to almost double digits.

Why?

One citizen has taken an interest in plants. Cactus, spider plants, aloe vera...the classic indoor house plants are beginning to take root in Olivia's room. They are taking root in unconventional ways; teapots, teacups, and jars are replacing traditional flowerpots. But, what would one expect from such a creative mind?

Teacup spider plant

Flower pot spider plant

cup and pot planters