February 06th, 2018

Today we had our very first MYSTERY GUEST.... Joci's husband, Karim!

 Karim has a background in mechanical engineering and design.  Today, he met in the studio with small groups to support the children in deciding which properties of certain materials would work for making sounds in our Big Humongous  Famous Instrument Workshop.

Karim - Engineers design and then they build things.  They use a little bit of science.  They like to know what things are made of.  And what they do like when you hit them or bend them, do they do well on water, on land?  So they look at all the materials and they use them to build something.
Jay - Do they build a bridge?  How long would it take them?
Karim - Usually it takes a few years. It depends on how big the bridge is.
Grace - Did you already make a bridge?
Karim - Yes, I did.  I made a bridge to walk on.
Grace - Where?
Karim - In Honduras.  What kind of material do you think I used for my bridge?
All - Metal, steel beams, wood
Karim - Why steel and wood?
Jay - The steel beam because it could go across and in the middle.  It will depend on how long the wood is.  There could be nails into the middle.
​Karim - So why didn’t anybody say “hay?”
(laughter)
Hadley - It will just break.
Rose - If you walk on it it will just fall down.
Karim - That’s why you picked steel or wood.  Everybody go like this. (holds up arms to show muscles) What does that mean?  I’m . . .
All - Strong!
Karim - Right, and what is steel and wood?
All - Strong.

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Karim, Joci, and a small group focused on different parts of our large instrument design collage.  In this conversation, they chose to focus on this blue square-shaped component (drawn by Lucy originally).  Just like Karim made the connection between the strength of wood and steel required for structural integrity in a bridge, here he guides the children in seeking appropriate materials for this instrument's function.

Karim:  (pointing to design) What does this part do?  How do we play that one?
Prater: Strumming.
Karim:  So how do you build something that strums?  What kind of things do we need for strumming?
Prater: Ropes.
Grace:  What about the balls (referring to design)?  Maybe the balls can be acorns.  This is gonna be fluffy balls, this can be acorns.
Joci:  Any other ideas?
Cassius:  Pom poms.
Karim:  What are these gonna be on the side here?
Prater:  Strings.
Karim:  What are the (balls) going to do for the string?
Grace:  They’re gonna hold it up.
Karim:  What kind of things could we make to hold the string?
Prater:  We can glue it.
Karim:  If I have a string, how do we hold the two sides?
Grace: Superglue!
Karim:  What else is strong?
Cassius:  Tape!

Lucy and Karim give each other a high five.

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****REMEMBER**** We would love to have any and all parents come in to read a book, sing songs or do an activity with us as a Mystery Guest!!! Sign up here.... http://signup.com/go/PtuJVhA

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​Even though it was so freezy cold, we still had plenty of fun outside.  Hadley and Willa shared this hula hoop back and forth.

Lucy, Grace, and Lila took turns with these Paw Patrol doggies.  When another friend asked to play, the group realized there were not enough doggies for each person... but Grace had a great idea: whoever didn't have a doggie to play with could be a "giant" who hides in their cave and chases the doggies all around.  The girls each took a turn being the "giant"! 

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Remember earlier in this journal we talked about bridges?  Well... in construction, an impressive bridge was built.  Jay built the basic structure all by himself, and when friends saw how nice it was to walk across, they eagerly helped decorate and upgrade the bridge.

Jay describes it as a "bridge in the woods that crosses over two streams".

Hadley:  We made it more support.
Jay:  Can you hand me that block Hadley please?  It fell in the river.  Whoever builded it gets to test it when you walk on it.
Carl:  Do you need to take your shoes and socks off on this bridge? (He takes his shoes and socks off) Can I help?
Jay: I'm gonna get this last long white block.  It's not stable.  I'm fixing this side.