Homemade Closthespin Racecar

My boys like to build things. That's not a boy thing, either. It's a kid thing. Girls dig it too. These racecars were definitely a hit.

This brilliant idea came from Almost Unschoolers.

Supplies

Plastic disposable drinking straw

Twist ties (2 per car) - save the ones you get in the produce department of your grocery store

Wooden clothespin

Large Buttons (4 per car, pairs that are the same size)

Tape

Scissors

Construction

Clip two lengths of straw to be about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long.

Thread the twist ties through the straws.

Poke one end of the tie through one of the button holes. Thread it back through another hole and twist the remaining tail to secure.

Do the same to the other side. Repeat with the other length of straw and buttons.

Pinch one of the straws through the hole in the clothespin's clip.

Place the other straw behind the clip's spring and wrap tape around the backend of the clothespin to secure the back axle in place.

Your car is complete!

Construct various ramps to race your car. What happens when the ramp is steeper? Does the car go faster? If you use small buttons on front and large on back does it impact the car's speed?

These questions really got my boys thinking!

Mean-Median Match-Up [free printable game]

It's been ages since we worked on mean, median, mode, and range (see our last activity here) and since finding these numbers requires kids use so many math skills, I thought we'd revisit it.

Our game practiced ordering numbers from least to greatest, addition, division, and greater than/less than. All of it was a breeze for my fourth grader, but doing division in his head was good practice. Plus, this was fun.

Supplies
PDF of the die and personal recording cards (download mine free from Google Drive here)
Heavyweight cardstock to print the 2-page PDF on
Scissors and glue to cut and put together the 12-sided die
Lamination (or plastic sheet protector sleeves)
Fine-tip dry-erase markers for each player

Prep
Cut apart the personal recording cards (laminate first if doing so). If not laminating, place inside a plastic sheet protector so they can be used with dry-erase markers.

Cut apart, score the folds, and glue the 12-side dodecahedron die together. I used a low-temp mini hot glue gun for ours.

Play
This game can be played with one player or many. It's easily adapted and can be played a number of ways. 

Single Player Mean-Median Match-Up 
The child rolls the die five times, recording the numbers rolled at the top of their recording card. When all six numbers have been rolled, they are put in order in the light blue boxes on the card from smallest to largest. Then the child finds both the mean of the numbers and the median. Which number is greater (mean or median)? That's the winner.

Note: It doesn't matter if two of the same number is rolled. Whatever number is in the middle spot on the card after the numbers are put in order, is the median.

Multiple Player Mean-Median Match-Up
Each player takes a turn with the die, rolling it five times, writing the numbers on their card and figuring out the mean and median of the collection of numbers. When all players are finished with their calculations, each will select the larger of the two numbers (either mean or median) on their card and ask their opponents to do the same. The player with the largest number wins the round.

Wipe the cards clean with a dry paper towel and get ready to roll and record six new numbers!

Play any number of rounds you'd like. My son and I played best out of five. If he won the round, he simply made a star at the top of his recording sheet, and if I won, I did the same on my card. As soon as one of us had three stars, the winner was declared.

This is a fun, fast-paced game that practices many math skills. We had loads of fun with it!

Bringing Out Your Child's Inner Artist [an After School Co-Host Round-Up]

Art is a wonderful way to engage kids. The After School Linky co-hosts shared some great ideas this past year for bringing out a child's inner artist. 

Here are some of the most popular activities.

DIY Stamps with Designs from India from The Educators' Spin on It

Watercolor Painting (Glue and Salt Effects) at Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Coffee Filter Snowflakes from Boy Mama Teacher Mama

3 Ways to Teach Kids Who Don't Like Art About Da Vinci at Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Kids Art Activities: Art Inspired by Great Artists at Mama Smiles

3D Kandinsky-Inspired Melted Cups Art from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Learning History Through Art from Mama Smiles

Dale Chihuly-Inspired "Glass" Sculpture from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational

Stop by my co-hosts' blogs for other themed round-ups!

Reading at The Measured Mom

Writing at This Reading Mama

Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) at The Educators' Spin on It

Free Printables at Boy Mama Teacher Mama

Learning with Nature at Mama Smiles

Social Studies at Planet Smarty

What have you been doing with your kids? We hope you'll share!

We would love to have you link up your School-Age Post (Ages 5 and up) about your learning week after school including Crafts, Activities, Playtime and Adventures that you are doing to enrich your children's lives after their day at school, home school, or on the weekend!

When linking up, please take a moment to comment on at least one post linked up before yours and grab our after school button to include a link on your post or site! By linking up, you're giving permission for us to share on our After School Pinterest Board and feature an image on our After School Party in the upcoming weeks!

Deceptively Educational's Top 14 of 2014

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey to extend learning beyond school. We have had so much fun this year.

Here are the most popular deceptively educational activities of 2014. 

1. How to Make a Hovercraft

2. Printable Lacing Cards: Numbers 0-10

3. What Gets a Capital Letter

4. Paper Polyhedron

5. How to Weave a Basket out of the Newspaper

6. Dale Chihuly-Inspired "Glass" Sculpture

7. How to Make an Electromagnet

8. Battle of the States {free printable game}

9. Building with Paper (Simple Engineering Challenge)

10. 2 Paper Flyers

11. How to Make a Water Clock

12. Fall Leaves BINGO

13. Pegboard Practice {States & Capitals}

14. Printable Underground Railroad Quilt Code Game

Top 2014 Deceptively Educational Social Studies Activities

What a fun year learning about cultures, history, and geography!

Here are our most popular social studies activities of the year.

1. Battle of the States [free printable game]

2. How to Make a Water Clock

3. Pegboard Practice [States & Capitals]

4. Ancient Greek Temple Building Game (printable)

5. Reading Comprehension with the Greek Alphabet

6. United States BINGO (teacher's edition)

7. Louisiana Purchase Geography Game

8. Greek Mythology Matching Card Game

9. Paper Plate Dreamcatcher

10. Greek Gods and Godesses BINGO [free printable]