MAD LIBS & MAD LIBS JR

MAD LIBS....

Remember those? I know they've been around forever... and are still going...

Well, I hadn't thought much about them, but we've worked with some basics of grammar this year in our schooling. In one of the multiple activity books we have, Gabi stumbled across something that she didn't understand... it was, in short, a mad lib, though by another name. She and Beth really liked it and went in search of others in the same book.

So I got to thinking... it's fun, it reinforces the parts of the sentences we've already gone over, and easy for on the go or "I'm bored" time. In looking for Mad Libs (which there are so many in every topic) I noticed there are also MAD LIB JRs... the difference... well, the book is a bit bigger with bigger print to start with. The major difference, however, is that instead of having the kid think up the noun, adjective, etc all by themselves, there is a word bank for each category (a different set of word banks for each story). This helps the kids to begin to identify which words are what. It also only has three categories - Noun, Adjective, Verb and MISC - which simplifies things.

I got the Jr version for Beth not knowing exactly what it was. It's perfect... though she's probably somewhere between that and the original version for skill level. What she does is use the word bank, but if she thinks of a word that she wants to use, then she double checks with me as to which word bank to add it to. I think that's great because it helps her process different words herself.

Anyway - we love them... they'll be around for a long time...

Maine Wildlife Park

So the Planetarium wasn't a big hit, but the Wildlife Park was! They loved it. We spent 3 hours there and only left because it was dinner time and the kids wanted to eat. They've all asked to go back again - we'll be going again when Bob's folks come to visit. It's not huge, but it was interesting enough that the kids really watched the animals and asked questions. Gabi wanted to take time to draw them all - the boys wouldn't wait that long though.

It was set up kind of like a zoo - all animals who aren't able to be in the wild. I'm not sure if the ones we were able to see were all ones who will never be able to be back in the wild, or just not at that point. But the place works with animals that need rehab so they can be released back into the wild as well. Unlike a zoo, though, the animals are all native to Maine - so, sorry, no elephants or Lions or Monkeys or the like...

I'd say it's certainly worth going to!

The Planetarium in Portland

Okay, so we went... to Portland, Maine... to the Planetarium. Not what I was expecting. Not bad either, just not something I'd take young kids to. The "show" turned out to be a slide show of information - I had thought it would have been a "movie". My kids (7, 5, nearly 4, and 2) did really well.... okay, so the 2 year old fell asleep, the nearly 4 year old decided 45 minutes into it that is was just too boring, the 5 year old was also "done" about 10 minutes to the end. The 7 year old, though it was her favorite topic (or one of them), said we didn't need to stay and see the other show. Partly because she was afraid it might be scary (the topic was Black Holes), but also, so she told me, because it wasn't as fun as she thought it would be.

So... I'd say 3rd grade age and up would be fine. Anything less than that, make other plans.

Of Interest - and a Meteor Shower

Okay, Okay... so we've not been around much. If would certainly seem that we've all been busy doing all the wonderful things (and maybe not so wonderful) that stream into our lives over the last few months... I'm here, though, because I wanted to share some more gems of interest.

My family is into stars - the children received a telescope from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas (which hasn't had a lot of use yet because it was always sooooo crazy cold on good clear nights). With that in mind, we're planning a bit of a field trip and the logical place would have been the planetarium in Boston... but wait, I found one closer.

Actually, I seem now to have found two closer. One in Fairfield and one at USM. The links can be found below. The one in Fairfield, best I can tell, is a traveling one. Sounds pretty neat... and it'll be at the Kingfield days for anyone interested. The one at USM has all sorts of shows and workshops. Go ahead and check them out.

Northern Stars Planetarium
Southworth Planetarium

I also thought you'd be interested to know there is to be a meteor shower tomorrow morning before dawn. (Not sure we'll be able to see through the clouds for it, but it would be neat to see if the clouds break).