More adventures

Paige and Ellie are now in their second year of "regular" school.  We really lucked out as the Junior High was built a few blocks away.  Even then I still get suckered into giving them a lift on heavy weather days.

Yes, the adventure continues on Facebook.  We have now added another adventurer - Jodie.

Look us up at https://www.facebook.com/derrick.sobrien

Art - ArtZooka! Recycle your junk

Starting with tubes from paper towels Ellie has amassed a collection of "parts" that she uses for her craft projects.  It's a good opportunity to talk about recycling. 

She is inspired by the Canadian show - Artzooka.   http://www.cbc.ca/artzooka/
 

A collection of "parts"

The more traditional spider and a mouse made from a pine cone

A set of old boxes soon became a collapsible fort

The blue plate was her own undersea creation complete with real shells.  The red one is a turkey.

This is my favorite.  The shampoo bottle in the mobile is a submarine.

Welcome to the castle Greyskull!

Learn Electronics with Snap Circuits

Snap Circuits are a simple but elegant way for your child to be introduced to electronics.  You start with a grid board and snap components onto it - the same way you would snap fasteners on your clothes. 

http://snapcircuits.net/    Brilliant! 

Ellie quicky got the hang of this and was making sound effects and soon was building her own creations 

New Science Center - Telus Spark

The new Science Center opened recently in Calgary under the name "Telus Spark"

http://www.sparkscience.ca/

This is the first major investment in a Science Center in 30 years and it is quite worth the visit.

I was lucky to get a family membership as a present from work so we will be frequenting this location for the year.  Apart from a great kid's play area there are 5 major stops plus a theatre that hosts daily shows. 

Lot's of fun with wheels, gears and stuff that spins

Ellie could have stayed here for hours getting her blocks on

This show featured a "mystery substance" and some enthusiastic front row participants

Take a break and grab a hovercraft powered by a yard blower - Let's race!

Perhaps the most intriguing place to play.  Build a toy from junk parts - woohoo! 

Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge

Another stop we made on the Medicine Hat - Lethbridge loop was the Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge. There were several trips to Lethbridge where we just missed the Gardens for one reason or another so this time we were juts catching the last few days of their operation. 

On special occasions they have a Tea Ceremony in the specially built Japanese House.  There is also a flower competition for folks who purchased mums there and were bringing them back to show how they took care of them. 

This destination is sure to be a relaxing and rewarding one if you need a place to be inspired or just recharge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It is also great to appreciate another culture as historical and diverse as the Japanese.

Visit to environmental exhibit

The Cyprus Hills interpretive centre was a very educational stop that we made while on a loop through Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. This center is one of several that got extra funding from the Government of Alberta and the quality shows. 

http://www.cypresshills.com

It is full of exhibits ranging from the land formations to the wildlife.  It even has an excavation showing the discovery of native artifacts.  A particular chain of events allowed the artifacts to be well preserved.

Ellie had a great time running around and exploring the various exhibits.  There was a sound chamber where you could listen to animal sounds.

If you catch them at the right time there are special children's activities where they can be immersed in Art or Craft that aligns with the themes in the exhibits.

Here is one of the exhibits showing a cougar.  This is especially important when we consider that our properties in the city are encroaching on the habitat of wild animals like cougars, coyotes and bears.

We found out from the attendant that there is another funded Visitor center at the "Writing on Wall" location somewhere between Medicine Hat and Lethbridge so that one is next on our agenda!

Lego Mindstorms!

Ellie, now 8 yrs, has a facination with all things mechanical.  It seemed to be the perfect time to introduce her to Lego Mindstorms.

This set is on loan from her school and Paige has also attended an online session.  Ellie liked it so much that she got a set of her own.

This platform let's your child use their natural desire to design and construct while extending the creations by adding intelligence to them.  At the center of a Lego Mindstorms creation is a "Brain Brick" which stores commands.  As you can see in the video below, these commands can be replayed once or in a loop.

Our first program "m1" tells the robot to move forward then reverse and turn.  This loop is repeated.

You can control motors and also read sensors.  This program "m2" tells the robot to move until it hears a loud sound like a clap.  Then it backs up and chages course

Ellie loves to come up with her own designs.  She modified the tail wheel design and mounted the sensors in her own fashion.  We followed the instructions for the programs that made the robot move.

This program uses the proximity sensor to detect when an object like a wall or your hand is blocking the path of the robot.  If it "sees" something in it's way it will stop and change course.

Let's put some wheels on this thing!

A simple setup to try out the motors and see if it can turn left, right, forward and backwards.

This is what a typical program looks like.  No computers are needed for this kind of programming.  For more complex actions there is an interface to a computer so that programs and sounds can be downloaded.

Young builder at work

The last creation

Testing the platform.