Tie dye and more maths

A friend and I have started up a Thursday science club. We plan on doing experiments with them each week. There are loads of ideas on Pinterest and elsewhere on the web. The opportunities for practical science seem limitless after looking through the suggestions on the web. 

This week we did tie dye. The colours were yellow and Caden chose ocean blue. 

We found a few white items of clothing.  

We explained to the kids how this would work and tied string around the clothes by bunching up pinched areas for circles or entire sections for rings around the clothing. Then we dipped the clothes into the buckets. 

Miles and Caden both had a go at mixing the clothes into the buckets.  Here is Freddie (9) helping Miles. 

The blue bucket with a two tone dye attempt from Betsy. 

Miles and Meg played in the mud and cleaned off in a bucket of soapy water afterwards with their cookies. Look at Miles' happy face here. :)

We have also done quite a bit of maths again this week. What started off as a great maths week with the subtraction ended up with some noticeable areas that need work. We worked on the multiplication today. We got through the section but I want Caden to take a few weeks to do other maths things and then come back to it. It required some memorisation of doubles ie 11+11 (2 x 11) = 22. I have made a sheet for the wall with the things he needs to memorise and ticked off the ones he already knows. We will work on those every time we remember until he knows them then see if he can fly through that section as easily as the subtraction. I'm glad to have found an area that needs work, this means that going back over the year's maths was worth the effort to me. 

We have also been reading The BFG this week. Caden is really into it but Miles only finds it a good way to get off to sleep quickly. The weather has been rainy so we have spent more time indoors playing and doing puzzles, iPad games and art/craft stuff. 

We also have lots of fun stuff over the weekend planned. Hopefully the cinema together and a friend's birthday party on Sunday which will be great fun for them!