08 September 2010
Happy Birthday Sesame Street
Did you know that the world's most favourite neighbourhood is 40 this year? To celebrate this milestone, Sesame Street has teamed up with American Apparel to create a super cute range of onesies, tees and undies. I know we don't advocate commercialism on the Brothers Trimm, but sometimes I just can't deny the power of Elmo!
07 September 2010
Make and Do: A model of the Solar System
The space theme continues and so for our next Make and Do the boys decided they wanted to make some planets. We made a model of the Solar System with the planets orbiting the sun.
Materials:
10 styrofoam balls (1 very big for the Sun, 2 large for Jupiter and Saturn, 4 medium for Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Earth, 3 small for Pluto, Mars and Mercury),
a small hoop,
little picture hooks,
wire/fishing line,
a small piece of cardboard to make Saturn's ring and paint.
Creating the Solar System:
Our first task was to make Saturn's ring. We traced two circles onto cardboard, using the styrofoam ball to measure the inner circle. Cut the inside of the smaller circle out, making a donut. We then pushed the ball into the hole to make Saturn:
Thepirates astronauts were then set to work painting the planets. The Captain now has as an extensive collection of space books so we loosely based our colour choices on how the planets were depicted in the books:
I helped out with painting Earth:
We stuck tiny framing hooks straight into the top of each planet for hanging:
And then used framing wire (fishing line would have been better in retrospect though) to hang the planets. I cut 10 roughly equal lengths for each planet:
I strung two pieces of framing wire to make a cross in the centre of the hoop. From the centre of the cross we then hung the sun:
On the criss-crossed bits of wire we then hung Mercury (closest to the sun), Venus (second planet from the sun), Earth (third planet) and Mars (fourth planet). On the hoop itself we hung Saturn (sixth planet), Uranus (seventh planet) Neptune (eighth planet) and Pluto (furthest from the sun and also the smallest).
The mysterious 11th planet that you might be able to see hanging there is actually the moon, the astronauts insisted that it be included:
Materials:
10 styrofoam balls (1 very big for the Sun, 2 large for Jupiter and Saturn, 4 medium for Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Earth, 3 small for Pluto, Mars and Mercury),
a small hoop,
little picture hooks,
wire/fishing line,
a small piece of cardboard to make Saturn's ring and paint.
Creating the Solar System:
Our first task was to make Saturn's ring. We traced two circles onto cardboard, using the styrofoam ball to measure the inner circle. Cut the inside of the smaller circle out, making a donut. We then pushed the ball into the hole to make Saturn:
The
I helped out with painting Earth:
We stuck tiny framing hooks straight into the top of each planet for hanging:
And then used framing wire (fishing line would have been better in retrospect though) to hang the planets. I cut 10 roughly equal lengths for each planet:
I strung two pieces of framing wire to make a cross in the centre of the hoop. From the centre of the cross we then hung the sun:
On the criss-crossed bits of wire we then hung Mercury (closest to the sun), Venus (second planet from the sun), Earth (third planet) and Mars (fourth planet). On the hoop itself we hung Saturn (sixth planet), Uranus (seventh planet) Neptune (eighth planet) and Pluto (furthest from the sun and also the smallest).
The mysterious 11th planet that you might be able to see hanging there is actually the moon, the astronauts insisted that it be included:
06 September 2010
Tell me a Story
After the frightfully wet and dreary weekend we've just had, these Story Cubes would have come in very handy...Go on, start the week by exercising your imagination
02 September 2010
Task-tastic
I absolutely must get our house a stack of these. Armed with these fabulous tea towels I know I will have the boys drying dishes in no time. You know what they say, embrace drudgery with a happy heart.
Ma Cacabane
You gotta love the French. They can put style into just about everything. If like us you're going through the toilet training saga then the Cacabane will give you a giggle if nothing else. Does your little one need a little privacy? Are they finding public peeing just a little personal? Well this little invention is just what you need!
31 August 2010
Dads - Dig this!
Although I am a huge fan of Dads in general, I am not so sure the retail pressure to buy large gifts outside Christmas and birthday is so necessary. Having precious time together, reading stories, drawing or just kicking a ball is even more nourishing than spending lotsa money on cufflinks or socks. HOWEVER, if you disagree and think I'm just being a complete humbug then look no further than these two great books, designed for the inner geek in all of us!
25 August 2010
Make and Do: The Hubble Telescope
Get ready for our maiden Make and Do launch. A HUGE welcome to the BRILLIANT Emma from Two Little Pirates who is here to share her latest project. I am totally and utterly thrilled that she is now part of the Brothers Trimm Brigade. People, get ready to be suitably impressed...
The Captain's Pre-School currently have a space theme and the obsession with rockets and space stations has followed through at home. He asked if we could make a satellite... we decided to make The Hubble Telescope!
Materials:
2 toilet rolls (or 1 paper towel roll), alfoil, sticky tape, 2 strawers, a piece of cardboard (about half an A4 is plenty), a glue gun, 2 kebab sticks (cut one stick in half) and a marker pen.
Building the Hubble:
We taped the toilet rolls together and then used them to measure our Solar Arrays (or panels):
We then wrapped the Arrays and the Telescope in alfoil:
Trace 3 circles on the cardboard using an end of the toilet roll, then trim to fit inside the ends of the telescope and we used the third to make the Communications Antennae:
Stick the kebab stick through the centre of the telescope and then sticky tape or glue gun the Arrays on to the stick:
We cut a few straws and some tiny squares of cardboard to make the computers and the insulation that flank the telescopes tube. We used the glue gun to stick these on:
The Captain drew circles inside the third cardboard circle to make the Communications Antennae which we then glued to the top of the half length kebab stick and then stuck the other end into the top centre of the telescope:
The Captain cutting out the little Computers:
The Hubble Telescope orbiting earth:
The Captain's Pre-School currently have a space theme and the obsession with rockets and space stations has followed through at home. He asked if we could make a satellite... we decided to make The Hubble Telescope!
Materials:
2 toilet rolls (or 1 paper towel roll), alfoil, sticky tape, 2 strawers, a piece of cardboard (about half an A4 is plenty), a glue gun, 2 kebab sticks (cut one stick in half) and a marker pen.
Building the Hubble:
We taped the toilet rolls together and then used them to measure our Solar Arrays (or panels):
We then wrapped the Arrays and the Telescope in alfoil:
Trace 3 circles on the cardboard using an end of the toilet roll, then trim to fit inside the ends of the telescope and we used the third to make the Communications Antennae:
Stick the kebab stick through the centre of the telescope and then sticky tape or glue gun the Arrays on to the stick:
We cut a few straws and some tiny squares of cardboard to make the computers and the insulation that flank the telescopes tube. We used the glue gun to stick these on:
The Captain drew circles inside the third cardboard circle to make the Communications Antennae which we then glued to the top of the half length kebab stick and then stuck the other end into the top centre of the telescope:
The Captain cutting out the little Computers:
The Hubble Telescope orbiting earth:
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