Sticks

What can you create with 50 sticks? Try it - and send us your pictures:)

Solutions -- Mandalas

Check out these awesome solutions from the Bayer family! Congratulations on great work!

Mandalas

Summer is a great time for art -- tell your student to gather 50+ items from outdoors and then create a mandala with them. Send in your pictures:)

Our Boat Challenge Returns

Start off your summer with this challenge: build a duct tape boat using only cardboard and duct tape -- it can be any size or any shape. Then, test it and send in your pictures:)

Altered Quotes for Daily Living

Quick research project: choose a famous person and search for 3 quotes by that person. Then, combine just 3-5 words from each of the quotes to create a new quote for daily living. It can be silly or serious. Post your quotes in the comment section below with the name of the person whose quotes you altered. Here's an example: Martin Luther King said: We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. Altered quote: We must learn a true education is that love is great.

Leaf people or critters?

It's Spring. So, here's a spring challenge for you. Ask your student to go outside and find 20 leaves or petals (preferably on the ground). Then give the student a piece of white paper, some glue, and a box of markers and tell them to create a piece of art that represents something real or imagined that lives in nature. Send in some pictures. We'd love to see what you create!

Solutions to 10 books

Check out this awesome solution to 10 Books (words from each of the 10 books in bold): Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Fire Crackers went off. I looked up and the stars dot the sky like some one opened a jar. My little sister and our dog run fast in the grass. The dog turns around and gives me a big doggy grin. "Aawww," I say to the dog. "Go," I say as the dog turns back to my sister. I look at my mom and dad sitting on a picnic blanket with my baby sister, I grin, I cannot help it. I am staring up at the sky, we hear a big boom, red and blue dot the sky. "Pretty," I said. by Ashlyn, age 10 For more solutions, check the comments on the 10 Books post. Everyone did a marvelous job! Note: there are more solutions in the comments section below the original challenge -- congrats to you all!

Here's a good one inspired by Unschool Me using just 10 squares of toilet paper for each person, make a soft family. You may use one other object of your choice such as a marker or string.

10 books

Gather up ten books. Go to page 30 of every book and write down the 30th word on that page. Now, using those ten words, write a story that is only 10 sentences long. Send us your stories and we'll post them! Check out two awesome solutions sent in by clicking on the comments to this post! Great work!!!

Landfill Harmonic

Inspired by Landfill Harmonic, this challenge asks you to go to your trash and/or recycling bin and create an instrument (or two or three) and then play it. Videotape your result and send it to us -- we'd love to share.

Circus Card Collage

If you haven't thrown them out or recycled them already, use all of your holiday cards to create a circus, complete with animals, acts, and clowns. You may use 1 sheet of blank white paper, 1 black sharpie and glue or tape as needed. Send pictures!

Create a Creature.

Another simple challenge: using all of the paperclips in a box of paperclips, create a creature. Be sure to send pictures and then, recycle your paperclips!

Forks

This week's challenge is simple: create a house using only forks. Send pictures -- we'd love to see them and post them!

Home-made Instruments

Your challenge is to create an instrument using only the following materials and tools:

Materials:

40 mm PVC reticulation pipe (or mailing tube)
duct tape
10cm length of garden hose
1 ordinary round party balloon
Two strong elastic bands

Tools

A pair of garden secateurs or strong craft knife
A tenon saw or a hacksaw
Tape measure
Pencil
Scissors

As always, send pictures and enjoy the challenge! Video would also be wonderful!

Twinkies

Given the recent news about Hostess Twinkies potentially disappearing, I thought it would be fun to invite solutions to this challenge:

Make something using one box of Twinkies. Good luck. Very eager to see pictures! Send your solutions to kidthinkers@gmail.com.

Robots

Save your boxes (or styrofoam filling) from holiday gifts -- any size, any number and use only duct tape and boxes to create a robot. Try to make arms, legs, etc. that move! As always, we love to see your solutions -- send them to kidthinkers@gmail.com.

Holiday Fun Solutions

Check out this awesome video sent from unschoolme!

Think Creatively!

There is a great need to foster creative thinking by our children. It will guarantee their success in the unpredictable future! Have them watch this and then try to make their own Rube Goldberg Machine (NO FIRE!!!). Good luck! Send us your solutions.

Melvin The Magical Mixed Media Machine from HEYHEYHEY on Vimeo.

Noodles

For a twist on the traditional pasta tower challenge, gather up your pasta and make a noodle tower using noodles, paperclips and 12 inches of tape and NOTHING else -- no glue allowed.

Holiday Fun

Gather up 10-12 old/preferably used gift cards or postcards or index cards and 3 colored pencils, a hole punch, 3 paperclips, and 3 feet of string. Create a puppet. Please please send photos to kidthinkers@gmail.com so that I can share you wonderful work!