five, four, three, two, one....

The boys and I made a “Portable Control Panel” today. It is just something to keep little hands busy and to spark the imagination. We used an old scrap of wood and juice tops from the recycling bin and a handful of nails. I let the boys take turns hammering the 'control knobs' on (which they absolutely loved) and drawing some of the controls and dials. My four-year-old insisted that we have a knob for ‘air’ and my six-year-old noted that we needed a knob for 'speed'. I also cut out some arrows and circles from plastic, coffee lids and see-through plastic lids. If a part of the nail came through the bottom of the board, I just hammered it completely flat so it would not catch on anything or anyone. They had a blast coming up with ideas to draw on the panel and also what form of transportation they could attach this on to....to transport them to other worlds. So far, they have a submarine, rocket, helicopter, military tank, invisible spy vehicle and, of course, the Millennium Falcon! Who knows what other ideas the long summer days, cousins and friends will provide!