I LOVE to read. Growing up, I hid a book in my desk at school in case the lesson was boring. If there was a social gathering, I would find a quiet place to hide and read. If we were driving home late at night, I would read snippets of my book by lamp post (which, let me tell you, is pretty ...
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Enchanted Forest
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For the past month, this memory-based game has replaced Busytown as our favorite go-to family game. My 7 year old is the one that likes it the best, but I enjoy it and my 4 year old can definitely play too. Even the 2 year old can sort of pretend to play, though he's messed up the board a couple ...
Set Junior
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For most people, I think the real Set game is probably most appropriate, since 6 year olds can get the hang of the adult version and Set Junior isn't really that fun of a game to play with preschoolers. However, if you have preschoolers who might want to play too, there is a definite advantage to ...
Homemade Gak
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I'll be honest. I wasn't trying to make Gakβ’. I was trying to make silly putty. After failing miserably using a number of the recipes I found online, I decided to just switch my objective and declare success. What's the difference? In my opinion, silly putty should be moldable. If I want to make ...
Homemade Bow and Arrows
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Okay...before I start...my husband wants me to put a disclaimer on this post. Here it is: MAKE AND USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This homemade bow and arrow set works surprisingly, crazy well. You're not going to break any windows or bones, but stuff could definitely get broken and someone could ...
Scrambled States of America Game
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Somehow, growing up in California in the 80's and 90's, I was never required to take a geography class. Since I never took a personal interest in the subject, my geographical knowledge is downright embarrassing. I'm determined that my kids will not grow up with the same shortcoming. I'm always ...
Inventor’s Box for Little Kids
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Recently, I made my 4 and 6 year olds their own Inventor's Boxes. I didn't want my 2 year old to feel left out, but I also didn't want to give him a bunch of tools and electronic components. I came up with this Inventor's Box for Little Kids as a compromise. It's really more of a craft box, but so ...
Homemade Inventor’s Box
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I love the idea of open-ended learning. It's fun to do projects with my kids like our homemade wobblebot or propeller car, but I truly believe that kids learn best by messing around and seeing what works and what doesn't. There's nothing like hands-on experience. I first made an "inventor's box" ...
Homemade Propeller Car
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My kids love when we make little homemade "robots" that move and wiggle around. I've been wanting to make something more car or rover-like with wheels for awhile, but I wasn't exactly sure how to connect the motor to the wheels. This little propeller car kind of feels like cheating, since the ...
Homemade Steady Hand Game
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Instead of having kids glued to hand-held devices this summer, why not have them make their own? A homemade, single-player, steady hand game is a fun, easy project for elementary-aged kids that teaches them a little bit about electricity. To play the game, kids try to follow a curved wire path with ...
Michelle has a PhD in Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree from the California Institute of Technology. 