School on the Road

Sorry to disappoint anyone who thought this was going to become an all-star homeschooling blog.  Though I do have a few more books we've covered that I've been meaning to post, I figure those of the grandparent persuasion would rather see their littles splashing in the ocean than another picture of a lame craft made out of a paper plate.  This particular project brings together both of them!

I read the book "Sand Cake" a gazillion times when I was little.  It's the story of a bear family that goes to the beach and makes a cake out of flour, milk, eggs, and salt drawn onto the shore.  I loved the book so much that I snatched it from my parents' house when we were in Austin last year.  And then I brought it all the way to Thailand, so Micah could reenact Little Bear's beach baking.  

First, we drew a cow and milked it to get milk for our cake.  Ever since we studied "Angus Lost," the kid has been a little obsessed with udders.  He frequently asks me whether fill-in-the-blank animal or certain family members have them.  

Then he harvested the wheat to make flour.

And collected some eggs from a chicken.

Finally, he added a salt from the ocean water and stirred it all up in a bucket.

Then it went into the oven to bake.  About this time, Micah got distracted by the mud bath festivities and forgot completely about his sand cake.  At least Emma was there to take charge for him.  She even decorated it with little shells after I told her it was done baking.

The book concludes with the Mama Bear announcing that she has made a cake for the family out of real flour, eggs, and milk, and then they all enjoy a nice picnic on the beach.  Not this Mama Bear.  I scrubbed the mud off them and then fed them Thai food for lunch with definitely no cake for dessert.  Even still, there wasn't any complaining coming from my little beach-going baker.