Max was excited when he did this activity at the children’s museum in Manhattan. Since then, he’s turned the whole idea into some kind of French espionage, with a character named “Bojon” sending us cryptic messages from across the pond.

All you need is an old candle and some paper or cereal boxes. Little ones need to press hard with the candle, so a white crayon might work better for some. Paint should be watered down. Food coloring and water works, too, though more difficult to get off little hands.

Although it requires a little set-up and clean-up, this is a fun activity and works well for practicing reading skills.

Now that Max is 5, we’ve headed into allowance territory. I’ve never liked the idea of paying a child just because, but I do think it’s important for him to learn the value of money.

Max makes his bed (sort of) and brings his dishes to the sink as part of his family chores. He’s not paid for these; we each have to contribute and that is his contribution.

He earns money by doing extra chores. He can go around the house, collect the towels, and put them into the washing machine. He can dust baseboards. Yesterday, he picked up pine cones from the yard. He earned ten cents for each one. Fortunately, he lost interest at 60, but it was a great way to teach him about groups of tens, addition, and substitution (a five dollar bill for five one dollar bills).

Because Max is 5 and prone to losing things, we pay him in pretend bills. This also makes it easier for me, since cold hard cash rarely finds a home in my wallet.

Now Max is learning a lesson about economics, and just how much the toys he likes costs. This made be the hardest lesson of all.

When you stay at home with your children, you know that a sick day is no different than any other day. Laundry still needs to get done, kids still need to be fed and either entertained, if you’ve got one, like me, or coached, if you have a small team.

But Max will usually be okay playing alone as long as we have some one-on-one time, so here are a couple experiments we tried today that took minimal energy, thank heavens!

Fire needs oxygen to burn:

To prove, light a candle and watch it burn for a minute. Then cover with clear, glass jar. After the oxygen that was in the jar runs out, the fire will burn out.

Acid rain not good for the environment:

Put a stick of chalk in a glass of water, and an equal-sized stick of chalk in a glass of vinegar, which represents acid rain. Observe what happens over time and talk about the effects of pollution on the environment.

Need a kid-friendly seasonal centerpiece? Max and his classmates made these at school. Only requires a pumpkin, some veggies and fruits, and toothpicks. Leftover eyes and noses make great snacks!

With all the talk of flu this season, many of us are wary about bringing our little ones to the public, indoor play spaces. If you’re stuck indoors, here some ideas to help keep the day moving along.

Odd and Even Ladybug Game

This game I found in Games For Math, by Peggy Kaye. It requires making the ladybug cards in advance, which took me about 20 minutes.

Have kids practice the concept of odd and even. On a piece of paper, write out the odd and even numbers, from 1-20.

Play the game like Memory. Place ladybug cards face down. Have each child decide if they want to be “odds or evens”. He will pick up a card and figure out if he gets to keep it, based on how many dots the ladybug has. You can make it competitive by leaving the last card and deciding which player has the most cards.

Gum Drop Structures

All you need is a bag of gum drops, or any sticky candy, and some toothpicks. This structure kept my son occupied for a half hour, and he was very pleased with the results.

The following activities were found in Science in Seconds for Kids, by Jean Potter, a book I highly recommend for quick and educational entertainment.

Why Does Light Make The Sky Blue?

Fill a clear, plastic cup with water. Add a few drops of milk so the water becomes cloudy. Darken the room. Hold flashlight in front of the cup so the beam shines through. Look into the cup from above. What happens to the milk?

When you added the milk drops to the water, the light became more visible because the particles reflected the light. The light in the milky water turned pale blue because the particles separated out the blue waves of light. Dust and drop of water are almost always in the earth’s atmosphere. These particles bend the light from the sun, causing the sky to look blue. When the sun rises or sets, the colors change because the light has to pass through more particles at different angles, so other light waves are bent toward your eyes.

What Happens to Air As It Is Heated and Cooled?

Fit a balloon over the mouth of a soda bottle. Fill one cake pan with very hot water and another with ice cold water. Put the balloon-covered bottle into the hot water pan and observe what happens. Move the bottle into the cold water pan and observe what happens.

The bottle looked empty, but was filled with air molecules. These molecules constantly move around inside the bottle. The hotter the molecules, the more they move around inside the bottle and the more room they occupy. When you put the bottle into the hot water, the balloon inflated, because the air molecules occupied more space. When you put the bottle into the ice water, the balloon deflated, because the molecules moved closer together and occupied less space.

This is it! Okay, maybe not the cutest or the most creative, but it’s our first year putting together one stuffed cadaver, or something like it. Plastic bags make up the insides of this fella, as we were told they’d hold up better to the weather. One piece of plywood and a PVC pipe are holding up the legs, along with some wire (from clothing hangers).