Experiments
Try freezing different things

Does a mitten freeze as well as an orange?
What is the difference between those two frozen objects?
Can you freeze a stone? How about dirt?
Collect seeds from fruits and put in a pot
Watch what happens with time and read from the leaves and structures to see which seeds become plants.
Do some fruit seeds grow faster than others? Why is that?
Are some of them more fragile and not strong survivors? Why?

Lemon seeds grow fast and thrive well in a kitchen window. It will stimulate your childs senses because when they touch the leaves they will smell the lemon on their fingers. And as a bonus it keeps the flies away!

Outdoor Fun
Story Walk
Go for a walk and make up stories about people, buildings, trees, mountains, roads, or other objects you come across.
Let the child suggest objects or themes for the story.
Make it more fun by acting out the characters with different voices.

Research of the Neighbourhood
Collect stories from your town or neighbourhood and try to imagine how it was 50 or 100 years ago.
Try to find out how old the earliest buildings are, using books from the library or the Internet.
What did the neighbourhood look like back then?

Play In The Rain
It’s fun to pretend that you are five every once in a while. When it rains it’s fun to go out, lie down and look at the rain fall on you,
get soaking wet and build mud castles. The kids will have fun and the feel of a dry towel afterwards is wonderful.

Playing Tarzan?

The other day I visited a friend who’s son had just turned five. As I couldn’t make it to his birthday party, she started telling me about his high expectations for birthday presents. His list of preferences included a Phoenix who cries magic tears, a magic wand, a cape that makes you invisible, and a silver knife. He found it incomprehensible that his mother could not go to a local store and buy these things for his birthday. How hard can it be to find a Phoenix in Reykjavik?! Last year, this same boy asked for a real life Yoda and a real light saber for Christmas.

Some people might be shocked by why parents would let a 5 year old boy watch Star Wars and Harry Potter. I wouldn’t completely disagree, but I watched Star Wars as a kid and got out of that experience with my brain and innocent youth intact (at least I hope so). But if you think about it, adventures can be a great source of inspiration for kids. What I like most about them is that they are able to activate the imagination which often makes kids explore life even further. Not to mention that I think kids who like adventure movies and stories are more likely to be physically active and play outdoors than others. You can’t really play Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker without moving, now can you?

It’s really easy for parents to get involved. If you buy a light saber for your kid, why don’t you grab one for yourself while your at it? I’m sure you’ve wondered what it would be like to be a jedi, and this is your chance to find out! You don’t even have to buy a “real” light saber. Go hiking in a nearby forrest and I’m sure you’ll find some branches that have fallen off trees that you can use instead. It’s better for the environment and you can also use the branch as a sword while playing a knight, a magic wand, or make it into a bow.

Just remember to keep an open mind ’cause it will make you more likely to find hidden treasures where you never would have thought to find them.

So go on. Be adventurous!

Thorunn

photo credit: J Roosens ]]> http://www.fafutoys.com/blog/2010/07/14/adventures/feed/ 0 http://www.fafutoys.com/blog/2010/06/23/203/ http://www.fafutoys.com/blog/2010/06/23/203/#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:16:12 +0000 thorunn http://www.fafutoys.com/blog/?p=203

My son recently turned six and is starting school next fall. After visiting his school and talking to other parents about their kids schools, I have formed a strong opinion about the school system.

The Production of Workers

Today’s school system is built on the old idea that you need to program kids to become teachers, lawyers, doctors, etc. They need to be good in math, grammar, history, etc., and if they aren’t, they need to get better at it. Otherwise, they might not get a good job when they grow up. In other words, our school system is producing workers for the society. But if you think about it, paying a tutor to teach someone something he has no interest in is like throwing money down the drain.

Think about it. From the age of 6 (or younger in some countries) we are forced to study what some grown up we don’t even know decided would be best for us to study without consulting with us. And if we follow the curriculum with great care, we are putting our future into the hands of a selected few who have no concern of how our lives will turn out, as long as we get a “good job.”

I almost went down this “get a good job” path once. When I was studying business at Reykjavik University back in 2006, I saw a trend in the society that all the best jobs were in banking and that was the best future for someone with a business degree. So I decided to major in finances. But after thinking it through for a few days I realized how stupid it would be to major in something I had absolutely no interest in and would lead me down a boring and miserable life path. So I decided to major in nothing, but instead take all the selectiver coursed I was interested in. Study what I thought would be interesting, and most of all, fun! But I was already a grown up when I made this decision and had the power to make it. Imagine being 9 years old, wanting nothing more than becoming a graphic designer, but being forced to take extra classes in grammar becuase you are dislexis or just plain bad in grammar? And you can’t do anything about it!

Embracing Diversity

Why doesn’t the school system welcome diversity instead of demanding homogeneity? Why do we all have to fit the same mold? Imagine how the world would be if Einstein had decided to fit the mold instead of pursuing his ideas?

Kids are born with the amazing ability to believe that anything is possible. They get tons of ideas every day, some of them crazy (good?), others less crazy. The other day my son figured out that he was the best Lego builder in the history of man kind and that if he would make his own Lego design and box it up, someone would be willing to buy it. First he wanted to take it to the local supermarket and sell it there. But then he realized that it might get lost in the crowd of branded toys, so he opted to turn our apartment into a store for one day. But if he did that, he would need to have more than one product to sell. So he decided to take his big Lego box, sort out all the yellow heads without bodies he had, put them in small boxes and sell in bulk. He still hasn’t finished planning the store opening, but after the store closes, he’s going to change our apartment into a theater and stage a comedy that guests will be able to see for a minimal entrance fee. He’s only 6. Imagine where he will be in a few years if I continue letting him pursue his ideas and not demand he gets better at something he has no interest in anyway.

What we should do is embrace each child’s talent. If he’s good at drawing and bad in math, instead of hiring a math tutor, we should let him attend a drawing class. Let him get better at something he’s already good at and has desire, ambition and will to work hard at doing. We need to stop producing workers and start empowering kids to nurture their talents and follow their dreams. Don’t you think it would make the world a better and happier place to live in?

Thorunn

photo credit: Pink Sherbet

We have a happy industrial designer, Adalheidur Thorolfsdottir, or Heida as we call her, working on product development. She is preparing the ideology for our new baby line that grows with the child. It looks and feels great and I can´t wait to see the end result. Are you wondering what her inspiration might be? Take a look!

The designer, Heida, took those pictures when visiting Isafjordur in the western part of Iceland. It is a beutiful fishermans village but she was inspiried to make baby toys!

This kind of looks like a baby mobile, but is a collection of odd looking old things that probably had some genius purpose.

This one - a stomac from a fish and was used to felt wool. I have no idea how they did it but I am curious to travel to Isafjordur and try to find someone that can tell me more about it. It is something about felting in airtight bags, like we do today but with plastic bags. I might just try this!

This is actually one of the first GPS´s. It was filles with fish oil and left hanging at the side of a fishing boat. When in trouble fishermen would put it into the water where it would leave a path of oil that helped other ships to find the lost one. A simple way to be inventive! SO inspiring

Last Saturday was World Fair Trade Day, which we celebrated downtown Reykjavik with a lot of happy drummers and passers-by. The whole summer will be filled with events to raise awareness about Fair Trade in Iceland, so for those of you who live in Iceland, check out our Facebook page as well as the Changemaker Iceland, but they are in the forefront of organizing the campaign.

Drummers in Reykjavik on the World Fair Trade Day 2010

Heida, the Fafu Girl, getting pictured in a huge Fair Trade sign

Heida wearing her fikra costume

This week we are working on product development of the book about the Fafu’s as well as a new toy for babies in collaboration with a very talented industrial designer. We will tell you more about both projects very soon.

Until next time, keep a smile on your face and try to have some fun. It makes life so much better!

Thorunn

Adel on Earth Day 2010

Next up was a visit to my cousins house to babysit her three children – Jana (4 years old), Touissaint (2 years old), and Marie (2 years old). We had big plans about taking them outside for a nature walk, but the twins took a longer nap than usual so we ended up staying inside and playing with fafu fikra costumes instead. The kids instantly picked their favorite pieces to play with and got into character quite quickly. We had a lot of fun that day and are planning to do it again very soon – this time by taking the fikra costumes outside and see what the kids come up with.

Marie with a prototype hat called "skjola" on Earth Day 2010

Touissaint playing with his dui hat on Earth Day 2010

Jana decided to play a princess and of course, she needed a prince with her

Jana made Adel her prince, but he had different ideas and wanted to be a superhero. They went with a mix of both - a superprince!

Combining it with Rudolf Steiner and a twist of Reggio Emilia is either confusing or very interesting! Time will only tell hehehe

I think theories like that can be used as inspiration but not a religion. I like all above for different reasons. All of those theories inspire and empower children to learn from their environment on their own terms. They also hope to help children find their own strengths. But how can we use those theories to make the best possible toys? What do children need that they are not getting from the toys available today?

I think it is important to leave barriers in the toy and surprising functions. That way we will motivate children to think and create solutions.  We have to bring children from that passive role into creativity so they can grow and learn and find out what their passion is. Who am I? What can I do? What makes me unique?

I already have some ideas. I found out that they come to me when I play with my kids and completely forget everything else. And it is amazing! What a fun job this is!

The picture is borrowed from www.newhorizons.org

Hulda

Here is an update on what we are doing

We are working full speed on getting fikra to as many stores as we can so you can all enjoy it!

We are also working on product development on some amazing toys for self education More on that later!

We recently started a new side project to promote environmental education. To do that we are working on writing a small children books about creatures called fafus. They are made from earth materials like dirt or sand and all of them have a plant on their head. They interact with children and together they try to find the balance needed between nature and people to keep the fafus alive.

We hope that when reading the books parents and children will talk about our environment and seek knowledge and ways to live a greener life and enjoy natures wonders

Here is a drawing from our first brainstorm. It´s a work in progress but hopefully we will be able to show you some end result soon.

Hulda

The Story of Stuff

Ever wondered how the products you buy ended up in the store you bought them from? Or did you ever think about how a T-shirt can cost less than $2 or a radio less than $5 when it should only be enough to cover the cost of its transportation from Asia?

The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute look at the supply chain, especially the parts that are hidden away from the consumers. It reveals the connections between a large number of environmental and social issues, and calls on us to create a more sustainable and fair world.

If you want to know what you can do to address the problems that are discussed in the film, check out Another Way; a list of 10 little and big things you can do.

Thorunn