Tuesday, July 10, 2012

It's a trap!


Welcome to the July 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Creations

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared crafts, recipes, and philosophies of creativity. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.




Mikko got really interested in traps, and he and Sam devised several over a period of months. I was generally the one being trapped.


Mikko plans out his traps in advance and demands blueprints, sometimes on hard copy, sometimes on a sketcher. Mikko starts out with grand ideas like digging a pit, not caring that a second-floor condo is not the ideal place to dig a pit. Sam then reins him in, and they settle on something manageable.


This trap is made with our no-sew fleece baby carrier, proving things I make can have multiple nefarious purposes.


The bait: Jell-O, chocolate chips, and zucchini muffins. There was some cooking beforehand as Mikko instructed Sam in just what would appeal to Mama.


They hide on the stairs, where I totally do not see them. Not even to take this picture.


Aaa! It worked! They released the net, and I am totally ensnared.




The next trap cleverly uses my own maternal instinct against me. The toys are to keep (then six-month-old) Alrik in place, and then I'm supposed to go in after him.


This time they used my rolled cozy throw blanket as the trap door. I should stop sewing things they can use against me! The trap was triggered remotely with a sophisticated yardstick mechanism. I love the unschooling aspects of working out the functionality of a trap, as well as choosing the most appealing baits.


Wow, I sure am gullible!


Alrik's not sure what to make of being used as bait.

What interesting creations have your children directed?



Carnival of Natural Parenting -- Hobo Mama and Code Name: MamaVisit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

  • Garden Soup — Bailey finds a way to help momma Katy (from Muse of a Daffodil) in the garden.
  • This One Time, I Tried To Make a Car — Ashley at Domestic Chaos tries once again to make something crafty from stuff around the house.
  • Pin-tastic creative ideas — Lucy at Dreaming Aloud shares how Pinterest is inspiring creativity in her family this summer.
  • Baby Hiccups In The Womb — Alinka at Baby Web shares one of the ways she bonds with her unborn baby.
  • Turtle Mosaics — Lyndsay at ourfeminist{play}school and her little family spend a quiet hour making a turtle mosaic inspired by the work of Melanie Mikecz.
  • Edible Art Plus 8 Art Supply Recipes — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares some natural, chemical-free art supply alternatives, which are gauranteed to be tons of fun for children of all ages. They taste great too!
  • A surprise art lesson — Tat at Mum in search has been taking art lessons from her 5-year-old son.
  • Memory Creation — Laura from Pug in the Kitchen talks about how her family aims to create as many memories as they can as a family.
  • A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words — Melissa at Momma Beer tries to replace cars with crafts.
  • My Creative Family: Sometimes Messy, Always Fun — Emily at S.A.H.M i AM embraces the messes that sometimes accompany creative play but admits you don't always have to get dirty to have fun.
  • Fun Family Learning: Constellation Cave Tutorial — Abbie at Farmer's Daughter gives step-by-step instructions for building a fun new twist on a cardboard box playhouse.
  • Cooking... Kind Of — ANonyMous at Radical Ramblings makes pizza with her daughter, hoping to inspire a love of cooking and encourage a bigger interest in food. As well as making mess and having lots of fun, of course!
  • Crockpot Refried BeansThat Mama Gretchen's family loves to experiment with new recipes, and today she's sharing a kitchen success!
  • Creating Memories — Andrea at Tales of Goodness reflects on how the best creations can emerge from just letting kids be kids.
  • Making Beautiful Things ... And Sometimes Just Average-Looking Ones — Tamara at Tea for Three looks for ways to add more craft and creativity into every day family life.
  • Making Fruit Leather Together — When Amy Willa at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work took some time to involve her children in the process of finally trying a fruit leather recipe stored on her Pinterest food board, she got more than just a scrumptious homemade snack as a result!
  • Making Glasses from Children's Art — Mandy at Living Peacefuly with Children used her children's artwork to make some very special glasses for her husband for Father's Day.
  • Preparing Family Meals Together — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now shares how she started the tradition of creating meals together with her children, which makes family gatherings more fun.
  • It's a trap! — Lauren at Hobo Mama shares the innovative snares her son and husband have set for her.
  • How To Make The Most Of A Very Wet Summer — Luschka at Diary of a First Child shows us the first few weeks of the Summer Camp At Home project for keeping boredom at bay.
  • Creating with... well, what do we have? — If necessity is the mother of invention, Momma Jorje thinks perhaps boredom is (or at least can be) the mother of creativity. In a pinch, she got creative with a household item to entertain herself and her toddler.
  • Creating Joy! Felt Counting Fish and other Fun — Terri at Child of the Nature Isle started creating Felt Counting Fish and then fell down the rabbit hole of fun with a number of other games.
  • I Am Going! (A Code Name: Mama Homemade Theater Production of Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie book) — This might be the finest example of child and baby acting ever recorded. Enjoy this Mo Willems treasure via video from Dionna at Code Name: Mama.
  • DIY Summer Sleep Sack for Baby Tutorial — Shannon at GrowingSlower made an organic summer sleep sack for baby, and you can too with her easy tutorial.
  • Chalk It Up! — Amy at Anktangle recounts how an impulse buy has turned into a fun collaborative activity that she hopes will continue to foster creativity in the whole family.
  • The Family Garden — Excited that her son has been a big help in the garden this year, Ana at Pandamoly shares how her garden grows and offers up some secrets on how a toddler can be a great assistant in the garden.
  • Getting my craft on — In a guest post at Natural Parents Network, Jona at Life, Intertwined takes a trip down memory lane — and finds it in stitches.
  • Easy DIY Sandpit for Toddler Play — Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares her easy DIY toddler sandpit tutorial.
  • Building Without Nails — Laura at Laura's Blog builds a swinging bar using just sticks and twine.
  • Family Talent Show — Erika at Cinco de Mommy holds an after-dinner family talent show.
  • Ar matey! Fun and Learning with Pirate Play. Positive Parenting Connection is sharing lots of really fun Pirate-themed learning activities for the whole family.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

This is such fun! I was laughing out loud at how involved the traps were, included baking snacks... so cute! This is such a great whole family activity, and I love how Mikko is learning all the while too :)

Tat said...

Hilarious! You must be learning very quickly to tread with caution around your own house!

Farmer's Daughter said...

Hahaha! I love it, how fun! When my husband was little he went through a trap phase but was always trying to catch squirrels and stuff like that. His parents still laugh about it, too bad they don't have any pictures. What a fun memory this will make :)

Anonymous said...

This has such a sense of fun about it. I love how your little guy sketches up the trap in advance and then executes the whole thing. It's a great creative effort from beginning to end. Thanks for sharing.

Dionna @ Code Name: Mama said...

LOVE! I want to do these with Kieran - and yes, awesome unschooling :)
p.s. did the jello work?

Momma Jorje said...

Oh dear me, the cuteness level... it got me all verklempt, seriously. What creative play!!

Melissa said...

This is hilarious!

Unknown said...

Oh, I love this! Mikko is so clever! The photos are a riot, too. =)

Anonymous said...

Haha! Fantastic! :) I love it how you encourage your children's creativity! What a fun mama!

ana z. said...

O.M.G. Mikko is HILARIOUS! Can I just tell you how much I love your son and how freakin' adorable he is? (or maybe it's just the light you present him in... either way). What a smarty-pants! I like the chocolate chip bait; especially smart to use the baby - who could resist!? Love it!

Terri said...

Such creativity! I'm now hoping my children will go through a making traps phase as it sounds like fun!

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