For their last several overnights, my grandkids have hardly watched any TV, but have occupied themselves with some activities that we adults would call “educational”.
Last year, I’d purchased a couple of Lego Mindstorms kits. I was missing the instruction manual, and it took Lego a month to fill my order for a replacement.
The manual having arrived, finally, two of the kids have built and programmed their robots, little cars that spin, go forwards and backwards, and play music. Even James, the 6 year old, was able to figure out how to write a program.
Last weekend, we visited Newbury Comics in Hyannis for Free Comics day and picked up a demo version of “Comics Creator”. They liked it so much that I bought a license so they could print their results. It’s a very cool program that has introduced them to some basics about editing computer graphics.
Last weekend, Bob created a comic out of the images that come with the program. This weekend, we figured out how to take screen shots, edit them, and incorporate them into the comics. That bit of personalization is pretty trick, and Emme’s came out so well that we put it into a little binder so she could bring it to “Show and Tell”.
The kids had Belgian waffles for breakfast, with bacon and honeydew melon. So, it’s been a pretty full morning for all of us.
As they get older, they become more self-reliant and able to entertain themselves. Luckily, when James, who is just learning to read, came over last weekend, the weather was good. He’d rather be outside anyway, riding his bike, or playing catch.
Last evening was particularly pleasant because Bob asked for a book before settling down. We found our favorite bedtime story, and he read it to us. Having just come off a positive but taxing week at the office, I really enjoyed listening, a nice change.