Learning about... Germany!

Geekling got given a felt world map for Christmas the year before last.  I had also collected a number of cultural exchange packages from penpals around the world and put them aside until he was of an age that he was interested.

I remembered them a couple of weeks ago while Geekling was home sick and I was racking my brain for things to do.  I hung his map on the blank wall by his bed and we opened our first exchange package - it was from Germany!

Waiting patiently to open it!

Look at what I got!

What a pack it was!  It included a lovely letter from a family in Germany, a map showing where Germany was in Europe which helped Geekling to find it on his map, postcards, a flag to colour in, some tourism fliers, a puzzle, stickers, Euro coins, a miniature flag, foam soccer ball shapes and soccer ball balloons, german flag bandaid and some chocolates.

Geekling was super excited about the chocolates.  He was also fascinated by the coins and really enjoyed colouring the flag by reference to the miniature flag.  He also loved the balloons.

As luck would have it, days later we met a young German lady on the train!  Geekling proudly told her he had learned about Germany, knew their flag colours and liked German chocolate.

The Big Dig at the Abbey Art & Archeology Museum

The Abbey Museum of Art and Archeology had a Big Dig event on recently, where they set up a toddler excavation area (as well as a more complex one for older kids).  I think that teaching some of the younger toddlers to dig and sift into bucket was a bit ambitious, but Geekling and his cousins had a great time.  All three of the kids found treasures - although Geekling's treasure was a small glass bead, which he declared looked like a jellybean and kept trying to put it in his mouth.  Hmmm... they didn't think that through perhaps.

 Geekling resorts to using his hands

Afterwards, we went to Centenary Lakes park in Caboolture and fed the ducks, then played on the play equipment before heading home.

Fly Away Home @ GoMA

We've posted before about trips to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) - they always have at least one kid specific exhibit but Geekling is getting old enough that he is interested in other exhibits too, especially as many are interactive or involve lights, sounds etc.

 This amazing cubby-like tree piece is made from a lot of yarn with all kinds of treasures included.

 Geekling and his dad making their bird.  Geekling insisted on giving it the same name as him, and apparently it lives underground and eats chippies.

 The Fly Away Home room with birds in the trees in the center of the tables and in the nest box like alcoves in the hallway out (far left).

There was another exhibit that had old school bench chairs, and invited folks to make a paper rubbing on them as each chair had a different Thai carving in the flip table top.

Geekling had to visit that first piece again before we left!

Previous GoMA posts:
Obliteration Room & We Miss You Magic Land
Surrealism for Kids
21st Century Kids

GoMA "Obliteration Room" and "We Miss You Magic Land" exhibits

GoMA has a couple of fantastic kids exhibits on at the moment, and best of all they are FREE!

First we saw "The Obliteration Room" by Yayoi Kusama - a home environment painted bright white, with children and adults given a sheet of coloured circle stickers and invited to place them wherever they wished.

 "Stick!"

The exhibit included a working piano!

You can see more of the dramatic transformation here.

The "We Miss You Magic Land!" exhibit was adorable but a bit 'old' for Geekling, as it was quite detailed and delicate, and he wasn't allowed to touch it.

 One of the scenes

Geekling did enjoy the computer program - you can create an online scene like the ones in the exhibit, including photographs of yourself as a character in it.

What Geekling loved most about this exhibit was jumping on the big pillows and on his daddy.

These exhibits are on until 12 March 2012.

Free family day out - Southbank

A couple of weeks ago during the Brisbane Festival we took a lovely family trip to the city and South Bank.  Aside from dinner, all our activities were free!

We parked at my work in the CBD and walked over the Victoria Bridge to South Bank.

... where visited the museum...

 The touch parts had seen better days but Geekling still loved them

One Cute-a-sauras and Daddy-rex

Geekling loved the ocean room, and the taxidermied animals.  There was a possum at the enquiries counter that the attendant even took out of the perspex box to let him pet until he tried to pull its tail!  He declared it was a "cat" and was thoroughly delighted to touch it.

We then had another look at the Liquid Interactive Light Scope, before taking a Citycat back over the river.

We went to dinner at Little Singapore, where Geekling enjoyed eating noodles from chopsticks and more or less inhaled my roti.

Then it was back over the river to South Bank for gelato followed by the Santos City of Lights show.  Geekling was absolutely enthralled at the start of the light show but had lost interest by the end.

Sadly, the Liquid Interactive Light Scope and Santos Light Show are both over (I just hadn't gotten around to posting this earlier as I had to find my camera cable to upload the photos), but I am sure there will be another festival or cultural celebration soon that we can make a day or an evening of.

Surrealism for Kids - Qld Gallery of Modern Art

I suspect this activity is a little "old" for Geekling, but it looks like so much fun!  Combining the fun of creating a collage with the imagination and zaniness of surrealism - Make your own Surrealist Art at GoMA!

They've also added a Games for Kids section to the website which may be a fun way for little ones to learn about some famous artists.  Again, beyond Geekling for now and last time I let him near my laptop to play a game on the Fisher Price website, he ripped the Enter key off my keyboard and we can't seem to get it back on!

Speaking of art - We are in the (slow) process of re-designing and re-decorating our living area, and I am on the look out for some key prints to frame for the room, preferably bright and primary-colour heavy to suit the decor.   I would love to hear your suggestions!

Edit:  I think we'll steer away from surrealism pieces in our home for now, as 'Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three' by Paula Polk Lillard & Lynn Lillard Jessen suggests limiting the fantastical and non-realistic until the child is older and focus on helping the child make sense of the world as it is.  Although by the time Geekline is 6, we may well be ready for another one...

Queensland Science Centre

Yesterday Hubby and I took Geekling to the Queensland Science Centre at Southbank.  We thought perhaps it would be a bit too old/advanced for him, but I think you're never too young to start visiting museums and while there were a few things that held little interest for Geekling, and obviously he's too young to grasp the science behind the exhibits, he truly enjoyed the trip and there was plenty he could play with.

We've taken lots of photos, but due to the nature of many of the exhibits being in motion and the photos being taken on a phone, they're not wonderful quality.  But enjoy!

Geekling loved the spinning chair.  Its probably against all the parenting rules ever written, but I spin him around like this in the glider in his nursery sometimes, he thinks its the best :)

Geekling riding the noisy suction device!

A pulley exhibit to lift an 80kg fridge.  Hubby would lift it from another pulley when Geekling would reach for the rope, but I just couldn't capture a photo showing it.

Geekling's absolute favourite - a fan that blows to suspend a beach ball in the air.  He threw a bit of a tanty when we finally moved on!  I'd have let him play for hours but there were other children waiting by then!

He loved the taxidermied birds and bugs (like his Mumma loved as a kid).  Some were set up on a perch, but a few were displayed belly up which I found quite creepy.

Geekling found a friend in the infinity mirror.  It was probably his second favourite after the balloon and took a lot of convincing to get him to move on!

He was so excited to see this table of wooden blocks and loved wrecking the gorgeous pictures the previous visitors had made.  He also kept trying to put them in his mouth so Mumma has made a mental note that things this small are still a no-no.

Geekling *LOVED* Mumma lifting him to peek out of the hole in the box.  He's a bit little to get his head clear out though.

 And lastly:  the result of so much stimulation on the way home :)

GoMA 21st Century Kids Exhibit - Geekling's first Museum trip!

Hubby has been on holidays this week, and while he still hasn't uploaded some gorgeous photos of Little G that I wish to decorate this blog with he DID take Geekling on his first museum trip yesterday.

The Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane is running a 21st Century Kids exhibit until 26 April 2011 - it looks like so much fun!  I desperately wanted to take Geekling myself, but had to sit back and let Hubby have this experience as I have well and truly had my share and it was high time they got to do something together, just the boys.  Most the exhibits are interactive to some degree, but a little too 'old' for Geekling.  He loved looking around at the museum, and enjoyed trying to get involved although some of the exhibits like the ribbon wall (with pins) and Lego city (small parts he kept trying to put in his mouth) weren't really appropriate.

They did enjoy an interactive exhibit where you put a camera device atop your child's head which records things from their point of view while they crawl or run about.  Sadly, the software that allows you to then email that footage home to yourself (or to a jealous mummy at work) wasn't working.

There is also an exhibit that is basically a room full of balloons - Hubby was running short of time so they didn't make it to this part, which is a shame because Geekling would have LOVED it.  But that's ok, it's a good excuse for Mumma to take him back again!

GoMA is generally free, including this exhibit.  They also normally have a toddler/kiddies art section downstairs but I think it is still damaged from the January floods.

Hubby didn't capture any pictures but here are a couple of blogs and sites that have:

21st Century Kids Exhibit Photos at www.abc.net.au