Comicon 2016: Link from Legend of Zelda

Specifically, from the Windwaker game. Link’s costume changes from game to game but Windwaker seemed like the best way to go to keep it light and simple (seeing as how it’s going to be 115 degrees in Phoenix on Sunday).

His dad let him pose with the Master Sword for the picture but he’ll be carrying around the foam sword you see in the bottom right picture. Hopefully, he doesn’t get the urge to smack too many things or he’ll lose sword privileges :)

The costume was pretty simple to make. So much of it was actually from Walmart, I was surprised. In case you’re curious here’s the breakdown…

Boots - we already had them, I think they are from Crazy 8 or Children’s Place. They are actually a size too small though (8). He says they are comfy, but I also picked up a pair of light brown shoes as a backup.

Leggings - girls’ 2T Garanimals white leggings from Walmart.

Green undershirt - size 2T, Garanimals, from Walmart. Technically Link’s is long-sleeved, but not in Phoenix in June, it’s not.

Green tunic - a Hanes youth size XS from Walmart. It was already a V-neck. We just cut the sleeves and tucked them in with iron on fabric bond.

Hat - Amazon

Shield - Actually a Nintendo DS case, which is perfect because he can stick a few small toys in there. It retails for $20 but I caught it for $5 on Amazon. The only downside is it’s a little heavy, even empty… he may not want to wear it for long periods of time. We attached it to the shield strap with Velcro dots.

Foam sword - Grabbed it a few months ago from Target’s Dollar Spot when they were having 50% off the Dollar Spot - so it was 50 cents. Certainly not accurate to the game, but I wanted “least likely to harm anything” over “accurate” for a 2.5-year-old.

Shield strap and belt - ribbon from Walmart. It’s the width you can see on his belt, and we folded it over for the shield strap. The texture is super close to an actual belt, and since it’s a ribbon, it’s so light. It’s attached in the back with Velcro dots.

Belt buckle - Yellow Crayola brand air dry clay with some Sharpie. Super simple and weighs absolutely nothing. Attached with super glue.


So there you have it! I can’t remember at all how much the boots were, but excluding them, the entire costume was easily under $30.

Finding Shapes at the Park

Activity completed April 2016.
 
Color and shape learning can come from anywhere... I've found I have had the best luck showing Tripp the shapes, colors, letters and numbers that surround us, rather than using toys and activity books specifically for that purpose. Who wants to be quizzed when they just want to play?

On a rainy day earlier this month we discovered a local park full of interesting shapes. We walked around and found all of the triangles. He identified each color inside the triangle, told me the yellow was his favorite, and asked for a photo in each one.

Black Light Alice in Wonderland Fun

We visited the IDEA Museum on New Year's Day 2016.

This isn't a project we made, but something I saw at our local children's museum that I think was really cool! It would be a fun birthday party idea or rainy day activity.

At the museum, they have a room that is completely black lit. It used to be set up like a campground at night with glowing stars on the ceiling, a picnic table, and tent.

Now the room is Alice in Wonderland themed with awesome glowing tableware, plates, bowls, and food. They painted Alice in Wonderland murals on all of the walls and painted toy food in paint that would react to the black light. It is really something magical and very fun to see!

Dry Shelters - Monsoon Learning Activity

Here in Arizona, we have a summer monsoon that can often be very dramatic, and scary for kids. It sounds weird to talk about a monsoon and heavy rain in the desert, but it happens every year. Here's some information from Arizona State University about our monsoon...

 The Arizona Monsoon is a well-defined meteorological event (technically called a meteorological 'singularity') that occurs during the summer throughout the southwest portion of North America. During the winter time, the primary wind flow in Arizona is from the west or northwest—from California and Nevada. As we move into the summer, the winds shift to a southerly or southeasterly direction. Moisture streams northward from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This shift produces a radical change in moisture conditions statewide.

Recently at Tripp's weekly library group, we got the chance to explore making dry shelters during rain. Our teachers set out material like cardboard, blocks, straws, and other items and asked us to work with our kids to make a shelter for someone (Little People toys) from the "rain" (a spray bottle of water).

This activity was a little tricky to me because Tripp's not quite at the age to grasp something like this. He's also not a huge fan of building with blocks; he'd rather knock them down, if anything. So ultimately our shelter ended up being more of my design - I tried to engage Tripp but he wanted to play with cars (maybe I should have presented it as a shelter for cars instead!).

This is one I plan to revisit later, maybe next year, when he can grasp the idea of sheltering from the rain. I think it will be fun to hunt around our house to find material to protect a doll from the rain. Filing this one away!