Friday, April 16, 2010

latest obsession



Andrew's latest obsession is the solar system.
My latest obsession is Andrew's obsession with the solar system.

I seriously cannot believe how thrilled I am when he talks about outer space. It all started Friday before last when he walked out of school and the first thing he said to me was "Mommy, I want to tell you about the sun." It was the first time he had anything to report about his school day. He was thrilled with his knowledge about the sun and I was thrilled with him sharing it. Win win win.



That first day he told me that sun is full of fire and if you get close to it, it will burn you and then you will get red. He advised me to stay away from the sun, and I thanked him for his helpful tip.



Then he got things a little mixed up, which honestly is my favorite part. I love hearing him make sense of things like that. He told me that the planet closest to the sun is Mexico, followed by Vermont and then Planet Earth. He told me there are 3 Planet Earths. One for us, one for Charlie Brown and one for the Little Einsteins. He had been asking me about visiting Charlie Brown and the Little Einsteins and I think he was trying to make sense of why we couldn't. They must live on different earths.



And now he has everything sorted out pretty well. He can tell me most of the planets in order from the sun. He tells me that Mercury is hot and Pluto is cold. He told me that Jupiter as a 'red eye' (which he painted on his Jupiter in the first photo) and that that red eye is a big storm. He told me that the rings of Saturn are made from rocks and ice and that a shooting star is burning up and falling towards the sun.

When Kirsten came over on Tuesday, they played 'Outer Space'. They became astronauts flying around our apartment visiting various planets. Then they became firefighter astronauts to put out the fires on Mercury. Which I personally found quite helpful.



I am really enjoying this new found interest and the many, many art projects that could come out of this. And maybe, when all is said and done and the obsession on the planets has cooled, I will have gotten over the embarrassment I feel each time I say Uranus.

9 comments:

Stacey and Jayson Lavers said...

I'm dying of laughter from your final statement!!

Cat said...

I love it when kids have passions. I know it's still early but it might be the start of something great!
Up to now, Jake is mostly passionate about sports.
Keeps us on our toes!!!
Great post!

Melissa Belmonte said...

Oh my gosh! Why didn't I think to ask you about this, Robyn? Atticus was into the solar system for a while, and I was trying to think of a good project. This is PERFECT! Can I steal your idea?

Any Rainbow ideas???

I love the idea that Mexico and Vermont are between us and the sun.

You should get the They Might Be Giants kids science album. They have some songs that we love about the solar system.

Fun!

Mama V said...

Robyn, this is pure awesomeness! I always love to hear stories about Andrew's world perspective and logic (how does he come up with this hilarious stuff?!). Way to go on encouraging his interests and passions with fun art activities!

In middle school we learned this mnemonic device for remembering the order of the planets from the sun: "My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas." You remember that, right?! I just realized you'd be the perfect person to ask this: are they now teaching that Pluto is no longer considered a planet? (And if so, what the heck would my very elegant mother serve up now?!)

Mama V said...

How about: "My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Up Nothing!"

Kirsten said...

Such beautiful planets. Did you guide the painting?

Ladkyis said...

try saying ura -NUS with the emphasis on the final syllable OH and say the "a" as in ham not in hay.

I too am very glad that Mexico and Vermont are between us and the fires of the sun.

Melissa Belmonte said...

I sure hope you don't mind if I copy you, because I already did. IT was a fun project- thanks! It amazes me that you just come up with this stuff.

Dave said...

"Did you guide the painting?"

We printed a map of the solar system and used that to help us with the colors. I guided in the sense that I kept a steady flow of clean paint brushes available and whisked away dirty ones. ;)

"I sure hope you don't mind if I copy you, because I already did." awesome Melissa! We should talk rainbows! I hope you post your solar system!