We Love DIY.org!

DIY.org Welcome Screen

My older two girls have been completely obsessed with DIY.org this summer. If you haven't heard of it, the gist of the site is that kids earn and collect different skill badges by completing challenges within each skill badge category. The purpose of the site is to foster a safe online community for children where they can be creative and learn new skills and techniques, while getting feedback from other kids in the online community. It's kind of like a modern, internet-based Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts mixed with safe social networking for children.

K making an omelet for her Chef badge

Here's how it works: there are different skill categories, which range from the crafty (Illustrator, Weaver, Interior Designer), to the scientific (Botanist, Oceanographer, Chemist), to the computer-related (Data Visionary, Frontend Dev, Gamer). After completing a challenge, the child uploads a picture or video directly to the site or via the DIY app, which makes it super convenient. When they have completed a specific number of challenges in each category, they earn a badge. The badges earned appear digitally in the child's profile header on the site. There has been talk of physical badges that will be available for purchase in the near future (which we can't wait for!) but for now the badges are digital. Each child's account must be linked to an adult account, no real names are to be used, and the parents can access everything the child has posted via the parental dashboard.

C making cookies for her Baker badge

 I discovered DIY.org last summer and created a profile for C, but we never really looked around the site, and we promptly forgot all about it. A few months ago, I saw the site mentioned on another homeschool mom's blog and I decided to go back to check it out. After delving into it in further detail, I realized it was right up C & K's alley! I created an account for K and reminded C that she already had one. They dove right in and started working on challenges. Now, every morning when they wake up they figure out which challenges they'll work on for the day. They're having so much fun with it! They're learning skills that they might not have had interest in until they saw that they could earn a badge for it, which is awesome. They're thinking outside the box and figuring out new ways to do things. The creators of the site add new challenges and badges all the time and we're excited to find out what will come next!

Solar Oven! They made yummy s'mores.

 

The Summer Bucket List/"I'm Bored!" Jar

Summer is here and the internet is full of great ideas for summer fun! I think the idea of having a "bucket list" or an "I'm bored!" jar is a great idea for keeping kids busy and entertained during the summer. I like to call ours an "I'm bored!" jar, because a bucket list is supposed to be things you want to do before you "kick the bucket" and I think that's a bit morbid for kids!

Before adding the fun strips

I washed out a plastic tub and removed the label with Goo Gone and added the words "I'm Bored! Jar" with blue glittery chipboard scrapbook stickers. Very simple, and I think it's pretty cute. I wrote down tons of ideas for fun things, learning opportunities, activities, and even chores on strips of scrapbook paper. I color-coded the paper so I know which type of activity is on each one. That way I can "direct" them to choose something else if I'm not prepared to do a time-consuming activity on that particular day.

The girls each pull out a strip of paper per day, one in the morning during our "morning project/activity" time, and one in the afternoon. I've tried a few different formats through the years and this is the system that works best for us. There are SO many ideas for various ways to create a summer fun/bucket list around the internet. I have seen a TON of great ideas on Pinterest and on many of the blogs I follow.

I'm also trying a new idea: Friday Family Fun Nights. I placed orange strips of paper with different family night themes on them in the jar. We will draw a slip on Mondays to determine the theme of our Friday Family Fun Night for the week. I will update with how this turns out!

A sampling of some ideas in our jar:

• Make root beer floats
• Choose a recipe out of a cookbook for dinner and help cook
• Make a sock puppet
• Build a blanket fort
• Find things that start with every letter of the alphabet
• Make a homemade instrument
• Bake cookies
• Play a board game
• Make a “just because” card for someone
• Paint “story rocks”
• Make a shadow puppet theater
• Have a water balloon fight
• Play hide-and-seek
• Empty the bathroom trash
• Sort a basket of laundry for mom
• Find a recipe from another country and make it
• Choose an animal and research it. Report 5 facts to mom + dad at dinner

We have a ton more in the jar - hundreds of ideas I've collected from the internet, books, and things that I made up. So much fun!

Sorting Laundry

Go create a Bucket List/Jar of your own! Don't forget to link up here: