Crayontastic

SEW WHAT?: After several months (perhaps even a couple of years) of talking about it, today we took on an artsy craftsy project that was big fun. We made a crayondolier, or a crayon ammo belt, or an artistic bandoleer.  Whatever it's called, it was about making a sling-style holster to hold crayons so Annabelle can be ready to draw (not as in a weapon, but as in a crayon) at a moment's notice.

I think the first time I saw something like it was on ThinkGeek, a web site we LOVE. But I'm also super cheap and I didn't want to spend $25 to buy one. 
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So, today we used some cute fabric leftovers and about 90 minutes of our time (for engineering, fitting and all), and we made our own.

CJ helped with the ironing ... 

Annabelle did the trimming ...

and they both did some twisting and turning. 

We had to do some math for sizing ... 

and in the end it all worked out!

We're already thinking of ways to improve the design, of course. 

RIGHTS ON: We spent a rather heady morning all up in the Magna Carta and contemplating human rights. 

We're in our last week of our Magna Carta class, and the 'final' for the course involves having to propose a new clause for the charter and have darn good reasons to support it. 

To that end, we watched course lectures today, and read all sorts of supplementary articles, including information about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Adopted by the United Nations back to 1948, it proposed a standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, the document's drafting committee was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Aware that other additions or amendments to the Magna Carta might involve economics, we were also pointed to a fabulous animated illustration academic David Harvey's take on capitalism and the need for a new social order. 

It's straight up economics, and the kids were absolutely rapt for the entirety of the video. (WAY more than I can say for the economics classes I took in college!)

I absolutely adore our Coursera classes. Yes, this one is about the Magna Carta, but today the kids got a history lesson involving the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt, the perils of Reagonomics and much more.