Iowa...you make me smile :0)

Yesterday morning, Thane came out of his room and greeted me with, "Happy States Fair Day!" It was finally the day all of our hard work was being displayed for all to see. Last night our homeschool group had their annual "States Fair". The kids choose a state to research and create a display with information about that state. Although the typical facts of "what is the state bird, tree, song, ect." are good to display, we are also looking for interesting facts such as "this was the first state to have electric street lights, or this state produces the most popcorn of any state, or this state holds the largest bar-b-que cook off in the nation". You are also asked to design a 3-D model of something that represents your state. We saw a lego creation of the Space Needle, a hot air balloon made of pipe cleaners, and several salt maps. Oh, and bring a sample of food that represents your state...salsa (New Mexico), apple chips (Washington), tropical fruit (Virgin Islands), ect.

Last year Magnus did Washington. Collin's side of the family lives there (and we did too before moving here). My side of the family lives in Iowa so we did that this year.



Magnus and I decided to make our display board the 3D object. We designed it so the objects would be "coming out" at you. Here he is working on the John Deere Tractor tire. John Deere Manufacturing is located in Iowa. My dad has been an engineer there for 35 years. In fact, the next time you see a JD Tractor, look at the hood...my dad designed the hood ornament!




We had a lot of fun working on it. Thane even chipped in a bit.



Here is the final product...




We kind of went overboard and had to make ourselves stop. We had 4 of the 5 senses displayed...sight (the 3D board), touch (corn and dirt attached to the board), taste (pork sausages to eat), and hearing (we had the cd from the "Music Man" playing and the stuffed Goldfinch bird sings!). I was thinking about getting some manure for smell, but I didn't think they would appreciate that! (yes, I can say that because I grew up there and it smells...I like the smell though because it does remind me of home. I like Iowa!) My dad even mailed us oak leaves from their neighbor's yard so we could have authentic Iowa state tree leaves...see, overboard!



There is also a "parade of famous people". The kids dress up as someone famous from their state. Magnus was Chief Black Hawk and Thane was Marion Michael Morrison aka John Wayne.



A good time was had by all. I am hoping to continue this project in the upcoming years no matter where we live by introducing it to our new homeschooling groups.