"I do not want to go sledding ever again!!"

We had a good fall of snow during the day yesterday, which Iona loved, although she got really upset at getting her hands too cold when we were first out in it. She was thrilled this morning to see her snowman (mostly made by me!) was still there, and really wanted to go out in the snow again. I suggested she and I take the dog out to a nearby park, 15 minutes walk away, and combine it with a bit of sledging on a metal tea tray, like she first tried on a shallower slope last year. It was a bit slippery walking to the park, but we got there with no misadventures, and Iona loved crunching through the thick(ish) snow. She tried sledding on a really shallow slope, but it didn't go anywhere, so I suggested a steeper slope along here:

Although I set the tray near the bottom so she didn't have too far to go, it was a bit too successful and she shot across nearly to the trees on the left of the photo, getting a tiny scratch in the process. She was brave enough not to cry, but stated with great dignity "I have had enough for today!". This was shortly followed by the emphatic comment "I do not want to go sledding ever again - it's too hurtable!". She wouldn't even get back on the tray on the level for a posed photo, or even pose standing anywhere near it!

 However, she did come back to put her toys she'd brought with her onto the tray to have a go

and also enjoyed watching me take a couple of turns (my first time ever - what can I say, I had a childhood deprived of thick snow, coming as I do from Surrey!). We then had to negotiate the walk home, which was difficult as it was accompanied by a constant chorus of "I'm going to fall over" and "I'm not going to walk on the snow - it's slippery", but thankfully we both made it in one piece. We're going through a really difficult phase in our household at the moment, with Iona over-dramatising everything and dissolving not merely into tears but into the most piercing screams! I'm finding the best way of dealing with it is to acknowledge her upset, state calmly what I can or can't do about it, then leave her to calm down in her bedroom until she's able to be distracted (today by the offer of a hot water bottle for her icy feet), but I just hope this phase ends soon.

Welcome 2013

Happy New Year, as Iona insisted on saying to everyone she passed in Asda yesterday! We had some discussion just before the New Year about New Year's Resolutions (or goals, as I prefer). I decided Iona was now old enough to have some input into her own goals, so I asked her what she wanted to do this year. She came up with the following list:

1. Make magazines every day! (She got very "into" doing that last year.)
2. Make a film.
3. Learn to read and write. (She wasn't sure about this one at first, but I pointed out that she's already started, and it would be easier for her if she could play on Moshi Monsters without me having to read everything out to her.)

The second goal was prompted by a suggestion from me, as she has invented a character to tell stories about and has already made a set of "puppets" by drawing on lolly sticks. I figured a film would make a nice project for her, although it'll be a learning process for me too, as I know next to nothing about film-making. It will cover a range of skills and knowledge, so is an ideal home education activity.

Step one began today, with showing Iona how to make a simple animation by drawing on consecutive pages of a notepad. It wasn't too successful from my point of view, as it was hard work both knowing what to draw (my idea of her character waving, winking and walking from one side of the pad to the other), and having the patience to do lots of small steps. However, Iona was really taken with the result and although she couldn't really flick the pad correctly herself, insisted on me keeping on doing so. I did take a photo of the first page, which she coloured in very carefully and colourfully, but am unable to post it here, as she informed me that then people would know about her character and it wouldn't be a surprise when the film is made, so you'll all just have to wait for the finished product!

I explained that the video we had watched at her request earlier today, "Classic Christmas Cartoons" (featuring 1940's cartoons such as this), was made using a similar technique, with individual cells photographed then playing very quickly one after another to look like movement. I told her that several of her other favourite works, "Frankenweenie" and Wallace and Gromit, were made using a different technique, called claymation, and tried to explain how that worked, while other films are now animated using computers. We then had a lucky coincidence that Blue Peter today was a special about animation, so I watched that with her, which explained claymation far better than I had been able to. By this time she was busy playing on the computer and didn't pay the TV too much attention, but did look at particular bits when I pointed them out to her.

Overall, today seemed a fairly successful start to her film project. As I'm not allowed to show today's picture, here, instead, is a photo from over Christmas to show how much Iona has grown up over the 6 or so months since I last posted:

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