Castles With Style

 This week, Dylan, one of my grandsons ask me to write about castles. I asked him what kind of castle he wanted. He said his castle needed to have walls that couldn’t be broken. It has a drawbridge made of diamonds. There is a moat of lava surrounding the castle. Guarding this mighty fortress is an elite team of 1000 ninja alligators wearing armor.  Pretty cool idea, don’t you think?

So I got my friends at AI to do some drawing for me. (Actually I don’t know any AI computers personally, but they do some cool work if you ask nicely.) Here’s what they came up with.

So what would you find in a castle? Of course there is the wall. That’s for protection. The main gate has a huge iron gate. The diamond drawbridge can be lifted so enemies can’t walk right in. I don’t think many attackers would want to walk on the lava.

Inside the walls you would find the bailey a large courtyard area that has other buildings. There is a great hall where everyone can eat. The king’s throne would also be there. There would be a well for water and maybe a fountain. (I personally hope it’s made of chocolate.) There would be shops, a blacksmith to make weapons, and a stable to keep his flying horses. (Hey, he’s got alligator guards. Why not flying horses?) In the many towers on the wall are rooms for people to sleep.

The whole castle is guarded by 1000 ninja alligator guards in heavy armor. Each one has a diamond tipped spear. You don’t want to make them mad!

It’s almost sunset, so King Dylan is preparing for his famous fireworks display. People from all the surrounding villages gather to see the spectacular show. King Dylan is a wise, kind, and mighty king. He makes sure all of his subjects have the food they need and are protected at all times. Long live the King!

Well that was fun! I wonder what I’ll write about next week?

Until then,

Love Papaw.

Slime Time!

Almost every kid I have met likes to play with slime. It’s a common toy in many stores. It comes in all kinds of colors, textures, and levels of “sliminess” (called viscosity) and can even come with glitter or other texture items in it. It tends to get dirty quickly and will often dry out if left uncovered. This mean you need to keep going back for more.

But did you know you can make your own slime right at home? Papaw will show you his formula that he uses at school. You will need:

1.       A pan

2.     Water (1 quart)

3.     A box of Twenty Mule Team Borax

4.     A bottle of Elmer’s white glue.

5.     Food coloring, glitter or other things you want in your slime.

 

• Start be heating a 1 quart of water in a small sauce pan. Add about 1 cup of borax. Slowly stir until all (or most of it) is dissolved. Set it aside to cool.
• Mix 1-part glue with water.
• Add the color and glitter and mix again.
• Slowly add the borax solution a little at a time, mixing as you go until it becomes slime.
• Have fun playing!

**Be sure to keep it off of clothes and furniture, and don’t put it in your mouth!

Experiment with the glue and the borax mixture. If you add less water to the glue it will make thicker slime. It might even act like rubber!

Here are a couple videos about making slime using other materials you might have at home.

Hope you have fun!

Love Papaw.