Build your own den part 5 - the big reveal....

We had aikido in the morning and because Ebi-kun had a national demo to attend the following week he couldn't skip class. So after aikido we grabbed some lunch then got straight to it. The first job was to put up the pillars, we used L brackets to do that.

The attached the cross beams for the roof...

There were a couple of re-calculations that had to go on, due to the plans not being quite right but nothing major.

Then they put netting over the roof frame to help prevent bugs and beasties getting in..

And this it was time to put the walls on. Either DH or I helped them put the wall in place and get the first couple of crews in and then the boys got busy and did the rest.

Daddy took charge of the roof. It would have been great if we could have had another weekend to work on it but the following weekend we had plans then we fly to the UK a couple of days later, so it was crunch time and no slacking off was allowed.

And here it is... a lot of sweat, no tears and quite a bit of blood loss (thanks to the mozzies) went into building this! Ebi-kun is one very happy chappy, this incidentally is his birthday present! Nothing quite like having to design and build your own birthday gift. 

I think the experience he will carry with him forever, long past when the den had gone. 

Interview with the designer:

On a scale of 1 - 10, how difficult was this project?

7 because working out all the problems was difficult.

What did you learn from the project?

How to use the tools.

That it was really important to do all the plans first and it's good to have people helping you.

How do you feel about the final result?

It was fun but difficult to build it. It's cool and turned out better than I thought it would!

What I feel he learned from the experience was project planning, that it's sometime slow and boring but vital to get get a good end result. That you have to be prepared to make changes along the way and that creative thinking will help solve a problem. 

And that big projects don't happen over night, that perseverance is very important and that quitting half way through is not an option. I think this is really important these days as we live in a time when everyone expects instant results and life really doesn't work like that.

I'm really proud of what he has achieved and I'm sure hours of fun will be had in the den. He has yet to do the interior, I will be sure to give you a tour when we get back from the UK. I did suggest a trip to Ikea for interior design but they both look at me as if I were mad! can't imagine why...

Build your own den part 4

The foundation was all in place so it was time to start building! S-kun was bought in again to help, they were loving it! Even though they had done a great job with the concrete blocks, they weren't perfectly level so we needed to add a bit of packing under the main frame to ensure everything would be level.

Next job was to put the frame together. That was pretty straight forward as the wood was already cut to size. 

Again the boys took it in turns to use the drill and everything moved along quite quickly.

Of course we had to stop for a tea break, or more accurately a senbei (rice cracker) and mugi-cha (barley tea) break.

Then it was back to it. Even though it was hot, this section of the yard doesn't get much direct sunlight which was a blessing as it was a really hot day and the mosquitoes were out in full force. The frame was attached the packing and then to the concrete blocks.

Time for the floor boards...

And to try it out! Get up you lazy muffins and get back to work!
note how cute it is that they take their shoes off automatically!

We doubled up here, Ebi-kun and daddy drilled the holes and S-kun and I put in the screws, we had the job done in next to no time.

Which obviously meant another snack break! I could get these lads jobs on an English building site!

S-kun had family stuff to do in the afternoon so after lunch we went back to the home centre to buy the rest of the den supplies. The plywood was not pre-treated so we had to buy paint/stain to treat it with. Ebi-kun picked green for the door and window and honey maple for the doors.

Whilst daddy got busy cutting the window out, Ebi-kun and I got busy with the paint brushes. We just about managed to get everything painted and cut out before we had to call it a day. Luckily the weather gods were on our side and it was a fine night so we just left all the plywood out to dry.

We had one afternoon left, would we manage to finish the build in an afternoon? Find out next time in the final part of this exciting installment of "Build your own den"

Build your own den part 3

We left you hanging, wondering about the solution to the concrete foundation blocks! Before that got figured out the boys measured the frame and cut the wood to size.

Starting off with the hand saw..

But soon moved onto the power saw. Once all the frame pieces were the right length, we set about the foundation blocks - OMG this was such a huge job!

This is where we needed daddy muscle on site, the blocks are really heavy and he decided that the best thing would be to dig holes and level them that way. Easier said than done! Eventually we got all 7 blocks in.

There was a lot of taking out and putting in. I'm pretty sure this wasn't the most efficient way to do this job! Part of the learning curve.

Ebi-kun filling in the soil around the blocks after checking the wood was level.

Finally, this took hours. We finished off all filthy and exhausted! The wood hasn't been fixed on here so that went back in the car. We'd have to wait until the following weekend to continue on the project...

Build your own den part 2

And yes, the excitement continues...

Once the project has it planning permission (from me and daddy ebi) it was time to make a start. We headed off to the home centre and prayed that the crazy weather would hold off for the day. We started off getting the concrete blocks that the den would be built on... I think Ebi-kun is doing a good impression of heavy lifting here but not actually doing any!

Then it was off to get the timber for the base frame and floor boards. He had decided that the pre-treated wood was the best idea but we didn't know what the wood was treated with, so we asked the staff and they were clueless too. DH had to shoot off an email to the company website to find out whether it was safe or not. We got the OK 

The wood was too long for us to get it in the car so we had to have it cut to length...

Next was packing the wood into the car, we don't own a handy white van so it was a fun addition to the project!

And this was another reason we had to break the project up, we couldn't buy everything in one go anyway!

When we got back, Ebi-kun went round to collect his friend S-kun who had been roped into the building process too. Their first job was to prepare the area.

We also needed to take down a section of the fence, which we were planning to do anyway since the wood had rotted. It's the first time either of the boys had used the power tools so we made sure that either DH or myself kept a beady eye on them. They did a great job and shared the workload.

We had a comedy moment when they were trying to undo the big bolt that holds the pillar, neither DH or I realised that the boys hadn't used an adjustable spanner before and it wasn't until we noticed that they weren't making any progress that we realised that they were doing it all wrong!

They got there in the end, clear away the fence and prepared the ground. The area was measured and the concrete blocks put down and we ran into his first problem....

The blocks weren't stable if they were on top of the stones - the solution was to remove the stones.

Problem 2 - the ground is not flat so it wouldn't be a good foundation to build on.

The solution...find out next time!

Doing SOLE solo…

I talked about Sugata Mitra's Hole In The Wall Project a while ago, I really like this way of learning as it is self motivated and child led. He has since set up The School In The Cloud, which really is for children to use the SOLE principles, where 4 kids work together to answer the big question.

We haven't managed to get together with anyone else to do it with yet so Ebi-kun has been doing SOLE solo! I wanted to show you how easy it is to use, I didn't help Ebi-kun at all, just set it up initially then let him loose with it!

You need to set up an account and then you can start a new session…

You can use your own BIG question or one that they suggest, choose how long the session will last, we usually do it for 60 minutes as 30 minutes wasn't long enough. Also put in how many kids and how many in each group - I think this is for when you are teaching a large class.

You have a couple of pages to click through, one has a presentation on how SOLE works but you can skip that the next time round. This is where the kids take over. They have a search engine, one for images and one for video and it uses safe search so hopefully nothing frightful will pop up! The last box is for the presentation.

The children can clip things to their scrapbook as they go along…

They can put the main question into the search box or another question might come along as they are doing their research, this is where it gets interesting because each group will end up looking at different things, depending on the questions that arise as they work through.

This is maybe the difficult bit because some of the articles are written for adults so kids might find the language too difficult. Having a group of mixed aged kids would help I think.

Once they find something they want to use, they can simply highlight the text and C&P it onto the scrapbook..

All the things that they collect are kept in little boxes, this can include images too…

Hover over the image and a little scissors icon appears, click that to add the image to the scrap book.

We found that with some of the more difficult topics, watching videos made it easier than reading articles. Instead of watching the whole thing in one go, watch a small section, stop the video and add a note to the scrap book.

As we did 60 minutes, at the 40 minute mark, research stops and he then puts together his presentation. Simply add each note from the scrapbook to the slide show. This part we need to work on, what makes a good presentation and the order the information needs to be presented in, but he is getting better.

Once everything is done, they can present their findings. This is where you can see how much they have really understood from how they can explain it to you.

As the parent/teacher, you can go in and rate the presentation and then it can be accessed again so they can do the presentation for daddy!

I am itching to do this with a group of kids to see how it works and have considered setting it up virtually but I'm not sure they can all log into the same project at the same time. Maybe I will investigate more in the holidays!

Anyway, we give it the thumbs up, Ebi-kun said it is easier to find stuff that just sitting down with Google - Google is great but can be overwhelming and even with the parental controls set up, you never know what might turn up in a search!

Summer holiday project

Ebi-kun had to make a project for school, the rules are very open and pretty much anything goes. After much umming and ahhing he finally decided he wanted to make an electronic quiz. He had most of the parts he needed in the project book we bought, although this wasn't one of the projects in the book.

First he made the part of the circuit with the light and the battery, this is actually just a very simple electronic circuit and was the perfect level to introduce electricity and current. 

Next he made the box, he drafted everything on paper first and the on the back there are cables connecting the kanji with it's correct meaning. He used brads/paper fasteners for the connectors. Once it was all set up, he tested it. I showed him what to do if it wasn't working.

Test that the bulb is screwed in properly and check all the wire connections are good. When he made the second quiz, this stood him in good stead because he was able to figure out what wasn't working by himself.

The idea is that you place the metal end of the white wire on one of the connectors, dog for example then you place the red wire on the connector that has the matching picture, if you get it right, the bulb lights up!

He took it in to school but said most of his friends said it was too difficult! 

***UPDATE*** Ebi-kuns project was the only one from his class chosen for an exhibition on innovation and will be shown with other projects from 5 surrounding cities! He was pretty chuffed about it!

Inspiration Sunday with Mario Cacciottolo

I looks like I might have accidentally started a theme here! Today we have Mario, who is travelling the world with a rather unique project, read on....

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.... 

I’m Mario Cacciottolo. Born in England, raised in Malta to a Maltese father and English mother. I was always fonder of my Maltese side to be honest. I like the heat of the sun, the smell of the ocean and the general acceptance that it’s ok to wave your hands around when you talk. I’ve found England a bit cold by comparison – I’ve lived there since 1985 – but I remain a fan of Blighty, but that opinion does intensify when I’m not in it. 

I’m a journalist for the BBC News website but am currently on a sabbatical break for a year, so am free to wander the earth and take photographs for my website Someone Once Told Me.

I love, in no particular order: the sun, technology, Asterix, Manchester United, my mum, my girlfriend, panna cotta, Sherlock Holmes, The Police (the band, to be clear) and staying up late to watch movies when there’s no reason to get up the next day.

I try not to hate – ultimately it’s a self-destructive emotion – but I dislike: cucumbers, Liverpool FC, smoking, bad manners, getting up early and being cold.

2. Where do you get your inspiration from? 

I like quirky moments in life, so I try to capture those. This can be from someone having a great story to tell, about something interesting or odd, which happened to them. Or I can be walking down the street and see a great shadowy shape being cast down by someone sat on a bench.

Ultimately I’ve watched a lot of films in my time, and I think that years of gawping at cinematography has left an impression on my brain as to what looks good, often without really knowing why. Sometimes I plan out carefully how to take a photo, but other times I just follow my instincts.

3. Tell us about your Someone Once Told Me project....

Someone Once Told Me (SOTM) is a website which captures the serious, silly, profound and profane things that people have heard in their lives. 

It sees people write down the most memorable thing they’ve ever been told and pose with that sign for a black and white photograph. They also tell the story behind the phrase – who said it to them and the impact it had. Did it change their life? And of all the things they’ve ever been told, why choose this? 

Every day, since 8 September 2007, a different photograph and story has appeared on SOTM’s home page – meaning more than 2,000 people have taken part so far. All the images can be found in the site’s gallery.

While the site features images submitted from many different countries, I’ve mostly run it from London, along with images taken during my holidays abroad. 

I’m now travelling around the world for almost a year, looking for 1,000 SOTM subjects in about 23 countries. I left in early June and will be back in the UK in May next year.

I’m also promoting the SOTM iPhone app – its profits go to Operation Smile, which operates on children with cleft palates in poorer countries around the globe.

4. What led you to start this project.... 

I’d changed my life by coming to London, with no job, no money, fairly desperate to improve my life. I was unhappy and had been most of my life – I’ve struggled a little with depression at various times. 

I got into photography – hadn’t a clue about it, but loved doing it. Then, one day, someone paid me a compliment, and – long story short – it got me to thinking about the things we were told that we carry around with us, both hopeful and hateful. And while I don’t believe, as the saying goes, that everyone’s got a book in them, I do believe that everyone has a story to some degree. And I decided that, using the SOTM format, I wanted to find out as many stories from as many people as possible. I’ve no idea why this all popped in my head, but it did and it wouldn’t leave me.

5. What does an average day look like for you?

At the moment I’m travelling around the world, so there’s no such thing as an average day for me. I’m travelling with my girlfriend, Kate McCulley, a professional travel blogger who runs adventurouskate.

I’m taking SOTM photos of people that I bump into along the way, setting up meetups and tapping into Couchsurfing groups – anything to get to meet people in the places that I visit. But I am also keen on experiencing the world, so I’m doing a bit of sightseeing while I travel too. I’m aiming for a nice mix of the two.

6. What is the one thing about your job that makes your heart sing?

When people tell me their SOTM, have their picture taken holding that sign, and then say: “I’ve never told that to anyone before.” It’s happened a number of times. If I’d asked them to tell me something personal about themselves in this way, I’m pretty sure I’d have got smacked round the chops a few times. But ask people to write down something and to pose for a photo that’ll go on the internet – no problem. So far I’ve got more than 2,100 people to do this (that number includes a couple of dogs and cats. And a teddy bear. Long story with the last one…)

7. Share a secret with us that has never been shared online before ...

I grew up on an island 19 miles by 7.5 miles, but I’m a terrible swimmer and scared of deep water (baths are ok though).

Follow Mario...

I’ve been in several parts of Europe already. In future I’ll be visiting and looking for SOTM volunteers in: 

South Africa (Port Elizabeth, Cape Town)

UAE (Dubai)

Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong)

Thailand

Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

Cambodia

Vietnam

Philippines (Manila)

China (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing)

South Korea

Japan (Tokyo)

Burma

Australia (Sydney, Melbourne)

Canada (Vancouver)

USA (cross-country tour)

Remember that if I’m not coming near you, then you can still submit your own SOTM through the Your SOTM page on the website

http://www.someoneoncetoldme.com/your+sotm

Find Mario...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomeoneOnceToldMe

Twitter : http://twitter.com/sotmario

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sotmario/someone-once-told-me/

Blog: http://www.sotmario.com

About Mario...

Mario is of Maltese and British heritage, and was raised on the Mediterranean island of Malta. After moving to England in his early teens, he later attended university as a mature student, studying English. As a trainee newspaper reporter he initially wrote about ladies reaching their 100th birthday and cats stuck up trees. Then his career took several unexpected turns. He travelled to Israel and the West Bank to report on suicide bombers, went to London to report on a groundbreaking terror trial, and also visited Sri Lanka following the 2004 tsunami to report on the aid effort.

In 2006 Mario moved to London and became a reporter for the BBC News website. Subsequently he has been hugged by an Indian ‘living saint’, learned how to be a knight for a day, interviewed world-famous musicians and conducted extensive research into the work of Nazi hunters, travelling to Jerusalem and Paris to meet several in the process. 

Shortly after he arrived in London, Mario thought of the concept of Someone Once Told Me. He is now travelling the world for almost one year, looking for 1,000 more people to tell him something memorable that they were once told.

All images property of Mario Cacciottolo except for Inspiration Sunday Banner