Make a Scale Model Solar System - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Make a Scale Model Solar System - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Back when my oldest wanted to learn about the solar system for the first time, I obviously thought we should make a little model. Once I actually got a closer look at all those kits they sell in craft stores and elsewhere, I was disappointed. There was never any sort of consistent scale. For example, in most kits Jupiter is bigger than Earth, but sometimes, not by much. In some kits the sun was even smaller than Jupiter.

Now, I know making a scale model solar system is hard, but I felt so many of these kits would be misleading to young kids who don't realize how different these packaged solar system kits are from reality. They just don't do justice to the vastness and the amazing sizes they way they should. They certainly don't do much to inspire awe and wonder of the natural universe.

Thanks to Google, I was able to find this wonderful website for making your own scale model solar system:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/solar_system/

You can plug in a size (the diameter) for the Sun you want to make, then it will tell you what the diameter each of the planets should be, and their orbital distance from the Sun. Your sun will need to be big if you don't want tiny dots for planets. We were going to use a hula hoop, but ended up just making a big circle with a piece of cord so we could have bigger planets. That way, our Jupiter came out to be about the size of a Frisbee, and we then measured and cut the other planets out of paper. Then we taped the planets to sticks so they would stick up out of the ground as we placed them in their orbits.

This is one caveat of the scale model solar system - Keeping the size of the planets in scale isn't too hard, nor is keeping the orbital distance, but doing both at the same time can be very tough. For example - in our model where the Sun had a diameter of 46 inches, and our Earth's diameter came out just under a half inch, if we kept the orbital distances consistent with that scale, Pluto would have to be over 16,000 feet away from our Sun. So we ended up with two scales, one for planet size, and another for orbits. The kids looked at the numbers with me, so they sort of knew that we were changing things from what they really should be.

Still, we found the biggest park we could, and laid out our circle for the Sun, then measured off the distances to stick our planets in the right places. Even though we had to plug in different numbers until we had Pluto no more than 50 or so feet away, the final model was very impressive, and illustrated much better the amount of 'space' in the Solar System.

It was a very fun and educational afternoon for us all. I am actually looking forward to doing it all over again in a year or so for the younger kiddo. She helped the first time, but she was so little, I don't think she could appreciate it yet. It really isn't as much work as it sounds like, with the help of the calculator at the Exploratorium website linked above. It is a very worthwhile activity.

Benicia Community Park - aka Big Slide Park in Benicia

Benicia Community Park - aka Big Slide Park in Benicia

Back when we lived closer by, this was one of our very favorite parks. When we found ourselves in the Benicia area recently, we just had to go visit again. 

Things I like about this park as a mom

- there is plenty of easy parking, 

- there are public restrooms within sight of the playground, although not right next to it,

- shaded picnic tables

- toddler sized play structure as well as a bigger one for bigger kids

-the BIG slide!

What's funny to me is that if we go more than a month without playing here, the kids seem to forget how much they love the big slide. They act terrified of it all over again. After a lot of coaxing to get them to try it out (or going with them the first time usually does the trick) they will sometimes never play on any of the other playground equipment. Instead they just go down the slide over and over again. There are a lot of stairs to climb to tackle this slide, so they get some good exercise even if all they do is slide. Despite its size, it isn't a super fast slide, and even small kids can do well on it. Adults seem to love it too.

Try Out a New Playground – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Try Out a New Playground – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

With the weather turning toward a very beautiful springtime, we have been spending more and more time outdoors. While we have our favorite parks and playgrounds we visit over and over again, we have also enjoyed finding new ones where we were out running errands, and maybe a little further from home. It is always fun.

Try pulling up Google maps, or whatever mapping program you like and checking out some other parks nearby that you've never been to. Or better yet, if you need to be out for another reason, look up a park near where you're headed to include some playtime in your busy errand running day.

Some parks and playgrounds I've written about here on the blog:

Antioch City Park

http://cabayareakids.blogspot.com/2012/10/city-park-in-antioch.html

Matteo's Dream in Concord

http://cabayareakids.blogspot.com/2012/07/matteos-dream-playground-in-concord.html

Hap McGee in Danville

http://cabayareakids.blogspot.com/2012/09/hap-mcgee-park-in-danville.html

Children's Wonderland in Vallejo

http://cabayareakids.blogspot.com/2008/06/childrens-wonderland-park-in-vallejo.html

Pleasant Hill Park – Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill Park – Pleasant Hill

Pleasant Hill Park is located just off highway 680 on Gregory Lane in Pleasant Hill. Pleasant Hill Park has some great features that make it one of our favorites to visit if we're in the area.

There are three structured play areas. One is for older kids and has a traditional jungle gym, and a few other spinning sorts of pieces of equipment. There is also a separate gated off toddler play area with smaller equipment for the littler ones. In between these two areas is a sandy play area with a strange sort of low climbing tunnel structure that my kids love. There is also a digging contraption in the sad area, but of course you can bring your own sand toys to enjoy there as well.

Even when I had a child that was young enough to use the toddler play area, we didn't use it much. It is great if you only have very young children, as the fence will keep them from running off when your back is turned, but if you also have older children, it is very difficult to see the other play area well from the toddler area.

In addition to the play structures, there is a good amount of open grass, and sidewalks. There is usually some biking as scootering going on along the sidewalks when we visit.  Also, some basketball courts, and swings are available some distance from the rest of the playground.

In the summer, I like that there are lots of mature trees all around the Pleasant Hill Park, so finding a shady spot to sit and rest is not a problem. There are three reservable picnic areas, and two open picnic areas. We did do a birthday party at Pleasant Hill Park once and were able to claim one of the open areas to set up for cake, etc. without too much trouble, but availability will vary every weekend I would expect.

There is street parking available right on Gregory Lane, but when that is full, there is a parking lot adjacent to the park where I have never failed to find a space.

Stomp Rockets - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Stomp Rockets - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Since we have had such beautiful weather lately, it's been nice to get outside. Stop Rockets are a great outdoor, park going activity.

Stomp rockets work by forcing air up a tube into the hollow inside of the rocket and launching it into the air when the end of the tube is 'stomped' on. There are a lot of different brands that can be found at hobby shops or toy stores.

Kids love rockets, at least, every kid I've ever met. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere that don't. It takes them a long time to get tired of stomping. Then there's all that running after the fallen rockets to retrieve them, which is great exercise.

There is even a little bit of science and experimentation involved as they try stomping harder of softer and adjust the angle to see what will happen.

We have the rockets pictured below. I like them because they don't go too high, and are safe to use in our local park. I also found a book about how to make your own. That sound like a lot of fun too!

City Park in Antioch

City Park in Antioch

The City Park in Antioch is at the corners of 10^th St and A St, and has a number of nice features. The play structures are a lot of fun: they’re colorful, and well designed. There is a separate are designed for smaller kids. Picnic tables are available, but there aren’t really any clustered in a group if you plan to be there with a lot of people. The view of the playground from the tables isn’t great, but there are benches closer if parents want a place to sit and keep an eye on their kiddos.

While the playground itself is out in the sun, there are large trees boarding the playground that provide nice shady areas, and I often see kids go play around the trees if they need a break from the heat. Also, in the corner near the trees is a beautiful rose garden created by a gardening club that specializes in roses. Each type of rose is labeled, which helps folks like me who would never know they were different types without the little signs.

There are restrooms available, which is always a plus, but they are across the parking lot from the play area, so small kids still need a grown up to walk with them for safety.  Also, across 10^th St is a snow cone hut that is who knows how old – but my husband remember getting comes there when he was a kid, so it has been around awhile.

We don’t visit often on weekends, but when we have visited, we have never had any problem find a parking spot.

While the beautiful playground at City Park in Antioch isn't all that new anymore, I remember a time when that park was not a place most people would take their children. I love that the city cleaned up and turned the park into a fun place for families once again.

Hap McGee Park in Danville

Hap McGee Park

Hap McGee Park in Danville has everything kids could want: a big playground, a water play area with sprinklers, and a sand pit. As a mom, I loved the shaded picnic tables, and the clean restrooms right next to the play area. If your family includes a dog, they can have fun too at the adjacent dog play yard.

The water play area at Hap McGee isn’t just one or two small spray spouts like many other playgrounds have. This area is designed to get kids wet. Really wet. Swimsuits are necessary, in my opinion. There are big spouts that shoot out from the ground, and tunnel sprinklers that spray a finer mist that the kids can run through.

Right next to the fun water area is a sand pit. There is a stationary digger that kids can use to move sand around. The favorite activity of all the kids in the sand area as I observed, though was to bring buckets full of water over from the sprinklers and pour it into the sand, then dig trenches and mounds designed to create a pathway for the water to flow. Then they would move the sand to get the water to go a different. It was a lot of fun, and I was only watching!

The playground is farm themed, with the play structures in the shape of barns and tractors, with silos and cows to ride on. ON the hot day we were there, the water area was much more popular than the playground, but I imagine that is probably a seasonal preference. 

Children's Wonderland Park in Vallejo

Children's Wonderland Park is one of our favorite playgrounds to visit here in Vallejo. In fact, it's going on my top 5 playgrounds in Vallejo and Benicia list. It's full of fun stuff, clean, and safe. The downside is that it has a small admission fee (currently $2.00 per person over 2 years old). They do also have other fun activities scheduled from time to time that they don't charge any extra for. I definitely recommend a visit to Children's Wonderland.

For more details about where the playground is, and events, click here.