His first 'research project'

Nathaniel came home from school last week with a sheaf of papers explaining his first Research Project. For Kindergarten. We were to list three animals that he was willing to made in 3-D (no drawings or paintings allowed), and the teacher would choose one of the three and assign it to him.

We were assigned the Elephant, and we promptly put the paper aside and forgot about it. Today, Nathaniel met me at the door when I walked in from work and said, "MOMMY, I need to make my animal. I think it was due today, but I can take it in tomorrow."

Now, this is RIDICULOUS, but I felt that immediate flutter of panic that I felt in school whenever I forgot something important or wasn't prepared for a test. Boy, did that moment take me back in time. AND I HATED IT. So then I ran through a mental list of what sorts of craft materials we have in the house, and if any of them could be strung together to make an elephant.

Rocks from under the deck? No; glue wouldn't hold them together. Play-Doh? No; the trunk and legs would never stay intact until he got to school. Painting and drawing aren't allowed, so ... I've officially exhausted all of the readily available supplies. EXCEPT MY SCRAPBOOKING MATERIALS.

So, we made a square elephant. I made the body, and Nathaniel cut out the ears, face, and legs. He drew eyes, mouth and tail, as well as toenails on the feet. He taped it all in place, and we were ready to go.


But wait! This is a Research Project! Here we go to the Internet to RESEARCH the elephant. AND he has to understand the topic and be able to explain it to his class on his own. Plus, we have to print out the resource material we used so he can take it in with his report.


Did I mention that he first mentioned this at 6:57 p.m., and the kids all go to bed at 8? Good times. We didn't even get to print out our article until almost 8, and then it took half an hour for me to read it to him, check for understanding, and for him to write the answers to all of the research questions on his sheet. His teacher will not be pleased, but by the time we got to what KIND of animal an elephant is, we didn't have time to write the word. "Circle it, Nathaniel. Moving on ..."


So, it's done. Ready to go for tomorrow. And I hope we don't have another one of these for a while.