Building Sugar Cube Structures

7 / 14 / 137 / 22 / 13

Upon returning from my first ever weekend (and overnight, actually) away from Miss G, she immediately asked if we could open the last of her activity bags. She explained that she had already opened all of the other bags, but had saved the ‘bonus bag’ to do with me once I returned home.

She pulled the items out one by one and this is what we found inside… A box of sugar cubes, some white glue, and several pieces of thick cardboard. The note inside explained that the materials were for building structures, and Gracen wasted no time getting started.

First up, she told me she was going to build ‘biiiiig’ towers. ‘Big, big, big, big, biiiiiig ones’. And that she did. Layering a little squeeze of glue between each sugar cube allowed her to create several tall towers.

When her towers reached the height that satisfied her expectations, she asked for help with making a ‘rectangle’. I squeezed the glue out onto the cardboard in a rectangular shape, and she place the cubes along the path. We continued this pattern several times and finished off with a top layer that made the structure look castle-like.

With our sugar cube box running low, we decided we had enough left for one last structure. Grae decided on a pyramid with a fence around it (the fence was very important) and so that’s what we did.

I really love this activity because it can be very open-ended – the possibilities are endless! Grae loved it so much that she was quite disappointed when the sugar cubes were gone, so we’ll definitely be trying it again soon!

♥

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A Local Favourite: Urban Source

11 / 22 / 121 / 23 / 13

One thing I adore about the city of Vancouver is the endless locally-owned specialty shops that line the streets of many neighbourhoods. One of our favourites, located just down Main Street near Heritage Hall, is Urban Source.

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Urban Source specializes in alternative art materials and sells all kinds of leftovers, misprints, over stock, cut offs, and discards from local industries as unique art supplies. So whether you’re in the market for wooden doweling, ceramic tiles, cardboard cutouts, old-school slides, or leather scraps, Urban Source has probably got you covered. Besides the always changing stock, I love the giant selection and knowing that by purchasing ‘alternative’ craft materials we’re saving them from heading straight to the landfill. My little miss, on the other hand, loves the fact that she gets a {flat rate} brown paper bag that can be filled to the brim with materials of her choosing.

Today we popped in and after very patiently waiting for me to browse the selection of new items, Gracen retrieved a brown paper bag and began filling it with treasures of all sorts. With a tiny bit of help from Mama {who had specific projects in mind}, the bag was brimming with crafting goodies in no time.

In the end, this is what we came home with in Gracen’s $6 bag… Everything from gift wrap to acetate sheets to brown boxes to medicine bottles and puzzle pieces…

I see a whole lot of craftiness in our future.

♥

Urban Source is located at 3126 Main Street {Vancouver, BC} and is open daily from 10:30 to 5:30, with the exception of Sundays when they open at 11:00.