Of Sparrows & Butterflies: Fun with Wacky Lab

The other day we pulled this off the shelf (finally) and got busy digging for rocks. The kids loved it and I thought it was a great kit. But there are some things that I didn't really think through that made this harder then it needed to be. Mommy's thinking cap was not working right that day :).

These are the fun tools that came with the kit. Goober loved them so much that he was trying to break bricks with them... I sent him to do it to the Lego sets instead and that worked so much better!

So by this point you should be able to see two things I should have done differently.... one, DO IT OUTSIDE!!!! And two, don't use a brown bag or even the newspaper they suggest. Use what I was going to use in the first place, either a box or a disposable aluminum foil baking pan. Not sure why I didn't go with my gut on this....

And then the third BIG mistake I made... I answered a business phone call....

...and came back to this....

...all over the table, floor, couch, and even footprints in the kitchen...

Thankfully it was all easy to clean up, it just took as long to do as it did for them to do the whole thing.... Someone told me after doing their kit that it took their child 4 hours. It took mine about one hour and took that long to clean it all up.

But then we had a lesson in mopping!

And then we played outside while the floor was drying. Overall, I would do this kit again as the kids loved it and it really was a fun one. But I would take note of the things I would have done differently so that it would be more enjoyable next time.