It’s summertime in the northern hemisphere, and the beach beckons.

There’s nothing quite like playing with sand - letting it pour through your fingers or squishing it through your toes - for bringing out the happy, inner-child.

Well, perhaps there is one website that can help you approximate that joy.

Visit thisissand.com and make your own sand art pictures. A click of your mouse causes digitalized sand to pour on your computer screen.

When you enter the site, you’ll see a blank screen with one small gray square on the upper left. Click on the square and you’ll get instructions for changing your sand’s color, or even selecting a color gradient.

You can elect to mute the sound of pouring sand, but I wouldn’t do that. The sound is very soothing, and you can almost attain a meditative state as you create your sand art picture.

Once you’ve completed your masterpiece, you can upload it to the thisissand.com gallery, where you will find incredibly beautiful creations.

Thisissand.com is a joint project of the designers Johanna Lundberg and Jenna Sutela with the Flash programmer Timo Koro who invite you to play in their sandbox:

The digital sandbox on thisissand.com takes after the physical one. The user is allowed to do what he or she wishes with the elements in the sandbox. Sometimes the resulting pieces are expressive, sometimes they become more abstract. And just as a real world sandbox, the one on thisissand.com can be smoothed out and re-sculpted again time after time.

Just like the actual sand gets its colour from its origins, the sand used on thisissand.com covers the RGB palette natural to digital environments. Also the sounds of the falling sand on thisissand.com resemble a real life phenomenon: singing sand is discovered in about 35 desert locations around the world where the wind triggers a low-pitch sound in the natural sand. Instead of nature’s frequencies the digital sand generates white noise, which is a random signal with a flat power density. It is considered analogous to white light which contains all frequencies - like the RGB sand on thisissand.com.

I’d show you my sand art masterpiece, but it’s lost in the gallery. However, I’d love to see yours. Be sure to post your link in a comment.

More Homeschooling Online Suggestions:

Moodstream: Create a soundboard using images, music, and film footage that fits your mood.

Zipcode Zoo - Identify the flora and fauna in any area, and learn lots about animals.

Green Dimes - Stop unwanted junk mail and share ways to “green up” our world.

Kids Cooking Activities - Ideas and resources to inspire budding chefs.

Wordle - Turn your words into a work of art

Animoto - Create a music video with your photos.

Instructables - Discover instructions for all kinds of projects - from recipes to robots - or post your own.

Mr. Picassohead - Unleash your inner abstract artist.

Hulu - Watch a movie or catch up on your favorite TV shows on your computer.

Would you like to receive more articles about homeschooling online? Sign up to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email. (Click this link. Fill out the form. Don’t forget to click on your verification Email. Look for this in your mailbox.) You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

Embedded Video

---

I’m finding all kinds of neat things on my Google Reader, and being able to post it to the blog in an instant is awesome!

Take a look at this viral video, for example.  I wouldn’t normally write a post on this, but it’s just so easy. 

And this video kind of grabs you and makes you wonder, is this art?

Sure, it’s graffiti, but, heck, Keith Haring already turned people on to graffiti as art.

And this sure goes far beyond a simple tag.  The images themselves are disturbing, and the video manipulation of those images are haunting.

Almost wish I could pick up the book (but I’m on a strict no-book budget!)  Hey, Dave, this would make a great Xmas gift!  hint, hint.

Tags: wired, art

On a recent stroll in Hudson, NY, Alex and I found statues of new dog breeds at the Best In Show street exhibit.

The richly adorned Tutt Mutt was a show stopper.

Thinking of Kayla’s recent fascination with corn dogs, we had to snap this one for her.

But, his backside is just for Dave.  He knows why.

Finally, for Diana, we found a relative of Keiko, her catdog.  This guy is from the more canine side of the family.

Would you like to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email?  (Click this link.  Fill out the form.  Don’t forget to click on your verification Email.  Look for this in your mailbox.)  You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

If I succeed in nothing else as a Girl Scout leader, I hope I open girls’ eyes to their own ability to change their world.

Photographer Chris Jordan shares a similar mission - but on a global scale.

He creates art exhibits that visually demonstrate the impact that each person has when multiplied by the many in America.

For example, it’s one thing to speak up about the growing epidemic of breast implants - even when it’s described as the gift of choice for graduating girls.

It’s another thing to see 32,000 Barbie dolls, equal to the monthly statistic of American breast implants, as the pixels in a canvas displaying a female torso.

You just can’t deny a direct correlation when you see it, and feel it.

That’s Chris Jordan’s goal, and he does a stellar job of achieving it.

Now, I just have to find a way to sneak in viewing this video into one of our Girl Scout meetings.

Tell me.  I really want to know.  What’s your gut reaction when you watch this video?  Do you feel a sudden desire to change your consumption habits? 

I’m discovering a renewed desire to renew, reuse, recycle.

If you would like to join our learning journey, sign up to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email.  (Click this link.  Fill out the form.  Don’t forget to click on your verification Email.  Look for this in your mailbox.)  You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

For your weekend amusement, I bring you Mr. Picassohead.  Got a little spud artistry in your soul?  Unleash your inner artist.

On the Mr. Picassohead web site, you’ll find a template that walks you through all the elements needed to create your own masterpiece.

You and your kids can add to the gallery of Picassoheads, or send Email art to friends. 

Take a look at my creation.  See?  Anyone can do this.

For more wired world adventure that you can share with your family, be sure to visit previous Friday Finds:

Animoto - Create a music video with your photos.

Instructables - Discover instructions for all kinds of projects - from recipes to robots - or post your own.

I’d love to see your Mr. Picassohead.  Please post your link in a comment!

If you would like to join our learning journey, sign up to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by Email.  (Click this link.  Fill out the form.  Don’t forget to click on your verification Email.  Look for this in your mailbox.)  You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.

Plein air art - drawing on the beauty found in nature - is a noble tradition.   And Olana State Historic Site, home of the famous Hudson River School artist, Frederic Church, seemed like a fine place to let out our inner artistes.

For our second Trails with Tales adventure, we ventured further afield into the magical world of the Hudson Valley Region.  At our first glimpse of Olana, crossing the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to Coxsackie, it almost seemed as if one of the castles from The Arabian Nights had been transplanted in New York.  This Persian fantasy is resplendent with mosaics, towers, and spires.

Yet, this architectural gem is just the crowning glory of a 40-year landscaping project that is arguably Church’s greatest artistic achievement.

“Olana is all of one piece - a unified artistic vision.  When you enter the property, you enter the “landscape painting” that Church created.”

Yes, it is beautiful, but were my kids inspired?

Kayla and Alex came prepared to draw. 

In their day packs, sandwiched between the Game Boy and a novel, they each carried a small sketch pad and a set of high-quality colored pencils.

And, they did sit down at one of the scenic overlooks to draw:

But, I can’t say that they were truly inspired by nature’s majesty.

Alex drew a Pokemon character, admittedly set in the idyllic backdrop.  Kayla also included the landscape, but her focus was on the only out-of-place element - a metal post!

Hey, at least I was inspired to take a few, lovely photos:

And Yoohoo and I got a modicum of exercise strolling the Ridge Road Trail through the 250 acre grounds.

Other Hikes On Living By Learning:

Peebles Island State Park, Cohoes, NY

Bradley Farm Trail, Mt. Greylock, MA

Trails with Tales: History Hikes through the Capital Region, Saratoga, Berkshires, Catskills & Hudson Valley: Russell Dunn,Barbara Delaney: BooksISBN: 1883789486 ISBN-13: 9781883789480

If you would like to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by email, click this link.  You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.