Ian and I have been working on a project for the last two days. Yesterday, he wanted to play Minecraft, but my husband was home and using the Xbox. So, in order to keep him occupied, I suggested that he draw up a house plan. Ian has always been really spatially aware, and in order to encourage him, I’ve invested in some house plan books, graph paper and architect’s stencils. We got out the graph paper and began drawing a floor-plan for a castle. A really huge castle with three stories, towers, and a dungeon that’s twice the size of the main floor. By the time we really got into it, we realized that the castle wasn’t enough. You see, there was the issue of the enormous kitchen and grand hall to deal with. The King was going to throw huge parties, and in order to do that, his property would have to be vast, complete with a forest, lake, village, a blacksmith, and farms to supply his larders. Before we knew it, the “map” took up four pieces of paper that we had to tape together. He insisted on a legend for his map, and we talked a bit about what sorts of shops and markets the village would need to support themselves and the royal family. After nearing completion, we realized that we couldn’t just abandon our project. No, there needed to be stories written about this place, and who was going to write them? US! This is the first time that I can remember that Ian picked up a pencil voluntarily and insisted on writing. We took turns writing a sentence or two each, and it was so much fun, I just had to share it with you all! Here is what we’ve come up with so far:
Once upon a time there was a castle. In this castle, there lived a king, a queen, a prince, and a princess. There was a path to the village. Every day, the princess walked the path into the village to visit her favorite aunt, who happened to be a witch. The witch was a good witch. She made potions that healed people. Her name was Witch Hazel, and she had a pet dog named Broomstick. The princess always brought a piece of bacon for Broomstick, and freshly-baked breads for Witch Hazel. There were eight houses in the village. Many of the villagers were friendly, and almost all of them loved Princess Judy. All except one villager. He hated the princess. Princess Judy knew that the old man hated her because he growled and frowned every time she passed him on the path. One day the old man let Broomstick out of the witch’s yard. Broomstick was so happy to be free that he immediately started chasing rabbits and squirrels. He chased the rabbits into the forest. Broomstick had no idea that the surrounding forest was dangerous. Princess Judy saw that Broomstick got away, but she did not see the old man. The king and queen had warned Princess Judy about going into the dark, foggy forest. As she carefully followed Broomstick into its depths, she did not notice the old man creeping silently behind her…
Ha! This reminds me of the time my youngest said when he grew up he would be a building contractor and would build me a 3-story house with a swimming pool on the top floor. He’d even drawn it up, albeit in a crude fashion.
When I asked him about pools leaking, and he drew in a drip pan, the size of a pool between the 2nd and 3rd floors, piped to run off to our garden.
When I told him that by the time he was through college I might not be able to climb to the third floor (I’d be 60 or so!) he promptly added and elevator.
When I asked him how I’d get down if the electricity went out during a storm, he said, “Mom, we’ve always needed a generator!”
I didn’t ask him how I’d get the generator started from the third floor!
Katherine, that’s fantastic! Problem-solving skills at their finest! That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about drawing in the villages and farms. We had to decide how the people would live and what things they would need. We even decided to put some extra houses on the farm because we didn’t figure the farmer could support the entire village and castle by himself…
Such fun! I remember another drawing around here, this one of a church, and the “architect” asking me how large to plan the parking lot. Funny thing is he thought I knew!
We did some math and arrived at a number, accurate or not, that looked reasonable enough on paper. 
I, like you, was impressed at this added problem-solving chore he could have just skipped, except he found it fun. Yay! 
This is great! So glad that you and Ian had so much fun with this. (And I actually rather envy his spatial awareness, because mine is sadly lacking.) What a cliffhanger; I hope that old man gets what’s coming to him!
We had a fantastic time! I was sort of hoping the old man would end up with a surprisingly good motive, and perhaps even save the day, but Ian is just dying to throw someone in the dungeon. We’ll have to see how it pans out!
Well, a dungeon that size is too grand to waste. X)
Very nice hook at the end, Amy! I hope you will keep us posted on the happenings in the little kingdom! What wonderful times with Ian and a great idea to blog about them. Enjoy!
Check out our new blog too, when you get a chance.
Lori
We will certainly keep you all up to date! BTW, I love your blog! Mind if I link to it from mine?