One Small Square

Today was a beautiful day to go into the garden and make spring time observations. We did an activity called One Small Square.

One Small Square is really simple.

1. Cut a "picture frame" out of sturdy paper, posterboard, etc.

2. Take your kids outside with the "picture frame", crayons, pencil, and his/her nature journal or a piece of paper.

3. Place the frame on a grassy area.

4. Allow your child to finger through the grass and really observe the natural items that are there.

5. After about 5 minutes, have your child begin to draw what they observe. Either independently or with your help have your child label each item drawn.

(In class, we outlined each picture with a thin black felt tip pen to make the detail of each drawing stand out more.)

6. When you go inside, discuss findings. Allow your child to ask questions about what they observed and make inferences. Go online together and research the answer to some of their questions.