Nature's Playground

I received Nature's Playground about a month ago. I must say I am very impressed with the content.

The book begins by going over outdoor places to consider, how to include the entire family and ways to encourage everyone to get involved. After the introduction, the book divides into a section for each of the seasons, year long activities, activities for after dark, safety and resources.

This book is the perfect place to start if you are unsure on how to bring your family closer to nature.

The photographs are exquisite as they depict real children enjoying the great outdoors.

Several Suggestion for Autumn from Nature's Playground:

1. natural painting: using plants and berries to create paint
2. autumn collections: collecting various natural treasures most found on the ground
3. forest mobiles: using natural treasures to create mobiles

You must purchase the book yourself to find out details and more activities to get your family involved with nature. 

Our Nature Journals

The other day when I got the new book, I Love Dirt, I had said that the boys and I would be creating nature journals. Well, we did!

Here are the Procedures:

1. Create a cover page for your journal.

*I love to go to discovery school clipart to find great pictures that can be used for various projects.*

You will need to right click on the clipart and save it to you computer. Open up WORD and create a text box. You can insert the picture into the text box and move the text box around on the page until it is in a position that you like.

Our cover page has a plant on it. You can see both above and below the soil which I thought was quite appropriate for a journal about nature.

2. Add a title to your cover page.

I used a free font called BASIC FONT. It is a nice bubble font that allows the letters to be colored in.

3. Print cover page.

4. Allow your children to color using QUALITY coloring any way they wish.

5. Use packing tape to adhere the cover to a composition notebook.

Make sure to cover the entire picture so that it stays put and doesn't end up getting ripped.

*You want to avoid tears if at all possible.*

I hope you enjoy creating a Nature Journal with your family.

Click on the hyperlinks to take you to resources that I used to create our cover page.

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

March and April are the perfect time of year to begin planting a small garden with your child. Consider using a window planter if your space is limited.


Before beginning, read the book Seeds, Seeds, Seeds. In this book, Buddy receives a package from Gramps that has a weeks worth of fun activities all relating to seed exploration. Each day Buddy pulls out a small bag and opens it to find an exciting new project for the day.

To really bring this book alive, have an aunt, uncle, grandparent, etc send your child a weeks worth of seed activities. You could have the book included in the package or read the book prior to the arrival of the package.

(Reading the book prior to the arrival of the package will build your child's schema or background knowledge for the activities. They will more than likely relate back to the book and can use the book as a resource when completing the activities.)

After completing all the activities, draw a picture or allow your child to dictate favorite activities or memories revolving around all the fun you both have shared. You may even want to send a similar package to a good friend or niece/nephew. Have your child help to select the activities and put the package together.

Have fun exploring and learning about seeds with Buddy.

*Check out other titles by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace at your local library. All of her books are fantastic!*

Soap Bubbles Are Like Hummingbird Wings

How are soap bubbles and hummingbird wings connected?

Well, awhile back I was doing a research project in my kindergarten classroom. We were learning about hummingbirds. While doing research myself so I could be sure to give the children the most factual information about this lovely little creatures, I stumbled upon some interesting facts.

"Like soap bubbles, hummingbird's color comes from iridescence, not pigment. It winks on and off, depending on the light source and the angle of the viewer. This allows hummingbirds to flash colors or hide them which is useful for males who want to impress females or threaten other males."

I wanted to give my students a chance to experience exactly how iridescence works, so I had them explore with soap bubbles.

Every kindergarten boy becomes an expert at blowing soap bubbles when using the bathrooms in the hallway. I jumped at this knowledge and asked them the best way to do this. After brainstorming ideas, we decided on a method and went outside to see how iridescence works.

If you want to view the pictures, check out this post at oNe PiNK FiSH.  (Same post with pictures included.)

Directions...

First, you need to wet your hands really well. Make them drip with as much water as possible.

Next, squirt about a quarter size amount of soap onto your wet hands. Rub and swirl hands in a circular type motion... like you do when washing your hands. If the soap is not lathering much, add more dish soap.

*Note: I have never been able to do this activity without using the entire container of soap. I would recommend purchasing a really cheap bottle for this activity.*

Once the you get a really good lather you are ready to try to make a bubble. To begin, make hands form a circle as in the above picture. Gentle and slowly blow between your hands.

At first, children get frustrated. They will need to see you do this as well. Watching you have trouble blowing the bubble, lets them know that it really will take several tries to master.

Seeing that first bubble being blown will erase all fears of not being successful. You will have a hard time prying kids away from this activity.

If you are observing the bubbles for iridescence, be sure to remember to point out the swirling color on the side of the bubbles. Constantly remind the children to look at the colors and ask them to describe what they see. It is so easy to get distracted with the actual bubble making. I know from experience.

Great American Camp Out

The great American camp out is on June 26th.  It is all about bringing the family together and experiencing nature.

Check out the link on Steve Spangler's Blog.

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.

Get Back to Nature

National Wildlife Federation has come up with a campaign called Green Hour.  Basically, research shows that children are getting more "screen" time than "green" time.  The National Wildlife Federation is encouraging parents to go outside with their children for at least 1 hour a day.

Here are some suggested activities...
some are from NWF and some are ideas I have used in the past

1.  Make a nature map of your backyard or neighborhood.  Draw the various trees and other natural landscapes.  Label the map with the various types of vegetation or wildlife.

2.  Use the information gathered from the nature map to go on a nature scavenger hunt.  Take a walk around your neighborhood looking for various wildlife and landscapes.

3.  Create a nature table.  It doesn't actually have to be a table.  You can use a bowl, shoebox, glass jar, vase, etc.  As you and your family collect things from nature, put them on your "nature table".  Discuss the items.  brainstorm other items to look for the next time you are outside together. 

I change our nature table each season or holiday.  Changing it often enough is key to keeping the children's interest.  We also include art projects that are inspired by nature and books that have an important seasonal meaning to us.  Right now, we have the books When the Root Children Wake Up and How Robin Saved Spring on our table.

4.  Work with your child to build a fort or other outdoor sanctuary.  This could be as simple as hollowing out a space in the bushes to hide, throwing a couple of blankets over tree limbs, etc.  It might just be a quiet area of a garden that has things that are inviting for children... child size bench or hammock, pretty stones, place to dig in the dirt, plants that attract wildlife, etc.

5.  Use your 5 senses.  Take a walk or lay quietly in the grass.  Engage all of your senses in exploring the world around you.  Sit outside and draw a picture of your feelings or what you are experiencing.

6.  Bring music outdoors.  Give everyone a play silk or long length of ribbon.  Be silly and dance to the music moving the play silk around as you dance.

7.  On a warm day use water and a paintbrush to practice letters, sight words, math problems, etc. on the fence or sidewalk. The great thing about this activity is that the water will evaporate and everyone stays cool.  Don't forget to allow a little extra water for squirting each other.  You know it is going to happen!

8.  the circle game

9.  Make a small garden.  It can be a patch of your yard or in containers.  Use part of your Green Hour every day to water and weed the garden.  Allow your child to pick the vegetables or flowers when they are ready.

10.  Plant a pizza garden.  Reuse tin cans from veggies to plant herbs.  Place the herbs in the kitchen windowsill to grow.  Once the herbs are ready to be picked use them to make the pizza sauce and sprinkle some on top of the pizza as well.

Herbs to consider... basil, oregano, parsley, cilantro, etc.

REMEMBER...

try to get outside for 1 hour a day with your child. 

Go GREEN -- Not SCREEN.