Getting a close look.
**All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks!
Painted Lady Butterfly Getting a close look. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks!
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Investigating our first live cicada brought over by our neighbor! We've seen several shells, but we haven't seen any live ones in our yard--yet. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Many people celebrated Earth Day this past weekend with a variety of events. We were not able to partake in any of these events due to other plans, but we've been having our own "earth" fun this week. We started off the morning of Earth Day with a coloring page. As I've mentioned before, I like to give the girls something to do while I am preparing their breakfast. They like to color and draw, so it usually works out. I also gave Sweet Girl an Earth Day related matching activity. Before lunch, the girls and I went on a nature walk. There were two goals for this walk. One was to collect some "nature" for our collage. (We did talk about not touching things unless Mama said it was okay.) Second, was to listen for nature sounds to see if we could identify them. As we left, I got the idea that I could collect some trash while the girls were collecting nature. I decided ahead of time that I would only collect a plastic grocery bag full. (I used another bag to pick up the trash items.) The girls looked so cute walking around carrying their "My Nature Bag" bags. Love Bug wasn't quite sure of the activity at first, but once she understood, she really seemed to enjoy it. She even found some items on her own. Sweet Girl enjoyed the "hunt" and did a great job at helping me find trash and looking for animals. After we got home, I challenged the girls to find a pine cone in our yard before we started our collages. Then, the girls dumped their nature bags onto their pieces of cardboard. I instructed them to arrange their nature findings however they wanted and that I would help them tape everything down. Love Bug was not into this part so much, but kept bringing rocks over to add to her collage. Sweet Girl was very specific as to where she wanted her nature. I used clear packing tape for the large items and Scotch tape for the smaller ones. The collages turned out great and are now hanging proudly in the dining room with the other earth projects. After quiet time, I got out the Do-a-Dot Paint Markers I recently got at Brilliance. We already had something similar and the girls love them! They were happy to see how many colors they have to choose from now. We used the Do-a-Dots with this cute activity I found on DLTK Kids. I showed Love Bug what the idea of the activity was, but let her do her own thing. Sweet Girl filled each dot, but then decided to cover the entire earth! I also had Sweet Girl cut her heart out. She's doing really well at cutting curves now. We have a few more activities to do this week, but remember, Earth Day/Week is not just something we do once a year and then we're done. We all need to do our part to take care of God's creation. Think about what little changes you can make that would benefit the earth. Last year, I decided to look how I used paper towels and decided to use less. Not only has this helped generate less trash, it is helping my pocketbook, too. What changes can you make AND teach your children about? The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. Psalm 24:1-2 New International Version (NIV) **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Regardless of how and why Earth Day got started, I believe that we all should be doing our part to take care of God's creations. I'm sure you've heard the saying "Every day is Earth Day" or at least it should be, in my opinion. God has blessed us with such beauty on this earth and we all should be doing our part to preserve that. There are a lot of Earth Day events scheduled in the area. (The actual holiday is on April 22, 2013.) I have highlighted several of them below. I have also included some things that you could do at home to celebrate. The Earth is one of God's gifts to us and I believe that we should do our part to help take care of it properly. EARTH DAY PARTY FOR THE PLANET Smithsonian National Zoo (Washington, DC) Saturday, April 20, 2013 11 A.M. - 2 P.M. A free public event to celebrate Earth Day and the Zoo's commitment to green practices. State Farm® will host a special children’s area at the Kids’ Farm. Children will have the opportunity to make two crafts: plant pots with recycled newspapers and a garden journal. For more information, check out their website. 5th Annual Spring Cleaning Day Harris Pavilion (Manassas, VA) Saturday, April 20, 2013 10:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. There will be a lot going on at this event that is held in honor of Earth Day. You will be able to recycle gently used household items or clothes to a worthy cause and visit with the recycling and environmental exhibitors. There will also be earth friendly art projects for children. The day also includes exhibitors from non-profit and civic organizations providing recycling and environmental information. There will be FREE Pedicab rides provided throughout the day! The Shredding Truck will be there as well. For more information, here is the link. (This link is a bit more detailed.) Arlington Earth Week Community Fair George Mason University Arlington Campus Plaza in front of Founders Hall (with additional space inside the Multipurpose Room) Sunday, April 21, 2013 12:00 P.M. - 4:30 P.M. FREE to attend and open to the entire Arlington community. The fair will feature eco-friendly exhibits showcasing ways to live a more green lifestyle. There will also be food and children's activities. THINGS TO DO AT HOME
Earth Day Recipes Cook up one of these tasty treats from spoonful.com. I've always liked Dirt Dessert and it's a great recipe to do with children. Their Earth Day Bars look particularly yummy, too! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Sweet Girl thinks the groundhog will see his shadow. When I asked her if she was sure since the forecast for Puxtawney, PA is cloudy and snowy she said something along the lines of: In my little world I can make anything happen. Yes, you can, Sweet Girl! Notice the blue rain boots. :) Love Bug thinks the groundhog will not see his shadow. When I asked her if she thought the groundhog would see his shadow, all I got was, "no!" She had fun pasting all of the clouds on her page. Here's a list of some of the things we learned about groundhogs. After dinner, we also learned that grizzly bears like to eat them. Check out this video to see a groundhog and other little creatures in their natural habitat. What's your prediction? Will "PHIL" see his shadow or not? **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Look ahead to Saturday's weather and discuss it with your child. Does he/she think that the groundhog will see his shadow? Tell your child that he/she is making a prediction, an educated guess, based on the facts he/she knows. Making a Prediction Have your child draw a groundhog coming out of its burrow on a fun piece of paper like this one from www.kidzsparks.com. Provide younger children with a groundhog template to color and paste on the paper. Make sure to encourage your child to draw if it is a sunny or cloudy day. Have your child draw or cut out a paper sun or use cotton balls for clouds. Will the groundhog see his shadow? Plan on watching TV coverage to see if your child's prediction was right or not. Talk about the results with your child and reassure him/her that predictions are not always right (or congratulate your child for being right!). Just look at the weather forecasts this winter! Once you find out if the groundhog saw his shadow or not, serve up a winter snack or a spring snack. See below for this fun idea from The Mailbox Magazine. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! Given this is what the weather was like all day yesterday, it was evident that we were not going to be able to do our outdoor shadow activities. It was windy, but warm, so we still went out and played for a bit. The girls had fun running around and feeling the wind through their hair. Then, Sweet Girl had the great idea of getting our kite out. Fish shadows After lunch we did a shadow activity with Goldfish graham crackers. S'mores or Cookies & Cream Goldfish would work for this activity. I gave Sweet Girl some Goldfish and told her to match the fishes with their shadows. Then, we counted how many fish had shadows and how many didn't. Sweet Girl had one shadow (not pictured) without a fish. We talked about how you can't have a shadow if you don't have an object to make one. "Catch" a Shadow - Silhouette Craft I figured the silhouette craft would be more appropriate for Sweet Girl, so we did it while Love Bug napped. It took a lot of patience to get Sweet Girl to stay still. She kept trying to look at what I was doing! After I "caught" her shadow, Sweet Girl wanted to do mine. Here are our results. Not bad for first-timers! Love Bug was interested in our set-up once she woke from her nap. So, I traced her hand and a pot. Then, Love Bug colored them in as the paper hung on the door. She thought that was a lot of fun. Then, the girls just played in front of the light making shadows on the door. I got some toys and held them in front of the light so they would make shadows. Sweet Girl had to try to guess what toy was making the shadow. We had a lot of fun with this activity and the girls played with the flashlight and made shadows after dinner, too. Sweet Girl even did Daddy's silhouette after he came home! Have you tried any of the groundhog activities I posted? I'd love to hear about it! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! You can't talk about Groundhog Day and not talk about shadows! I'm sure your little ones are aware of their shadows and maybe even the spooky ones on their bedroom walls at night. Have they ever asked what makes a shadow? Here are several fun, educational activities to do to learn more about shadows. These activities work on science discovery, visual discrimination (deciding which shadows go with which object), and gross motor skills. Here's a little song to get things started. I'm a LIttle Groundhog sung to "I'm a Little Teapot" The Mailbox Magazine, submitted by Heather Graley I'm a little groundhog On Groundhog Day. I peek from my hole On a winter day. If I see my shadow, in I go! Winter's going to stay, I know. I'm a little groundhog On Groundhog Day I peek from my hole On a winter day. If I see no shadow Out I'll stay. spring will soon be on its way! Step Outside idea from The Mailbox Magazine, submitted by Julie Koczur Take your child outside to see if he/she can see his/her shadow. Guide your child to explore around the yard to see what other things are making shadows. Once you return inside, dim the lights and shine a light source, such as a flashlight, toward a light-colored surface. Lead your child to discover (by allowing him/her to block the light with his/her body or other objects) that a shadow is formed when something is placed in front of a source of light. When something (person, animal or object) blocks the light from the sun, it creates a shadow. So, that's how the groundhog gets a shadow. Take it further: Have your child bring out his/her toilet paper tube groundhog to see if it sees its shadow. Here's a fun poem to act out while your outside checking out your shadows. I See My Shadow http://www.preschool-plan-it.com I see my shadow, my shadow sees me. (Hands over eyes like glasses) I wave to my shadow, and my shadow waves to me. (Wave to each other) I run with my shadow, and my shadow runs with me. (Run in place) I love my shadow, and my shadow loves me. (Hug self) Take it further: Take some sidewalk chalk out with you and trace each other's shadows. Can you make your shadow "fit" the tracings again? Take pictures of your child's shadow and tracings to look at later. Your child has already seen his/her shadow outside, but now it's time to "catch" it and make a special keepsake shadow--a construction paper silhouette. The more still your child sits, the better the results. Even if the results are not perfect, your child will still love hanging his/her "caught" shadow up for all to see! "Catch" a Shadow - Silhouette Craft Supplies needed: large sheet of black construction paper, a light-colored piece of construction paper, Scotch tape, white chalk or crayon, scissors, glue stick, light source and a chair or stool for child to sit on What to do:
Take it further: Trace the shadows of some other objects and line them up to see if your child can identify what they are. Have the objects available for matching the shadow with the object. Let your child use a flashlight to create shadows of his/her toys. Can your child figure out how to make the shadows bigger (move object toward the light) or smaller (move object away from the light)? Get the batteries ready for your flashlight because your child is going to want to make all kinds of shadows--just like the groundhog! **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! I am not a big worksheet type of teacher, especially for younger children, but I came across these and thought they would go well with our ground hog theme this week. These would be great to fill some time while you fix dinner or while you are getting ready for a project. Sweet Girl saw them and got excited about doing the different activities. I like that they aren't all just coloring pages. All of these printables are from www.kidsparkz.com. Click on each image to go to the website for a printable version. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission. If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! A Little Background Before diving into learning about groundhogs this week, take a minute to talk to your child about what the holiday is about. You can find more extensive descriptions of Groundhog Day online, but keep it age appropriate for your little ones. I will be sharing something similar to this with my girls: Groundhog Day falls on February 2 every year. It is a time when Americans wait to see if the official groundhog, Punxsutawney Phill, who lives near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania sees his shadow or not. Everyone waits for Phil to awaken from his hibernation. When Phil comes out of his burrow, it is believed that if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if Phil does not see his shadow, spring is on its way. This is only folklore, a custom or tradition that has been passed on for generations. It's a fun time to learn about ground hogs and to anticipate the ending of winter. Phil can't really decide what the weather is going to be. Only God can do that! Burrow Fun Explain to your child that groundhogs hibernate and live in burrows. Talk about what these words mean. We will be getting out our tunnel to crawl through and to pretend to hibernate in. If you don't have a tunnel, use a large laundry basket or box and cover it with a blanket. Take it further: Ask your child if he/she would like to visit a groundhog's burrow. Here's a cute little song we did at story time last year to get things going. Groundhog Song sung to: "Are You Sleeping?" Mr. Groundhog, Mr. Groundhog, Please come out, please come out. Tell us winter's leaving Tell us spring is coming. Bring good news! Bring good news! I like to do crafts that we can use as part of the learning process and this is definitely one of them. Variations of this "oldie but goodie" can be found all over the web. Children just love this craft! We'll be doing this one on Monday. Toilet Paper Roll Groundhog Supplies Needed: toilet paper roll, brown paint (if your roll isn't already brown) or green paint, paintbrush, groundhog pattern, crayons, scissors, glue stick or tape and a large craft stick *You can use any groundhog pattern. I have a pattern with the entire body from The Mailbox Magazine. Here is a cute pattern of just the groundhog's head that is sized for this project. What to do:
Take it further: Let your child shine a flashlight on the groundhog when it is peeking out of its burrow. Did he see his shadow? If the weather is nice, take the groundhog outside to see if he sees its shadow. Also, your child can use the groundhog for songs/rhymes done later in the week. **All photos and text are property of Angela Pounders and can not be distributed without permission.
If you share one of my posts, please include a link to my page. Thanks! |
AuthorThe Master's Daughter, Angela Pounders, loves teaching and sharing her ideas with others. After working various teaching-type jobs, she now uses her God-given gifts with her children at home. Categories
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