Posts Tagged ‘Nature’
Today’s Guest Post is from Janna who blogs at The Adventure of Motherhood , we met at a conference and immediately bonded over our love of activities and linking them to books.
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Mountains of toys, video games, movies, and computers were either non-existent in my childhood or almost non-existent. Three of my favorite toys really weren’t what most people would consider toys, but they gave me hundreds of hours of enjoyment.
Outside is where I wanted to be. I wanted to be in the dirt, playing with water, or up in a tree.
Dirt
- looking for roly polys or “pill bugs”
- making mud pies
- squishing my toes in mud
- digging a hole in an empty lot
- burying things
- riding my brother’s dirt bike
Suggested Book: Jeff Foxworthy’s book of poems Dirt on My Shirt
Water
- swimming
- spraying the hose
- the sprinkler
- water guns and balloons
- dancing in the rain
- splashing in puddles
- observing earth worms
Suggested Book: Mo Willems Are You Ready to Play Outside? (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
Trees
- to hide
- to rest
- to enjoy the shade
- to challenge
- to swing from a branch
- to pick some fruit
- to dream big dreams
Suggested Book: Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree
When it comes to having fun outside, I still find myself in the dirt, spraying the hose, or attempting to climb a tree. These are three things I intend to share with my daughter, and joys I hope to never outgrow. What things will you never outgrow from your childhood?
If you have children’s books that you love and would like to share them with other moms, please consider linking up to my weekly meme called Feed Me Books Friday. It’s kind of like an online book club from moms, and a great way to compile a stellar library list.
If you’d like to learn about a project to record the stories of YOUR youth join me at MommysPiggyTALES.com.
Now that school is out for most of you I have been brainstorming crafts that are a little more challenging but that can be adapted for younger kids as well. This was fun to make and by no means do you or your child have to make flowers, the sky is the limit with these fun vibrant colors. Also you can take this opportunity to talk about shades and hues ! Don’t miss the matching activity after the craft for younger kids either!
- Gather your materials. You will need some paint samples, scissors, paper and glue.
- Start by deciding what to create, or deciding to make an abstract creation.
- I started with some grass and glued it on my paper.
- Next I made flower stems and leaves, and added them.
- Time for some pretty colors, I chose to make pink and purple flowers.
- Cut out the petals and glued them on.
- Now was the more creative part – the “extras” I decided to make some clouds with a dusty blue.
- Then my favorite a butterfly!
- As it dries the glue will stick but the paint samples will pull away some. I personally LOVE this, I like how 3 dimensional it makes the craft. If you don’t like this just pop a piece of wax peper over it and lay a heavy book on top for a few hours.
Paint Color Match
This activity is not just a color match it’s also a wonderful fine motor challenge for toddlers and preschoolers.
Here are the instructions.
