Greening Sam and Avery

MY mother's day

How I wanted to spend today might be a bit different from what other moms did today. But it was an AWESOME day and I did exactly what I wanted to. 

There was water play in our new pool, 

and it was a bit cold but the girls still has a blast!

I tackled a patch of stinging nettles that will hopefully be our pumpkin patch! 

The grass got cut! And I didn't have to do it!

I weeded the strawberry bed and admired the beautiful blooms that have suddenly appeared. 

And we planted a tree! Well, transplanted it really. This small maple tree was in a different part of our yard, being choked out by a larger bush so we decided to try and move it to save it. I don't know if it will make it because we couldn't get a lot of roots, but we will see. 

If this one doesn't make it we have decided we will buy a small tree to put in this spot. We need a bit more shade in our yard and are hoping that we can save this small tree tree and not have to buy one, but we will see. 

We ended the day with a great dinner, reading time and cuddles. 

It was a great outdoor day full of productivity, fun and laughter. What could be better than that?

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

earth day celebrations - read an earthy book

Just a reminder that the Earth Day Celebrations Blog Hop is going on! Be sure to scroll down and check out some of the great ideas that are being shared. 

Here are a few of my favorites that have been shared so far!

Eat Your Dandelions - from Laura Grace Weldon

Upcycle Egg Cartons to Building Blocks - from Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers

Toddler Bird Book - from Growing Together

Teaching Children about Earth Day - from Inspiration Laboraties

Check these out, leave them a comment to let them know Greening Sam and Avery sent you, and then come back and link up a post of your own!

So, now onto another great way you could celebrate Earth Day! 

It isn't tree planting time yet in our area, still too many days of frost and no leaves on the trees. But we are gearing up for planting season with some tree planting books. 

 

Sid the Science Kid is a great science based show that my kids love and last year after Earth Day I found this book. There is a ton of great information about dirt in there, presented in a way that little ones can understand. Plus the activities that the kids do in school, in the book, are really neat and ones that I would like to try when the girls are a bit older! 

The Mangrove Tree by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore is a style of book that I just love! They have bigger text at the top of each page that is rhyming, tells the story and presents the story in a way that is appropriate for young kids. But then along the sides of the pages there is more information about the trees, the people and the real story. I love that a parent could get this book and read have it work for both a younger child and an older child! 

If you need more ideas for nature related books to read on Earth Day head over to Must See Children's Books for LOTS of great ideas. 

earth day celebrations - blog hop

Let's get this celebration started!!  Earth Day is just 12 days away and I want to pack in as much play, learning, crafting and celebrating the Earth as I can! 

We got started today with a craft project with our friends. It was a super simple project today and just filled a few minutes of our outdoor play time and then a few minutes inside while the moms made dinner but there is a ton of variations, expansions, etc. that could be done with this basic idea. 

The kids started with some bare trees drawn on a piece of paper. I asked the kids what was missing and then we headed out to collect some items they could use to create the branches, flowers, seeds and leaves that the trees needed. 

For the two 2 year olds I did the gluing for them. 

And then they just added whatever materials they wanted. 

For the three 4 year olds I let them do all the work themselves. 

They turned out pretty cute and if the kids were not excited to move onto other playing and activities they probably would have spent a lot more time on this. 

You could take this idea and create any kind of natural image or animal and then have your child decorate it with natural items they found. Outside time collecting small items from nature and then using them for a craft project that your child can keep are great ways to celebrate Earth day! It gets your kids close to nature, noticing small fun items and the creating something to help them remember their time outside. Do this activity with a group of friends and it can become a real party! 

Ready to share some of your ideas for how to celebrate Earth Day? I am super excited to hear what you all will be up to with your little ones this month. If you are in need of ideas you can check out my first earth day celebrations post or head over to my co-host's blog, Mommy Labs. 

On to the Blog Hop!

Be sure to link up posts that relate to Earth Day! We want to hear about your crafts, books, outdoor play or learning, service projects or anything else that you have cooked up to help your kids connect to the Earth on April 22nd. 

If you grab the button or share the link for the blog hop I will help spread the word about your post via Facebook, Twitter and/or Pinterest! 

 

 

  <center><a href="http://greeningsamandavery.typepad.com/"><img border="0" src="http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/258/buttonwhitemagentagreen.jpg " /></a></center>

our christmas tree

Here is our adventure from today picking out, cutting down and hauling out our own Christmas tree.

Inspecting what might be OUR tree.

Yup, this is the one. Time to cut it down.

And then somehow we have to get it back to the car! Oh yeah, that is why we have dads!!!

Sam loves how the "tree monster" chases us out of the tree lot!  And it was a LONG hike to find that tree.

What a great way to spend our first day back in the states.

No photos of the finished product yet because, well, I have decided to make Christmas magic at my house tonight and have all the decorations (over the whole house) be out and done when the girls wake up tomorrow. Gonna be a LONG night people!!

BUT I am not decorating the tree over night by myself, so that will wait for the girls to help tomorrow night.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Nitty Gritty!

Some may think it is not very green to cut down a tree or to have to replace your Christmas tree each year. BUT the land that Christmas tree farms are on is wonderfully useful land. The trees, grasses and other plants that are on the tree lot provide great habitat for animals, birds and insects. Because the families' livilihood depends on their being lots of trees each year for costumers they have to be constantly replanting and tending to the trees. We love supporting a local family farm instead of buying a plastic tree made in some other country. Plus, our town has Christmas tree recycling programs that turn the trees into a number of things, such as mulch for sale, for town playgrounds and are sunk in lakes around here for fish nurseries.

So, even though it might not be the "greenest" option, we love every part of our HUGE, wonderful smelling, cut-it-down-ourselves, real Christmas tree. And we make it as green as we can!

fall fun - felt board fall tree

I have made my first attempt at homemade felt board fun!

I made the felt board probably the most simple (and potentially not very long lasting) way possible. I took white felt stretched it over a piece of white foam board and then hot glued it down in the back. I didn't want to spend a lot of time or money on a felt board until I knew for sure that the kids (and I) would enjoy this type of activity.

Once the board was made I started getting creative with some other felt colors for the girls.

I cut out a big brown tree, grass, some flowers and lots of leaves.

Avery played with these uninterupted and uncoached for almost 45 minutes! I was blown away. So I knew I had to make some more and come up with some other ideas for Sam.

I put together this activity for Sam. (Thanks Aunt Jojo for the suggestions!)

I cut out green, red, yellow and orange leaves to go with the big brown tree trunk. Then I drew four different trees on the notecards. Each tree with different colors of leaves and numbers of leaves. Sam's job was to try and match the felt tree to each of the tree pictures.

As indepently as Avery played with the felt board, Sam needed coaching and assistance. I think this had more to do with the fact that she was tired and cranky than her actual comfort or interest in the activity. But I sat with her and we created the trees, pretended it was a windy day and talked about where the trees go in the Fall.  She wanted more pieces and more options to make pictures (not sure I will be able to make the squirrel and owl she requested!).

I am super excited about all the felt creations that are for sure in our future!

Have a felt creation tutorial you would care to share? What is your child's favorite felt board activity? I am new to this and would love any suggestions that you have!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Nitty Gritty!

I didn't get pictures of the girls playing together but I actually have two boards made with matching sets for each girl. I didn't make the notecards for Avery, she is still a bit young for that, but she has all the other pieces now to play with.

I think to go along with this tree set I will also make pieces to create the other seasons; small flowers to go on the tree for spring along with small green leaf buds, then for winter I will make some winter snowflakes and snowmen for her to put in the picture.

Already this set has lead to work on counting, colors, matching and nature related discussions. Loving me some felt play!!

tree climbing

So once again this poor blog is taking a back seat to real life. My husband surprised me today with a visit from my two best friends from college. I was floored when the first one walked in with Chris at noon and then completely blown away when the other one showed up tonight around 7:30pm. It is amazing to see them and I cannot wait to spend the weekend catching up and just laughing like we use to!

But today we did squeeze in a few moments in the backyard for Sam to show off her new love of tree climbing to my friend Tracy.

I feel like tree climbing has become kind of an old fashioned thing and you might hear people say things like "kids don't really do that anymore" or "it's just too dangerous now". And while I do understand and appreciate the danger that is involved I also am a huge fan of the activity and hope my girls will continue to want to climb trees for many years!

 
With the right supervision, strict guidelines and appropriate level of understanding it can be a really wonderful learning experience and great outdoor fun.

Some suggestions for rules while tree climbing -

• Always climb as close as possible to the trunk of the tree (requires the child knows the parts of the tree!)
• Always look for the largest branches to put your feet on or hang your weight from
• Always keep three points of contact to the tree
• Only break branches that are dead (have no needles) and are actually in your way; this is kind of a silly rule but very important for us right now because Sam is obsessed with breaking the small branches as she climbs around
• Only climb when mom/dad is present and gives permission
• Never try to carry anything up into the tree with you (this could change as the child gets older but for the little ones keep the activity simple
• Let mom/dad know when you are climbing down so they can move your younger siblings who are inevitably in the way and bound to have their head stepped on!

 

Be brave with your child. Let them explore trees in a new and unique way. If you have a good tree climbing tree in your yard or near by in the neighborhood lay out very clear ground rules but then don't be afraid to let them be kids and have fun. 

 

outdoor playtime

When you get a heat wave in October in WI that raises the temps to almost 80 degrees you do not let it go to waste! The girls and I spent as much time outside today as we could.

As soon as the girls woke up from naps I got them in some mud play clothes and we headed out to the backyard. I already had their buckets and watering cans filled with water and the mud kitchen open for cooking! They were thrilled. And after about an hour they were covered from head to toe in mud! 

Then we moved onto the swings, slide and general swingset craziness.

Lastly we did some tree climbing! I have once again cleaned up an area at the far end of our backyard so that Sam and Avery can play in and around some big evergreen trees. Sam has seen her cousins climbing trees and when she noticed the big low hanging limbs she decided to give it a try. I helped her at the beginning and we talked about the tree climbing rules (you can only climb when mom is right here with you, we only climb next to the trunk of the tree, we always looks for the biggest branches to put our feet on, when mom says high enough you do not go any higher) and then I let her experiment with where she could around the tree and how high she could go (which was only about four feet off the ground). She did great and loved it! Avery was so cute standing on the ground underneath her, she was so concerned and confused by what Sam was doing.

We ate ice cream on our front stoop tonight and then went for a long family walk!

It was a great day and if what the weather man says will happen stays true we will have several more great outdoor play days like today!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Nitty Gritty!

Sorry no pictures from today. As a blogger I sometimes feel obligated to bring my camera with me everywhere. But then I catch myself focusing too much on getting the perfect picture, capturing every moment and getting enough photos that I miss out on actually playing with my girls. So today I made the conscious decision to leave the camera on the table. I wanted to be in the moment with the girls and not just an observer. I wanted them to see fun mom and not just the mom that makes them look up and smile! I know it makes for a much more boring post but it makes for a more fun afternoon and in the end that is what it is all about for me!

 

nature journaling ideas and resources

Wanted to share some more great ideas about nature journaling.

Here are some of my favorite activities. I have not done all of these with Sam and Avery yet and many of them would be too advanced for them; these activities are mostly for slightly older kids and can be used all the way up through adults. I have however done all of these activities with groups of kids in non-formal environmental education settings. They have been some of my favorites that work great with kids and really help them take a closer look at the natural world around them.

Find a Treasure

Lots of kids like to collect things on the trail. This activity simply gives them a way to capture their treasure without actually having to take it home. Give the children some time out on the trail to find something that they think is a "treasure". Then have them sit and draw their treasure as well as they can. The drawings don't have to be perfect just a picture that will help them remember the great thing they found out on the trail that day. The children can then share their drawings and talk about what made that item so special.

Find a Perfect Spot 

Take your child/ren to a natural area and give them some boundaries for where they can go exploring. Allow them some freedom to explore off trail (if it is safe) and on their own (if they are the appropriate age). While they are out exploring their job is to find what they think is the perfect spot. It could be alongside a creek, at the top of a hill, at the bottom of a neat tree, up in a tree, next to an animal home, etc. but each child must find their own spot. Once they have found their spot encourage the child to draw the spot and answer through their drawing or words some questions about the spot; what do they see? what do they hear? what do they smell? what other living things are they sharing the spot with? what other living things may have been there in the past? what makes this spot a perfect spot?

Notice Something Small

 While out on a trail pick a spot to stop that has some open area for the child/ren to explore. Have them each find something non-living that they can fit inside the palm of their hand. When they close their hand they should not be able to see any part of the item. Then have them sit down and carefully draw that item. Ask them detailed questions about the item while they are drawing, encouraging them to look closer and closer. When they are done with their drawing be sure to have them return the item to where they found it.

Sound Map

Sit down a quiet natural area with your child/ren. Have them place a large x on the center of a piece of paper. That x represents themselves. As they sit their quietly have them place additional symbols (can be any shape, size, color, etc.) on their page that represent the sounds they hear around them. Encourage them to listen very closely and see how many different sounds they can  "draw" on their paper. Each sound should have its own unique symbol. After a few mins (determine length by the age of the child/ren and their interest in the activity) have them share their drawings and talk about the sounds they heard.

A Tree From Many Views

This activity is all about imagination and may require slightly older kids/students. Pick a large tree in a natural area and talk about who/what might be living/using that tree (birds, squirrels, bugs, moss, animals/people for shade, etc.). Talk about what the tree might look like to each of those things; what does a tree look like if you are a bird flying above it? what does a tree look like if you are a squirrel sitting on a branch in the middle of the tree? what does a tree look like if you are a bug crawling on the bark? what does a tree look like if you are a kid sitting underneath it? etc.  Then have them try to draw the tree as it would look from those different views.

Want more natural journaling information? Here are some online resources that might be helpful.

Online resources -

Make a Nature Journal for Kids

Keeping a Nature Journal - this is an overall great resource and has great information about why we should be journaling outdoors with our kids.

Starting a Nature Journal - great example of a family doing journaling with little ones; also has links to some great journaling books.

Preschool Pre-Reading Journaling Activities - some good ideas for little ones to do outside in their journal.

Nature Journal -Getting Started - a great way to get started with links for helpful info and printouts.

 

a craft for older kids

Found this adorable idea for a homemade Christmas ornament that I have been really wanting to try. You can check out the original idea from here.

I simplified the materials to things that I already had on hand and materials that I thought Sam would be able to help me with. Not so much.

We used strips of construction paper instead of ribbon, pipe cleaners for the stems and big plastic beads instead of the fancy glass beads. But she still couldn't poke the pipe cleaner through the paper, did not understand the folding it over process and putting the whole thing together was NOT a task for a three year old. Probably six or seven if you really want them to look like the original picture!

But with lots of help from me we made three little trees that don't look so bad.

 
Won't be gifts for anyone but maybe they will be added to our tree.

 
So, if you have slightly older kids that might want to help make ornaments this could be a cute one to tackle. But not a good preschool craft!

________________________________________________________________________________________

The Nitty Gritty!

This craft did lead to a brief conversation between Sam and I about the shapes of trees. She told me they didn't look much like the trees outside. I asked her what trees are suppose to look like and she said she didn't know. So, we headed out to the deck and looked at all the trees in our backyard, comparing size and shape to the ones we had just made. She decided that the blue looking tree (blue spruce, which does have a distinct triangle shape) at the far back of our yard did look a bit like the ones we made but just the wrong color. Got me thinking I need to work more with her on shapes because she did not know those or how to describe what she was seeing at all.

Shapes in nature...hmmmmmm........

outdoor play link up - learning about trees

I told you all about the Roots book that we got from the library a while back. We still have that book and have now read it many times. Sam always wants to go out and find roots. Fine with me but it is not always an easy task to explain that we can't see the roots of trees because they are underground. I have pulled up weeds before and shown her roots but she really wants to see the BIG tree roots. Today I decided to try and distract her with teaching her about other parts of the trees as well.

We sang this little song - to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (I made it up on the spot so keep your expectations low!)

We are learning about trees -- branches, roots, and trunks and leaves---each part has a different role--some tree trunks look like a pole --branches, roots,and  trunks and leaves -- are all important parts of trees!

Then we acted out the different parts of the tree.

For roots we stuck our toes way down deep into the grass.

 
For the trunk we pushed out legs together tight and stood up nice and tall.

 
Our arms up above our heads and a bent a bit at the elbow made the branches.

 
And by wiggling our hands and fingers we made leaves.

 
Avery really liked the acting out the tree part. Then the girls and I headed around the yard to see how many trees we could find and if we could point out all the parts of the tree or find any roots that happened to be sticking out of the grass.

I got really inspired by this movement idea and changed up the words to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and made the song go like this -

Leaves, branches, trunk and roots. Trunk and roots. Leaves, branches, trunk and roots. Trunk and roots. Flowers, stems, seeds and bark. Leaves, branches, trunk and roots. Trunk and roots! 

We didn't have all the motions figured out for this one but I still thought the song was cute.

I have no idea how our outdoor play was so musical today!!  But we enjoyed it.

 How did you spend your week outdoors? 

Share your outdoor play with us. Here’s just a few guidelines for sharing.

> Any kind of outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up

> Please do not share any competitions or promotions

> Please link back to this post

> Each week we will feature an activity from the previous week. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link from your post to be republished.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Share this link-up on your site