Turtle Sprouts

Here is a link to a garden based activity for kids called turtle sprouts. I haven't tried it yet but maybe at my next playgroup. I think some parts I will have to do ahead to make it age appropriate for 2-3 year olds. I think they will enjoy decorating the foam turtles though.
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/gbl/planting/index.html

If you are wondering if gardening is a good activity for kids then here is a article supporting that thought. Basically let kids decide what to plant where to plant it, etc...not just the boring stuff like weeding and watering, although I gotta say I had Coleman out in the yard this morning watering my tomato plants! :)
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/254911

Shout out to Sue S.

I'm not sure how many of you are actually reading this, but if you haven't checked anyones comments, my fabulous friend Sue, who is a teacher posted some great book suggestions by the fingerpainting idea, I'm gonna paste it in here again just in case anyone missed it. If you've come across any great kid ideas or made up your own activity or have a great resource please pass it on!!! either comment or send me an email, let's get the word out :) Seriously Sue, You Rock!!! Love you!

hisue said...

Here are some good earth day (and everyday) children's books: Our Earth; The Earth and I (nice watercolors); Where Does the Garbage Go?; A Tree is Nice (Old, but I like it); Why Should I Recycle?; Where Once There was a Woods (good one); Great Kapok Tree (4 years and up, but good); The Tiny Seed (Carle classic); Planting a Rainbow (Ehlert classic); Growing Vegetable Soup (Ehlert classic); Clifford's Spring Clean Up (If your kid is a Clifford fan); Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (This one I use to talk about reusing things); I Had a Dream (maybe 5 or 6 and up, but very good book); Hey Little Ant (Very good for talking about being kind to all creatures). Go to Amazon to check out the descriptions because some of these are simpler than others. Besides reading and discussing these books, I always have my students clean up the area around school (wearing latex gloves), plant things, care for a creature of some sort (ants, caterpillars, or chicks that I of course brought back to the farm), and sort recyclables. I emphasize that we should care for where we live EVERYDAY.

Fingerpainting

Refilling fingerpaint squeezie bottles with homemade fingerpaints, not only saves some cash, but also reduces the waste we produce (the packaging, and bottles in the garbage) My son loves to get messy with fingerpaints and we have a tendency to go through a lot of it. Below is a recipe I found at this link http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-finger-paints.html. Although I must admit I haven't tried the juice dyes but still use food coloring. Sometimes we don't even use paper, we just like to smear it around on our little kids table and squish it with our fingers, talk about a sensory activity.

1 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. water
1/3 cup soap flakes melted with 1/2 cup boiling water
juice dyes (see below)
* make your own soap flakes by grating a bar of homemade hand soap(available in your health food store) until you have 1/3 of a cup of soapflakes.
Combine the cornstarch, water, and melted soap in a bowl. Stir to blend. Letthe mixture set until it has become thick. Divide into separate bowls andstir in juice dyes for color.
How to Make Juice Dyes
One or more of the following: frozen berries, canned beets, or 1/2 cup plantmaterial (blueberries, beets, walnut hulls, cranberries, tea).
Water as needed.
Use the juice straight from thawed berries, or juice drained from cannedbeets. Mix colors for hue variations. If using fresh berries, fruit, walnuthulls, or tea, combine the plant material with 1 cup of water in a pan andsimmer over low heat for 1/2 hour or so, adding more water as it evaporates.

Finally Spring!

Yeah it's finally Spring, and all the kids want to do is play outside (and mom too) But of course it's raining every other day and mud all over the place. So we still have to come up with some indoor activites to distract my 2 1/2 year old as his little face is pressed against the window. Here are some things we've done that he seems to enjoy.
-Planted seeds in small peat pots. We took a 27 quart plastic container and put organic potting mix and peat pots in it and let Coleman go to town filling up the little pots. It made a bit of a mess but kept him busy. Next he very precisely inserted seeds into the pots. If you would like to recycle some newspapers and make some starter pots, (another keep them busy activity, although maybe not for a two year old) here is a good link with step by step pictures: http://www.geocities.com/newspaperpots/

We have a spray bottle filled with water and his "job" everyday is to spray the seedlings to make sure they don't get thirsty. He loves his bit of responsibility! It seems to make him feel important, and I think also begins to teach him responsibility for plants and living things around us. That might be a bit to deep for a 2 1/2 year old, but you gotta start somewhere.