Nature Walk

On Friday we started things off with a little recycled bottle craft.  I happened to have a 2 liter bottle of ginger ale in the fridge.  So, we used that to make some Cherry Blossoms.  I started things by painting the stem & limbs and setting it aside to dry.  

After lunch we headed outside to our little trail for a nature walk.  We brought Sage along with us and our new binoculars.  

Heading outside

Found a walking stick

Pinecone

We couldn't forget our binoculars

Pointing out the trees & exploring the leaves

Unfortunately, our little walk was cut short so we didn't get to see everything on our scavenger hunt list.  We will have to go exploring again soon!

Stained Glass Earth

There are quite a few different crafts that involve tissue & contact papers to create a stained glass look.  Last week we created the kite and this week it was another Earth project.

Helping mom cut out the circle

Taking a break while mom gets things ready

"Green"

"More Green"

"Blue"

The finished Earth project

Braden again loves to color, so I had him color a few pieces of construction paper.  I had some fun creating designs with him!  Then I used the pieces of paper & recycled toilet paper rolls to make some binoculars.  

Pointing out the sun & clouds

Handprints on Earth

We were only able to get a few of the Earth Day explorations completed this week.  But, Braden did have plenty of fun playing outside instead.  

We started with the handprint earth craft.  I grabbed a piece of paper from the recycle bin, cut out a circle and then let Braden do the rest!

 

Week 10: Earth Day/Recycle

April 15 - April 21

Crafts/Activities:

Cherry Blossom Painting

DIY binoculars

Handprint Earth

Newspaper Earth

Tissue Paper Earth

Sensory/Discovery:

Play outside, water table fun

Plant grass people

Nature walk & scavenger hunt

Garden Sensory

Puffy Paint Earth

Snacks:

Grapes, blueberry cupcake earth

Pancake earth

Rice Krispie Earth

** One of the moms also hosted an Earth Day play-date, but we did not end up going.

Alphabet:

E - Earth,  R - Recycle C - Clean

Books:

Michael Recycle

Biscuit's Earth Day Celebration

It's Earth Day

In the Garden

Kites & Cooking

On Thursday we worked on a quick little kite craft before running some quick errands.  

Later Braden helped me with making some homemade fruit snacks (they were not good at all).  

And he enjoyed some rice sensory play.  We used the spring colored rice from our busy bag exchange!  

Playground Fun

During "Spring" week Braden and I headed to a local neighborhood that has a playground: Springbrook Park.  It was still a bit chilly, but Braden enjoyed climbing on the structure and going down the slide.  

He just kept doing the same thing over and over again.  He would climb the small steps on the far right hand side.  Then he would walk over the platform, slowly cross the wobbly bridge, go up a few more stairs and then slide down the winding slide.  Then he would run around and do it all over again!  

Climbing the first few steps

Trying out the little slide

Very slow & careful

Big boy going down the slide himself

We warmed up a little by eating some lunch in the car, but Braden really just wanted to get back outside and play.

Then we went over to the empty field and I attempted to fly a kite with Braden.  The problem was that the wind would come and go, so the kite would come down very quickly.  When I was able to get it up into the air Braden had ahold of the tail and would not let go...

Little Caterpillar

Braden loves coloring so much!  This week when I started the caterpillar project I knew there would be a lot of cutting, so I had him color some of the pieces while I cut out each of the circles.  

I want to color!

Coloring

Stringing pieces together

Stringing the pieces together

Helping

Playing with the caterpillar