Activities for Spring Festivities

I wanted to share a collection of ideas for spring gatherings.  I am an advocate of getting children outside as much as possible & I love to provide opportunities for open ended play some children appreciate having activities to get them started in their outdoor explorations.   So ways to get the children in to offbeat parts of the yard or garden is to add art to playtime.

Here are some activities that we have had success with recently:

• painting bird houses (actual ones or garden decorations)
• pine cone bird feeders and then give kids an opportunity to hang them
• scavenger hunts that lead from clue to clue 
• chalk time- can the kids make a giant sidewalk mural
• bird nest “cookies” which are little rings filled with natural items that birds might want to incorporate into their nests. 
• loose parts for inventing games - these may be, plastic lids, balls, or pinecones & other natural materials given time kids will surely invent ways to play with them 

First Day of Spring:

Today I was an Talking Oak Tree for the Seward Park Audubon.  I love being a “talking tree” and taking students into the woods to experience the forest.  Of course, I only was able to do a small number of the activities I had planned for as the school bus was late as well as in nature you have to plan for discovery that may lead you in new directions.

After starting off with an opening song.  We walked the nature trail and looked for signs of spring. We also discussed different ways to identify trees: by their bark and by their leaves.  We noticed the properties of the trees and described them with color words and texture words.  Later I read them a poem about who lives in an Oak Tree- found in the Growing Up Wild Curriculum.  We also looked at the seeds of an oak tree and seeds of a douglas fir tree. In order to explore the woods as much as possible we played “run and touch.”  It was beautiful to see the kindergarten teacher add to our activities.  When we got up from the mat she had the kids sing a song about an acorn that becomes a tree.  The class was all smiles and wonder.  

Finally we gathered around a young sapling and I told the children that this tree may have been planted by a young child and that they could come with their families to plant trees in the park.  If I had more time I might of shared my latest favorite oak tree story: Jaime y las bellotas by Tim Bowley and Ines Vilipi. Or in a longer unit: Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson, ill. by Sonia Lynn Sadler  which is a book about Wangari Maathai.

What a lovely way to celebrate the first day of spring!

Bird notes: nesting time

A chickadee was flying in and out of our birdhouse today. If a pair chooses to nest in our birdhouse- this will be the third year in a row. I do clean it out after each season, hoping to keep it a healthy home. Our birdfeeder seems to keep a healthy invitation to visit our yard and lately the sunflower seeds have been enjoyed by a steady stream of juncos, goldfinches, chickadees and a towhee bird.

This seems a bit early for nesting, but the sun had been out for weeks and bird activity very high. Plus the cherry trees that surround our front yard have buds that look like they could at any moment burst open. Daffodils have been out for two weeks and tulips that get full sun are flowering already.

‘Salamander Search’ a success at West Seattle’s Camp Long

I love that we have salamanders in our urban parks. I want to learn more about them.  It reminds me to pull out some of my favorite salamander books. The Salamander Room and Big Night for Salamanders. 

http://www.seattletimes.com/photo-video/salamander-search-a-success-at-west-seattles-camp-long/

School Gardens

The Reason for Gardens at Schools.

There are so many reasons that every school should have a garden, but perhaps the most important is that it takes learning outside and makes it absolutely meaningful.  Today the Garden Teacher at our school had an excellent lesson of searching through leaf litter for critters/ bugs!  The children loved it.  They loved lifting up leaves and searching for what had been hidden from their eye.  Then they used their observation skills to make scientific drawings.  

The classroom was abuzz with excitement as the kids went about uncovering hidden creatures, sharing their finds with one another, asking questions and trying to identify what it was they had discovered.  Then they drew their pictures for the classroom display.  It was joyful learning.

I taught life science units many years, however no terrarium or aquarium seems to compare to what we find outside in healthy garden beds or a healthy forest.  Time and time again I have led kids to just peek at what is undercover and they are amazed.  Some kids identify with the pill bug, others like the snails,worms,  the centipedes or millipedes, but whatever it is they are excited!

I am so thankful for our school garden and garden teacher. 

Four things to improve recess- news article

Here is a recent article on recess... and simple tips to improve it it. I love the idea that you can give kids a bit more freedom- but with clear intentionality so that you know what you are trying to achieve: healthier, happier, more focused students who learn to have sustained play and be problem solvers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/02/04/how-schools-ruined-recess-and-four-things-needed-to-fix-it/

After Sunset: Walking and the Parade of Boats

It has been a joy to keep a blog for several years now because it helps me realize traditions that come with each season.  Nights in November and December are dark, cool, and sometimes windy, but that doesn’t keep my family from walking after dark.  There is a magic that happens walking together in the dark.  Conversations flow.  The world seems different and in our community many neighbors put up lights.  The lights become an excuse to walk after dark.  No idling engines: we walk.  

The other night we walked to a new light experience at Lake Washington.  Each winter the Argosy has a Christmas boat that then is followed by a parade of other boats lit up with lights of all colors and designs.  The Christmas boat stops at certain points along the lake and sings to the crowds both aboard the boat and also onshore. This year we went to the Ferdinand Park about 1.5 walk from our home.  As we got to the lake luminaria- candles in paper bags adorned the path for as far as the eye could see.  There was the bonfire, myriads of neighbors- most who had arrived on foot.  Enjoying the night out together.  This type of community gathering brings out all ages.  A grand celebration of lights and singing. 

We all finished the caroling with a grand Jingle Bells and then walked home, making a special effort to pass the blocks with the most Holiday lights.  What made this year extra grand was walking with grandparents and our neighbors.  Each family had equipped our children with light sticks or blinking snowflakes so that they could be seen in the dark and together we wandered the many blocks with nary a complaint and many a good conversation.