Tag: week 6

Animal Portrait Dress Up

If you haven’t already heard of ArtBar’s amazing process art blog you need to go check out her Instagram page.

This project is inspired by one of her story posts I saw a few weeks back and the idea just stuck with me. So thank you Bar for sharing your creative genius with the world.

You will need:

To the grown up:

Lay all the materials in a prepared area for your child to work in.
Read the prompt on the back of the photo to your child.
Let them create.

You might want to sit near by so you can listen to the hilarious narrative that is likely to go along with this activity.

Egg Carton Flowers

This idea came from a gift I was given by a student several years ago.
She gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers on sticks she had painted herself. Her mom said she did almost the whole thing on her own completely of her own inspiration!

My daughter and I often talk about how adults are so incredibly un-creative it causes massive problems in the world. She’s not wrong :/

You will need:

  • Straight sticks (these are the stems)
  • Egg cartons (cut up into just the cups)
  • Water colour paint
  • Paint brush

Optional:

  • Beads
  • White glue
  • Card stock

To the grown up:

Lay the egg cartons, paint and optional supplies out in a prepped area for your little one to create and explore freely.

Once the egg cartons are painted, poke a hole in the middle of the bottom of a cup and poke the stick through the end. It will wobble a little and that’s ok. Flowers are delicate 🙂

Many of the images I saw on the internet used pipe cleaners for stems but I really like the sticks better.

Backyard Campout

A few weeks ago you might remember I warned you that I was going to suggest your children camp in your backyard. It’s finally here. May Long Weekend. While some of you might have been watching the weather and decided last weekend was gorgeous and planned a camping trip (we spent most of last weekend outside) for the rest of us this long weekend brings some time for an adventure, close to home.

Here we go.

Step 1: Pick a campsite

At some point in time this week have your child scout out a location for your campsite.
Hopefully they have created a special corner of the yard somewhere, that place is just for them; your campsite will be near but not there.

Decide together. You’ll get more buy in from your child if you ask for their input.

Step 2: Pitch a tent.

One or two days before you plan to camp out put up a tent in your backyard. If you don’t have a tent, no worries! You and your child now have all the skills you need to make one. So find some rope and a sheet and get to work.

I also have tents folks can borrow if you like.

Step 3: Fill the tent.

The night of your planned camp out hand your child their packing list from their kit and ask them to choose and pack the 6 things on the list into the tent.

Step 4: Make a bed.

Find your favorite stuffy and a pillow. It’s time to make your bed in the backyard and start discussing with your little one that you plan to spend the whole night outside. Camping can be scary for littles so a conversation can help set the stage and ease some fears.

I read a pile of backyard camping articles and this one had some delightful ideas and outlines the benefits of camping in your backyard with young children.

Finding Flowers

This week we will look at the many flowers blooming in our community. I couldn’t possibly include them all so I’ve gathered some of the most common and marked those which we can pick and those which are best left in place.

You will need:

When you’ve gathered a collection of flowers from your yard and neighbourhood bring them home to create a beautiful pressed flower Mother’s Day card. (you can speed up your flower pressing project by using an iron)

My #1 goal is always toward stewardship.

Stewardship is when we take the time to care for something outside of ourselves.

As humans we are always going to pick and harvest natural materials so it is important to instill some mindfulness toward that activity when we are with our little ones. Just because we “can” pick it doesn’t mean we should pick it.

If you’d like to continue your flower hunting in a nature park or on a trail make sure to remind your little one to not pick the wildflowers .

There are some wonderful local resources for identifying flowers.

My favorite field guide is an out of print one called Plants of Southern Interior BC that you can sometimes find on Amazon.

We have a local Facebook group called the Kamloops Wildflower Project where some local naturalists share their vast knowledge.