kids book club

Earth Day Book Club

Dear Sis,

Book

Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty

Craft

We began with a small ball of red Play Doh, which represents earth’s inner core. Layer two, earth’s outer core, was a slightly larger portion of orange Play Doh rolled into a ball, flattened, and wrapped around the red, inner core layer. The third layer, earth’s mantel, was created with yellow Play Doh and the same: ball, flatten, wrap process. The forth layer, earth’s crust is made with tan Play Doh. The fifth layer, is a surface view of the crust using blue Play Doh to depict water and green Play Doh to depict water. Upon completion, we used sting to create a cross section of our model earth, but wrapping string around the ball and pulling each end to slice through the dough without distorting it’s roundness.

Game

I found an inflatable globe at Dollar Tree and came up with a simple game to play with the kiddos. Begin with all players standing up, shout out the name of a landform or body of water, and passes the ball to another player.  Anyone who repeats a term that was already used, or can’t think of a word on their turn, sits down. The final person standing wins.  

Songs

FREE Earth Day Songs Lyric Sheet by Tag Sis, You’re It!

Snack

We used Wilton food color paste to dye the our Sugar Cookie dough and roughly kneaded the two colors together a bit before using a cookie dough scoop to portion the dough before hand rolling it to assure that each cookie would be a perfect circle.

Happy Earth Day!

Love,

b

Garden Book Club

Dear Sis,

Book

And Then the Seed Grew by Marianne Dubuc

Garden Spread

Assorted Fruits and Veg, Cheese and Crackers, Pretzel Rounds, Veggie Insects, Juice,

and Lemon Poppyseed Cake William made Friday.

William saw the idea for Veggie Insects in one of his Highlights magazines and has been asking to make them for the better part of the month. He was very excited when I invited him into the kitchen and he found out what we were making!

Discussion – Plants we Eat

While the kids were munching away, we discussed what parts of the plant we eat. I let them do most of the discussing and just gave them new prompts when they needed them. Here are some talking points:

  • What parts of the plant do we eat?
  • Name some roots we eat. Carrots, parsnips, radishes, beets, etc.
  • Name some stems we eat. Asparagus, celery, rhubarb, and yes… potato too!
  • Name some leaves we eat. Cabbage, lettuces, spinach, etc.
  • Name some flowers we eat. Cauliflower and broccoli, if left on the plant longer bloom into small yellow flowers.
  • Name some seeds we eat. Corn, peas, and green beans, which are eaten with the pod still on.
  • Name some fruits we eat. Yes, apples and orange, but also zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and pumpkins! Anything that has seeds inside is a fruit!!!
  • Name some bulbs we eat. A bulb stores a plants energy from year to year. Onions and garlic are great examples of bulbs we eat.

Craft – Bee Planter

You Will Need

  • Clean Soup Can
  • Yellow Construction Paper and a Glue Stick
  • Black Paint and a Brush
  • 2 Wiggly Eyes and Hot Glue
  • Quilters Template, Pencil, and Scissors
  • Potting Soil and Flowers
  • Black Pipe Cleaner 

Instructions

  1. I cut the paper down to the proper width beforehand, but the kids covered it in glue and rolled it onto the can.
  2. Paint stripes. Set aside until dry.
  3. Trace hands with pencil or quilters template. Cut out with scissors to make wings.
  4. Help kids hot glue eyes and wings in place.
  5. Plant flower in can.
  6. Bend pipe cleaners as desired and stick into the dirt to create antenna.

The little ones hanging out while the big kids have craft time.

Songs

The Gardener Plants the Seeds, Printable Lyric Sheet from Tag Sis, You’re It!

Grow and Plant Printable, Lyrics Sheet from Teachers Pay Teachers

Science – Sprout Bags

You Will Need

  • Print “My Sprout” Bag Topper Printable, in black and white or color, by PreKinders. I used card stock and cut them out beforehand.
  • Sandwich bag, with a zip top
  • Paper towel and Bowl of Water
  • Lima beans
  • Stapler and Writing Tool

Instructions

  1. Helping one child at a time, the kids folded their paper towel so that it would fit in the bag, dipped it in water, and squeezed it out a big so it wasn’t dripping anymore. Then, they placed it in the bag and flattened it out.
  2. Next, arrange lima beans and seal the bag. We have one bean that was pre-soaked for a few hours and one that was completely dry. Some of the advice I found online, suggested pre-soaking.
  3. Fold topper, line it up, and staple it in place. Write name and date.
  4. Hang on a window and wait.

Garden Board Game

Garden Board Game Printable by Views From a Step Stool

We laminated one for each family and used craft jewels as place markers.

Happy Spring!

Love,

b

P.S. Earlier in the week we met our book club group met for a new series we started last month, called Adventure Day. We enjoyed a scripted Garden Yoga and a walked the one mile loop at the park, with a snack break. We put down blankets for the kids and they enjoyed baby carrots with veggie dip and goldfish crackers.

Garden Yoga for Kids, Printable Script by Tag Sis, You’re It!