Earth Day

Earth Day was Sunday, so we talked a little today about keeping our Earth clean and how to recycle, reuse and reduce waste.  And then we went on a walk to see if we could clean up around us.....so they found a partner and a bag and went to work finding trash.

 There was some great teamwork going on with all 6 of them.....one would hold the bag open and the other would put the trash in!

We looked at all the beauty around us......flowers, trees, gardens growing, birds singing, bright sun shining and the clear blue skies.....perfect day to spend outside enjoying the beautiful earth that God created!

And then we painted using some recylced pop bottles.  We dipped the bottom in some paint and the kids stamped them on their paper to look like flowers.

It's amazing some things you can reuse if you just get creative or look on Pinterest!

Make a scoop or watering can out of an old milk jug.

Use lids for stamping circles or make a caterpillar.

Shape a paper towel roll into a heart shape to stamp with.

Juice can lids into ornaments or gift tags.

Egg cartons can be painted to look like caterpillars or cut apart to make flowers or cups.

Spray paint old jars or vases.....decorate with tissue paper and watered down glue.

Cut out pictures out of magazines to make a collage.

Take recyclables and make a robot, collage, or an abstract piece of art.

Endless possibilities!!!

Tracy

Planting Flowers

Today we planted our flowers......and that was about all we did.  It was windy, but nice and we needed to burn some energy.....so we talked about all things Spring, counted things outside, sang songs, explored, and played and played some more and then played some more......we needed it, or they needed it, or I needed it!  It was just fun!!!  They also helped me plant some of my flowers, which I discovered I need more and hopefully I can keep them all alive.....I do NOT have a green thumb!

 I think Maddox got more soil on himself and the porch than in his pot!

 I thought B was going to squish his flowers to the point of destruction! LOL

Such cute little gardeners!

Tracy

Flower Pots

This morning we headed out to Serenity Gardens to get some flowers.  The kids were very excited!  Of course, I forgot my camera so no pictures out there.  We arrived a bit early, so thankfully Jana didn't mind and we checked out here chickens and kitties too!  I think we could have spent all day out there just wondering around.  Anyway, we got some flowers to plant in the pots the kids painted this morning.  They each chose what kind they wanted for their pot.....I think we got a good variety of colors.  I could spend some serious money out there.....besides the gorgeous flowers, she has these amazing pots as well.....such fun colors and different shapes.

I gave each child a terra cotta pot to paint using craft paint.  They each chose what colors they wanted and got to work painting.

Look at that concentration.....I think the tongue helps!

So colorful!  They were still a little wet, so Thursday we plan to plant our flowers.

We had a special treat while we were painting today, cause picking out flowers and painting is hard work......so we all got slushes from Sonic!  It is Happy Hour all day today.....how awesome is that!

Tracy

Watercolor Flowers Part 2

Here are two more examples of watercolor flowers.  I gave each child about 3 or 4 coffee filters.....we then turned them upside down and they started dripping the watercolors on it.....we didn't want to flatten them.

Once they were dry.....they took longer since there were quite a few together, I twisted the ends together on 2 or 3 of them and attached a pipe cleaner.  Typically I would use green pipe cleaners, but I was out and I had a bunch of white on hand so that is what we used.

Don't they look pretty all in a vase.....I think I might see if the kiddos will let me keep these on my table for awhile!

Then we took the remaining coffee filter and attached a cupcake liner to the middle.  To add a stem, we just poked a pipe cleaner through the coffee filter and the liner and then put a bead on the end to make the center of the flower.  I think these are all such fun and pretty flowers.....and very cheap......you can get a package of 200 at Vogt's right now for $1.00.  I think I need to go back for more.....they are also great to use for our afternoon snack instead of napkins....it makes a great little bowl for crackers, popcorn, cookies, grapes, etc.

Tracy

Watercolor Flowers Part 1

I'm sure you all have done some sort of coffee filter flowers before.  Well, this morning we couldn't go outside because of the rain so we spent a little extra time on crafts....these kids love to make crafts (and so do I)......we made a couple different kinds of flowers with the coffee filters.

The first one we made, I used 2 coffee filters for each child.....cut one out to look like a stem and leaves and the other one to resemble a flower shape.  Then the kids just started dripping watercolors on both until they were covered or drenched in watercolor!

Some of the kids made their stems green and some wanted theirs more colorful.

This is a great project for working on those fine motor skills and also for mixing colors to make new colors.  I will show you the other flowers we created tomorrow.....they are still drying and then need to be assembled.

Tracy