Water and Plants!

Picking up from where we left off on our field trip to McNary Wildlife Refuge, our horticultural studies continued with discovering (or review) of how plants live and grow and how plants benefit us. The kids colored and constructed their own "plants" placing all the parts, ie. roots, stem, leaves, blossom, where they belong. We talked a little about where plants can grow and how they stay healthy.

We opened the meeting with the song, Hello Hello and a quick review of our field trip to the refuge.

Ken, a helpful dad, joined us to talk with the kids about surface tension and play in the water a bit. Using skim milk he demonstrated how surface tension holds milk in a blob on the table. The kids put some food coloring drops in bowls of milk and then watched the colors explode as Ken broke the surface tension with liquid dish soap. OOOHHH, AHHHH!

We had a talk about plants that we get food from and as a group made a fruit salad. The kids loved being able to cut up fruit and add them to the salad bowl. But being able to eat the project afterwards was the best part.

Lori led the final project, little buddies. Our form of a "chia pet" small plastic cups decorated with faces on them. The kids filled the cups with soil and then sprinkled grass seed on top. They got to take the buddies home with them to care for and watch grow.

We closed with our closing song, Make New Friends.

McNary National Wildlife Refuge Trip

On February 10th we went to the McNary National Wildlife Refuge in Burbank, WA. It was a great experience for the kids to see how some people in our community work to help wildlife and the environment. We met a volunteer at the refuge named Naomi who led us on a tour of the grounds and facility and helped introduce the kids to a basic awareness of the world around them. The natural vegetation was great and there were hundreds of birds for the kids to see. The kids also had a great opportunity to participate in an invertebrates activity. It was a lot of fun, I'm sure we'll go visit the refuge again in the future.

Trail to Creativity and Valentines for Veterans

Last night was a fun filled meeting with sensory art. We started with a pre-meeting activity of play dough. We had the kids describe how it felt and moved and how it even smelled. (We put peppermint oil in some and packets of invisible cool aid mix in others for scents, some we left plain for that scent too)

Play Dough Recipe
1 c. flour
1/2 c. salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. water
2 tbsp. oil solid (like Crisco)
1 tsp. food coloring any color you want

Combine all dry ingredients in a saucepan.
Gradually stir in 1 cup water and oil.
Add food coloring.
Cook over medium/high heat.
Stir constantly until ball forms.
Remove from heat.
Place dough on table and knead until smooth.

Then Edna led the group in the special Valentines for Veterans activity. The kids discussed what veterans are and learned that they are not people who take care of animals when they are sick. After discussing what the kids could do to say thank you to veterans they decided that making valentines would be appropriate. They took pre cut hearts and stickers and crayons and made valentines and we mailed them to the main office in Spokane after the meeting.

I talked with the kids about solids and liquids and gasses. We played a game where the kids took pictures of solids and liquids and separated them into the correct groups. We then made and played with GOOP! or Slime or Oobleck or whatever you want to call it. A concoction made up of cornstarch and water that can be both a solid or a liquid. The kids again were asked to describe the characteristics of the substance and to just have lots of fun with the activity.

Slime Recipe
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups cornstarch

mix untill well blended
add food coloring if you want

Trail to Creativity: 2nd Meeting

What a fantastically fun Camp Fire Meeting! The kids had a blast. Everyone was laughing so hard, some parents even had tears in their eyes from the laughing fits.

We started the meeting off with Shaving Cream Fun... The kids played with piles and piles of shaving cream, feeling it, smelling it... writing their names with it drawing in it. Loads of fun and easy to clean up (we used two lg, plastic lawn bags cut in half here for a table cover).

Next 3 nursery stories were read to the kids. Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Gingerbread Man and The Three Little Pigs. The kids were then given supplies to make puppets and worked on puppet shows to perform for eachother. It was a blast! Edna, a parent helper, narrated and the kids would act out the appropriate parts. The kids had such a good time and learned a lot about planning and following through with a "performance".

The "stage" was simply a expandable shower curtain rod placed in an entry way with a blanket over it... cheap, easy, perfect!