Naturally Educational » Subject Matter
Pasta Pasta- homemade pasta making
I absolutely love when I find the opportunity to turn a chore or fun activity into a science lesson. I was making some homemade pasta at a cooking class when I the light bulb in my head went off. This is the perfect lesson for the kids! We had a cooking class, math lesson and science lesson rolled into one. My two older children ages 3 and 6 eagerly went to work on this cooking … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Featured, Home Arts, Mathematics, Science, Taste, Touch
Patriotic Kids’ Crafts for the Fourth of July
Here are some of our favorite kids’ crafts for the Fourth of July–perfect for celebrating America on Independence Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, or any other patriotic holiday. Patriotic Pinwheels Paper Mosaic American Flag Glittery Fireworks Red, White, and Blue Patriotic Ice Pops Hand Print Bald Eagle And if you are looking for more inspiration, check out my Patriotic American Kids’ Crafts Pinterest Board for crafts and activities I have found all over the Internet! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Subject Matter
Handprint Bald Eagle for the Fourth of July
We’re gearing up for our Fourth of July celebrations and talking about the symbols surrounding Independence Day. My daughter made a patriotic handprint bald eagle to watch over the festivities. We found a great book at our local library, Red, White, Blue, and Uncle Who?: The Stories Behind Some of America’s Patriotic Symbols, that explains many of the symbols we associate with our nation. The kids are enjoying the brief, illustrated, mostly age-appropriate information. They learned … Read entire article »
Filed under: Ecology, Featured, History and Culture
Patriotic Ice Pops
Nothing quite cools during hot summer days like an ice pop. We love our Tovolo Star Ice Pop Molds and wanted to try to make red, white, and blue patriotic Popsicles. The challenge is a natural, non-toxic blue food dye and, after much experimenting, came up with this recipe: Ingredients one ripe banana 6-8 large strawberries a quarter cup of blueberries (optional) chilled lemonade 4 oz cup of banana or vanilla yogurt honey or sugar (just for the blue layer) red cabbage Directions: 1. Red … Read entire article »
Happy Father’s Day!
Hope you have a lovely day with the fathers and father figures in your lives! Here are the photo montages we made for Daddy and Papa: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Subject Matter
Glue Batik Father’s Day Banner Craft
We’ve been eager to try out this kid-friendly glue batik craft technique that I saw a few years ago at That Artist Woman. Essentially, you create a glue-resist on fabric with the blue glue gel (we used Elmer’s) and then paint over with acrylic paints or fabric paint. We decided to make Father’s Day garden banners to celebrate Daddy and Papa. Materials: fabric (we used canvas bags from Michael’s but almost any white fabric would work) glue gel (we … Read entire article »
Filed under: 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Art, Featured, Home Arts
How to Grow Grass Caterpillars
We actually made our grass caterpillars in April as part of our Earth Day explorations but our “quick grow” grass seed was not quite quick enough. Our little caterpillars did eventually become big fuzzy grass caterpillars, however, and I wanted to share them with you. Our live caterpillars from Insect Lore just arrived and we are excited to see their metamorphosis into butterflies! In the meantime, we enjoy caring for these grass caterpillars. Materials: nylon stockings/knee socks (the … Read entire article »
Filed under: 3-5 (Preschool), 3-5 (Preschool), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Ecology, Featured
Live Chat with Jessie Hartland, author of Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child.
I hope you will join the Random House Children’s Books Read and Play Community tonight (June 4, 9pm EST) for a Live Chat with Jessie Hartland, author of Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child. My daughter loves this book and I cannot wait to hear more about the author’s process! If you cannot make the chat, feel free to leave a question below and we’ll make sure to ask it during the discussion! . … Read entire article »
Filed under: 6-8 (Early Elementary), Home Arts
Weave In the Sun: How to Make a “God’s Eye” Sun
June is here and summer is on its way! We are welcoming the reign of the sun with this modified “God’s Eye” or Ojo de Dios. A “God’s Eye”, as former summer-campers know, is a weaving done with yarn on sticks. Thought to have originated with the Huichol Indians of Jalisco, Mexico, who call it Sikuli, the traditional God’s Eye represents “the power to see and understand things unknown”. Instead of four branches, which represent the four … Read entire article »
Filed under: 5-6 (Kindergarten), 5-6 (Kindergarten), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 6-8 (Early Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), 9-11 (Elementary), Featured, History and Culture, Science
8 Tips for Improving Reading Fluency for Emergent Readers
My daughter loves reading but was bored by the early readers at school. She wanted to move up to higher levels with more interesting text. Her teacher sent home a note that she needs to improve her reading fluency in order to go to the next level. By working with my daughter at home to improve her reading fluency, I found a few tips that help emergent readers read more fluently: (This is my son, not … Read entire article »
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About the Author
Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Working with school districts around the country and some of the most well-known companies in the education industry, Candace creates custom strategies, textbooks, and lesson plans. Her articles have appeared in print and online.
While Candace’s degrees prepared her for a career in education, she’s found that the best preparation for parenting is on the job training.
Contact Candace via e-mail, read her full biography, or connect with her using the social media icons below or on Google.
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