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Every Tuesday I will put up a “linky” (a form where you add your post title and blog name and the URL of your post). Come on over and add your posts on pedagogical theory, ideas in education, learning activities, educational crafts, recaps of a recent teaching experience, new innovations in the classroom, or anything directly related to education.

For the first carnival, link any on-topic post of yours you really love–from any date.  Going forward, we’ll try for more recent posts.

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Thank you!  Hope to see you on Tuesday!

Last year, we used a calendar “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” project to explore the concept of the changing weather.

March Lion and Lamb Calendar Directions

1. Print a blank March calendar.
2. Print/photocopy Lion and Lamb clip art and cut so each animal is on its own square. We got ours from The Big Book of Monthly Ideas : Preschool-Kindergarten : The Best of the Mailbox Monthly Idea Books (activity is modified from that book). This is a perfect opportunity to practice scissor skills!
3. Share the saying “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”
4. Ask your child to describe lions (fierce, strong, roar) and lambs (gentle, friendly, baa) and what type of weather each might represent.
5. Each day: check the thermometer, select the right animal, and paste it on the calendar.
6. At the end of March, count up the number of lamb days and lion days or keep a running tally. For older kids, you could create a line graph.

Educational Experience:

• Science: Introduce the idea of the changing seasons and weather.  With children who are ready, discuss what causes different weather phenomena.
• Mathematics: Count or graph the lamb and lion days.
• Fine Motor Skills: Practice cutting straight lines with the scissor.
• Language Arts: Use adjectives to describe lions and lambs and the weather. Discuss different ways to describe rain (drizzle, rain drops, downpour), snow (blizzard, flurry), etc.

Extensions

• Science: Create a weather station board or windsocks (via No Time for Flashcards)
• Arts and Crafts: Create more Lions and Lambs.  Last year we cut the center from a paper place, glued lamb ears and cotton balls on one and lion ears and yellow and orange tissue paper squares on another.  Here are some more ideas: Lion Hand Print Craft (via Crayola); another lion and lamb hand print craft (via Thrifty Mommy); Lion and Lamb Poster (via Preschool Playbook)
• Culinary Arts: Make and enjoy Lion (pineapple manes) and Lamb (cottage cheese) salads.
• Life Skills: Each day, dress dolls (could be fashion dolls, paper dolls, felt board dolls)  in clothing appropriate for the weather.
• Theater Arts: Tape your children giving the local forecast (and e-mail it to the grandparents) or try this “Lion and Lamb” pantomime play from Scholastic.

Books

• Elmer’s Weather (Comes in a variety of languages)
• Oh Say Can You Say What’s the Weather Today?: All About Weather (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)
• Weather Words and What They Mean
• What Will the Weather Be? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
• The Magic School Bus Kicks Up A Storm: A Book About Weather

Photo credit: NormaNack

Like many children, my daughter is fascinated by birds–their spectrum of colors, array of tuneful songs, and familiar yet wild presence in our yard.

We’ve read her books on birds, taken her to the bird rescue at the nature center, and fed our local feathered friends.

In honor of National Bird Feeding Month, we went to a bird feeder craft playdate.  We made birdfeeders from pinecones, peanut butter, raisins, birdseed, and sunflower seeds.

I must confess, however, that we ended up feeding several fat squirrels.  Next time, I think we’ll try some squirrel-discouraging measures.

• Here’s a thorough round-up of some DIY birdfeeders.
• Check out the Best Backyard Bird Feeding Practices.
• PetCo’s blog has some important Winter Bird Feeding Tips, including nutritional needs.
• Check out some of the fun bird crafts at No Time for Flash Cards.
• If you are ready to invest in some bird feeding equipment, check out Audobon’s Bird Feeding Basics.

Educational Experience:

• Science: Find out the different names of the birds in your backyard. What other birds are common in your region? How do naturalists classify birds (raptors, song birds, waterbirds, jays, swallows, etc.)? What do different types of birds eat? (Check out some great activities for middle school students from the National Bird Feeding Society)
• Ecology: Consider how human actions affect birds. When we remove native plants or plant invasive exotics, we sometimes destroy habitats or a food source directly, or indirectly by discouraging certain insects. Insecticides can cripple birds when they eat the contaminated bugs.
• Mathematics: Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count.
• Arts: Identify the various hues of birds found in your backyard. Enjoy some of Audubon’s paintings of birds and discuss how the descriptive drawings of the naturalist are considered art.
• Language Arts: Write a story or poem about the birds you observe in your backyard. Describe the colors and movements of the birds. Imagine the relationships between between the birds you see.
• History and Government: Find out the state bird and why it was chosen.

Extensions:

• Field Trip: Find your local aviary or avian rescue center.
• Agriculture: Research how to landscape to attract birds and plant some bird-friendly trees and shrubs.
• Language Arts: Birds have inspired many famous songs, tales and poems, from the upbeat rhythms of “Rockin’ Robin” to Poe’s haunting “The Raven”. Read an age appropriate story about a bird. Have your children use adjectives to describe birds.  Discuss why some birds have been seen in some cultures as powerful, frightening, mischievous, orcheerful.

Some of our favorite bird books for children:

Bird Calls (Hear and There Books)	The Bird Alphabet Book (Jerry Pallotta’s Alphabet Books)
Birds, Nests & Eggs (Take-Along Guides)	Backyard Birds (Peterson Field Guides® for Young Naturalists)

Hands-on experiments are particularly well suited to grabby (in a good way) little toddlers and preschoolers who are very open to experiencing the world through their five senses.  Just remember to keep things baby-safe–one of a toddler’s favorite ways to learn is through his sense of taste.

Inspired by a recent visit to the Long Island Science Center, I wrote up some at-home versions of the exhibits and a list of some great places to find more science experiments for children.

Sensory exploration is incredibly important for toddlers.  By stimulating multiple senses, babies take in and integrate information about the world.  This builds brain connections that babies will draw upon later in life.  This is why it is essential that caregivers interact with babies can give them plenty of safe opportunities for play.

Links:

• Science Projects for Toddlers, Inspired by the Long Island Science Center
  
• Science Experiments at No Time for Flashcards
• Kitchen Science Experiments
• YES Mag’s Science Projects
• Toddler Science at Teaching Tiny Tots
• Science: Preschool Activities and Crafts

Photo Credit: Horia Varlan

• Here on Naturally Educational, I have directions for an Apple Pomander–perfect for potpourri baskets or hanging around the house during the holidays.
• Veronique at Little Elephants, one of my favorite craft bloggers, has a huge round-up of Christmas Crafts, including recipes, gifts, and decorations.  We’re planning on trying the snow globes this year!
• No Time for Flash Cards has categories for both Christmas and Hanukah.
• Michelle at Scribbit has Gift Crafts Children Can Make as will as another post on Homemade Gifts.

Homemade gifts are in keeping with the spirit of the season and children love making gifts and then presenting them to friends and family.  Artwork from even very young children can be decoupaged onto candle holders or printed onto an iron transfer for a market bag.  Children learn the joy of giving and gain a sense of accomplishment when their items are lovingly displayed.  The tradition of handmade presents also places the emphasis on time spent with family rather than money spent shopping.

Even the simplest games can build a child’s confidence and skills.  Theater games utilize two of children’s biggest assets, imagination and energy, to build on their ability to focus, creatively problem solve, and cooperate.

Before today, I had worked with teenagers and children as young as eight, but since I have a 3 year-old, I decided to try some theater games with her playgroup and modify them for preschoolers.

My general format was:

• Introductions: We said, “Hello, my name is…and I like…” filling in our own names and something alliterative that we like.  Older kids can turn this into memory game in which you repeat everyone who has gone before you and then add your own.  For a younger or more shy group, you can choose a “hello song” in which the whole group sings hello to each child in turn.
• Warm Up: There are so many great theater warm-ups.  We played pass the energy ball.  Shay Shay Coolay, Zip Zap Boing, anything that  gets the group up and moving is good.
• Imagination Game: We used a tunnel and when kids emerged from the tunnel, they pretended that everything was really heavy, or silly, or that they had turned into something with wings.  With older kids, you could introduce simple scenes here.
• Dancing/Movement: After all that hard work, we get up and moving.  With younger kids, I recommend either dancing to a song that calls out the moves (Alligator Jump, alligator slide, all the alligators like to move from side to side…) or giving the kids instruments and leading them  in a parade around the room.
• Cooperation Game: At this point I would bring everyone back into the circle to re-focus their energy.  You could play a game like passing energy through a gently squeezed hand around the room, keeping up a balloon, or trying to count to ten without anyone calling out the number at the same time.
• Cool Down: Put on some quiet music and lead the children through a guided imagery exercise (Imagine you are in your favorite place, alone or with your favorite person or pet, then picture your favorite color gently filling the top of your head, making it feel warm and a little tingly.  It is relaxing and the color spreads to your eyes.  You feel your eyelids relax as you enjoy the feeling of being in this special place.  Then your cheeks relax and your lips…etc.).  This is a great feeling for kids to remember when they find themselves getting frustrated.

Theater games help children activate the creative portions of their minds, role play difficult emotions, learn to trust and cooperate with one another, and to better understand themselves.  It is also a lot of fun and a great chance to work out some physical energy in a positive way.

Photo Credit: edenpictures

And nothing says Halloween quite like a glowing Jack-o-Lantern. My daughter made hers with some left-over tissue paper and a glass baby-food jar.

We love crafts, especially ones made from natural or recycled materials but I’ll admit…we take shortcuts sometimes. Especially when I’m hosting a play date, I buy some craft kits from Oriental Trading company. I like their sun-catchers but we always have left-over tissue-paper squares.  This craft was a fun and easy way to use up the extra materials.

Materials:

• Glass Jar (Baby Food or Jam)
• Orange Tissue Paper or Crepe Paper
• Black Construction Paper
• Glue + Water Mixture
• Tea light

Instructions:

1. Mix glue and water (about 50/50) and spread on the glass jar.
2. Paste on squares and continue to add glue mixture until the jar is covered.
3. Draw and cut out a jack-o-lantern face from the black construction paper.
4. Coat with a thin layer of glue mixture and let dry.
5. Add a tea light.

Variations/Modifications: Instead of a tea light, you could also create a candle with melted wax and a wick.

Educational Experience:

• Language Arts: Introduce the term “translucent”.
• Science: Describe the effects of candlelight as opposed to electric lights. Research the invention of the electric lights and the use of candlelight prior to its invention.
• Arts: Explain color blending and secondary colors with younger children.
• History: Examine how immigrants bring cultural traditions with them to their new homelands and how those traditions sometimes change.  Research the origin of the “jack-o-lantern”.

Extensions:

• Literature: Read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and discuss the role of the jack-o-lantern head.
• Arts and Crafts: Carve real Jack-o-Lanterns from pumpkins.
• Emotional and Social: Talk about how changing the features of your jack-o-lantern transforms it from playful to scary to angry, etc.

More Pumpkin Crafts from Other Sources:

• Paper Bag Pumpkins (at Little Elephants)
• Mod Paper Pumkins (at Hostess Blog)
• Toilet Paper Roll Pumpkin (Real Life Kids’)
• 3-D Paper Pumpkin

Home baked goods can be shared, donated, or sold to raise money, teaching social skills and responsibility.

The process itself is a delight for the senses–the tactile pleasure of kneading dough, the crackle of popping corn, the sight of various foodstuffs browning, caramelizing or blending, and of course the smells and tastes of the finished product.

So, I thought it was a great question when an Education.com community member asked about easy recipes for children.

Here are some resources I know about and ones that others suggested as well:

• Teaching Tiny Tots Toddler Recipes
• Martha Stewart: Cooking with Kids
• Family Fun: Kids’ Recipes
• Food Network: Cooking for Kids
• The Science of Cooking

Even preschoolers can cook up a great time in the kitchen.  Check out these tips for age-appropriate kitchen activities for preschoolers to teens.

Safety is always of paramount importance anytime you are in the kitchen with kids.  Here are some great tips for cooking safely with kids from the BBC.

Do you cook with your kids?  What are your favorite recipes and tips?

Photo: Slicing

Here’s a fun activity that turns your apple pickings into a beautiful and fragrant craft: apple pomanders.

Materials:
1 Apple
Whole Cloves
Spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ground Cloves)
Sandlewood Oil or Orris Root (optional for additional preservation qualities)
Ribbon (optional)

Instructions:

• If you plan on using ribbon, you can also first mark off where the ribbon will go with tape, then add the cloves over the rest of the surface, then remove the tape.
  

1. Push cloves into the skin of the apple, until the surface is covered.
2. Roll apple into spice mixture (mostly cinnamon)
3. Let sit out on a plate or in a paper bag until it cures

Here’s another set of pomander instructions including some fantastic photos.

Variations/Modifications:

• Younger kids may enjoy this activity but have trouble pushing in the cloves or grow bored after pushing in about a dozen. You can start the cloves for them and do the activity over several days.
• Pomanders may also be made with citrus fruits.

Educational Experience:

• Science: Why do spices preserve the apple?
• History/Social Studies: From where do these spices originate? Older kids can explore the history of the spice trade.
• Home Arts: Where should we display the pomander to best enjoy its scent?
• Mathematics (older kids): Calculate the surface area of the apple and estimate the number of cloves used.

Extend Your Learning (more posts to come):

• Community: Visit your local apple orchard and go apple picking.
• Science: Find out about the life cycle of the apple tree.
• Literature: Read about Johnny Appleseed or story books about apples.
• Arts and Crafts: Make apple prints or apple head dolls.
• Home Arts/Cooking: Bake apple pies or apple muffins, make apple sauce or apple butter, drink apple cider.