Little Herbalists and Healthy Families
Little Herbalists and Healthy Families
Did you know that roses are edible? And, did you know that roses are part of a large family of plants (called the Rosaceae family) comprised of some of our most beloved fruits? Fruits like apples, pears, cherries, strawberries, peaches and even almonds are all part of this amazing and delicious plant family.
Learn about the rose family while making a luscious Summertime fruit salad!
Read MoreOur sixth week of summer camp is all about being scientists while having lots of fun!
These projects and experiments are great ways to introduce kids to some basic scientific concepts while engaging the child in learning about the world around them.
Read MoreTo me the scent of wild things, of plants and flowers is truly enchanting and brings great joy to my life. Essential oils and hydrosols capture a bit of that magic for us humans to enjoy any time. Hydrosols are the aromatic water that is created during steam distillation of essential oils.
Read MoreOur fourth week of summer camp is all about using herbs, essential oils and other natural materials to care for our bodies all while having a blast! First is a fully description about how to host a spa day for kids. Then there are some great bath recipes that kids can make. Finally, please find a little section for parents!
What kid doesn't love bugs? Butterflies, caterpillars, rollie pollies and lady bugs are some of the most treasured critters in the garden. I even know a child who has a deep love and respect for spiders. Of course not every child loves bugs yet many do and lady bugs are among the most enchanting of bugs and are very approachable for most kids.
Read MoreMany happy days were spent stalking bugs when I was a little child. I had an array of bug catchers and I knew where all the good places were to find a new pal. My often caught favorites were roly polies. I also sought after treasured lady bugs, butterflies and caterpillars which were hard to come by and when I would find one, I would be enchanted with my imagination completely sparked. So, can you guess what one of my favorite things to do with kids? Play with bugs of course! Many, many summer days have found my girls and I "hunting bugs" and going on "roly poly" walks with bug catchers in hand.
Read MoreSpring is just around the corner yet here in Colorado, March is typically our snowiest month. We haven't had a whole lot of the white stuff so far this year and yesterday's storm has me excited for more before the first flowers start poking their heads up through the soil and the earliest green buds make an appearance on tree branches. In honor of winter fun I would like to share some of the great snow and ice projects the kids and I have done. These projects are perfect to do with young children and even have complete lesson plans for those of you working with a group of kids. Most of the projects have a bit of science thrown in while all of them offer kid-approved fun and creativity!
Talk about and play with states of matter while conducting a dissolving experiment with kids. Use all this new-found learning to grow crystals on snow flakes!
Have a race to see how fast ice will melt when exposed to different temperatures and substances. Create a big block of rainbow ice by using salt and food coloring together to track how fast salt will dissolve ice. Then paint with ice cubes!
Create an enchanted world using fairies, dinosaurs, glitter and pretty stones. The kids really loved this and want to do it again!
Super simple to make and a great way to get outside a play!!
Do you have any favorite snow or ice projects? I would love to hear about them and give them a try!
Wishing you lots of wintry fun!
Shared On: The Kid's Co-Op, It's Playtime!
This activity is not herbal or even scientific, what it is, is just plain fun! Plus it is a great way to get the kids outside on a snowy, cold day while bringing out the little Picasso inside.
The set up couldn't be easier. Simply fill a few spray bottes with cold water and then add food coloring. Let the kids watch. The drops of food coloring swirling into the water always insights happy "ooh's and ahh's."
Then take the kids outside and let them get creative. You might want to instruct the kids only to spray the snow especially if you are working with a group of children otherwise you might have art in unwanted places.
We did this activity a few weeks ago at the preschool and started out our day with an Ice Cube Experiment and setting up the Big Block Of Ice Experiment and as usual it was great fun being scientists for the day and watching to see if our predictions came true.
We also read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
which inspired the kids to get outside and explore the snowy landscape.
More Please ~ Check out other fun ice and snow experiments...
"What are we making today Ms. Angela?" I am lucky to often answer this question. Lucky because my job is to play with little kids and create fun things! The answer this time was "an erosion bundle."
Logically the next question quickly followed the first, "What is erosion?"
I first found this neat idea on Art Club Blog and I thought it looked like a great project for introducing kids to concepts of weather, change and decay, and of course erosion.
To get the kids engaged in our project we started out talking about weather.
We had a light-hearted chat about this; about how things change and wear away, or erode, when they are exposed to weather.
To give the kiddos a tangible hands on example of erosion and the effects of weather, we made our own "rain puddle".
I put warm water in a glass bowl in the center of our table. Then we started adding things to it. We started with paper. I gave each kid a scrap of paper to rip up and add to the water. We stirred them around for a bit and then pulled the paper out. The kids were surprised by the change, it was floppy and really easy to tear! I asked them if they would be able to write on the paper now.
That was the start of our fun experiment. Then we added other things like hibiscus flowers which changed the color of the water. And we added these starchy noodle shaped things that dissolve in water. I got them long ago at Hobby Lobby and can't remember what they are called, ah well... The kids did really enjoy watching these dissolve and squeezing the noodle things as they changed shape. We watched and stirred and exclaimed as our puddle eroded away all the things we had put in it, this experiment was a huge hit with the kids.
Next we went outside and created our erosion bundle. I spread a cloth spread in the center of our circle and had each child add one unique thing to the center of the cloth. We added rocks, paper streamers, paper cards and broken crocs jibits among other things.
Then we wrapped it all up inside a mesh corn bag and buried it in the ground. We plan to unearth it in the spring to discover what Mother Nature has done to the objects within.
Shared on: Science Sparks, The Kid's Co-op
The magic of butterflies and caterpillars captivates children. A flitter of colorful wings...
A fuzzy, fat, stripey bug creep crawling up a branch...
Discovering nature's treasures like these instantly engage and enchant children (and me too!).
What better insect to choose for a close-up look at life cycles? Last week we studied plant life cycles at the school so the children were already familiar with the idea. I brought in an example butterfly life cycle that I had made with art scrapes from my stash: pompoms (perfect for caterpillar bodies), silk flowers and leaves (leaves to lay eggs on and flowers to pull apart and use for wings), pasta shells (cocoon) and multicolored popcorn (eggs).
As we sat in a circle, I shared the butterfly life cycle with the kids we talked about being scientists by looking at the world and observing what we see. We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. As we read, we looked for parts of the butterfly life cycle. We found the egg, and the cocoon and the butterfly; the kids really got it and I was impressed!
Next the kids made their own butterfly life cycles.
I gave them each a leaf to glue down on a piece of paper and then encouraged them to lay "eggs" on their leaves.
On we went including parts of the cycle. I always love to present children with an idea and then let them take it from there and we had many creative life cycles when all was said and done!
Herbs for kids and families! Crafting, learning and projects for children, parents and teachers including herbal crafts. Also natural living ideas for healthy families.
