Painting Sticks

Day 16: Painting Sticks

We busted out the acrylic paints and paint brushes after my son found some sticks for us outside recently. There are really so many options with this and so many different types of sticks!

My self-proclaimed nature boy decided he wasn't a nature boy today, but when he saw me painting on a stick, he thought he'd join in the action. He didn't get much farther than this right here and that's perfectly okay. I wanted bright colors and stripes on my stick--I wonder why it was split along the side? 

I was in competition with my artist buddy, so I was having a hard time keeping pure colors! 

I think these make a nice pop of color in the late fall afternoons! There are many options for our painted sticks! They could be fairy wands, hiking sticks, decorations, fort building supplies, and more! To keep the finish longer, they could be covered with a clear sealing coat. 

Leaf Rubbings and Water Colors

Day 13: Leaf Rubbings and Water Colors

While doing leaf rubbings with crayons and paper can be pretty cool, we tried a different technique. We used leaves, paper, and white crayons to do our basic rubbings. I took the paper off the outside of the crayons--I think they work better that way. When I'm doing texture rubbings with groups, I leave a bunch of crayons peeled like this in a container just for this purpose. My kids love peeling paper off crayons (right!) and are willing to assist from time to time.

I place my leaves with the veins on the facing up under my piece of paper. I used the white crayon on the cylinder side rather than using the point to rub across the top of the paper. I held things in place with my other hand. I couldn't see all of the details since I was putting white crayon on top of white paper, yet I could almost see embossed sections and the shine from the wax crayon where it took the impression of the leaf. I made sure the leaves were peeking outside of the paper so it would have a more natural effect. 

Later, I broke out the classic water color set, a cup of water, and a paintbrush. I used orange, green, purple, and a little yellow, but didn't really wash the brush between colors, so we saw how many colors mix together for a brown. This could be done with all of one color for a stunning look, too. 

Fresher leaves are better for making leaf rubbings. Most leaves in our area are getting crispy, so when I saw freshly fallen green and yellow leaves at a friend's house, I asked to grab a few. She didn't mind a bit!

A few other options with this include:

• Cut around the individual leaves and make a banner.
• Frame it and use as part of the fall decor.
• Try it with different colored crayons.
• Cut up the finished paper for use in mixed media or nature collages. (Think Eric Carle)
• Try different types of paper to see how they react to the crayon resist and water colors. Some papers are more absorbent than others.
• Compare results using different types of watercolors. 

Open Play at Woodlawn

We had fun at Open Play at Woodlawn Nature Center in October.

The kids mostly played outside. They pulled sticks together and used a picnic table as a base for their fort.

The Center recently received a grant from NAI Region 4 to get a few things like these extra long fabrics, perfect for fort building. Little by little, the pieces came together until they had their own little hide away.

"Mom, look at this beetle we found." I love it when they find things they want to share with me! 

Other children inside were enjoying the puppet theater. I love this little spot and watching the children interact. It's also kind of cool because my efforts brought it to the center. :-) I appreciate the volunteer who made it once she knew of the need and a good friend who donated the money for the puppets. The kids love them! 

Outside, the kids played with blocks. 

They also got out the buckets and the shovels. 

The topic was spiders, so we read some books and did a few spider activities. Then we hunted for spiders outside. We certainly found them! It was neat to see a mom and her kids exploring spider webs as well. 

  

My niece really enjoyed the things from the Music and Movement area.

We needed a little more time with the fort for embellishments!

The kids had a great time playing outside, building, calculating, designing, moving, etc. Great skills to use on a day 'off' school! 

Open Play happens twice a month at Woodlawn Nature Center. It is $2/child or free for members with a different topic each time. There are extra activities, story time, and a hike available. 

Nurturing Acorns: Harvest Feasts

It's been so much fun being involved with Nurturing Acorns at Woodlawn Nature Center. This week, my four-year-old asked, "Mom, did you go to Nature Preschool when you were four?" We call Nurturing Acorns "Nature Preschool". He enjoys going each time we have it!

We had several gathering crafts, such as gluing corn kernels on an ear of corn. This guy on the right was so interesting! He is a little younger than some of the other kids and wanted nothing to do with the corn. He came a little closer and closer. I showed him how I put a few on and asked him to "push" a few into the glue. Pretty soon, he was the one picking up the kernels and filling up his corn. Those little hands benefit from working with small items carefully like that.

They also had insect rubbing plates and fall harvest stickers to explore. Later, we went to the wigwam for stories and talking about different artifacts. 

I shared some pictures and books from Plimoth Plantation, which show more of a balanced view of the "first" Thanksgiving. In looking for activities, I had actually found several "cute" activities which seemed to be more based on myths than realities (like pilgrims using buckles or having no food, though they were in an area full of rich food), so I was hesitant to perpetuate those myths. I shared our experiences visiting their before. Beth shared a book about coyotes, written in a native style, and the children explored coyote fur, a claw, and a tooth. Woodlawn has so many Native People artifacts. It's pretty impressive. I like the nutting stone with multiple holes to crack open many nuts at a time. 

Later, we poured and mixed blueberry pancakes. 

Outside, we found LOTS of maple leaves--the forest looked awash in yellow right now. We talked about making maple syrup, using acorns and hickory nuts, and the need for wood and other natural resources.

The huge spider webs were still a hit!

As we got closer to the Center, the kids liked using the climbing area of Nature's Connection. 

There was even a little snow on the ground.

Jumping time! We came in and had a snack of blueberry pancakes, pumpkin bars, maple syrup, and sausage. These are all items that might have been eaten at a native harvest feast. 

Later, the children did more exploration in the Nature Center! We look forward to starting up again in the New Year! 

Nature Nuts: Turkeys

Last week, I took my son to Nature Nuts, a monthly preschool program. The topic was all about turkeys. Krista from Elkhart County Parks usually starts with a couple of books and shares information about the topic with pictures and props, like this stuffed turkey! 

I know, you all probably think I'm a great mom with perfect, nature loving kids. Just so you know you are not alone in your quest for connecting your kids with nature, I'll let you in on my secret. This is what my son looked like for the first half hour or so of the program. It's funny, because we'd just been outside gathering "weeds" for the Children, Nature & Art programs and he thoroughly enjoyed that! "Mom, this is fun!" Even when we got outside at first, he decided this was not for him! Sometimes, you just have to roll with it. Eventually he got into the game, with a little help from me. I wonder if he would have been in a better mood if we had started outside first. 

For the game, the children were all turkeys and they needed to go find the cards scattered in the grass. Some were good, like their babies, food, etc. And others were potential dangers, like the red fox. I think it happened to be all boys for the program this time, but there is usually a good mix. 

This is what the one-year-old happily does while I try to engage the 4-year-old. He is proficient at "walking" on his knees, but hasn't mastered walking on his feet yet. People get a kick out of seeing his unique talent.

The hill next to Ox Bow Haus is all mowed and ready for sledding once the snow arrives!

We went for a walk around the grounds.

It's such a pretty time of year and a beautiful park. We hear the trains going by all the time there. She said she most often sees turkeys near the front gate. Others who live nearby said they see them near their houses, too. We saw a group less than a mile from our house recently as well. I e-mailed the naturalist that lives nearby and she said that they've raised a brood in a nearby field for the past five years. 

Of course, we had to investigate the scat when we saw it!

Back inside, the children made turkeys with apples, raisins, bananas, marshmallows, and candy corn. Cute! 

They gathered to talk about turkey feathers. 

They also looked at various eggs and saw how large turkey eggs are. Of course, the turkey feather became a great way to tickle a little brother!