Kiwi Crate - Crafts, Experiments, and Activities for Kids!

 I received this product for free in order to review it.  I was compensated for my time, but all opinions are my own!  Don't miss the discount code and free trial link at the end of the post!

 

My kids always get super excited when I say that I have a special project for them to do.  It could be a craft, a science experiment, or really anything out of the ordinary.  Are your kids like that too?  The problem is that I just don't always have fun ideas, or the time and energy to get something together!  Any fellow mamas know what I'm talking about?

Enter Kiwi Crate.  Have you heard of them?  I had only recently heard people talking about the company and was excited to be able to try out one of their crates!
 

I was a little skeptical as to whether or not the service would be worth the money, but they proved me wrong!  Essentially a Kiwi Crate is a box of fun, shipped right to your house (designed for kids ages 3-8)!  Each box has all the materials you need to do 2-3 activities (art, science, games, etc.) and there are lots of different themes to choose from  (like Robots, Fairies, the Rainforest, Wind Power, etc.)!

The theme for the crate that we got was Around The World.  We got a craft where we made 5 flags out of felt to hang on a rope to make a banner, a board game about the continents, an activity book, and even a pair of scissors!  Each activity within the crate is bundled separately, making it super easy for the kids to do (mostly) on their own.

Hours (and Days) of Fun with Kiwi Crate

My only real concern with Kiwi Crate was wondering if the price of the boxes would be justifiable.  So, I decided to keep track of the time that the activities occupied my kids.  In my eyes, the major benefit of these boxes is providing my kids with engaging fun where I don't have to be right next to them (freeing me up for a few minutes to do luxurious things like wash the dishes ;)

Making Flags with Kiwi Crate

 

Our first activity was making a flag banner.  All I did was open the materials and then let the kids have at it.  Once they were done, I strung the flags on the rope to make the banner.  Total time: 30 minutes.

I really liked this activity because it used materials that I don't usually have on hand, so the kids thought it was special.  Both my by 4 and 6 year old really enjoyed the project.  I have a feeling that the folks at Kiwi Crate know what they are doing when they design these kits =)  For this particular project, if you have a 3 year old, you could just let them design any kind of flags they wanted.  If you have an older child, you could have them replicate real flags and then find the countries on the map.  I like how it is able to be customized to your child's abilities.

Learning About Continents with Kiwi Crate

The next activity in our box was a game about the continents.  This one really impressed me!  The map it came with is huge and the deck of cards is really great quality.  The game required a little bit of time on my part to set up, but after that the kids were able to play themselves.

In this game, the kids take turns picking a card and visiting key places across the globe.  It is a really great way to familiarize little ones with the continents and landmarks!  The best part is that both of my kids LOVED it.  They played for about an hour the first time we got it out, and then have asked to play it multiple times since then.

I was seriously starting to get board because they were occupying themselves for so long =)  I would hear, "I won!  Ok, let's play again!" over and over.  A really neat game.  If I would have thought ahead better, I would have laminated the map and hung it up, because it is a really big, nice looking map, but it's just made of paper so I'm sure it's life span won't be more than a year being used as a game. 

Here's my son, not loving the 'lose your turn' card he just picked up =)

Is Kiwi Crate Worth the Money?

My final conclusion is YES!  If you get the yearly subscription, each month's crate is just over $17 (shipped free!) In the particular crate that I got, I would break down the value this way:

• Scissors: $2.00
• Craft Supplies for Flags: $5.00
• Continents Game: $10.00
• Activity Book: $1.00
• Time and Gas Saved: $5
• Kids getting to do something fun and different: BONUS!
• Mom not having to come up with an idea for once: BONUS!

That totals up to more than the cost of the crate for me!  Now, you may be different.  You may put different monetary values on things.  If you are seriously living paycheck to paycheck, I would not recommend spending your money on this, but if you spend a few dollars here and there doing fun things with your kids anyways, Kiwi Crate is a worth while choice!  Who do I think Kiwi Crate is especially good for?

• Homeschool moms of multiple kids, who need a way to keep the younger ones busy while teaching the older ones.

•  Homeschool moms of preschool and lower elementary aged kids who want to add a fun, creative component to their learning.

• Any parent who wants a fun, etc educational activity to do on weekends or days off of school.

• Working moms who want creative activities to do with their kids, but don't have the time to come up with ideas and gather materials.

• Pregnant moms, or moms with newborns, who just don't have the energy to come up with crafts and engaging projects for their preschool aged child. 

• Grandparents who want fun activities on hand for when their grandkids come over.

I also think that a Kiwi Crate subscription would be an awesome gift for a 3-8yr old child!  Think of how much fun that child would have knowing that they have another box of fun coming in the mail for them for the next 3-6-12 months!

Kiwi Crate Discount Code and Free Mini Crate!

Speaking of subscriptions, let me explain a little better how you can get Kiwi Crates coming to your house.  You can simply purchase a single crate of your choosing for $19.95 (plus shipping) if you have a special occasion you want one on hand for, or if you are interested and just want to try it out.  

If you want to give Kiwi Crate as a gift to someone, or if you want your child to be able to look forward to receiving their own Kiwi Crate each month, you can choose a 3, 6, or 12 month subscription (and save a few dollars while you're at it!)  As a bonus, shipping on the subscription plans is FREE!

If you would like to give Kiwi Crate a try, I have a great discount for you!  New subscribers can save 25% off of their 1st month, plus receive a welcome kit and free shipping with code:

BTS25

Or another option is to try a mini crate for only the cost of shipping ($3.95).  Learn more about this option here!

Have you tried Kiwi Crate?  Do you want to try Kiwi Crate?  Let me know what you think!

If you want to get lots of inspiration and keep up with everything new at Kiwi Crate, make sure to follow them one (or more!) of these ways:

• Newsletter
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• Instagram
• Google Plus

 

The Greatest Picture Books Bracket {& a giveaway!}

When I was a the Great Homeschool Convention a few weeks ago, I was introduced to Andrew Kern of the CiRCE Institute.  I had heard of him before, but I had never heard him speak.  He was a great classical education speaker, so to learn more I picked up the CiRCE Institute magazine.  The magazine was amazing.  I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy if you can!  I think it's just a yearly thing, so maybe you can request it on their website (or pick up a copy at the Ontario, CA GHC!)

Anyways, so then I wanted to learn even more, so I went on over to the CiRCE Institute website and you know what I found?  They had put together a Greatest Books Bracket (in honor of March Madness, I guess).  What a fun idea!  The only problem is that it is way out of my league =)  I have read some classics, but sadly I didn't even recognize the names of many of the books listed.  That does make me so excited to learn and grow more as I teach my children!

So, I thought it would be fun to do something similar, but something that I have a little more knowledge about.  What about a Greatest Picture Book Bracket?!  The only thing is that I will need your help!  Here is what I'm thinking...

1. Compile names of the greatest children's picture books
2. I will make a bracket
3. You will fill out your bracket and send it to me
4. Each week will feature a new round and people will vote for their favorites.
5. The person with the winning bracket will win a prize! (Maybe the final four books?  I'm not sure yet.)

For this week, I just need to hear from you!  What are your favorite children's picture books?  Leave a comment here, or on facebook, listing some of your favorites!

Does all this talk about great books get your mouth watering for a brand new book?  To help you out, I've got at $10 gift certificate to Veritas Press for one of you! (The only catch is that I think you have to have not ordered from the Veritas Press website before.)  Veritas Press has an incredible selection of classical education resources, including lots of great literature for your whole family!

 
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Kindergarten Saxon Math Review

I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old and at the turn of the year I was feeling like I wanted to change up our math routine a bit. We have been using Ray's Arithmetic and it has provided my son with a fantastic understanding of how addition and subtraction works. We are still using Ray's a couple days a week, but I wanted to incorporate something that would also provide practice in some classic kindergarten type skills (patterns, basic measuring, calendar reading, etc.) After consulting a few classical homeschooling references, I decided to give Saxon a try. They said that the kindergarten curriculum was more on the preschool level, but because I wanted to use it with both my 3 and 5 year olds, I thought it would be just right for us. I was right!

Come read my full review at The Curriculum Choice!

Trace and Build Numbers

These Trace and Build Numbers are designed to complement the A-Z Trace and Build Letters.

Let your preschooler discover what types of lines it takes to build the numbers 1-10.  These pages are to be printed out for your child to use.  I recommend laminating these pages, not only for durability, but also for repeated use as dry erase templates.  

Included are both the number pages and the pieces needed to build each number.

Download

Preschool Science Printable Pack

I always love doing science activities with my little ones.  It is especially fun when the activities are outside!  Preschoolers love exploring indoors and outdoors and also love when Mom has a special activity or adventure for them!

The problem is that sometimes we moms don't do as much as we would like because when the time is perfect for an activity, we don't have any ideas and certainly don't have a plan.

I am here to help!

I have taken 10 great science (& nature) activities for preschoolers that I have done with my kids and created a printable pack for you!  Each activity contains:

• Instructions for Mom
• Talking Points to help you know how to guide your child
• Activity Sheets (at least one per activity) to aid your child in her discovery

Activities included in the Preschool Science (& Nature) printable pack:

1. Melting Snow
2. What's That Sound
3. Corn Cob Bird Feeders
4. My Favorite Place Through the Seasons
5. Making Rain
6. Springtime Seeds
7. Whose Tracks are Those?
8. How Tall is it Really?
9. The Sun in the Sky
10. Nature Walk Scavenger Hunt

 

Sample Pages:

Get this Printable Pack for Free!

Sign up for the Living and Learning at home Newsletter (a weekly email telling you about the new posts from that week, and the occasional notification of other special events/sales/products) and you can have this printable pack (32 page download) for FREE!

Sign up by clicking on the box below, confirm your subscription when you get the confirmation email, and you will be send the link to download the Preschool Science (& Nature) printable pack right in your email!

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Looking for more preschool information?  Visit my All Things Preschool page to find a list of all the preschool posts here at Living and Learning at Home, plus some of my favorite preschool resources!

The Writing Road to Reading Review

The Writing Road to Reading was one of the first purchases I made when I began to teach my son.  It was recommended on classical-homeschooling.org as being a great resource for teaching reading to children.  It really is a great resource!

Today I am reviewing this great book over at The Curriculum Choice. Check it out!

Song School Latin Review

I am completely on board with the classical model of education.  I love everything about it from the use of living books and primary source documents, to the studying of history chronologically.  It is a fairly rigorous method, but I feel relatively confident about teaching it.  There is just one facet of classical education that stumps me...Latin. 

A key component of classical education is the study of ancient language, most commonly Latin.  Needless to say, I know nothing about Latin.  I figured that I would wait a few years and then get my kids a book that they could pretty much teach themselves from.  Well, my ideas changed once I heard some other bloggers talking about this neat little program called Song School Latin.

To read my review of Song School Latin, head on over to The Curriculum Choice!

Planning Your Kindergartener's Day

Kindergarten is such a fun time!  Your child is growing by leaps and bounds, able to learn so much information, and still loving to be active and play.  How do you make sure that you're fitting it all in?

As my son has grown out of the preschool age and into a 'real' school aged child, I have been slowly transferring some of his daily responsibilities over to him.  While I am still making sure that things run smoothly, I like him being able to see what he needs to do in a day.

A Kindergartener's Day

Room Responsibility

• Their own room is a great place to start!  Show your child how to make their bed (don't be too picky!) and clean up their floor.  Provide good storage places so that they have a place to put all their toys, books, and clothes.

Personal Hygiene

• Have your child pick out their own clothes and dress themselves (unless you have somewhere special to go, and then you might want to help!)  Each morning have them get dressed and brush their teeth themselves.  I know 5 year olds still need some help adequately getting their teeth clean, but I like to let my son do it himself in the morning so he can learn!

Learning

• Being that we homeschool, there are some learning activities that are required each day.  I like to break it up throughout the day, but my son knows that there are certain things he has to get done each day.  He is also required to spend some time reading each afternoon for a quiet time.

Play!

• 5 year olds are going to want to (and should!) spend the majority of their day playing.  This can range from outdoor activities to imaginative play, puzzles, arts and crafts, etc.

Keeping it Organized with A Plan in Place

Over the past year, I have tried many different ways to keep things straight.  I don't like it when my children follow me around saying "what can I do?" so I have tried different types of lists and charts, hoping to provide them with ideas  =)

About three months ago, I began using the Early Learner planner from my sponsor A Plan in Place.  I have found that it has been a perfect solution keeping it all straight and organized!

The majority of the planner is the weekly pages.  There is a page for each week, and you can write in what your child need to be doing each day.  I write in one day at a time, as to not overwhelm my son.  There are rows for Math, Language Arts, and then Other (I usually put History there).

Any planner you use is going to have a section like that, but what sets A Plan in Place apart is all of the thoughtful extras that they include!  (Check out these Early Learner sample pages for a better idea.)

Early Learner 'Extras'

• Daily Checklist - Remember the parts of a kindergartener's day that I talked about above?  They are all accounted for in the daily checklist.  This is just a quick spot for your child to look on each weekly page to make sure they are on track!  The beauty of the Early Learner planner is that it has words and pictures so it works whether or not your child is reading yet!

• Calendars - My son always loves flipping to the calendar pages in his planner.  It is a great way for him to gain familiarity with the layout of a calendar and see if I've written anything fun for the day!  The planner also gives idea of what your child could write/draw in each day (weather, activities, etc.)

• All About Me! - Remember doing these kinds of pages when you were in school?  I have thought about doing these with my kids, but then I figure they would just get lost, so I haven't bothered.  How ingenious to include it with the planner that has records for the year!  I definitely wouldn't throw the planner out, so it's a great place to include these type of memory pages.  There is also a See How I've Grown page at the end which is a great way to look back at the end of the year!

• Planning Pages for Mom - While this is a planner for your child, it also includes great pages for you to use for both short and long term planning.  Once again, I often write my plans and idea out, but then misplace the paper or forget that I had saved it on the computer, so I think it's an awesome idea to put it right there in the child's planner.

• Skills Survey - A great little 'assessment' to do at the beginning and end of the year. 

• Extra Curricular Activities, Field Trip log, and Achievement log - I just love how this planner keeps everything together, and it's orderly by keeping it together by year.  I had been wanting to keep a list of the books we read aloud, but never knew where to keep the list.  Now I have it on a page in the planner! 

Remember to check out sample pages of all these extras to get a better idea of what I mean!

Do you have older children too?  A Plan in Place also offers customizable planners for them!  You just tell them what subjects you want and they make it exactly to fit your needs!

They also have a great sale going on right now.  31% off any planners for a particular state each day!  You can find out which state they pick each morning on their facebook page.  Fun!

10 Tips for Reading with Your Child

 

Today I have a special post for you!  It is from the creator of My Book Boost (one of the lovely sponsors of Living and Learning at Home  Enjoy!

Hi all! My name is Carrie Lane, creator of the My Book Boost list. I'm excited to be doing this guest post on Living and Learning at Home! Here is just a little bit about myself. I began teaching kids to read when I was a reading tutor in college in 1997. Over the years, working with kids as they're just beginning to read has always been my favorite part of teaching. Now I'm a stay-at-home-mom and I get to experience this special stage with my own kids. I put together some tips for reading with kids that I've personally found helpful.

10 of my Favorite Tips for Reading with Your Child:

• Let them choose between a couple of different books to read to you. They'll feel more invested in the process if they're able to decide which book they're most interested in reading.

• Try to find a time for them to practice reading when they’re not in the middle of doing something else. If you see they've just finished with something, that may be a good time to ask if they want to read a book to you.

• Have your child read easy books over and over (especially if they really enjoy a particular book). This will help them become a confident reader.

• Try not to jump in right away if they get stuck on a word. Give them time to try to work it out so they don't rely on you too much.

• If they are stuck on a word for awhile, suggest they try to skip the word and come back to it after reading to the end of the sentence. Sometimes they can figure out the word by using the context clues when skipping and coming back.

• Join in and read with them at the same time if the book seems way too hard. This will give them the support they need.

• Mention to your child that many words can be sounded out, but some just can't (for example, the word "two"). Sometimes it helps for them to hear that.

• If you're reading a book together, verbalize thoughts that you’re having as you’re reading the book so your child can see a model of how someone might react to what they’re reading. “Oh, what happened there? Let me reread that.” Or "That was surprising! Did you think they would do that?"

• Make sure the books they read aren’t too hard or your child may get frustrated. If they’re missing more than 1 out of 10 words in the book, try to find easier texts for them and/or see if they can pick out "just right" texts for themselves.

• Ask your child meaningful questions about the story before, during, and after reading. If you try out the My Book Boost list, you will find two questions for each book included in the download. The questions have a lot of variety to practice comprehension skills, especially literal and inferencing questions.

 

What tip would you add to this list?

Hopefully the above tips will give you at least one idea to try with your child.

If you would like to save time when it comes to finding great books for your beginning reader to read, the My Book Boost list is a wonderful tool. The list starts with the most basic of books and gradually increases in difficulty.

Quiz: Is My Book Boost a good fit for you?

•  Do you have access to a library where you could check out books regularly?

• Do you have a child who is beginning to read?

• Do you want to make sure your Preschooler, Kindergartener, or 1st grader doesn't lose too much over the summer?

• Do you like high quality books with a variety of authors and illustrators?

• Do you have a child who is working to master the Kindergarten or 1st grade reading level?

If you answered “yes” to 4 or more of the questions, My Book Boost is most likely a good fit for you! See the website www.mybookboost.com for more information!

Nevertheless, happy, happy reading!

~Carrie

Teach Your Child To Write - A Beginner's Writing Notebook

This post contains an affiliate link to a product I love.

My little girl is turning 3 this month.  For the past year she has loved coloring, cutting paper, gluing things, etc.  She has incredible fine motor skills.  These two things coupled together led me to begin teaching her to write letters a little over two months ago.  She is doing an amazing job, and I wanted to share with you what I have been doing with her.

This is a simple, no-hassle, no fancy curriculum needed, way to help your child (at whatever age they are ready!) learn to write.  It is the very first form of copywork; simply mimicking correctly written letters.

Just before I began teaching Mackenzie to write her letters, I bought a really simple book binding system (that I'm in love with!) so I just HAD to make up a writing notebook for her.

The idea was to have her learn a new letter each day we did school work, practice previously learned letters, and also master letter sounds along with it.  So, I printed these {free!} A-Z Handwriting Worksheets from Confessions of a Homeschooler and on the back of each page I printed these {free!}blank Beginner Handwriting Sheets from Classical Copywork.

Here is what we do

1. Review the previously learned letters by looking at each page in the book she has already done.  I turn the pages and she tells me the name of the letter and what sound it makes.
2. Learn how to write the letter by tracing over the letters and letter parts on the A-Z Handwriting Worksheet for the day.  
3. Practice writing the letter on her own.  I write one uppercase and one lowercase example for her on the blank Beginner Handwriting Sheet on the opposite page and she does her best to copy it across the line.  Some letters she caught onto quickly and others took practice over many days.
4. Review writing previous day's letters.  I write letters on the rest of the lines for her to practice with.  Sometimes I pick the more difficult ones that she needs extra practice on and other times I let her pick which ones she wants me to write.

 

This process does not take long each day and it is really working well!  In just two months, she can write and give the sound for almost every letter.  I love the idea of having it all in a book like this because it is easy to review the previous letters, everything is in one place, and I don't have to print out a new sheet every day.  I'm going to have a post up soon about the book binding system I've been using and how simple it is to use!

I encourage you to try making up a notebook like this for your child if they are ready to begin learning how to write!

Time4Learning - An Online Educational Program - Review and Giveaway

I love to teach my children.  I love to see them grow, learn, and understand new concepts.  With that said, teaching my children is tough work!  There are always multiple things going on at the same time, children that need individual attention, and concepts that I can't figure out how to teach in a way that my children will really understand.

When I got the chance to review Time4Learning (thank you, Time 4 Learning, for the opportunity to try your curriculum and for compensating me for my time to write this review), I was excited because I thought it would be a great help in many of these areas.  Boy was I right!

 

What is Time4Learning?

• Homeschool or after school curriculum for grades preK-8th
• Exciting, interactive lessons that children LOVE
• Student-paced approach that makes your child feel good about learning

Time4Learning is great because it can be used in so many circumstances.  Are you a busy homeschool mom that is looking for a full computer based curriculum for your children?  Is your child struggling with a particular subject, whether in your homeschool or public school?  Are you looking for something to keep your children sharp during the summer months?  I seriously encourage you to take a look at Time4Learning because it could be just what you have been looking for!

My children LOVE using Time4Learning because the lessons are so fun!  Each concept is taught simply and then enforced by game-like lessons.  Both of my kids wake up asking to do their "computer school" and continue asking to do it until I (finally) tell them it is time!  I think they would do their lessons all day if I didn't stop them =)

Time4Learning can be completely student directed if you desire.  Even my (almost) 3 year old is able to sign herself in and navigate to the correct lesson. You can print out lesson plans if you would like, or you can simply have your child move from one lesson to the next within each subject.  Since we are using this as a supplement and not a complete curriculum, I let me children progress through the lessons as quickly or slowly as they needed and do whichever subjects they wanted each day.  They simply had to follow the arrow, which told them which icon to click on next.  The quizzes at the end of the sections do not let your child progress to quickly if they do not understand the concepts yet.

You can see that the no-nonsense screens make it easy for you child to see which lessons they have completed and which lesson they should click on next (the lesson the arrow is pointing to).  There are a series of these screens within each subject and topic within the subjects.

I wasn't sure which levels to put my children in, but I chose the preK 1 for my daughter and 1st grade for my son.  What is nice, is that you can alter their levels if you find that they are not being challenged enough or if you think they need more practice on easier levels.  My daughter blew through the preK levels, so I ended up switching her to kindergarten, which was a simple process and is just right for her!  My son is more advanced than the 1st grade reading level, but I am letting him stay there just because it is fun for him and helps to build his confidence in reading.  The math lessons, on the other hand, are quite challenging for him and he often has to re-do lessons before he understands the concepts enough to move on.

Why I Love Time4Learning

Like I started out with, teaching children is tough work!  Time4Learning helps with that.  Here are some reasons why:

• I can work with one child alone while the other child does his Time4Learning lessons.
• My children get understand concepts better by having them be explained to them in a way different from mine.
• Some of the topics are inevitably taught differently than what we have already learned, thereby filling in some gaps in their learning.
• The curriculum simply makes learning FUN!
• School days don't have to be thrown to the wayside when mom is sick.  The learning never has to stop!
• I can sign in as a parent and see my children's progression and how they have scored on the quizzes and tests.

Could Anything Be Wrong?

We are using Time4Learning as a supplement to our curriculum, so there really isn't anything that I do not enjoy about the program.  If you were using this as a complete curriculum, I would take care to make sure that you child gets lots of exposure to real books and has ample time with pencil and paper.  Obviously a child's entire life cannot be spent on the computer and I don't think their school day should be either.  I do like that they try to counter that potential problem by giving children ideas of relevant books to look for at the library, activities to supplement what was taught in the lessons, pages to print out to write a story on, etc.

Maybe I am a little bit of a Debby Downer, but I think that the fictional characters in the program are a little too 'encouraging.'  While I appreciate positive affirmation, I don't like telling children that they are awesome when they are not.  If my daughter had to try a hundred times to match two like items, the character would still say things like "You did a GREAT job!"  Well, no, she didn't.  I don't see what would be wrong with saying, "Nice try, keep practicing and you'll get it soon!" or something like that.  My son struggles with diligence and will often do his assignments halfheartedly, so I didn't think the 'encouragement' was helpful to him when he got problems wrong because of haste.  Perhaps encouragement along the lines of "Oops!  That's not it.  Maybe you should look over the lesson again and I bet you'll get it next time!" or something like that.  Once again, I don't mind it for a few minutes a day, but I wouldn't want my child potentially being fed that kind of false encouragement all day long.

Learn More

I've got to wrap this up because my kids just got up from their rest time and are asking to do their 'computer school' (I'm not joking!) but before I go I want to make sure you know how to find out more about this neat online educational program for you children! 

• Try a personalized demo
• Learn about their homeschool curriculum
• See the curriculum overview
• Connect on facebook and twitter

If this sounds like something that you and your children could benefit from (and I'm sure you could!) you have the chance to win a 14-day trial to use for yourself!  Time4Learning has graciously offered 10 trails to my readers!  Please enter the raffelcopter below for many chances to win!  You also have another chance to enter at Cornerstone Confessions.




Disclaimer: I received this product for free in order to write this review.  I was compensated for my time invested.  All opinions are honest and I was not required to write a positive review.

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Let's Celebrate Spring - Trees

This week we are taking a break from our normal studies to learn a little about SPRING!  This week we have learned about seeds and baby animals, and today we are learning about trees.  Tomorrow we will have fun doing things that most people do on Easter (egg hunt, baskets, egg decorating, etc.)

Here are some ideas if you would like to join us, either today or any day this spring!

Trees

Why do trees (and perennial flowers) wake up in the spring?

• As the hours of daylight get longer, and the temperature of the air gets warmer, plants and trees are able to make the food they need to grow and reproduce.
• Read more at http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Spring/TreesWakeUp.aspx?age=ks2

Activities for Learning:

• Coloring Pages
• Variety, including nice trees and blossoms
• Trees

•  Books (Check out what you have at your library, these are just some I found at mine.)
• A Tree is Growing
• Junior Science: Trees
• Tell Me, Tree

• Take a Nature Walk for new spring growth
• Take a look around your yard, walk around your neighborhood, or head out to a local park and see if any trees have started to blossom.  if you have bulbs in your yard, have they started to pop up?
• Check out this Spring Blossoms post from two springs ago.
• If you have any blossoms, take a few and press them to use in your nature journal.
• Pressed Flowers
• How to Press Flowers
•  Don't forget to record your findings in a nature journal!  Feel free to use this page and See my post about Starting a Nature Journal for ideas on how to use it.

download

I hope you have fun learning about trees today or any day this spring!