Art Outside!

Nature serves as a wonderful canvas for experimenting and creating with art materials. Recently the kids used clay, (which we noted was from deep in the earth, so could be used and left on the trees.) They molded, stretched, rolled, and stuck the clay, using tree trunks and sticks in their work!

Rainy, rainy, rainy days!

When the weather hands you an endless string of rainy days, the park is quiet, the grass is lush, the plants become full and green, and our kids have a huge muddy and puddle filled place to explore! HUGE worms are crawling through the grass and the shrubs become a rainy day forest castle to peak out of. The mud is perfect for digging and sliding in, and the green hills are a fantastic place for running and rolling down!

Ladybugs and logs!

The magic of playing outside is the the unexpected discovery that draws the kids in and leads to hours of learning and play. On a recent rainy morning, we came across a large fallen log that had been dragged onto the edge of a grassy field. The kids immediately took to climbing up on it, balancing, hanging upside down over it, and jumping off the ends. After a bit, we worked together to flip it over and discovered that the inside was hollowed out, creating a nook for the kids to crawl into. Soon the log became a dragon's den, with the kids pretending to be sleeping dragons who were only awoken by a singing and jumping song. We took turns peering at each other through the holes in the log, and using our voices to sent messages through the holes from one side of the log to the other. The group then decided that this would be the perfect place to release our pink spotted ladybugs, which we had cared for since they were eggs, and watched morph from larvae to adults!

Spring Break Adventures!

Mud. Running. Dandelions. Climbing. Jumping. Painting. Clay. Bugs. Birds. Singing. Reading. Hiking. More mud. 

Spring has sprung! And we are full of energy!

Our days have been filled with ample sunshine (some days even summer like!) and warm breezes (and a few days of spring rain!)

Sticks and logs have been favorite playtime finds - creating letters, working together to carry big, long branches, coloring and designing sticks with liquid chalk markers, and climbing, resting and jumping on and off of huge fallen trees. We even found an old stump with it's middle hollowed out that the kids were able to climb into the middle of! Worms are still being discovered in the mud and gently collected and examined. And provided with balls of colored yarn, the kids worked to together to layer and wrap the yarn, decorating the trunks of trees!