Wassailing the Trees and 2 types of Toasts

Wassailing the Trees and 2 types of Toasts

Garden, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Recipes, Twelfth Night
For years we have wassailed our fruit trees on the Twelfth Night to ensure a bountiful fruit harvest, because who doesn't want a bountiful fruit harvest, right? My kids were little and I never really went into too much depth though... until this year when I went down a rabbit hole and became obsessed with wassail toast. More on that later. For years we stuck a cinnamon stick in a cup of apple juice and sang songs about wassailing or fruit and it was a good time. Actually only my 7 year old ever remembers the words to "Here we come a Wassailing" so he's generally in charge lol. They also sometimes make up songs about specific fruit trees in our yard. It's fun and you should try it! As…
Read More
What is a Hibernation Celebration?

What is a Hibernation Celebration?

Craft Project, Hibernation Celebration, Learning, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Play, Winter
Every winter we have a "Hibernation Celebration" both at school and at home. What is a Hibernation Celebration pray tell? It's a super fun way celebrate the winter holidays in a non-denominational nature focused way. It can be a full lesson block with academic content the way we do at school or it can just be a fun party. We usually celebrate at the end of December right before winter break (otherwise known as the perfect time to hibernate...) but this is a great topic for January or February-- or any snowy cold month really. If you want to skip right to party ideas click here. For all of my Hibernation content click here. When we celebrate hibernation at school it isn't just a straightforward scientific discussion of bears in…
Read More
Chrysalis Sleeping Bags

Chrysalis Sleeping Bags

Craft Project, Hibernation Celebration, Learning, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Winter
I was so inspired by this artwork from photographer Levon Biss that I knew I needed to come up with a project about insect hibernation. My brain immediately went to chrysalis sleeping bags because a chrysalis is in a way a tiny sleeping bag, and the patterns on these are so beautiful I though they would be amazing inspiration. First things first, insects don't technically hibernate. Many are inactive during the winter and undergo a state in which their growth, development, and activities are suspended temporarily, with a metabolic rate that is high enough to keep them alive. This dormant condition is termed diapause. We made our sleeping bags on a small scale for stuffies, but this would a fantastic project for an older student (or grown up...) at full…
Read More