Play – Page 3 – Wineberry Woods

06Sep 2024 by catbird

Garden Fairy Toasts

Garden, Play, Recipes, Summer, Summer Solstice

Garden fairy toast is so simple yet so satisfying to make! It takes inspiration from the classic fairy toast- bread covered in sprinkles, and reinvents it as a healthier and more versatile snack. The premise is simple, you just collect a little bit of whatever looks good in the garden and then artfully arrange it on your toast. It's fun and easy for kids, and can be quite elegant for adults. It celebrates the garden harvest (even when that harvest is small!) and makes vegetables fun! Ok I always think vegetables are fun... but not everyone agrees with me. You can use cream cheese as your "glue", or get fancier by using goat cheese or ricotta, or by tinting your cream cheese like a do in my love bird toasts.…

10Jul 2024 by catbird

Fun Summer Solstice Craft Ideas For Kids

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Journaling, Nature Table, Play, Summer, Summer Solstice

Looking for fun crafts to do with (or without…) kids for the Summer Solstice? Click the text next to the images for the tutorials. Save for later! Sun Catchers: Plarn Sun Catcher Bioplastic Sun Catcher Blooming Fern Sun Catcher Tidepool Sun Catcher Sun Powered Crafts: Solar Oven Crayons Solar Oven Shrinky Dinks Shadow Drawings Solar Lanterns Solar Circuits Solar Balloons Decorations: Sun Prints & Anthotypes Turmeric Shibori Bunting Shell Candles Sea Glass Mobiles Shell Fragment Wreaths Flower Crowns Summer Nature Activities: Summer Nature Journal Summer Nature Table k

10Jul 2024 by catbird

Solstice Shadow Drawings

Craft Project, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Summer, Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and the sun is it it's highest position in relation to the Earth. This means that the shadows are the shortest than they will be all year. (Think about how in summer the sun feels directly overhead, that's because it is!) In fact areas close to the equator will actual be able to observe zero shadow days on the solstices at solar noon. Ancient astronomers measured the length of shadows to make mathematical calculations, like Eratosthenes, who in approximately 200 BCE calculated the circumference of the Earth be making detailed measurements of how shadows lengthen and shorten throughout the year. In addition to the shadow drawing project described below, you could also draw or record the shadow of a fixed…

10Jul 2024 by catbird

Flowering Fern Sun Catchers

Craft Project, Folklore, Play, Summer, Summer Solstice

I am always trying to think of new ways to make sun catchers this time of year- it’s the perfect easy craft to celebrate the Summer Solstice. This year I was struck by a Slavic/Lithuanian myth that ferns develop a magical flower on the eve of the Summer Solstice. Of course my science nerds know that ferns don’t flower at all, they produce spores and fertile fronds, but another plant that grows right next to the ferns in my garden (and often in nature as well) is St. John’s wort. (St John’s Day is also what some call the Summer Solstice, interestingly) the magical fern flower is reputed to be yellow, but it may turn red on this special night. St. John’s wort is of course yellow and turns red…

05Jul 2024 by catbird

Summer Nature Table

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Table, Play, Seasonal Nature Table, Summer, Summer Solstice

Nature tables are the perfect place to store and display all those nature finds that we “just had to bring home.” Honestly, I am almost as bad as the kids about this… Ours is on our porch so that things can be easily added and subtracted at will and we change it out for each season. (And it substantially reduces the stray sticks in the house..) In summer, the rock and shell collections get especially prolific, along with interesting sticks, feathers and flowers. Use log slices or old shelves and add some height. Try a vase to hold flowers. I like to stick rooting houseplants on the nature table too, they love the heat and filtered light, while the kids love to watch the growing roots. The kids are always…

21Mar 2024 by catbird

“Thunder Cake”

Craft Project, Learning, Nature Art, Nature Journaling, Picture Book Buds, Play, Recipes, STEAM

Picture Book Buds are a fun and easy way to incorporate literacy into nature study. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related activity and snack suggestions! Thunder Cake Written & Illustrated by: Patricia Polacco This is a beautiful book about a young child and her grandma baking a cake during a thunderstorm to distract her from being scared. So many kids can relate to this feeling and you can take it further and learn about storms. I like to think that learnig about the science of storms makes them less scary and it has definitely helped my kids. Also cake. "It's Raining" by Gail Gibbons is a great nonfiction starting point. And "Mushroom Rain" written by by Laura K. Zimmermann and illustrated by Jamie Green…

21Mar 2024 by catbird

“Fungi Grow”

Autumn, Craft Project, Hike Ideas, Learning, Picture Book Hikes, Play, Recipes, STEAM

Picture Book Hikes are a fun and easy way to bring learning outside. Read a book (you can even read it outside!) and then enjoy the related hike, activity and snack suggestions! Fungi Grow Written by: Maria Gianferrari & Illustrated by: Diana Sudyka Maria Gianferrari is one of my favorite nonfiction authors and Diana Sudyka is one of my favorite illustrators so I I had high hopes for this book. It didn't disappoint-- it has simple kind friendly explanations of how mushrooms and mycelium grow and live. It is of course a perfect excuse to take a mushroom hike! I usually think of this as a fall activity because so many edible mushrooms fruit in late summer/ early fall, but there are mushrooms fruiting nearly year round. I love crafting and cooking…

18Mar 2024 by catbird

Mushroom “Spore” Bombs

Autumn, Craft Project, Earth Day, Garden, Nature Art, Play

As a member of the Plant Wonder Collective, each month I make a craft from the plant of the month. This March is coffee. I was really stumped trying to figure out what to make. Coffee and I are not friends. I had to stop drinking coffee cold turkey in my early 20s for medical reasons and I have never quite forgiven coffee for turning on me. And my husband, who drinks lots of coffee, leaves a little pile of gross coffee grounds on the counter every morning that makes me insane. So I decided I was going to do something with coffee grounds if it killed me. First I made some seed paper with coffee grounds, because of coffee’s high nitrogen content it should theoretically give those seeds a…

18Mar 2024 by catbird

Spring Equinox Tea Party

Play, Recipes, Spring, Spring Equinox

Spring always feels like a tea party time of year to me. I'm not sure why, I guess maybe it's a delicate sort of season? I always seem to find myself throwing a tea party this time of year, regardless. (You can find a flower watching tea party in my Spring Equinox book.) It's also one of the best times to eat outside, it's just starting to get warm and sunny afternoons feel like a celebration already. What is interesting to me about this time of year is that none of the typical "spring" foods we associate with this time are actually ripe yet, at least not where I live. The asparagus have not poked up yet, no strawberries, and rhubarb is just starting to unfurl. So how do we…

14Mar 2024 by catbird

Worm Moon Seed Bombs

Craft Project, Full Moon, Garden, Play, Spring, Worm Moon

If you know me, then you know I have something of a seed bomb obsession, I am always thinking of ideas for seed bomb projects! I think it's because they combine two of my favorite things- sculpting and gardening. I knew I wanted to use worm castings in this one for the worm moon, and I decided to shape it like a moon too! The worm castings will add extra nutrients and give your seeds a great start in lofe. Moonflowers were then the obvious seed to tuck inside, or any moon garden sort of flowers. You can buy worm castings in the fertilizer section of garden stores, or you can scoop them off the ground. Be sure to tell kids that they are worm poop- they love that stuff!…

Category: Play