Winter – Page 4 – Wineberry Woods

25Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Scented Crystal Snowflakes

Craft Project, Full Moon, Play, Snow Moon, STEAM, Winter

Another snowflake project to celebrate the snow moon! Can you really even have enough snowflakes? This would be a great project to do with a snow lesson, Snowflake Bentley, White Snow Bright Snow and the Story of Snow are all favorite books in our house. Snowflakes are a type of crystal that forms around a bit of dust or debris as it falls from the sky and famously each one is unique. Scented Crystal Snowflakes I’ve always loved making borax crystals– I supersaturate the borax solution so that larger crystals form. Most recipes use a lot less borax and that will work, but it will form much smaller crystals.I like to add essential oil to the solution so that it smells nice, but it's completely optional. Ingredients: White or blue…

25Jan 2024 by catbird 2 Comments

Snow Cream

Full Moon, Play, Recipes, Snow Moon, Winter

I didn’t realize until adulthood that snow cream is a peculiarity of the Mid-Atlantic states-- we aren’t quite in sugar on snow territory-- but we still get a fair amount of snow. The recipe is a loose guideline at best-- get some snow, add something creamy and sweet to it and eat it quickly before it melts. When I was a kid it was always chocolate syrup, as an adult I like the creaminess of the condensed milk and vanilla. I almost never make this quantity, instead we fill individual bowls up with snow and add the condensed milk to taste with extremely imprecise measurements. However if you want to use up a whole can of condensed milk, this is how you do it. Ingredients: 8 ish cups of clean…

25Jan 2024 by catbird No Comments

Paper Snowflakes for the Snow Moon

Craft Project, Full Moon, Play, Snow Moon, Winter

One of the simplest ways to celebrate this snowy full moon (aside from just going outside and playing in the snow!) is to make paper snowflakes. The trick in making lovely paper snowflakes is in the way you fold the paper-- even toddler made snowflakes look fancier when folded like this. You can also use coffee filters if you prefer for a similar result. Folding Paper Snowflakes If you are starting with a rectangular piece of paper, fold the left corner down diagonally so it makes a triangle and is flush with the opposite edge. Trim off the skinny rectangle that falls below your folded triangle. (If you start with a square, just fold your paper in half diagonally.) Next, fold your triangle in half diagonally again. Now the trickiest…

22Jan 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Bird Watching Hike

Hike Ideas, Learning, Nature Journaling, Valentine's Day, Winter

February is the perfect time to go bird watching! It's much easier to spot birds before the trees have all leafed out, and many birds are super active this time of year. There is long held folkloric belief that February is when birds begin to pair up and make nests, which likely plays into the modern themes of Valentine's Day. They do begin to make nests this time of year as many types of birds time the hatch of their young for early spring when insects start emerging. February is also the month of the Great Backyard Bird Count– a great opportunity to participate in a citizen science project and have fun outdoors. Log the bird friends you spot to help scientists track bird’s patterns and migration. Recording bird sightings in…

22Jan 2024 by catbird 2 Comments

Love Bird Tea

Play, Recipes, Valentine's Day, Winter

I have always found Valentine’s Day to be kind of a weird holiday (full disclosure, its also my birthday.) Recently I have shifted my thinking about it somewhat by diving into nature and winter birds and the start of nest making season. In fact, there is scholarship that suggests that this holiday initially came about way back when because it is when birds would pair off and start building nests. it's one of those important signs that spring will eventually be here-- the birds know! After making a variety of bird feeders, nesting material holders and other treats for winter birds we decided that we needed some treats too! What better way to celebrate lovebirds and Valentine's Day then with these easy and delicious lovebird toasts! We drank hot chocolate…

08Jan 2024 by catbird 1 Comment

Fun Ways to Study and Celebrate Hibernation!

Craft Project, Hibernation Celebration, Midwinter, Play, Recipes, STEAM, Winter

Five fun ways to celebrate hibernation in winter. Save for later!

30Dec 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

New Year’s Eve Simmer Pot

Folklore, New Year's Eve, Winter

New Year's Eve is a time when cultures all over the world practice various traditions to clear out the old year and start the new year off positively. An easy (and nice smelling!) way to practice a few of them is to make up a special New Year's simmer pot. Use this recipe as a start and add anything else that speaks to you-- you might just really like the smell or want to encourage more of what the plant symbolizes in your life. Juniper is featured here both because it smells nice and because it is used in the Scottish tradition of Hogmanay, or celebration of the last night of the year. It is used for saining or protecting/ blessing the household. The branches are set on fire and the smoke…

27Dec 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

New Year Family Bucket List Countdown Printable -Updated for 2026

Free Printable, Nature Journaling, New Year's Eve, Play, Winter

Every year we fill out a bucket list as a family so this year I decided to make one of my own! I made it black and white so it's easier to print out. You can color it if you'd like or leave it as is! The plants I used to decorate the bubbles are all ones I associate with the winter and the new year. Bay, juniper, pine, mistletoe, sage, rosemary, fir and snowdrops. The first 16 have prompts to get you thinking and the last four are blank so you can write in your own! Wishing you the happiest of new years! (Click on the image below to download!) download

23Dec 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

New Year’s Eve Bay Fortune Ball Ornaments

Campfire, Craft Project, Folklore, Nature Art, New Year's Eve, Winter

For whatever reason many of our New Year's Eve traditions revolve around fortune telling. There are a number of cultural fortune telling traditions like the Austrian Bleigießen and the Finnish uudenvuodentina, and it seems like a good time to think about your fortune and or wished for the new year. I actually love low key New Year's Eve with kids-- far more than I enjoyed the expensive and weird nights on the town in my 20s. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that my post kid celebrations are the first time I really enjoyed this this celebration. It's still mistly a late night holiday so while we sneak some nature in here and there (nye nature crowns, first day hikes) much of this night is spent inside.…

23Dec 2023 by catbird 3 Comments

The Sunniest Sun Bread

Play, Recipes, Winter, Winter Solstice

Sun Bread is a sweet book by Elisa Kleven that doesn't specifically mention the Winter Solstice, but revolves around bringing the sun back after a period of cold gray weather, so it's a perfect fit. Making your own sun bread is a popular activity this time of year and there is even a recipe in the back of the book. That recipe contains wheat, which I am allergic to however, and some other things that may not work for your family. So what to do? I struggled with this a lot when I first found out I was a celiac, especially around the holidays. There are so many fun traditional breads-- and finding gluten free versions of them was nearly impossible. But then I figured out the secret. Good base recipes.…

Category: Winter