kids nature celebration – Page 13

27Mar 2023 by catbird 1 Comment

Worm Parfaits for the Worm Moon

One of teh common names for the March full name is the Worm Moon. It's a muddy month, and nearlly always when we start to see worm castings all over the ground as the worms start to move around again after a cold winter. Worms really don't get much love despite being incredibly helpful. They make soil, they improve out gardens and just quietly carry on with their business. Vermicomposting is a fun project to do with kids, but sometimes you want a fancy worm treat. Cue these delicious worm parfaits! Worm Moon Parfaits This is one of those desserts that looks far fancier than it is-- it's a glorified dirt pudding, but its' beautiful and never fails to impress. You have a lot of leeway with ingredients, you can…

26Feb 2023 by catbird No Comments

Magical Color Changing Violet Lemonade

Foraging, May Day, Play, Recipes, Spring Portfolio

Violets are at their best this time of year around us so we pick tons of them (and leave plenty for our pollinator friends too!) to make crafts and recipes. Flowers are an important part of May celebrations historically and people decorated their houses, themselves and their animals. Color changing lemonade is one of our favorites and we make it almost every year. Violets are a pH indicator, so to make this magical drink you’ll actually have to make two beverages and then mix them in front of your adoring fans. We do this by the glass so that every kid gets to perform the magic trick. What is actually happening is that the acid from the lemon is changing the pH of the drink, turning it from purpley blue…

13Feb 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Printable Floriography Valentines

Craft Project, Free Printable, Garden, Nature Art, Valentine's Day

Floriography is the art of communicating with flowers, with different types of flowers having particular symbolic meanings. Some form of floriography has been practiced for thousands of years across Europe, Asia and Africa, but the best known floral code today is the Victorian Language of Flowers. In the 19th century, particularly in the UK and the United States, it became all the rage to send coded messages with flowers. There were floral dictionaries published and you could convey just about anything with the flowers you exchanged. (Although there are often multiple meanings for the same plants) Floriography was the emoji of the Victorian times, and like the emoji, it can be used to send coded messages. I put together the printable valentines below from some of the words that jumped…

04Feb 2023 by catbird 3 Comments

Celebrating Valentine’s Day in Nature with Children!

Craft Project, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Valentine's Day

8 fun ways to celebrate Valentine's Day in nature with children- save for later!

19Jan 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Midwinter Nature Activities for Kids

Bath & Body, Craft Project, Midwinter, Nature Art, Recipes, Winter

Ten ways to celebrate the Midwinter with kids!! Pin for later! Click the pictures below for more info. (Tutorials for the candles and moon milk will be in my upcoming Midwinter guide!) Midwinter is an inward facing, puttering kind of celebration, in contrast to all of the pomp of the December holidays. It’s cleaning out the old and looking forward to the new-- spring, new gardens and days filled with light all while staying cozy and warm. You can celebrate by making soap, candles, tidying the house, pouring over seed catalogs, laying out garden plans, forcing branches or making traditional foods with milk, honey and seeds. It's a great time to practice hygge, taking pleasure in slower, simple things.

11Jan 2023 by catbird 2 Comments

Hibernation Party!!

Craft Project, Hibernation Celebration, Learning, Nature Art, Play, Winter

Maybe you've been learning about hibernation all week... maybe you just like a good party. Either way, a hibernation party is a ton of fun!! This is a great party to have with friends right before winter break (which is what we usually do) or a fun way to celebrate winter in January. Check out the Hibernation Celebration page for some more ways to learn about hibernation or just dive right into the snacks! Below there are ideas for: storing up for the winter (snacks), making your den cozy (activities) and training for hibernation (games). Store up for Winter Mobile Hibernation Snack Necklace One of the most important parts of hibernation is storing up tons of food and you never know when you might get hungry! Cue the mobile hibernation…

29Dec 2022 by catbird 2 Comments

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 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 caves.…

28Dec 2022 by catbird No Comments

Hibernating Seed Bears

Craft Project, Garden, Hibernation Celebration, Nature Art, Play, Winter

Many animals hibernate this time of year, and while plants don't hibernate exactly, many of them do go dormant which is similar. We observe a "Hibernation Celebration" each year in December as school winds down and we prepare for our quiet period of sorts. This year we made these sweet little seed bears with seeds tucked inside sleeping away the winter and waiting for spring. We chose seeds that are food for or have value to small mammals so that they wouldn't just look like sleeping animals, but actually help animals! I couldn't find a sleeping bear mold so we made these by hand which is time consuming, but feels right for this sleepy season. You could also try using bee friendly plants with a bee mold or swampy loving…

28Dec 2022 by catbird 1 Comment

Walnut Shell Fortune Telling Candle Boats

Craft Project, New Year's Eve, Play, Winter

I’m not sure when I started with the fortune telling slant to New Year's Eve, but I think it makes sense I think in light of the new year/ new beginnings. I like the idea of making predictions and solidifying hopes for the next year, and it feels more practical than resolutions no one intends to keep. Over the years I have added more and more unique and interesting ways to predict fortunes to my repertoire and my kids LOVE them, but this is one of the oldest that we have been doing since they were little littles. It's fun, it's easy and who doesn't love a little candle boat made from a walnut shell?? These are candle boats because we always do this at night, and it's very dramatic,…

28Dec 2022 by catbird No Comments

Winter Solstice Nature Activities for Kids

Craft Project, Nature Art, Nature Collection, Nature Journaling, Winter, Winter Solstice

Twelve ways to celebrate the Winter Solstice with kids!! Pin for later! Click the pictures below for more info.

Tag: kids nature celebration