St. Patrick s Day Clover Bouquet
Posted Mar 4, 10 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), holiday crafts: St. Patricks Day, use for natural stuff: vines, sticks... | 1 Comment
Have yourself a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!
Find a quit spot and pick yourself a beautiful bouquet of clovers, grass and any available wildflowers. While you are there take a closer look around. You may not find any signs of a Leprechaun but you will surely discover another world filled with tiny living things such as lady bugs and grass hoppers.
Playing Pretend: Reuse For Non-Working Or Outdated Electronics
Posted Mar 1, 10 -Filed Under Uncategorized, children's activities (recycled materials), children's crafts (recycled materials), reuse boxes, reuse electronics, reuse paper printed material | 1 Comment
Is it really necessary to buy plastic versions of the things we have? Children want to play with your cell phone or type on the computer because they see you do it. Pass down your non-working or outdated electronics. Playing pretend is great fun for boys and girls alike.
My kids and their friends were always happy to play with an old cell phone, broken computer key board, even a non functioning remote control. Reusing these hand-me downs can entertain little ones who may not be ready to use the real thing yet. Children might want to play Office. Furthermore, if the kids are into theatre, then reuse these things as props.
This is my daughter’s version of a laptop notebook computer she made a few years ago.
The above play computer is made from reusing non-working computer parts. The monitor was made from a cardboard try. Any magazine picture can be put on it for the wallpaper. The toolbar and other features can be drawn on by hand.
Use good parental judgment. Some items would not be safe to play with. Also, I’m not suggesting these items be given to very young children.
Don’t Have A Sled: Make Your Own!
Posted Feb 9, 10 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), crafts (recycled materials), reuse skis, reuse wood/ lumber, seasonal: winter | Leave a Comment
Isn’t this sled fantastic? Patrick King of Southern Maryland made it himself from a pair of skis he said were slated for the dump. It worked really well too! They looked like they were having a blast.
Why not make your own?
Use a pair of old skis, scrap 2 x 4’s, a scrap piece of plywood and a bit of rope. Plus, padding for the seat would be a good idea.
He said he just screwed the skis to the wood from the bottom. The rest looks pretty straight forward.
I love this kind of clever thinking.
Hunting Rabbits: A Nature Adventure Involving Shooting With A Camera
Posted Feb 3, 10 -Filed Under Nature: plant and animal identification, Uncategorized, children's activities (recycled materials), seasonal: winter | Leave a Comment
This was a fun impromptu adventure my daughter and I went on.
After seeing rabbit prints on the road, we decided to follow them into the woods.
The tracks meandered this way and that way and around trees.
We must have startled him because that’s when we noticed the rabbit dart away.
I took a picture of the rabbit standing very still. See it hiding mid picture?
I was able to get closer and then closer still. I took this picture. It turned out that we were tracking an Eastern cottontail. It looked just like the picture in my field guide that I referenced when I returned home.
A rabbit’s front paw print is about the size of a grown–up’s thumb print.
Make Learning Letter Sounds Fun By Using Home-made Letter Jars
Posted Jan 31, 10 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), crafts (recycled materials), home school, reuse containers, ice cream, reuse bottles, plastic, reuse glass bottles/ jars, reuse toys, small junk | 1 Comment
Using letter jars will help children with early reading skills. It’s easy to make and fun to play. Perfect for home-school-ers / or preschoolers.
Ideas for objects beginning with the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Ideas for objects beginning with the letters G, H, I, J, and K.
Ideas for objects beginning with the letters L, M, N, and O.
Ideas for objects beginning with the letters P, Q, R, and S.
Add a picture of your child. They love to be included.
Ideas for objects beginning with the letters T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
Introduce one jar at a time: naming the objects and pointing out the beginning sound. Explain that all the objects that start with that sounds should go together in a jar. Some of the sounds will be easy for them to learn, others more difficult. Some of the letters conveniently say their sound: like D. Some letters are harder like G because they don’t say their sound.
When he or she seems to be able to name the objects, let children test themselves by getting out two jars at a time and mixing the objects. Then they have to sort them back out. If two jars is too easy, use three.
More advanced activities:
Some letters can make more than one sound so you can use separate jars for these if you like. Also, it can be very helpful to have a F jar and a Ph jar. It’s also helpful to have a jar for wh, sh, ch, th and other common combination sounds. Some children learn better using this kind of hands-on game.
My Children loved these jars. They would ask to use them. The little nick-knacks are so interesting.
Hot to:
Find baby food jars or plastic containers from your recycle bin. Label each container with a letter or letter combination.
Fill the containers with whatever you can find. Hunt for little things such as might be in a Piñata, given in a party favor bag, or found at the bottom of a toy box. If you have kids, chances are, you have junk toys.
*Please be aware that I’m not suggesting that you should use these with children that still put things in their mouth.
Go Ahead And Make Your Own Ice Rink: It is Easy!
Posted Jan 14, 10 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), reuse wood/ lumber, seasonal: winter | 2 Comments
Enjoy the convenience of an ice rink in your own yard!
Learn to ice skate!
I made this ice rink thanks to a rather cold spell in our area. If it’s going to be cold, we like to make the best of it!
Invite friends! I’ve collected a stash of assorted sized second- hand ice skates, knee pads, elbow pads, and helmets for my kids and their friends to use.
I wanted our rink to be small enough to be easy to set up and take down and I needed it to be made with materials I already had.
Materials:
Salvaged 2 x 4’s, enough to go around the perimeter
Plastic (I had leftover plastic used as a moisture barrier under my house.)
Bricks or logs; used to hold the walls in place.
How to:
Find a very flat area on your property. Lay out your 2 x 4’s to make a rectangle. Size the rectangle so that it fits your plastic. Remember that the plastic needs to go up and over the 2 x 4’s. I didn’t stake the sides or even use hardware to attach the boards to each other. I just lined the boards up end to end. Then I placed the plastic over; pulling it very flat. Next I placed other scrap pieces of 2 x 4’s where ever there was a point where two boards were meeting up. I used logs to secure in place. All that was left was to add water and nature did the rest. When the weather warms up again, gather the boards and folded up the plastic and store for future fun.
If you are looking to make a big ice rink: I found this site recently and thought it had a lot of good tips.
Finding Salamanders for Fun and Study: Where to Look and How To Handle For Your Safety And Theirs
Posted Nov 5, 09 -Filed Under Nature: plant and animal identification, children's activities (recycled materials), reuse glass bottles/ jars, seasonal: fall, seasonal: spring, seasonal: summer | Leave a Comment
Lungless salamanders, like the one above, breathe through the mucous membrane in their mouth and throat and through their skin. Moisture is especially important to lungless salamanders, because their skin must be wet in order to absorb oxygen. These animals like to stay protected but may venture out when the air is very humid. I guess that is why we found him out on that drizzly day.
Northern two-lined salamander found not too far from my house. Isn’t it cute?
Here is an activity to get the kids outside. Take them on a fun salamander hunt. Your kids probably won’t need much convincing but you can get them excited by telling them a few cool facts about salamanders.
1. Salamanders can drop off their tails to escape predators. This is called tail autotomy. The disconnected tale wiggles around and provides a distraction so the salamander can escape.
2. Salamanders can grow back a missing tail! It can also re-grow a missing leg!!
3. Salamanders regularly shed the outer layer of their skin (the epidermis) as they grow, and then eat it.
4. The skin of salamanders secretes mucus, which helps keep the animal moist when not in the water.
5. Salamanders can secrete poison from glands in their skin in order to be an undesirable meal. (more about that below)
Where to look for salamanders
Because a salamander’s skin must stay moist, look for adult salamanders in places where the earth is damp such as: under leaves, under logs, or near a wetland (stream, pond, swamp, marsh). If you do look under logs, be sure to replace the log back the way you found it being careful not to squish any living organism in the process.
Because salamanders are nocturnal (which means they are active mostly at night), you might also try hunting at night.
Perhaps you have come across one while doing yard work, working in your garden or while hiking through the woods.
Most salamanders have four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs. This guy has 5 toes on its back legs; they are just hard to see in this photo.
Be kind to these little critters:
Handling suggestions for salamanders
Make sure you wash your hands before and after touching a salamander (or any amphibian). Wash your hands beforehand to remove any moisturizing lotion, suntan lotion, insect repellent, soap residue, or toxins from other amphibians. Salamanders are very sensitive to such things.
Handling should be kept to a minimum. When I show salamanders to children, I like to let the salamander walk on my hand rather than me “holding it”. You don’t want to squeeze any part of its delicate body.
Salamanders need to be kept cool. Also, they shouldn’t be left out in the sun because their skin will dry out. Mist its skin as necessary.
Never hold a salamander by its tail; it can break off. Although it can grow it back, it’s better for it not to have to.
Protect yourself:
Always wash your hands after handling amphibians because they have glands in their skin that secrete chemicals. (Salamanders, frogs, toads and newts are amphibians.)
Some of these chemicals are very nasty tasting. Your dog or cat may have discovered this. (That guy just didn’t want to be eaten.)
Some chemicals may cause skin or eye irritation. Don’t take any chances, wash your hands.
Some may actually kill (the poison-dart frogs of Central America).
Among the native amphibians of the United States, the two amphibians of greatest concern are giant toads (also called cane toads, marine toads, aga toads; Bufo marinus)- Common in some parts of FL. and the western newts of the genus, Taricha (found on the west coast of the U.S.).
Proper hand washing after handling should also prevent any problems with infection from Salmonella (bacteria that makes you sick).
This website http://therealowner.com/reptiles-amphibians/caring-for-salamanders/
Has good advice on how to care for your temporary “pet” once you find it.
For more information presented in a kid friendly way, check out this website:
http://www.thorp.k12.wi.us/~steinbach/limnology_oceanography/student_work/Salamanders/index.html
Robot Monster Pitcher: Coffee Pot With A Scary Halloween Makeover
Posted Sep 28, 09 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), crafts (recycled materials), holiday crafts: Halloween (recycled stuff), party: robot, reuse "trash", reuse flatware, reuse pot, coffee | Leave a Comment
Allow the guests at your children’s Halloween party to serve themselves a drink with this scary monster bot.
All the pieces for this menacing yet useful guy were recycled.
Don’t turn your back on this grabby little monster: he may steal your candy.
What to put in your Robot Monster Pitcher? Robot Oil (i.e. Apple Juice) of course!
I used this at my daughter’s robot party too.
How to:
Get your hands on a second-hand coffee pot. Then gut out the innards. Clean it really well. The exterior bottom of my coffee pot was damaged by its previous owner from overheating but I think it adds character to our monster. The inside of the pot wasn’t damaged. Check the inside before bringing one home.
Eyes are burned out red Christmas light bulbs. Arms are thrift-store forks. Mouth was made from a metal shower curtain ring that I bent up using a pair of pliers.
Gluing the pieces on:
Gorilla glue worked for the arms. When the glue was dry, I used a razor blade to clean off the glue that squeezed out. A clear epoxy worked for the eyes and mouth.
Be creative and design your own scary Robot Monster Pitcher.
P.S. These posts take me a long time to develop. Don’t forget to send me a dollar once in a while so I can continue to do posts. Is it worth that to you?
MYO Butterfly Metamorphosis Observatory Out Of A Cardboard Box
Posted Jul 8, 09 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), crafts (recycled materials), reuse boxes, reuse magazines, seasonal: summer | 2 Comments
Fill the holes with screen. If you are lucky you will have some screen salvaged from a screen door or window. You could buy screen new but why? It is better to make use of something on its way to a landfill.
You can easily make a beautiful Metamorphosis Observatory. It’s a safe place to care for a caterpillar and a great way for you to watch their amazing transformation. I made this one many years ago and it has fostered lots of caterpillars over the years.
How to:
Find a cardboard box. I think I used the box my blender came in. Use a ruler to mark a border around all the edges. I used the width of the ruler Instead of doing a lot of measuring.
Use a box cutter or exacto knife (careful!) to make a hole in four sides (not the top and bottom).
Find butterfly and flower pictures from last year’s seed catalogs or unwanted magazines etc…
Paste on pictures coving the whole exterior of the box.
I applied varnish (optional) on the inside and the outside of the box so it would last longer.
Fill the holes with screen. If you are lucky you will have some screen salvaged from a screen door or window. You could buy screen new but why? It is better to make use of something on its way to a landfill.
When you find an interesting caterpillar chomping on a plant, put it along with some of the plant, into the Metamorphosis Observatory. To keep the plant fresher, put the stems into a container of water. Replace the plant until the caterpillar is satisfied and begins its transformation. We found that it was necessary to cover the water with plastic to keep the wondering caterpillars safe.
Or place the branch with a found chrysalis on it into the box.
Once your caterpillar have come out of its chrysalis, give it time and space to let its wings expand and then be sure to let it go. This box was not meant to house the butterfly.
She’s full of wonder.
A monarch emerges from its chrysalis.
For the Love of Butterflies: Plant Butterfly Weed
Posted Jun 25, 09 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), eco-friendly living ideas, garden (gardening info and eco-friendly project ideas), seasonal: spring, seasonal: summer | 1 Comment
This North American native is a wonderful source of nectar used by many butterflies. Butterfly weed is one of several species of flowers that we grow around our house to attract a myriad of butterflies.
To attract butterflies to our southern Maryland yard, we have included food for both stages of a butterfly’s life: the butterfly as well as the caterpillar. When you plant a butterfly weed you have done both. Plus, the strong orange flowers will give a festive touch to the outside extension of your home.
How to:
My girls scattered some butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberose) seeds in their garden. The seeds were a gift from a thoughtful friend. You will want to plant your seeds in a location that receives full sun. They prefer dry, sandy soil. It turned out to be easy to grow; just keep the seedlings moist. The older plants are much more tolerant of dry conditions. You can plant your seeds in late spring, summer or early fall. Either way, plan to wait until next summer for flowers. Seeds need a cold treatment before germinating. This can be done by either planting outside in the fall, or placing the seeds in the freezer for a few weeks before planting. New plants are also fairly easy to start from cuttings. Our plants have come up each year with no effort on our part and provide butterfly alluring powers. They flower all summer long and in the fall they have cool seed pods with fluff inside.
If you are a southern Maryland local (i.e. you live close enough that you can stop by), I’d be happy to save you some seeds. If collecting your own seeds, wait until the pods are already starting to open.
FYI, avoid pesticides because they kill butterfly larvae.
Butterfly Weed, a species of milkweed, is a host plant for Monarch Butterflies as well as others.
This is the monarch butterfly in its larval stage completely devouring several of our butterfly weed plants.