Pretty Garden Markers

We planted seeds at the garden last week and with all the interest in digging in the dirt I figured we needed to mark where it is not ok to dig until the plants come up making it more obvious.

 

I grabbed some quick supplies and we started working on our markers.  We used paint stir sticks, faux flowers, pipe cleaners and markers.  We made a marker for each row writing each veggie on a marker with a marker.  Then we cut flowers and pipe cleaners, held a flower stem to a stir stick and twisted the pipe cleaner around the stick to hold the flower in place.  Lastly, we went outside and used a hammer to push the sticks into the ground at the front of each row. 

Super Simple.  Super cute.  Super effective!

 

 

Little DC Garden

My little friends and I have really been having fun playing in the dirt this week.  ON Sunday, Shaun and I drove down with the tiller in tow and tilled up our garden spot at the day care.  On Monday I broke out my dc hoe and rake and also little kiddie garden gloves and hand tools donated by my loving Mother.  The kids were all about the gloves and tools and dug and played.  We have been out there every day this week.  We finally planted our seeds on Wednesday. 

 

This year we are growing corn, watermelon, squash, zucchini, green beans and tomatoes.  The green beans in the dc garden are new this year.  We frequently have green beans with our lunches so I thought it would be neat for them to watch them grow. 

 

Now we will water a little and wait for the plants to come up.  Then we will begin our weeding.  I also used the side of our storage barn to hang our tools where they are protected by the roof overhang from the rain and sun.  Makes garden life a lot easier not having to tote all those accessories!

 

 

 

Library Surprise

I usually go to the library on Saturdays.  I love to pick out new books for story time at the day care.  This past Saturday I went to the library, as usual, and ran into a big surprise.  I returned my previously checked out books and picked up my books that were on the hold shelf.  When I turned around to head to the children's area I saw a room full of books and people in the glass conference room.  I know my eyes got as big as dinner plates and I asked the fellow behind the desk if it was a book sale.  He said yes and that it was the last day for it.  In fact, it was in the midst of it's last hour!  I went inside and the lady working handed me a grocery sack and said "all the books it will hold will be four dollars."  Yippee!  I made my way to the children's section first and began looking and stuffing!  I wound up with a nice stack of books for story time.  Some of the books are vintage and some look newer.  Some of them I remember from being a kid and one of them especially.  It came from the library in the elementary school next to the library where I attended school.  I immediately opened the book and gave it a sniff and it smelled just as I remembered the books in that library smelled.  Flashback!  I also picked up a few books for me from the juvenile reader's section and fiction and non-fiction.  I had a blast.  Here's a look at our new stash.

I love this last book, Once Upon A Rhyme."  I read some of it out loud at the bus stop the other morning.  If it was checked out it would have a high rating.

BackYard Bird Bingo

I am a bird watcher.  I have always loved paying attention to birds that I see and hear in our area or where ever I go.  A bird is something a child is going to ask about and it is good for them to notice what is flying around them.  We talk about the differences in them, we have feeders during the winter time and even had a Robin nest in our tiny new tree last year in the back yard here. 

I came up with this bird I.D. game that I call "Backyard Bird Bingo" and it includes the most common birds that we see around the day care.  I made three different cards with some of the same birds on them.  You can print them out using a color printer and get ready to get your chairs out in a shady place in the yard to start watching.  The kids can use rocks to place on their cards when they see one of the birds.  Or you can use a crayon to cross through the picture when the bird is seen. 

You are welcome to right click and print the following pictures.  If you have trouble, please send me an email and I will send the pdf file to you.

I have to admit that I ued pictures that I found through yahoo search.  I didn't think ahead of time to give credit to each site for their drawing but will not take credit for the drawings themselves for this project.  Thanks.

Opposites

Lately we have been talking a lot about opposites.  The difference between Hot and Cold, Soft and Hard, and Wet and Dry.  I haven't made a board for the wet/dry yet.  We mainly talk about that one in the sand box and at the dirt pile.  Sand is a good way to show wet and dry because sand will run out of your hand when it is dry and just sit there when it is wet.  Even though the kids already know pretty much when something is hot or cold I believe it teaches the differences in things and also defining words for objects.

For examples on the Soft/Dry board, we talked and came up with suggestions for each then looked for things that applied.  We found feathers from the geese outside and a got a rock from our collection. 

For the board on Hot and Cold, I resorted to the internet for pictures I could cut out.  I laid them all out and let each child look at them and choose which ones were hot and which ones were cold.  Then we glued them in to their proper places on the board.

For the board I used black card stock.  At first I used chalk to write but then decided there would be too much touching and smearing so I typed, printed and cut out words.  I also used cheap, certificate frames and took the glass out.  I hung them up and put some pretty good double faced tape behind them to secure them to the wall but they can also be moved later on.