Homeschool - Kristen Lindsay

Kristen Lindsay

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Kristen Lindsay

homeschool

Seedy Snack

Simple Craft Greenhouse

nature-crafts

Seedy Snack

Simple Craft Greenhouse

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Seedy Snack

August 4, 2020

Simple Craft Greenhouse

August 4, 2020

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magichomeschoolbus

🌙 Lunch Time! 🌙 having a little fun with

🌙 Lunch Time! 🌙

having a little fun with our lunch today

We are reading some favourite solar system books while biting our moon shaped lunch into moon phase shapes.

Just like the moon, our homeschool journey goes through phases. And today, I needed to change up the plans. So there’s no checking anything off any to-do list. Just a moon lunch and lots of time outside. The writing can wait, the Wolf report can wait, and the laundry will definitely wait.

Happy Tuesday everyone. 💗

🌙 @magichomeschoolbus

Magic Moon Phases 🌙 (aka Watercolour Resist) T

Magic Moon Phases 🌙
(aka Watercolour Resist)

This has to be one of my favourite activities of all time. Kids love it too, because it’s MAGIC! 💫 And even though we did it during Harvest Moon week, we are going to do it again this week while learning more about the Moon! Instead of a banner each of my kiddos are going to make there own Moon Phase Poster for the wall.

@magichomeschoolbus

Supplies
• watercolours
• watercolour paper
• white wax crayon
• pencil
• small cup or something to help draw circles

Directions
1. Cut your watercolour paper into quarters. You will need 8 pieces total (1 for each phase).
2. Draw a circle on each of the cut rectangles. Add the moon phases to the circles and label each one. You can use the visuals in last weeks free STEM email as a guide.
3. Using the white crayon, colour in the portion of the moon that is visible to our eye during each phase. Take your time to colour as much of the space as you can. The watercolour will resist the crayon, making it appear when we paint. For example, for the full moon you will colour in the entire moon, but for the new moon you won’t use the crayon at all.
* for young learners, try outlining the space and having them colour it in just to keep the general shape before painting OR you can do the colouring and they do the painting.
4. Go ahead and paint! Paint over the entire space and watch your phase appear like magic!
**important, ask your child to paint lightly over the space, with plenty of water and pigment on their brush. They should not need to push hard. This will make for a better result. A ‘full’ watercolour brush, with lots of bristles works best too.
5. You can then make a moon phase banner by hanging these cards using a hole punch (or paperclips) and string.

🌙and don’t worry about colouring in the space perfectly. Anywhere that paint adheres to your moon between the wax crayon makes for some fabulous craters! Check out that full moon in the top left corner 👌

Marshmallow Snowflake Build ❄️ Toothpicks, m

Marshmallow Snowflake Build ❄️

Toothpicks, mini marshmallows and maybe a side of hot cocoa is all you need.

@magichomeschoolbus

I set out some snowflake cards (some of which are pictured here and all of which will be in next weeks Winter Solstice email). I challenged the older two to recreate some of the cards, and then we had plenty of time to free build.

Snowmen, snow monsters and snow forts were also created, and a few too many marshmallows were consumed ☺️☕️

We did a very similar activity last year and it’s always a big hit. Definitely an annual tradition. 🥰

Hope you all had a great weekend! 💗

Tic-Tac-SNOW with rocks! ❄️ Updating this roc

Tic-Tac-SNOW with rocks! ❄️

Updating this rock game was a little overdue. Our pumpkins and ghosts (on the backside of these rocks) were still sitting in a basket waiting for a change.

@magichomeschoolbus

DIY ROCK GAME

Its as simple as it looks. We painted rocks with acrylic paint and used an orange and black sharpie for the facial features. Though, paint markers would work much better, I just couldn’t find our black or orange ones 🙈. We finished it with a clear coat of modge podge and grabbed a few sticks. That’s it! The kids absolutely love playing with these.

@magichomeschoolbus

“PINECONES HAVE BRAINS!” -Quinn Okay, not re

“PINECONES HAVE BRAINS!” -Quinn

Okay, not really. But they sure are smart little things! Did you know that pinecones “open and close” depending on the air temperature and moisture levels?! Catch this...

The scales of seed-bearing pine cones move in response to changes in humidity. When warm and dry, the pine cone opens up to release the cone's seeds. When it is damp or cold, the scales close up.

This ensures the pinecones release seeds on warm dry days, giving the next generation the best shot at a wide dispersal.

Pinecones aren’t the seed themselves, but the carrier. At the base of the scales are little seeds that are released. If released during a heavy rain, the weight of the rain would cause the seeds to fall straight down. They wouldn’t be able to compete with the parent tree for sun and nutrients so it wouldn’t survive. If released in the middle of winter, the seed wouldn’t find appropriate soil to grow. However, if it’s released on a warm and dry day, it will flutter down, catching in the wind and landing in a spot where it might just grow!

Nature is amazing. Magical.

We put a dry open pinecone in each jar. Be sure they really are dry and open. You might have to wait a day or two if you just grabbed them from outside. Or, put it near a vent or fire (remember, dry and warm to open) . Then, pour water into just one jar and wait! We tried it twice, once using hot water and the other time using cold water to see the difference.

(some pinecones take longer to react, so have something to do in the meantime and set the jars at the center of the table to observe).

The kids were amazed! Who knew that pinecones were so cool!! Oh! And I forgot, shake your open pinecone or lightly tap in on a table so the seeds come out. They are like baby helicopter seeds and fun to explore too

Evergreen Paintbrushes 🎨🌲 What a fun way t

Evergreen Paintbrushes 🎨🌲

What a fun way to explore the leaves/needles of a conifer tree! I loved seeing this idea flood my feed this past summer. People were making paintbrushes from leaves, flowers, tall grasses and more. We missed the boat, but figured we would give it a try now!

@magichomeschoolbus

After collecting some leaves from a variety of evergreen trees, we came inside and used our books to identify each tree based on their needles/ scales (leaves)

We then compared what we knew about leaves from a deciduous tree to what we now know about the leaves from a coniferous tree.

🎨 Handmade paint brushes

• twigs
• leaves from coniferous trees
• elastic bands
• paint
(White pine works most like a paintbrush)

After using rubber bands to wrap some needles to the sticks, we made predictions as to which paintbrush will be easiest to use. After that the kids got to work, creating dozens or pieces they want to hang from our tree 🤣🙈 Maybe I’ll hang a string on the wall behind the tree to display their art. ☺️

Happy Wednesday All! 🧡🧡
@magichomeschoolbus

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