Join us in creating memories and learning together. Teaching, laughing, and growing with our tiny humans is what we love to do.
Of course we had to cover the Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus)! Unfortunately, we didn't see a caterpillar this year, but we have seen some flying around the yard. Always a great insect to use to talk about life cycles.
We started with milkweed so we can learn about Monarchs next. Unfortunately, with the drought, our milkweed hasn't done great and I never noticed any monarch caterpillars - I usually see several each year. The milkweed in our area is generally orange (Butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa), pink (Swamp Milkweed, A. incarnata), or white and pink (Common Milkweed, A. syriaca).
Our final addition to our Summer board is Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)! It's been pretty dry and this plant likes water, but I was still able to find some sad plants in the corners of our yard. 😂 They're one of my favorite native flowers since it looks neat how the stem connects to the "front" of the flower instead of the "back".
Not only tasty, tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are a great way to talk about how fruits are made since you can commonly see all stages of fruiting on one plant (flower, immature fruit, mature fruit). I didn't have anything smooth, so we just used some red pom-poms for the tomatoes.
We visited the grandparents who live out of town, and I wanted the girls to make them something since they don't get to see them that often. It's easy for Claire to draw pictures now, but Nora isn't quite there yet. So, I had the girls make these fun art hangers for the fridge.
You'll need some clothespins, magnets (I used neodymium ones), paints, and decorations of your choice.
We love our "stained glass" crafts and made butterflies most recently. You'll need: scissors, tissue paper, clear contact paper, construction paper, tape, and a blank piece of paper.
It's that time of year and our *everything* is covered in maple seeds! Instead of sweeping them all away, I thought we could do a fun craft with them and this is what I came up with - Maple seed flowers! Claire said she had fun making them (painting specifically), so they are toddler approved.
It's spring and we have a family member who loves plants, so what's a better gift than a customized flower pot? To keep costs low, I used a 10" terracotta pot and I coated the outside with a clear coat of polyurethane first. This would seal it and make wiping off any painting mistakes easier. We just used Crayola washable paint for the details and then sprayed another clear coat on when it dried to seal everything.
