Nature Activity: Stone Soup [Inspired by Tinkergarten]

     As I am sure many of you already know I am a Tinkergarten leader.  I wanted to share my twist on our different lesson plans and give you a peek inside our classroom.  Before each season starts I hold a few free classes and my #1 favorite one to do is Stone Soup.

     If you are not familiar with Stone Soup it is a story of some travelers who are very hungry but when they get to the village the people have hidden all of their food.  The travelers then deiced to create stone soup and in the end the villagers end up sharing their food for the sake of the soup.  I swear the real story is much better!  My trials tend to be 2-5 years old's so I just summarize each page for them.

     When the story is over I start to talk about how hungry I am and how this story really made me want some stone soup.  After we get passed all of the kind kids trying to give me their snacks and I finally convince them that I really just want stone soup we have a new problem to solve.

HOW IN THE WORLD CAN WE MAKE STONE SOUP?!

     Before class starts I lay out a few pots and gallons of water but I don't tell anybody what they are for.  Now we are dealing with young children here so in order to reach our goal they may need a little prompting. I try the most vague questions first and they normally get it after the first few, but I always have back up questions! 

-What do we remember about the story?

-What did the travelers do to make stone soup?

-Where can we find the things that we need?

-Oh man check out that pot!  Do we have something to put inside it?

-Are there any stones?

     I have yet to get past question two.  Now once we have the stones in the pots and the water is making its way there I like to pick up a pine cone and say something like "Oh man!  Check out this HUGE potato I found, I think I want to add it to the soup."  That's about all the prompting that I need to give, tho sometimes I have to question what other things we can put in the soup because everyone will just find a lot of potatoes! 

        I like to watch them play around with this activity for a while, if there are a few kids who don't seem that into it I will ask if they want to help me build a fire or talk to them about what they help their parents do in the kitchen, a lot of times it is stirring and that opens up a new line of play for them.  As kids start to tire of collecting things to put in the soup I introduce spices.

     Spices bring in the sense of smell!  Not only that but also a splash of color.  The only problem is that they get used up really fast!  We cant expect the kids to solve all of our problems for us tho!  Ok, just kidding, the first time that I ran out of spices one of the kids just started filling it up with dirt and pretending it was a spice.  Ever since then when the kids ask me for more spices I will say something along the lines of "Well I guess we will have to make some more!"  Most of the time they go right to the dirt, although some of them I must show threw example.

     I have yet to see all of the kids play themselves out with this one, when there is water and dirt around its a never ending line of possibilities.  I always give a 10,5, and 3 minute warning so that the kids know how much time they have left to do what they want to do, and I find this makes ending the activity go a lot smoother.  Of course if there are children who are just super into it then they can keep playing if they want.  So the stone soup is all done now what?

     Its time to eat and boy am I hungry.  Tinkergarten supply's us with these amazing metal pails that we use all the time!  So I start filling up the "bowls" with soup.

     We then sit down and "eat" our yummy soup with our wonderful wooden "spoons"!

Want some more ideas or more specifics about how to run this activity at home?  Check out Tinkergartens lesson plan: Stone Soup

Until next time!

Nature Activity: Cloud Watching

     Think back on your childhood memories.  Which ones do you remember best and with the most fondness?  Nearly all of mine are outside and many of them feature someone I care about deeply.  One that I remember with much fondness is laying in the grass near my grandmas garden looking at the clouds.  How often do you look up?  How often does your child look up?
     For this activity you don't need anything except maybe a blanket and defiantly your imagination.  Take your child outside but be aware of the time of day nobody likes sun glaring in their eyes.  Lay on the grass or a blanket and look up at the clouds.  Talk about what you see, ask them what  they see.  This is a time to promote imagination!  
     After a lot of looking I found some great cloud books to help inspire imagination!  This isn't about learning the cloud names, its about promoting a love for the clouds that will later inspire them to learn the clouds names and so much more,

Cloudette is an adorable book about an adorable cloud!  She is a very small cloud and wants to do important things like the big clouds.  She gets thrust into a journey that helps her find a purpose, 

This book is particularly great for this activity because it can plant the idea of making shapes out of clouds to your child without you having to tell them.  The book is all about what the white patch on the page looks like, in the end you find out it is a cloud.

I bet some of you recognize this book!  This book has been read in schools for years now!  I have to say this is my favorite book for this activity out of all three.  It has the little cloud joining the big clouds for a storm (I love when science is represented indirectly in a story!), and then like spilt milk the clouds form shapes promoting the imagination to work for itself!

     Grab your blanket, books, water, and imagination and have a great time!

Let me know what you find in the clouds!

Parents Tool Box: Imagination, why is it important?

 

Imagination Quotes

       We live in the age of technology, each generation more immersed in it than the last.  We have so much more access to knowledge now that it isn't as high of a commodity as it once was.  Colleges are full of applicants who have higher than a 4.0 grade average and even if you graduate college it can be next to impossible to get a job in your field.  So what can we do to give our children an upper hand in the future?

Foster Their Imagination

     Anything your adult child may know will likely only be a click away for everyone else as well.  Problem solving skills on the other hand are in short supply.  Colleges and employers want someone who can think outside of the box.  They are in need of innovative and imaginative people.  The way our society has been influencing our children is to fit in when what the world really needs is people who stand out.
     Not only will it give them an upper hand in their future career but it will also play a large part in their most meaningful relationships.  To have deep conversations, imagining endless possibilities, coming up with creative solutions, and of course the fun of an imaginative gift giver.  Our society while it needs more people with bigger imaginations is also set up to squash those people early on.  YOU have to work with your child on their imagination because it is unlikely many other people will. 

Want some more information on why imagination is important and more ways to foster it check out some of these blogs:

• 1st Place is a group based in the UK dedicated to informing parents on the latest updates in Early Childhood Education
• Psychology Today is a well known organization in the Psychology field.  Their post focuses on the mental aspect. 
• Scholastic also offers a short an sweet explanation

I hope that you enjoy adding this new tool to your tool box!

Nature Connection: Scary or cute?

     I don't know about you but there are just some things in nature that just freak me out!  I am sure we all have that one thing (maybe more) that just gives us the heebey jeebeys outside.  The problem is that we don't want to pass that "fear" over to our children, so this activity is as much for you as it is for them.   So lets take something that freaks a lot of people out, spiders.

    Step one:  Find out why you (or your child) is freaked out by spiders.  If it is not some deep seeded physiological issue that you may need years to sort out then grab a couple of spider books and read up!  Knowledge is power, the more you know about something the less scary it is.  Go to your local library and stock up on children's books about spiders.  I love the fun way that children's books lay out information, so they are always my first research material.

     Step Two:  If the thing you are "scared" of does have some dangerous qualities (black widows and brown recluse for example), then make sure you know the steps to avoid or prevent encountering those.  You will also realize that, in most cases, if your cautious it is likely that no harm will come to you.  Being cautious doesn't mean stop exploring, just do it with more awareness.

NOW!  On to the point of this activity that we involve our child in.  You want your child to describe all  of the things that make the spider pretty.  Try your best to work with your child to come up with ways that what ever it is is pretty.

"Tiny things are so cute"

"They make amazing webs"

"They eat the bugs that bite us"

When you run out of things  google something along the lines of "Cute spider" hit images and you will learn to see the pretty side!

Via blackhillsgarden.com

Jürgen Otto

Have any cute pictures of creepy things?  I always love a new perspective!