Woodpecker Art

This week we had a little inspiration from a woodland friend the woodpecker. We checked out a book from the library called Peck, Peck, Peck by Lucy Cousins.

Afterward, my little one made her own art with a little help using the hole punch....

Weaving

I have set up a collaborative weaving project in the house to do when one might need a little quiet time. We are just getting started. I plan to have scraps of fabric, ribbon and other bits of things we find to include.

Rainy Worm Day

It is a rainy wet day today and the pavement looks like there is a worm fiesta! Today we looked at the book Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer. It was the perfect morning to go outside and investigate these long slimy creatures and so we did! After we got back my little one decided to create her own worm art from the supply box. Here is what she came up with. I asked her about her choice of materials and she said she used glitter glue because it's slimy like the worms and sparkles in the light. If only real worms were glittery.... Now, wouldn't that be cool!

 

A Recycled Nest...

It feels like we are living in the middle of an aviary lately. Today we saw a group of pelicans (so exciting!) an osprey, an eagle and heard so many little birds flying about! I read the book Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward. It's a sweet rhyming book with illustrations that show examples of different types of nests and birds. This book was our inspiration for today. We dug through the recycling and garbage to create a little nest......

 We glued parts of an old lemon bag, paper bag and newspaper to a balloon

 Then, we let it dry....

Popped the balloon and found a friend to live in it... until we placed it outside...

Here are some other books about birds that we found -

A book about John James Audubon called The Boy Who Drew Birds. It has beautiful illustrations and tells such a lovely story of Audubon. There are many other books about Audubon but I found this one the easiest to digest for 4-7 year olds.
Robins, Songbirds of Spring is a sweet book all about Robins.

How to Paint a Portrait of a Bird is a very sweet little book about just what it says. It would be a lovely gift to give with a paint set and canvas.

Still Life......

My little one has been inspired to paint like crazy on this rainy day. 

So, we set up some still life subject matter to paint....

 

 The Tower

 Side note: she is excited for summer wearing a life jacket but cold.. hence the stocking cap...

Ribbit! Ribbit!

This week we have been talking about frogs! We have been listening to them sing at the nature center. We found some great books at the library to share-

In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming

 Ah Ha! by Jeff Mack

It's Mine! by Leo Lionni

A Frog's Life by Ellen Lawrence

After we looked at the frogs life cycle we drew the stages and used finger prints for the tadpole and frog...

We went on a listening adventure and read It's Mine! and In the Small, Small Pond. Then, we took a look at Monet's Water Lilies for inspiration.

 Experimenting with blowing the paint with a straw to make "waves"

 A little frog with sharpie on the lily pad

After we were all done we read the book Ah Ha! This was a fun one to read because it's just two words but the meaning changes on each page as you look at the expressions on the animals faces......

A Boy and a Bear in a Boat

I just finished reading a chapter book with my son called A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton. I cannot say how much I loved this book. It was so timely to stumble upon this at the book store. I talk to my kids quite a bit about enjoying the moment and not worrying about getting to the end of whatever it is we are working on. There is so much to enjoy, learn and savor in the journey. Sometimes, if not most times, the journey is better than what is at the 'end' after all.
A Boy and a Bear in a Boat is about exactly what I have been trying to teach my kids. The story takes you through many ups and downs of the journey of the boy and bear. It is not all happy times but they learn along the way.