We Play Outdoors: Water + Trees + Sand = Spring Fun!

Childhood 101 has kicked off their Get Outdoors April 2011 Challenge...

Basically, challenge participants are supposed to commit to 
Outdoor playtime everyday for the month of April, regardless of the weather.

Big Bro and Little Bro both love to play outdoors and we already play outdoors nearly everyday already, so this should be a fun but somewhat easy challenge for us.

The only issue we have occasionally here in Florida are severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes that get thrown into the mix. Yes, we live in the Sunshine State but we also get more than our fair share of tropical Spring storms. Last week, we had several tornadoes touch down, along with severe thunderstorms nearly every day. Today, we had some thunderstorms to start the day but now, it is a bit better outside.

But with some planning, nearly every day, it is possible to get some playtime outside no matter what the weather throws at us...

Well, here are some photos of the fun we have had recently while playing outside...
Some are at our local water park, some are from our neighborhood park, and some are at the beach near us. 

The air temps have been pretty nice (mostly in the mid to upper 80s) but the water at our water parks, pools, and the Gulf of Mexico still are a little on the cold side.

Still has been nice to soak up the sunshine in between the intermittent severe storms we have had lately and to be in the water and sun if only for a handful of minutes... 

Hope that you will want to join in the We Play fun at Childhood 101 too!

We Play Outdoors: Kids Discover Nature Outdoor Challenge...What Fun!

The Kids Discover Nature 30-Day Outdoor Challenge! is so much fun, so we thought we would share some of what we have been doing...
We have found some fun things while out exploring in our neighborhood, including:

a very tiny baby snake
an egg
some magnolia leaves
some pine cones
an armadillo den
loads of grasshoppers, lizards, birds, and other creepy crawlies
flowers 
plants 
trees 
Spanish Moss

Today, while looking for some information on our little snaky resident, we found some great nature charts here...

We are looking forward to trying out the Nature Chart Game, the Fall Game, and the Nature Drawing Game. All of them appealed to the boys when I shared them with them.
Then, we found out that according to the Tampa Tribune, who got their information from the Associated Press:

More than 100 national parks (in the USA) that usually charge entrance fees will be offering free admission the weekend of Aug. 14-15. In addition, many national park concessionaires have special offers for the weekend with discounts and coupons for rooms, tours and products.

Parks participating in the free Aug. 14-15 weekend include Grand Canyon in Arizona, Yosemite in California, Rocky Mountain in Colorado, Volcanoes in Hawaii, Acadia in Maine, Glacier in Montana, Badlands in South Dakota, Arches, Bryce and Zion in Utah, Shenandoah in Virginia, Mount Rainier and Olympic in Washington, and Yellowstone, with entrances in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. 

So, if you live in the USA or if you are planning a visit to the USA over this coming weekend, you may want to try to fit going to one of the national parks offering free admission for this upcoming weekend.

Our family has some favorite parks that cost little or no money both here in Florida and in other states.
Here is a list of some of our family favorites:
Fort DeSoto Park
South Carolina State Parks
Hunting Island State Park
Pennsylvania State Parks
We love playing outside, whether we are playing at a nature preserve, park, playground, beach, or pool.

What does your family like to do outside? 
Would love to hear the fun things that your family does outdoors...
Please leave a comment and your email and I will share a few of the activities (free pdf downloads) we do to bring the outdoors back in with us when Big Bro and Little Bro feel like writing about our time spent outside.
We have several themed vocabulary sheets that the boys can use when they want to write about something, including these three that relate to playing outside:
At the Beach, By the River, and At the Park


Please be sure to check out the neat 
 Kids Discover Nature 30 Day Challenge  
  

 ...as well as the cool 
We Play links over at Childhood 101.

Happy Tuesday!

Organic Art & the Great Outdoors - Palm Branch Art

Since we live in the Sunshine State, and since our palms were in need  of a trim, it was a perfect day to do an art project.

We gathered two clippings from the cut palm branches, then my husband used a saw to cut off the prickly part, near the base of the stem.

Did a quick scan to make sure that the branches were free of any little critters / bugs, as am pretty sure that a little lizard or some ants would not like to get painted.

Initially, Big Bro was not too keen about doing the art project, as he was having fun with the rake and helping his Daddy with gathering the branches.
 But when he saw that Little Bro was excited and was getting prepared to do the art project, he changed his mind and joined in the fun.

Both boys selected their branches.

Then, they selected their paints and poured them onto lids from plastic bins.
 (I have found that lids from plastic bins work well for art projects...
They are flexible, washable, come in a variety of sizes, and are lightweight.)

Then, they dipped their branches into the paint and began to paint with them.

Little Bro's branch stayed more stiff than Big Bro's...not sure if it was because Big Bro's branch was more saturated with paint, or because he was manipulating it more by bending and twisting it, but it worked out well that theirs were different, as it gave them something to discuss as they were painting.

Using local, organic materials helps to make your child's world a little more concrete to them.
Even if you live in an area without palm trees, you are bound to have cool things nearby where you live that will work for an art project.
Dipping rocks, clippings from bushes, pine cones, leaves, flowers, or sticks will all be a way to make a natural connection between art and the great outdoors.

Montessori tie-in:
This art project works well when you are learning about the parts of a plant or when you are learning names for different trees or flowers, etc.
When you find that you have these sorts of works on your shelves and if the weather cooperates, then consider adding this art extension during this time.

Reggio Emilia tie-in:
When your children begin to show an interest in the trees and flowers in your yard and they say that they want to do an art project, and when your yard needs a little trim, prepare the materials and let your children come up with their own creations.
Depending on how many clippings you have and what your child decides he or she would like to create, you may wish to put materials out such as glue and thicker card stock paper, so that if by chance that they would prefer to make a collage using the materials instead of the paint project, they can head in that direction...leave it up to them...

Some suggestions for you...
Do the project outside, if possible, or else on a floor surface.
Do with finger paint paper and washable finger paint. This way, your children can get messy and it will clean up. Plus, the paint will not be harmful to your yard when you go to wash it off.
We used Crayola Washable Finger Paint and Melissa & Doug Finger Paint paper and they worked well for us.
Aprons are helpful or else have them wear play clothes.

 Have fun!