Some of Our Work - Practical Life and Art Activities

This week, Big Bro has mostly been working on his science project for his co-op class but today, both boys decided that they felt like doing some practical life work, as well as some art work.

Big Bro was very excited that the art pencils his grandmother, G, let him borrow are actually watercolor ink pencils...

So, he decided to try to make the design on the tin box that showed a pagoda and a cherry blossom tree. He drew the design with the ink pencil in one hand and then, went over it with a Q-Tip to make it look like a watercolor painting.

Big Bro added mountains in the background, and then, decided to add people and some animals to the picture as well. He was uncertain if he wanted to change the pencil drawings of the people and animals by adding water to the drawing on those areas. He decided that he wanted to think about it and so he put his art project aside and decided to "dig" into something else...

Little Bro decided to do some art work.
First, he took G's watercolor ink pencils and painted some lines.

Then, he decided to take some scissors and he cut up his design into pieces. Then, he took a hole puncher and punched out little holes to make "confetti".

Little Bro  then glued the confetti on his paper, along with the hole punched pieces of paper.
He loved doing this work and was very immersed in it for much of the morning.

Since Big Bro decided to hold off on finishing changing his drawing into a watercolor, he decided that it was a good time to go water his butterfly container garden.
We had planted the seeds a few weeks ago and they have started to sprout so the boys are now enjoying taking care of their little container gardens.

Big Bro watered his garden and then, Little Bro came out and tended his garden.

Then, the boys decided that it was so much fun to be outside that they decided to use their kitchen area.
The boys got water from our kitchen sink and filled up the sink in their play kitchen sink.
They decided that the play kitchen sink should be for washing, as it has the smaller space to wash. Then, they got out a plastic mixing bowl that happens to double as their rinsing sink. They then washed, rinsed and towel dried the dishes.

Big Bro then decided to get creative and stacked the dishes into a design.

He said that he thought they would continue to air dry if they were stacked this way...perhaps I should buy them a mini dish drying rack?

Saw a neat one on the Montessori Services website and am thinking of getting it for the boys.

If anyone reads this and they have one like this one, or something similar, would love to hear from you about if your children really use it much, etc.

Also, if anyone else has their children's kitchen area set outside or even just out of the classroom area...how is that working for you?

Our kitchen area is working well, except that since it gets damp out there when we have rain, some of the metal items tend to rust.

When we have big storms, I have to go out there and remove the metal and glass items, as the winds can be strong enough to blow these down from the storage shelf.

I have actually started having them use more plastic items out on our lanai in their kitchen area and as it just seems a little more practical.when the weather is beautiful like today, they had a blast having the metal and glass items outside, as well as the plastic ones.

One other exciting bit of news...I won a contest over at Tuckers Take Tennessee for some free penguin downloads made by Honey at Sunflower Schoolhouse! Yippie! Was fun to feel lucky!

Our printer isn't connected right at the moment, but when it is again soon, I will have to print out the pages and share some photos of Little Bro working with these, as he loves penguins and I am sure that he will want to do these activities for his work.

Oh, Majestic Monarch Butterflies, Where are You? Haven't Spotted You Yet...

Clip Art Courtesy Karen's Whimsy  Public Domain Images...thank you to Karen's Whimsy.

Well, the migration from Mexico to all points North is taking place now. The orange, black, and white beauties have been spotted in Texas and Louisiana and are making their way to the Sunshine State.

Excited, as that means any day now, we should see some making their way here.
Their migration depends on Milkweed and if I am correct, there are milkweed plants nearby our home...so hopefully, we will be able to either see some butterflies or to spot their eggs on the milkweed.

Big Bro has been very interested in creepy crawlies and fiesty flyers, as we are referring to them.
Little Bro, well he's kinda interested...likes the idea of butterflies much better than some others, such as bees and ants. Hopefully, learning about butterflies will make him more curious and less afraid of insects. He had a bit of a scare last year with ants, as a few of them managed to find their way to the inside of his life jacket. He had taken the jacket off to use the potty and when he put it back on, the ants went to town and really tore up his back! So, we have not really mentioned that ants and butterflies are both insects, as I worry that he might become afraid of butterflies...and that would just be sad, as butterflies are so beautiful. 

I have done butterfly projects with children before, but usually, it has involved raising Painted Lady Butterflies from eggs in a classroom setting.

Following the Monarch Butterfly Migration Project is going to be something new and interesting.
The website, Journey North has a wonderful set up for children. The pages include a Teacher's guide, booklets, slide shows, web cams, life cycle information, seasonal information (as it relates to the Monarchs), and a very neat collaborative project called Symbolic Migration.

Their deadline to participate for this school year has passed, as the project follows the fall migration to Mexico rather than the Spring migration to the U.S. and Canada.

But since the Monarchs are making their way to Florida soon, I figured that I would at least mention the fall project and hopefully get some photos of butterflies that we will be able to save and to send in the fall.

Clip Art Courtesy Karen's Whimsy  Public Domain Images...thank you to Karen's Whimsy.
Karen's Whimsy also has many other lovely butterflies pictures here.

Each child that participates is to make a flat butterfly, preferably out of recycled paper. There are several other requirements and the project s open to homeschoolers as well as children attending school outside the home, whether private, Montessori, public, charter...you name it.

Here s a video link about the region in Mexico where the butterflies like to hang out for the winter:
Video: Mexico and Monarch Butterflies

I have several free printables related to butterflies that will work great in a homeschool or classroom. Just have to get them to link so hopefully, will get these posted over the weekend when Dear Hubby is here to give me some computer help if / when  I need it...

In the meantime, here are some neat links related to butterflies, with some  of them containing free printables related to butterflies:

 Mama Jenn's Butterfly Matching
Mama Jenn explains how they made their matching activity into a file folder game. You could also use this format, which seems to work just great on its own, or you may want to make it into a Montessori work, using the laminated butterflies on a tray, and then, preparing a control of error chart for the child to refer to when they have matched the butterflies.

Butterfly Art Project, using bingo dabbers from Mommy Moment
A neat butterfly art project was featured here as part of their Work of Art Wednesday.

Montessori three part cards for Butterfly life cycle from Montessori Mom
These cards feature the Black Swallowtail butterfly. Make two sets if you want to do them as three part cards.

Printable Animal Cards: Butterflies

Florida Butterfly Garden video
This was featured in the Gainesville Explorer.

Cornell Box Sample, made by a Montessori Student at the Rogers  Park Montessori School
This was made by a student from the 6-9 classroom. Features various things found in nature, including part of a butterfly. For more information on modern artist, Joseph Cornell, or to learn about Cornell boxes, click here.

Jolanthe's Homeschool Creations 
Jolanthe gives a description of what her family has done with respect to butterflies. Reading her blog entry might also give you some ideas.

 Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Monarch Butterfly Paper Airplanes
For all of the children who love to make paper airplanes...these are really beautiful and fun to take outside.

Nature Detectives
This website is out of the U.K. It features a variety of nature activities, including some butterflies of Europe cards and coloring sheets. If you happen to live in Europe or if you are planning a trip to Europe in the Spring, there is a neat sheet to keep track of the butterflies you spot. 


Crafty Crow Butterflies Art Projects
All kinds of cool art projects related to butterflies, some just for fun...some more as Montessori work.

Butterflies of the World by Montessori Mom 

My Monarch Butterfly Garden by Tom Lears
A lovely video with nice accompanying piano music.

C is for Caterpillar
Another neat work from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Concertina Fold Butterflies Free Printable from Kids Craft Weekly

The Emergence of a Monarch 

How to Make a Butterfly Garden by Montessori Mom
Great idea on how to make a container garden that will attract butterflies. We are going to try this...will post photos to let you know how it works for us...

Butterfly World for Kids
This lovely park is in Coconut Creek Florida. This link made especially by them for their young visitors features a picture of butterflies, as well as a coloring book.

Neat Monarch butterfly organization
(MonarchWatch.Org) with lots of links

Art Projects from Butterfly School
This site has some neat art projects related to butterflies, including making the butterfly life cycle using different pasta shapes.

Butterfly Website
Features all kinds of links, including video clips, photos, clip art, lessons for young children, arts and crafts ideas.

Great list of books and butterfly kits from Shining Dawn Books , Nature Explorer

The chart below is directly from the Journey North Symbolic Migration Project website and gives you a quick overview of the steps involved in participating in the project...let's just say that we can't wait to get to participate next fall but will make our own impromptu version of making symbolic butterflies once we see them around our neck of the woods.

You will print, make, and mail these 4 pieces to send your symbolic monarchs to Mexico:

Spring Work in the Sunshine State!

This is a book called Creep! Crawl! by Karen Pixton.
Can I just say that I love this book?

The illustrations are beautiful and very child friendly. The book is made out of something that feels either like rice paper or Tyvek, if you have ever felt that.
The illustrations are collages placed on what looks to be almost watercolor backgrounds.
Even though the book is intended for babies, I bought it because the artwork and layout are so nice.
It is a wordless book, and has so many possibilities.
As far as work, you can use the pages as story starters and let your child select a page to write about.
You could use the pages as three part cards for little ones by attaching Velcro dots to the pages with words for each little creature...
You could have older children sort the creepy crawlies into different categories, such as arachnids / insects, etc. or by pattern (stripes, spots, etc.)
You could also use these to inspire children to make their own creepy crawly collages.

There are two other books in this series: Flutter! Fly! and Wiggle! March!
If I can find these two in the store, I will be purchasing them as well.

This is one of my favorites from the book...a very cheerful caterpillar...love the eyes and the eyelashes...Little Bro is usually afraid of insects and having him use this book is great, because the artwork is so inviting.

Here is another...notice the beautiful background for the grasshopper.
Think that this book is such an awesome addition to our current garden themed collection of books.

This work uses a 1 to 20 number line and tiny little clothes pins. They can choose to do a pattern to make the number line, but they do not have to make a pattern.

Here are the clothes pins...so tiny, cute, and colorful!
They also provide both Big Bro and Little Bro great fine motor clipping practice.
These insect cards are actually cards that are intended to be used with a pocket chart.
This is a finger puppet from IKEA.
Another finger puppet from IKEA.
Another finger puppet from IKEA.

This is a Spanish work on our shelf. There is a little reader called El Puntito.
After reading the story, they have to spell the words with the Spanish magnetic letters, similar to the idea of a movable alphabet, but they are in green and orange instead of red and blue. I tried to find red and blue ones, but could only find this color combination for Spanish. Actually, I think it has worked out for the better, as it is easier to distinguish if you are spelling a word n Spanish or English depending on the colors you are using...
Cover of El Puntito by Natalie Whitney. Found this at a consignment store.
These are word cards for In the Garden. I took the sheets and made them into three part cards.
This is the illustration that goes with In the Garden. This works well as a starter for writing or as a card to use to encourage discussion about gardening.

Some lovely flowers for our yard. Gotta love Gerber Daisies!
Big Bro picked out the yellow ones...

Little Bro picked out the red ones. Since they each selected a different color, they get to be resposible for watering their color of flower in our yard. I will water the other ones.

This is a very cool 3D wooden puzzle.
The insects stick out from the background almost like knobs.

It is FINALLY starting to feel like Florida again.

We had a record cold winter season for our state, and although compared to many other places, it still was bearable.

But what was hard to deal with was to see so many of our plants and trees take a nose dive from the cold temps.

Everything was dull, dried out, moldy, brown, blackish-gray, and just not very nice to look at in our yard.

Well, luckily, the weather has turned around just in time for Spring and now, things are starting to perk up a bit. Yippie!

We have planted some new flowers, have purchased a power washer and Dear Hubby has worked very hard to make everything look clean and beautiful once again.

We also have some new sunny work on our shelves to go with the theme of Creepy Crawlies and Fiesty Flyers in the Garden.

Seeing the colors both in our home and outside just makes everything feel so alive again.

Thought that some of you might enjoy seeing these cheery photos, along with some of the descriptions of the work on the shelves.

Happy Spring!