Poppins Book Nook: Outdoor Fun & Giveaway!!

One of my children's all time favorite books about outdoor fun is Mercer Mayer's Just Me and My Dad:



It has just about everything...camping, fishing, scary stories, and a very naughty little bear!

Normally, I'd share some awesome outdoor-themed activities, experiments, or printables, but this month my kids and I have been on vacation, visiting family and celebrating my sister's wedding.

Be sure to stop by these other bloggers for fabulous outdoor-themed activities and books!!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Raventhreads ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ A Moment in our World ~ Every Bed of Roses ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

You can also enter the awesome Outdoors Bundle Giveaway below!!

Poppins Book Nook Great Outdoors Bundle Giveaway! Every month the Poppins Book Nook group will be offering readers a chance to win a brand new storybook or product that ties in with our theme for the month. This month one lucky entrant will win a copy of the classic storybook Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping as no one brings that certain flair and fun to the great outdoors like Amelia Bedelia. The winner will also win an Uncle Milton Nat Geo Starry Night Lantern so whether you live in the countryside or in the city your child can experience some of the great outdoors while reading your storybook.

Entrants must be 18 years or older and reside in a country that receives U.S. Postal mail. This giveaway is brought to you by the company Enchanted Homeschooling Mom who is owner and founder of the Poppins Book Nook. By entering this giveaway you are also acknowledging that you have read and agree to all of the Rafflecopter terms & conditions as well as Enchanted Homeschooling Mom's disclosures found here {http://enchantedhomeschoolingmom.org/disclosures/}.  Just enter the Rafflecopter below to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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K is for Kingfisher Science Fun

K is for Kingfisher!!

Join us for some bird-watching, beak-studying, science activity fun!

These beautiful Belted Kingfishers can be seen near lakes and rivers throughout North America and their cousins, the Common Kingfisher (pictured below), can be seen throughout most of the rest of the world!

Aren't their huge beaks amazing?!  I remember the first time I saw one in "the wild" was actually in the middle of a city.  In a more calm neighborhood, you can walk right down to a river that runs through the city.  As I scanned the water for wildlife, I saw one perched on a branch staring intently at the water.  While I watched, it darted its beak into the water and came up with a fish!

Take a walk (or drive!) to a river, lake, or pond and see if you can spot any kingfishers!  Tell-tale features on the Belted Kingfisher include the white throat, the two "belts" or stripes across the front, the large beak, and the "spiky hair."   Keep an eye out for other birds that like to go fishing: herons, egrets, plovers, and killdeer are common throughout North America. What do their beaks all have in common?  How is that different than song birds you may see in your back yard or in a parking lot?

This fun science activity to reinforces the concept that birds' beak shape is specific to their diet, and it's great for strengthening those fine motor skills!  You can also adapt it for Montessori Baskets by placing all the supplies in small containers in a bin and letting your child experiment on his or her own!

Beak Shape Science Activity:

Supplies:

* a small pile of marbles or similar-sized rocks

* a spoon

* a straw

* tongs

* a bowl

Easy How-to:

1.  Tell your child that he is a bird and the marbles are his food.  To eat them, he needs to get them into the bowl.  He only gets one minute to eat.  AND (here is the catch...) he has to do it with a straw!  

2.  Hand your child the straw and bowl and time him for a minute.  See how much he gets to eat.  

3.  Ask him if he thinks a spoon or tongs would work better and let him try again.  Time it again, and see if he gets to eat more this time.

4.  Discuss how different birds eat different things.  A sharp pointy beak can cut through the water quickly and grab a fish.  A thick, sturdy beak can break open nuts or seeds easily.  

Note:  If you are teaching more than one child, you may want to hand 3-4 of them an eating utensil, let them try if for a minute, and then rotate or discuss what happened.

5.  What type of beak would you expect to see in a woodpecker that pecks holes in wood to get to insects?  What about in a pelican that scoops up piles of fish?  What about a chickadee that eats small grains, insects, and spiders?  What about a hawk or eagle that eats mice?  What about a hummingbird that eats nectar?  

6.  See how many birds you can spot in real life and observe their beaks!   Summer is a fabulous time for bird-watching!!

This post is part of the ABC's of Nature Series hosted by School Time Snippets.  This summer 26 bloggers are bringing you fun and exciting ways to explore and enjoy nature with your kiddos!  Be sure to follow along to see more outdoor fun!

picture credits:
Belted Kingfisher in first picture: photo by Teddy Llovet
Common Kingfisher: photo by Karunakar Rayker



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Backyard Bugs: Monarch Butterfly

The second bug in our Backyard Bug series is the Monarch Butterfly:

Monarch butterflies are common throughout North America and several other world-wide locations. They are easy to spot with bright orange wings with black stripes and a black border with white dots.

Monarchs living in warm southern areas spend their whole lives in the same relative area while monarchs living in the northern end of their range (in the northern United States and Canada) make a remarkable migration that they are famous for!  In the fall, the monarchs leave their colder habitats and fly south to Mexico and the southern United States.  They overwinter in a form of hibernation known as diapause, then return north in the spring.  Amazingly, the entire migration takes much longer than any one butterfly will live, so the returning butterflies are 2nd, 3rd, or 4th generation monarchs!

Diapause:  a "pausing" of growth, reproduction, and metabolism similar to hibernation that insects often use to survive cooler winter conditions.

Monarchs go through a complete metamorphosis:  they begin life as eggs that hatch into caterpillars.  The caterpillars eat only milkweed.  When the caterpillars have grown, they hang upside down, and molt.  The molted exoskeleton becomes a chrysalis which protects the caterpillar as it changes into a butterfly.  After about two weeks the butterfly emerges, hangs for a few hours from the chrysalis to dry, and then flies away.  The monarch butterfly can eat nectar from several flowers and usually lives for about two months.  (The exception is the butterfly that enters diapause can live up to seven months.)

The milkweed plant that monarch caterpillars and adults eat is toxic to most animals besides the monarchs.  It makes the monarchs taste bad and, if eaten, can make the predator sick.  However, the toxicity lessens as the monarchs migrate south and birds like black-beaked orioles and black-headed grosbeaks can eat them when they overwinter in the south.  Spiders, wasps, and ants can are also monarch predators.

It is perfectly safe for children to hold monarchs (both caterpillars and butterflies), but must be closely monitored because children may squeeze or injure them.  Injured caterpillars may not form a chrysalis and injured butterflies may not fly.

With Your Preschooler:

Plant some milkweed plants in your yard to attract monarchs!  There are many different types of milkweed, and monarchs are common in many parts of the United States!

Observe the monarch (caterpillar or butterfly) in a bug observation container.  How does it move?

Give the monarch a slice of orange or a milkweed flower.  Can you see its "sucking" mouthparts?  Butterfly mouths are made for sucking nectar, similar to how you can use a straw to suck a drink.  Drink a juice box or a cup of water like a butterfly!

This post is part of the Backyard Bugs series!  Check out past bugs here and be sure to join us next week when we learn about cicadas!!

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Do you love butterflies?  Be sure to check out my post about painted lady butterflies here and this super easy and gorgeous butterfly craft!

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Backyard Bugs: Leaf-footed Bug

The first bug in our Backyard Bug series is the Leaf-footed Bug:

Leaf-footed bugs are easy to spot because their back legs are flattened in a leaf-like shape,

There are actually over 1900 species of leaf-footed bugs with a variety of body shapes and lengths ranging from 1/2 an inch to 2 inches.  The southeastern United States has seven leaf-footed bug species.

Most leaf-footed bugs are herbivores and enjoy fruits and plant sap.  They have pointy mouth parts that can easily suck up sap.  Some leaf-footed bugs can be major pests in fruit orchards.

Leaf-footed bugs rarely bite, though there are reports of people claiming to have been bitten.  The leaf-footed bug's preferred defense mechanism is releasing a nasty smelling liquid on whatever is bothering them.

What do skunks and leaf-footed bugs have in common?

They can both make strong smells!

Birds, spiders, and some bugs all eat leaf-footed bugs.

Adult leaf-footed bugs can spend the winter under leaf litter, weeds, or tree bark.  In the spring, they come out and lay eggs on plant stems and leaves.  The eggs hatch about a week later, and the new "nymphs" (or baby leaf-footed bugs) will grow and molt 5 times before becoming an adult.

Immature leaf-footed bugs go through 5 instars before becoming an adult.

With Your Preschooler:

Observe the leaf-footed bug in a small container (unless you want to risk getting smelly!).
How does it walk?  Can you walk like a leaf-footed bug?
Can you see the "leafs" on its back legs?  Why do you think it has those leafs?  Try taking a leaf from a plant and "hiding" it in a bush with many other leafs.  What if you were a bug?  Could you hide better if part of you looked like a leaf?

Be sure to join us next week when we learn about the Monarch Butterfly  and check out the other bugs in our Backyard Bugs Series here!!

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Backyard Bugs: Introduction & Index

This summer I am super excited to bring you a brand new series inspired by my insect-loving kiddos: Backyard Bugs!!  

Each Tuesday this summer, beginning next week, I will post about a "bug" that is commonly found in backyards.  Each post will include things like what they eat, what eats them, their life cycle, interesting biology, observation/learning activities for your preschoolers, and whether or not the bug is safe to pick up.  All the bugs will be linked to this post, so you can pin, bookmark, or favorite this post and come back to it to learn more about common bugs each week!

I should also clarify that by "bug" I mean insects, arthropods, and other small crawly critters...not just "true" bugs.  :)

So, are you excited?  I'm excited!!

Here are the bugs I already I have planned...if you have any requests, feel free to send them to me!  And, each bug on this list will be linked to its post as its week comes up!

Backyard Bugs!!

June 10th:  Introduction

June 17th:  Leaf-footed Bug

June 24th:  Monarch Butterfly

July 1st:  Cicada

July 16th:  Roly Poly/Potato Bug

July 29th:  June Beetle

I would be so happy if you wanted to help share this series!  Feel free to share links to this page and/or individual bug's pages on any social media platform or in your own blogs.  Thank so much!!

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Preschool Button Snakes

Button snakes are a super fun Montessori-inspired preschool activity that you can easily make yourself!  When I started planning our Letter S day, I knew that one of our must-do activities would be button snakes...after all, "S" is for "Snake!" 

Besides being insanely fun, button snakes are also fabulous fine motor exercise and great for letting your preschoolers practice buttoning!  You can talk with your children as they make their button snakes to review colors, shapes, and patterns too!

Simple Supplies:

* 8-12 inch elastic for each snake (You can also use ribbon or a piece of fabric.)

* a large button for each snake

* 8-20 squares of felt for each snake

* scissors

Easy How-to:

1.  Preparation:  Sew or hot glue the button ("head") to one end of the elastic.  Cut the felt squares.  Cut a slit just bigger than the buttons in each square.

2.  Present your children with their snakes and the felt squares.  Invite them to choose the color of their snake by putting the felt over its head!  After they put their first square on, help them tie a knot by wrapping the tail around the first square.  Alternatively, you could put a button on each end of the elastic. 

3.  Let your children work until they are happy with their snakes!  We had some pattern snakes, some random snakes, and some all-one-color snakes!  When they finished, they immediately began playing with their snakes!

You could always save the pieces and put them in a busy bag or Montessori basket!

Has your preschooler made a button snake before?

 

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Scented Edible Paints

I have a preschooler who has very high sensory input needs, so I am very happy to share our Scented Edible Paints as part of the 6 Days of Sensory Play series!  Mix up a set and you have a rainbow!!

The olfactory sense, or sense of smell, is often over-looked in activities and projects.  These scented paints smell **so** amazing, and are really easy to create.  Also, since I have a toddler who tries to eat everything (and still wants to join in the painting), I used my favorite toddler-safe paint recipe.  This combination made for a scented, edible, bright, colorful, and fun painting project!

We had some kids that dug in with their fingers and toes:

 And some kids that asked for paintbrushes:

And some even went for both:

My 1-year old did indeed taste it, but that was okay too...since it is edible!  

Making scented edible paints is super easy and requires very few ingredients.  Here is the quick how-to:

Simple Supplies:

• plain yogurt
• food coloring
• essential oils

Easy How-to:

1.  Divide the plain yogurt into a tray or plate for each color you want.

2.  Add food coloring.  I used one drop of gel food coloring in each tray.  The gels seem to make brighter colors with less food coloring.

3.  Add essential oil for a scent.  Essential oils are very strong, and only take 1-4 drops to make a wonderful strong smell.  Start with 1-2 drops and if you want more, add more a drop at a time.  We used lemon, cinnamon, lavender, and eucalyptus.

Painting with yogurt is my all-time favorite paint for toddlers.  It is edible, but not very tasty, and makes fabulous paintings.  The paintings do not last forever, but it is good motivation to not store everything.  :)

Here are our kiddos' masterpieces:

Are you looking for more sensory play fun?  Check out our post about the vestibular system, this simple sensory bin challenge,  Magic Rainbow Foam, or Quicksand!  Also, be sure to stop by the 6 Days of Sensory Play for loads of fun sensory ideas!

Do you let your toddlers paint?  I'd love to know what toddler-safe solutions you use!

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Rope Swing: Vestibular Sensory Play

The vestibular system is one that is rarely included in lists of the senses, but it plays a huge role in children's growth and development.  What is the vestibular system?  Let's find out...

The vestibular system is made up of vestibular receptors in the inner ear and the pathways that connect them to the rest of the nervous system and brain.  It is a powerful system to activate and can have an effect on your children hours after it receives sensory input.  Activities that provide sensory input include things like spinning, swinging, and rolling.

Today I am joining several other bloggers to bring you sensory activities that activate the vestibular system!  Our activity is a rope swing:

The rope swing is easy to set up...simply tie a rope to a tall tree or other structure.  Your children will figure out the rest!  So far, our kids have used the rope for swinging, climbing, and hanging upside down!

Besides providing amazing vestibular sensory input, the rope swing also strengthens large muscles and is fabulous for improving gross motor coordination!

For more sensory activities, visit the 6 Days of Sensory Play here!  

Also, be sure to come back tomorrow for our toddler-safe scented paint recipe--it's a great olfactory activity!

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Preschool Math With Trains & Chuggington StackTrack Koko Safari Adventure & Explorer Koko DVD Review

We had the opportunity to review the Chuggington StackTrack Koko Safari Adventure Playset and the new Explorer Koko DVD, and were thrilled with the free play fun they inspired and the fabulous math tools the train set became!

Preschoolers absolutely learn best when they are playing, so today I am sharing 7 ways you can use your train playset to teach math concepts!  And first I'm sharing a review of the Koko Safari Adventure Playset and the new Explorer Koko DVD!

Our Koko Safari Adventure Playset arrived in the mail, and our kids were so excited by the picture on the box that we had to assemble it immediately...on the floor!  I helped them set up the track in this format first, but they have since re-assembled it in at least three different layouts!  The track pieces are sturdy and yet easy for small hands to connect, disconnect, and re-connect.  The many options for assembly are inspiring, and all our kiddos have played with it every day since it arrived.

The set is big enough for more than one child to use at the same time, and the younger kids particularly enjoy moving the flag and "door" pieces around.  

Moving the swinging monkey is also a highlight, and it has two options:  you can move it with a button or your fingers!

I especially love the stacking nature of the tracks.  Creating "stacked" tracks adds a new dimension to play that has engaged the kids even more.  It is easy to assemble the hills,  and when they are set up they encourage several of the math activities below!

I can recommend the Koko Safari Adventure with absolutely no reservation.  It is great fun on a train table, but also sets up (and transports) easily to a table or floor.  AND, the stacking train set comes with the Koko engine, an attaching car full of bananas, the gate, the monkey in the tree house, and a couple other little flag accessories.  You can buy it in Toys R Us stores or online.

The Explorer Koko DVD is just as exciting!  

(affiliate links below)

My daughter saw the cover, grabbed it, and announced, "Koko?!  Yes!!  You know she is the only girl train!!"  Actually, there are a few other "girl trains," but Koko is one of the main characters, built for speed, and has a delightful personality.  She loves exploring, going fast, racing, and working with her other train friends.  In this new DVD, she has six adventures, totally just over an hour of Chuggington DVD fun.  In each episode she learns new lessons, which can easily be expanded into character lessons for young children.  Each episode is also the perfect amount of time for preschoolers with short attention spans, and contains engaging stories that the children enjoy re-telling.  Re-telling stories is a fabulous pre-reading activity too! 

You can order the Explorer Koko DVD online through Amazon.com.

Use your Koko Safari Adventure to teach preschool math!!

Critical preschool math skills involve counting numbers, number recognition, patterns, colors, and shapes.  You can learn these with worksheets, but it is so much more effective to teach them while playing with your child!  You can invite your child to play with you and your train set, or you can wait until your child asks you, and then initiate any of these games.  It is also important to let your preschooler direct the play too! 

7 Games/Activities That Teach Preschool Math

#1.  Count Down to Blast Off!  Koko is all about speed, and the stack tracks that come in the Koko Safari Adventure make it soooo easy to play this simple game.  First, choose where Koko is blasting off to...is it the moon?  another train station?  somewhere else?  Then, decide how fast she needs to go to get there.  Younger preschoolers may use 3 or 5 while older preschoolers may use 15 or 20.  Count to your number as you climb the hill.  Then, when you reach your speed, give Koko a little push and watch her "blast off!"  Whew!  That picture is a little blurry because the hands and train were really moving!!

#2.  Color Matching!  Place several colored papers around the track to  represent parking garages.  Make sure you include a green one for Koko and any other colors that match other trains you have.  During your game, drive the trains "home" to their matching garage and use talk about the colors frequently.  Remember your goal is to teach the colors as you play, not make your child feel like he's sitting through a lesson!  You can also use this method for shapes--cut out one large circle to represent the garage, and cut out several small circles (to use as cargo) that Koko carries to the correct garage.

#3.  Number Recognition!  Write the numbers that your children are working on on 1" square pieces of paper.  Tape those papers to random tracks.  Put one on Koko.  As you play, say things like "My train is driving over track #12."  You can also use this method for shape recognition--simply "label" different tracks with shapes you're working on and talk about them as you drive over them.

#4.  Shape Recognition!  Use play dough or paper to make small (1/2" sized) shapes that you're working on.  Let Koko use these shapes as cargo.  "Take a load of triangles up the hill."  To make it even more exciting, you can tape a magnet on to Koko's cargo car and put a paperclip on each little shape.  The paper clips will stick to the magnet as Koko drives!

#5.  Piece Sorting!  Let's create a new track for Koko!  As you take apart the pieces, encourage your child to sort them by shape.  Place identical pieces in columns, rows, or piles.  Look closely--some of the curvy hill pieces look similar, but are not quite the same!

#6.  Piece Counting!  Once your pieces are all sorted, count them!  How many do you of each type?  How many do you have all together?

#7.  Pattern Challenge!  Challenge Koko (and your child driver) to make patterns using the shape pieces from #4.  Koko can deliver them to make simple abab patterns or, for older preschoolers, more complex patterns.  Take turns making patterns with your kiddo!

Do you use your trains for math time?  I'd love to see pictures!  Feel free to share them here or on our PreschoolPowolPackets Facebook page!

Disclaimer:  I received a Chuggington StackTrack Koko Safari Adventure Playset and Explorer Koko DVD in order to facilitate this review.  All opinions are honest and 100% mine!  I only share products that I believe Preschool Powol Packets fans will love!!

 

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