Hallelujah! The sun is shining today and it's almost above zero—at least in my part of the province. Rumour is, we're going to hit ten degrees today...which means spending time outside.
Even though the playgrounds are closed and we have to maintain social distance when out on the trails, there are many ways to enjoy nature—and some of them educational too.
Why do I mention educational? Well, I'm participating in the annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge and my theme this year is 26 Super Fun Learning Activities You Can Do From Home. That's right, I'm conjuring up 26 "educational" ideas to keep you busy while you're safe at home. So far, they've all be fun activities. Promise!
Just to recap, I kicked off the challenge with Art for the letter A. Next up was B was for Baking. My sister and I did some chemistry for the letter "C," and I rounded off the first week with a family dance off. "E" was for exercise (which was way more fun than you think) and "F" was all about family. We did some gardening for "G," celebrated Poetry Month and the letter "H" by writing haikus. And of course, "I" was for Invention. Week two ended with juggling. We started week three of the challenge with knitting, on Tuesday we talked about learning a new language, and yesterday we did some fun math. It was fun, right?
Today, though, I'm ready to get outside!
N is for Nature
You've probably heard about all the people writing messages and drawing pictures on their sidewalks with chalk. It sounds like fun, but our sidewalks still have some snow and ice on them—and I heard that more snow might fall next week.
But the snow has melted on some parts of the yard, which means part of today's outdoor activities will include helping out with chores—raking, putting away the Christmas decorations (yes, we still have some up!), and cleaning out any old planters that we forgot about before the frost came last fall. We want to be ready to plant the seeds we've been growing indoors when the ground finally thaws.
I don't mind those kinds of chores—it's better than shovelling snow!—but to make things a little more fun (and educational), I dug up <heh> some ideas to take advantage of the warmer weather. And we don't even have to leave the yard.
Here are three fun ideas:
1. Create a scavenger hunt. On a piece of paper, start a list of things you might find in your yard—rocks, sticks, leaves. Those are pretty common items, but what about a pop can someone accidentally forgot to toss away? Or a dog bone? Maybe you can spot a patch of green—a sign that spring is really coming. You can make it challenging too—maybe you need a rock the size of your finger nail, and a rock as big as your fist? Take some time to make the list before you head out, and time yourself to see how long it takes you to find everything.
2. Eye spy....bugs! You might have to look a bit harder than normal, but there are bugs crawling around. If you can, snap a picture of them, but if not, try to draw them as you remember them. Once you put together a small list of bugs, try writing a story about them. My sister Amelia thinks she's a junior entomologist — a bug expect — and in the Superman Duffy book, AMELIA, we encounter bugs of unusual size. You can download that book for free from the Alberta Canola Producers' Commission website.
3. Nature bug art. I know, back to bugs, but this is a cool art project. Using some of the things you find on your scavenger hunt, you can piece together "bugs"—cover them with Mod Podge (a type of glue sealant) to make them last! Here are the directions. (If you have time, take a look through that entire website—so many great ideas!)
Okay, that should get you started. After breakfast I'm going to make my list for the scavenger hunt. Maybe I can "hunt" while I do chores?
Gotta jet! See you tomorrow for "O."
~ Chase Superman Duffy
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