Archive for the ‘Fun Spring Activities’ Category

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Edible Egg Nest

Monday, March 25th, 2013

Edible-Egg-Nest

This edible egg nest is easy to make and looks so cute! It is made of dry oriental noodles mixed with chocolate almond bark. In order to make these nests with your children, you will need the following items:

  • chocolate almond bark (1 package)
  • cheap oriental noodles (2 packages)
  • Cadbury’s Chocolate Mini Eggs (or Easter M&M’s or jellybeans)
  • wax paper

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Melt the chocolate almond bark in a saucepan on medium heat. It will take less than 5 minutes, so keep stirring the whole time so that the chocolate doesn’t burn.

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When the chocolate is liquefied, break up the dry oriental noodles and drop them into the pot. Stir until the chocolate completely covers the noodles, giving the mixture a nest-like texture.

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Now spoon blobs of this yummy chocolate nest material onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Indent the middle of the nests before you put them in the refrigerator to harden fully.

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Allow to harden for a few minutes in the refrigerator before adding the yummy chocolate candy eggs to the nest. Then delight your children by allowing them to eat the delicious edible egg nest!

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Resurrection Rolls

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Resurrection-Rolls

These easy resurrection rolls take 5 minutes to prepare (plus 10 minutes to bake) and are a beautiful picture of Christ’s empty tomb. This is why it is a perfect treat for the week leading up to Easter. It is basically a crescent roll wrapped around a marshmallow. When you bake it, the marshmallow mostly disappears, creating what looks like an empty tomb.

These are the 4 ingredients you will need:

  • large marshmallows
  • a can of crescent roll dough
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

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Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the butter in a bowl and microwave until the butter melts. (This took me 25 seconds, but each microwave is different.) Stir the cinnamon into the melted butter.

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Open the can of crescent rolls and pull apart each piece of dough. Unroll the dough on a cutting board, so that it is ready for the dipped marshmallows. Now dip the marshmallows into the melted butter. It’s almost like you’re baptizing the marshmallow, symbolizing that Christ had to die and be buried.

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Place the marshmallow into the center of the dough and scrunch the dough around the marshmallow. Christ was buried for three days.

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Now put the resurrection rolls into the oven for 10 minutes. When they come out, you will see that the marshmallows have disappeared, leaving an empty tomb.

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Botanical Gardens and Conservatory

Friday, April 27th, 2012

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One of my favorite places to go in the spring is to my local botanical gardens. My children enjoy seeing the buds come out on the trees and the sprigs of green pushing up out of the soil. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and it feels good to breathe in the fresh air after a long winter.

A large pond with waterfowl is surrounded by weeping willows and pink blooming hawthorn trees. My husband and I saw an osprey swoop down and catch a fish out of the water, later settling into the high branch of a tree. My children tried to touch the ducks, who soon ran away, realizing we had not brought any bread. We walked around the pond, pausing as the children noticed new birds or plants. I held my husband’s hand and smiled.

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Our botanical gardens include a conservatory, which is an indoor garden with glass windows. This garden is already profusely growing in all directions because it has survived the winter, probably with air climate control. A couple of short bridges cross an artificial stream, which begins with a low waterfall. The sound of the splashing waterfall is tranquil and lovely. Orchids thrive in all their elegant beauty, along with many other types of flowers and cacti. Plants overlap the path low to the ground, and more flowers cascade off the trees overhead. The conservatory almost makes you feel like you’re in a jungle.

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A Japanese garden is carefully manicured, with clipped trees and bushes that remind you of bonzai trees. A medium-sized pond holds large fish swimming around, and a waterfall completes the scene. A few benches intersperse the beautiful enclosed landscape. This would be a perfect place to sit, sketch, and watercolor nature. The trees, plants, and shrubs are reflected peacefully in the water of the pond.

To enjoy more pictures of the botanical gardens, click here.

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Spring Activities for Homeschoolers (free PDF)

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

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Here is a fun list of 24 spring activities for homeschoolers, including a free PDF, in case you want to check them off as you do them with your kids!

  1. Take homeschooling outside: sit on a blanket and read your history lesson or a great work of literature on a blanket in the backyard. Grab a picnic and take it to your tree house or fort, and read your lesson up there.
  2. Skip forward in your science book to a chapter on plants, insects, or other outdoor topic.
  3. Do a short unit study on butterflies. Watch caterpillars turn into butterflies, and do drawings of butterflies with the correct markings.
  4. Create a beautiful nature journal. (See Using Journals to Teach Writing downloadable DVD workshop on my website for complete details.)
  5. Gardening. Plant a flower garden, vegetable garden, or herb garden. Make your backyard into an oasis. Have older children map out a landscape plan of where each plant should go. Research shade vs. sun plants. Look through gardening books for inspiration.
  6. Plan a tea party. It can be as simple as a pot of chamomile tea and imaginary food. Or go all out and invite people, dress up with fancy hats and boas, and make lots of tasty finger foods. Put fresh flowers on the tables.
  7. Visit a botanical garden. Look for signs of spring. Capture the wonder of spring on video or photography. (Watch The Wonder of Spring on my YouTube channel for fun ideas on how to do this.)
  8. Go fishing on a nearby lake. Your child can spend one-on-one time with Dad.
  9. Fly a kite. Make sure it’s a windy day. You can make your own or buy one.
  10. Climb trees. Ones with branches close to the ground are easier to climb, especially if there are branches spiraling out like a ladder. Oak trees are the best climbing trees.
  11. Bird watching. Put out bird houses and bird feeders. Find a bird enthusiast and ask him where the nearby bird sanctuaries are. Take binoculars and a field guide. Study bird calls.
  12. Feed the ducks on a nearby river or lake. Get really close to the birds and notice their markings. Read Make Way for Ducklings and other books about ducks.
  13. Hatch an egg. You can buy a $20 incubator, and borrow 3 eggs from a nearby farmer. Rotate the eggs twice a day, and watch a chick hatch out of an egg. Then give the chick back to the farmer.
  14. Make a nature centerpiece for your table. Go on a nature hike, collecting items from nature. Come home and arrange them in a beautiful way on your table.
  15. Blow bubbles. You can make huge bubbles if you use glycerin. There are many activities you can do with bubbles, which I mention in my “Bubbles unit Study” article on my website. I also have the best bubble recipe in that article.
  16. Nature Hunt for Colors. Cut off the top part of an egg carton, and have a young child paint each hole a different color from nature. Then go on a nature walk, and have your young child find nature items to match each color.
  17. Explore local parks. Look on a map, and you will find lots of parks in your area. Go explore them all and choose a favorite.
  18. Outdoor painting on an easel. Younger kids can use tempera paint. Older kids can paint with oil paints on canvas, or with watercolors on watercolor paper.
  19. Study frogs. Watch a tadpole turn into a frog. Do frog crafts, read books on frogs, and watch DVD’s about frogs. (Unit Studies are great!)
  20. Write some original spring poetry. For inspiration, read classic poetry like Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” which talks about golden daffodils in the spring. Listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons: Spring to get into the mood of the season.
  21. Make a spring lapbook, especially if you have young children. I show you how to do that on my website, in the article on “Lapbooks.”
  22. Start an insect collection, either of live insects in terrariums and jars, or dead insects in a traditional insect collection. Observe insects with a magnifying glass.
  23. Grow indoor grass, herbs, or terrariums. If you choose carnivorous plants like Venus Flytraps, make sure there is humidity, which requires a lid on the jar or a terrarium cover.
  24. Do a spring treasure hunt. List 10 things for your children to find in your backyard. For example, find a lady bug, dig up a worm, find ants under a rock.

If you would like to print out this list, here is the PDF:
Spring Activities for Homeschoolers

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