Posts Tagged ‘Early Childhood’

Nut Identification

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

nut-identification

Nut identification can be a fun and educational activity to do with children. In the fall (and into Christmastime), grocery stores carry assorted nuts to crack with a nut cracker. I always enjoyed chatting with family members as I snacked on these nutritious nuts.

One day years ago when my children were younger, I realized that I wasn’t sure what each nut was. So I looked up “nuts” in the encyclopedia. There were pictures with labels next to them. I had my children sort the nuts into different piles. I made labels for each pile of nuts. Then we cracked each one and tasted them, commenting as to whether one was sweeter or more bitter than another. One child said that the Brazil nut tasted like dirt. Everyone chose what their favorite nut was, and they learned how to crack nuts.

Another activity you can do is to put the uncracked nuts into a paper bag and see if your children can put their hand into the bag and identify the nut just based on the shape.

You could also do a taste-testing, having the children eat a nut while being blindfolded, to see if they can identify the nut based on taste. You could even bake recipes using the various nuts!

Nature Bracelet

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

nature-braceletWhen my daughter was younger, we went on a nature walk, collecting odds and ends from nature in a bag. When we got home, I opened a piece of clear packing tape, sticky side up, and placed it on the table. My daughter stuck some of her nature finds onto the tape, including beautiful flower petals, small leaves, and some white animal fur. I put another piece of packing tape on top, so that the two sticky sides faced each other. Then I wound it around her wrist, trimming it and taping it so that it was a bracelet. She smiled as she wore her nature bracelet all day. When Grandma came over, she showed Grandma her bracelet, too.

What Love Meant

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

what-love-meantThis is a humbling story about a toddler who taught me what love meant.

One morning when my oldest son was 3 years old, I was lying down, exhausted from potty training a boy who was making no progress. I was tired of cleaning up pee, and the smell of Lysol permeated the house. I was frustrated and angry with my son. I prayed that God would help me not to be so exasperated.

I looked at my son, who was sitting next to me on the bed. Despite how bad the morning had gone, I wanted my son to know that I loved him. I said, “I love you.”

He hugged me and said, “I love you, too.”

It occurred to me that he didn’t know what love meant. I asked him, “Do you know what love is?”

“Hugs.”

“It’s more than that,” I said. I tried to think of how to explain it, when I Corinthians 13 came to mind. “Love is patient…”

Suddenly my 3-year-old son recited the rest of the passage, which he had learned when he was 2. “Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

There was a lump in my throat as I fought back tears. I felt convicted by the Word of God out of the mouth of my toddler. I knew I had not shown love that morning to my son, that I had disobeyed the majority of that passage. I realized that my “I love you” meant nothing because I hadn’t done it. I resolved within my heart that I would change.

Out of the mouths of babes…

Nature Hunt for Colors

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

nature-hunt-for-colors

When my children were toddlers and preschoolers, I grabbed an egg carton and painted each hole a different color. After it was dry, we went on a nature hunt for colors, and my children tried to find something in nature that matched the color of each hole. A small pine cone was brown, moss was light green, grass was dark green, and a small rock was gray. Pink flower petals were lying on the ground, and we picked them up. My children had a great time, and it helped them to pay closer attention to nature.