Earth Day and Taking Care of the Planet

 We made our own Earth by using popcorn kernels in a knee-high stocking and splatting it inside a cut out circle form. When it was dry we painted the kiddos' hands with skin-tone paint and had them place them on the Earth. 

We did a magical swirling Earth experiment: milk, food coloring (blue and green) and dish-washing soap. The kids were so excited when they saw the large swirls of movement. So fun!!

We discussed ideas of what we could do to help take care of the Earth. 

We weeded our garden box with help from our little friends. 

Each child brought a blooming flower from home and we planted them in our garden box. What a splash of colors!

We played with the big Earth ball and read Earth Day Birthday.

We began using our "nature packs": clear backpacks, colored pencils, paper on clipboard, and magnifying glasses. 

We did LOTS of still life art. 

We did experiments to show how roots and stems drink up water by placing daisies in colored water. The first photo is in individual colors. The second photo shows daisies with split stems that go into two primary colors.

We began experiments on growing and reusing natural materials. Pictured here is the base of a celery stlak and an avocado pit. 

We shared SO many AMAZING books this week. They are shown above. LOVE!

We still had more friends bringing in rocks and gems to share. 

Our caterpillars had changed into their chrysalis' and then into butterflies. We ended the week by going outside and releasing them.