International Peace Day Pinwheel

Today is an International Day of Peace!  Today special activities and celebrations are taking place all across the world.  What a wonderful event to teach and talk with our children about!  Since my son is a little bit older, I asked him what peace meant to him.  He told me it was loving each other and being happy.  My hope is that these simple early lesson's will become his inner voice later on, and that what brings me peace.  I think a great way to emulate peace with your little ones is as simple as an intimate talk, or spending some quiet time in a natural setting.  This year we also did a really fun craft.  We made pinwheels at our local park.  Anyone can can make these super simple pinwheels!  I actually like to put pinwheels in my garden all year long.  I think they are a really fun, and peaceful way to add good vibes and color to our natural environment!  Check out the pinwheel craft we did!

 

What you need:

*Scissors

*Tack or straight pin

*Pencil with eraser

*Crayons to decorate

 

Let's get started:

*Cut out  a square, or print just print my template.

*Color the paper to express your feelings about peace!  

*Now cut in from all four corners, leaving about 2 inches uncut.

 

To create the pinwheel:

*Gently bend (don't fold) one of the cut corners to the center point.

*Skip the next cut corner, and bend the next one.

*Skip and bend until four points meet in the center.

*Then stick the straight pin through all four points of the pinwheel.

Enjoy!

 

Here's ours!



We love water tables

Since I'm on the topic of water, it only seems natural to talk about water tables.  Who needs a pool or messy sand box when you have an awesome water table!  Water is one off the simplest, most inexpensive ways I can think of to evoke your childs creativity in nature.   My five year old and one year old both can't enough of water activities.  I typically put their beach toys,  garden tools, and a few funnels in their water table.  Other great ideas for water table activities would be to transform your table into a giant tonka car wash station, bubble or foam bath!  I love the idea of going on a rock/fossil hunt, then using the water table as a wash station.  My son loves going on treasure hunts, so this activity is super exciting for him!  I'll bet the kids would have a lot of fun using the water beads, or ice cubes in their table!

Here's our water table!  

 

Check out more great water table I found on my Pinterest profile!

 

Have fun.  Get creative!

 

Water Breads for Kids!

I wasn't going to start my new blog talking about water beads, but just like having kids, sometimes spontaneity is best.   I ran across this video on YouTube, and instantly wanted to do this project with my kids. 


 

These water beads feel slippery, squishy, and are amazing to play with!   We added kitchen cups, spoons, and bowls to our water bead box, for added fun!  The water beads I did with my kids were puchased at Michaels Craft store, but amazon also sells them online.  Purchasing these beads is a super easy, no fuss option to do this craft!  You can typically purchase a bag for under $10.  Michaels is good beause you can always find coupons in the Sunday paper. 

I can't wait to make these!

 

"I have seen tremendous strides in their development when exposed to the raw, natural wonders in nature."