SPRING
For me spring has a sense of new beginnings. Without warning we suddenly, see the first signs of buds on the trees, crocus and daffodils poking their heads out of the thawing ground and before we know it, the grass begins to get green. Our days start getting longer and the temperature is rising. How great is to be alive, and see the rebirth from a frozen landscape during the quickly changing days.
 Activities
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Spring is also the season for unpredictable weather.
Just when we think summer has finally arrived, it is snowing the next day.
This is also the season for rain as well. Rain gives us the opportunity to
have new experiences with our children.
It also is a great way to tell them
about the connection that rain is needed to help things grow.
It has a lot of potential for activities; whether the puddles are created from rain
or melted snow they as still just as irresistible.
Mud and wet ground are not stopping kids from having fun, so grab your rubber
boots and your rain gear and go out and enjoy this wonderfully wet season.
Activities
Camping and hiking
To go camping or nature walks when nature
is waking up from her winter sleep is a wonderful experience for the whole family.
Canada has an abundance of camping and hiking opportunities.
Bring good food and tent. And good clothes with you.
Also plan to make some food on an open fire, where you are permitted to do so.
Get away from the crowds by trying back country hiking to cabins and huts that are only accessible by foot.
Find Back country cabins, huts and lodges:
http://www.canadatrails.ca/lodging/
Parks in Canada
http://www.pc.gc.ca/index_e.asp
Find a camp site:
http://www.camping-canada.com/camp_search_e.asp
Bird watching
Bird Watching
Take your children to your local pond in the park
or in your backyard. You even can organize a trip in a nearby forest. Buy a book about birds
and learn the names of the local birds in your community.
When you are on field trips like this, try to go quietly and slowly with you children.
Take pictures of the birds and when you come home look up
your captured birds in your local field guide. What is their habitat, which trees do they prefer.
You can also talk about migration and why certain birds fly south in the fall and north in the spring.
Have flexible expectations and allow children to make their own discoveries as well. It is important to make
this session fun for kids, and not kill children’s sense of discovery.
For organized tours see High Park Nature center in Toronto, they offer guided tours outdoors and look at Robins
and butterflies
http://www.highpark.org/Nature%20Centre/programs_for_children_and_famili.htm
Find walks and trails in Canada
http://www.trails.com/activities.asp?area=14670
Find walks and trail in the USA
http://www.trails.com/activities.asp?area=14670
Find Birding Pals (free) in Ontario who will help your family go bird watching
http://www.birdingpal.org/ontario.htm
Visit a farm
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Go and visit your local farm with you family and see the newborn calves, lambs and piglets.
On the same visit you also can discover how farms are preparing for spring. Usually they start working the fields in May.
http://www.harvestontario.com/pyo.html
Pick Asparagus
Our first vegetable in spring, you will start seeing them in the stores. (Check to see that they are local)
But, why not go to one of the local farms and check out what fresh means. Your children can get first
experience of how and where vegetables grow. And you can use it as science experience for your children.
When you come home you can pickle the excess and serve it in the summer.
Where can you find locals farms:
Check out pick your own.org
where you can find a pick-your-own local farm near you.
http://www.pickyourown.org/statelist.htm#statelist
Sugar Bush
Visit a sugar shack in your area and taste fresh maple sugar poured onto the snow.
A visit to a local producer is both educational and fun! Usually, sugar shacks will
open their doors from February to April. You should call the maple sugar producer and
find out if the sap is running. They are a hive of activity when it is above freezing
in the day and bellow freezing at night. And there is nothing quite as pleasing to the nose
than walking into the building where hundreds of liters of sap are being boiled into maple syrup.
Did you know it takes around 40 liters of sap to make one liter of syrup?
Check your area
Ontario:
http://www.ontariomaple.com/index.php?action=display&cat=31
Quebec:
http://www.bonjourquebec.com/ca-en/erablieres0.html
Nova Scotia:
http://www.novascotiamaplesyrup.com/producers.htm
New Brunswick:
http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/en-CA/HNSearch/HNSearchResults.htm?searchAgainPage=none&locations=&type=124&category=1
Fiddleheads
Fiddleheads
In some part of North America you are lucky to have fiddleheads. Why not go for a hike with an experienced
guide who can teach about fiddleheads.
Great exercise but also an educational experience. Check out your local naturist organization.
Wild Food Adventures Base In Portland Organ customize workshop all over North America
http://www.wildfoodadventures.com/workshop.html
Facts about:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4198.htm
Gabris, Linda Stalking the Wild Fiddleheads for Delicious Green Cuisine In your local neighborhood.
http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/node/129
Dandelions
Dandelions
Many adults will look at a dandelion and think “WEED”, but children love them.
The uncountable bouquets proudly collect and delivered to moms and grandmothers alone should give the lowly dandelion a little status.
Dandelions also have a lot of qualities you may not know; you can eat young leaves and buds in a salad.Before you even consider this you have to be absolutely sure that they have not been sprayed with any lawn or garden chemicals.
Pick dandelions with your children and make dandelion crowns for them to wear.Peel the stems in strings and see what happen when you put them in a jar of water.
Ball games
Always have a ball with you and play with your children. Kick a ball or throw it to them and play with them.
When I grew up my father would always play with us in our backyard with a ball.
He would even do it with children in the street as well.
The funny thing is that I do the same thing today. Introduce the ball to them in early age,and they will learn how to excel in more organized sport later in life.
But is important not kill their joy, they might not understand the structure of
organized games at an early age.
Make it fun!
Ride a bike
Thanks to wooden bikes, smaller children down to two years can experience and learn he balance needed to ride a bike. We will meet some of our kids in the beltline trail.It is amazing how well and quickly they master it and how far they will go.
My daughter has used it since she was two, and by the end of this bike season we
hope she will be ready for a new bike.
Read more about biking, what kind of seat to chose, how to teach them biking,
This is a great resource done by the International Bicycle Fund
http://www.ibike.org/education/infant.htm
Plant seeds
Plant seeds with your children in milk cartons or in pots. Have them first inside in your window and when
it heats up,put them outside. This great for herbs and vegetables, but also some plants as well.
Planting sunflowers give you great growth and a strong visual finish.
Read more about gardening and children
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/4DMG/Children/children.htm
Gardening programs in Toronto
The Children’s Garden Program at High Park and Waterfront.
The Children's Garden Program is available from mid-May to the end of
June and from mid-September to early October. For registration see website
http://www.toronto.ca/parks/programs/gardening.htm
Toronto Botanical Garden
See website for more for information
http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/children/overview.htm
Host a birthday party at Toronto Botanical Garden
http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/children/birthdays.htm
Play with the sand
however sand play develops physical development, social skills, cognitive development,
mathematical skills, science concepts and language skills.
What we can do is encourage and supervise their play.
Make big villages with moats around them, use stones as material.
Pour water over the sand castles, and see what happens.
Also use natural materials around you, weeds, leaves, sticks and dandelions.
They all can be used to build a garden in the mini village.
Read more about sand play:
Sandra, Crosser Making the Most of Sand Play in Early Childhood News
http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=62
Christine The Nitty Gritty Business of Sand Play in Child & Family
http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/aecenfld/00001_en.htm
Sand art and play From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_art_and_play
When rainy
You can stay inside, but why would you? It is fun to be outside and feel you are part of the natural elements.
The same thing you do with a water table inside is what you can do in a puddle.
This is also a great way to learn about the rain, what happens when it rains? Children love it too.
Just wear the right clothes and you are set.
Some of the activities you can do outside during rainy days are.
The rainy world is your ocean
When it is rainy or after a rain, use the puddles as ponds and rivers.
Make sailboats out of pieces of wood and leaves or fold pieces of paper into a boat. ( how to fold a boat)
Let them free play with the boats and explore. Maybe they can use a stick to steer the boat.
Children learn about cause and effect and it is also full of opportunities to learn about the natural sciences.
Change the landscape
Use buckets and spades to help divert the “river” into other puddles. It might sound strange for us as adults, but every
child we have done this with loves this play. (They are experiencing one of their favorite games; what happens when I do this?)
This isn’t just a game for boys, as little girls like to do this as well. It also is a great example of how you can educate children
about mathematics, physics and the world around them with outdoor play.
Puddle Jumping
You probably did not know this, but in Germany they host puddle-jumping contest as a sport. http://pfuetzenspringer.de/
Cover up with rain pants, rain jacket and rubber boots, invite some friends and find the biggest puddle and jump!
See who makes the biggest splash and who can jump in the most puddles.
Getting wet and dirty isn’t an issue if they are wearing the right outerwear.
Tip: Commercial fishermen put rubber bands on the cuffs of their rain pants that are over their rubber boot to keep the water out.
When you are tired head in and make some hot chocolate.
Bug Discovery
It is amazing how a caterpillar, inchworm or even an ant can fascinate them for long periods.
Let children discover insects themselves. (Because they are small they will probably discover them before you.)
You can help them turn over rocks, fallen tree-branches and look what is living there.
You can teach your child about the different types of insects and the function they have in the nature.
For organized tours see High Park Nature centre in Toronto, they offer guided tours outdoors and look at Robins and butterflies http://www.highpark.org/Nature%20Centre/programs_for_children_and_famili.htm
For classification and bug names use this bug guide
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
Easter egg hunt
Have an Easter egg hunt in your local park or in your backyard. Boil eggs and color them with different colors.
You could also use plastic eggs and fill them with candy and hide the eggs out in a park or nearby field.
Make the challenge according to the age of the children participating. If the children are different ages
try color-coding the eggs so the older children know which colors to look for, leaving the easy ones for
the smaller children. When all the eggs are collected it is time for prizes. In our events everyone get a prize,
but is up to you if you want to give a special prize to the kid who has collected the most eggs.
Read more about Easter egg hunts: FamililyFun.com
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holiday/feature/famf0300egghunt/
Easter egg From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg
How to Organize an Easter Egg Hunt
http://www.ehow.com/how_12723_organize-outdoor-easter.html |
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