Saturday, July 18, 2009

Learn About Nature with your Kids


Make a Nature Question Box
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This is a fun and easy project to do with your kids. Find a container with a lid, such as an oatmeal box, ice cream box, Tupperware container, etc., so long as it has a lid. Cut out Nature pictures from newspapers and magazines, and paste them onto the surface of the box. You can buy decoupage paste at any art supply store, but it's easier and cheaper to make your own. Just thin some good old fashioned white glue with water (about half and half). It'll do the trick! Use a paintbrush to cover the pictures. Let the glue dry, then repeat. Build up as many coats of glue as your child's attention span will tolerate (but at least three). Next, cut a hole in the lid of the box big enough to slide folded up pieces of paper through.
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As questions about Nature come up (as they always do when children are present), write them down and put them in the box. Once a week or so - or whenever there are enough questions in the box for everyone to pick one - have a drawing. Everybody gets to pick one question from the box. Each person gets one week to look up the answer to their question.
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Make answering the questions a family event. Everybody gets five minutes in the spotlight to share the information they have discovered in their researches.
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For example, here is a sample of the questions in our family Nature question box right now:
  • Do boy and girl Blue Jays look the same?
  • How do cats purr?
  • How do ants help farmers?
  • What is dirt made out of?

You get the idea. With children in the house, these kinds of questions come up all the time, and this is a fun way to involve the whole family in answering them. Give it a try!