Banana Caterpillars

These tasty snacks were so much fun to put together and worked great with our ongoing fascination with bugs!

Slice a 1/2 a banana in to 6 equal pieces (such an awesome opportunity to introduce fractions!).

Spread nut butter between each slice of banana.

The kids had different methods of constructing their caterpillars, some liked to dot each slice, others preferred a tower approach, and others had a zig-zag style.

Dab a little nut butter on top of the first banana so the raisins will stick for eyes. We used parsley stems from the garden for antenna but you could get creative at home... chow mein noodles, pretzel sticks etc.

Prepare to eat your caterpillar...

the kids pretended to be all different kinds of predators as they enjoyed their snack, here's a giant arachnid!

We learned about bugs in yoga class too.  Here we are singing "Fly Like a Butterfly" from Radiant Child Yoga.

And did you know how to tell the difference between a moth and a butterfly when they are at rest?  When a butterfly's wings are at rest they are up close to their body like this:

But when a moth is at rest, its wings are stretched out like this:

Dead Bug Pose is so much fun!  Lie on your back and move your arms and legs quickly... scurry scurry scurry!

Then... DEAD BUG! Stretch your arms and legs straight up to the sky, hold still!

We did the Itsy Bitsy Spider on our backs to remind us to keep a long spine when sitting.

Then the kids had the idea to create a spider web with each other!

The kids are really enjoying Relaxation Pose at the end of class, it's so lovely to lie right on the earth and take some deep breaths.

---

We got this coloring book at the gift shop at the Zilker Botanical Gardens:  "Incredible Insects" by Christopher Marley and the kids explored all different kinds of beetles and moths.

While we were coloring a June Beetle visited our table and we looked at the similarities of the real bug and our drawings.

All of our best ideas come from the kids - we put out pipe cleaners for them to create freely with and they started making... bugs!  So it turned into a week long pipe cleaner beetle extravaganza!!  How many legs does a beetle have?  6!

These nature bracelets are such a sweet simple activity that really helps kids slow down and notice the world of nature.  Bring a roll of tape on your next hike or trip to the park and see how much fun the kids have designing their own bracelet with flower petals, leaves, seeds...

Intuitive Pesto!  This young chef created her own pesto with fresh basil, sprouted pumpkin seeds, olive oil, and salt without following a recipe.  We tossed it on some Tinkyada Penne and added some garden tomatoes and mozzarella. Yum!

We rolled our own sushi.  We kept the ingredients simple with cooked brown rice, cucumber strips and nori sheets.  One trick to keeping your hands less sticky when patting down the rice is to keep them moist with a bowl of salty water near by.

The kids were great at rolling it up and then giving it a big squeeze to help seal the roll.

Most of the kids just ate their roll in one piece, but you can slice it up 'maki' style too.

We made some interesting no-bake cookies with oats, raisins, almond flour, coconut oil, and Z Sweet Sweetener.

A big brother sweetly helps his little sister make some coconut cacao cookies:

Magical Birthday!

Dancing in the leaves!

The kids were so helpful in clearing out old plants in the garden, but instead of just composting all the debris they created "DEAD PLANT MAN!".  It was fun to go over all the body parts like elbows, wrists, ribs, and collar bone.

In music class we've been making up our own country and western songs! We love to pass around the microphone and create our own lyrics:

"My horse rides the sky!"  "I love my mama!"   "Texas is my home!"

We loved this Beginner's Origami Kit by Djeco.  The folds were challenging and very engaging for the kids.  It was awesome to see how quickly their fine motor skills improved! They were also designed by a French company so we got to learn the French names for the animals as well.

The kids were inspired to use them as masks so we put on a play on our outdoor stage!

We started with a few warm ups to move like the animals our masks depicted and make fun animal sounds.

Then the kids improvised a story : one little kitty got lost in the woods and the wild boars were helping her find her way.

After they found some more friends and an earthquake hit...

Encore!!!

We keep hearing "It smells so good in here!" when parents and kids enter the schoolhouse.  We have been making our own Thieves essential oil blend and using it in all our home made cleaning products.  The following recipe was tested by the Weber State University and found to have a 99.6 percent kill rate against bacteria.

Recipe:
40 drops of Clove Essential Oil
35 drops of Lemon Essential Oil
20 drops of Cinnamon Essential Oil
15 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil
10 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil

For a simple all purpose disinfectant spray add one drop of oil blend to every ounce of water.

The kids enjoyed counting all the drops and smelling the different scents. Essential oils require caution when working with them and they exercised great care and followed directions very well.  It is not recommended for kids under 4 to handle the oils.

This young architect designed a unicorn stable with a unique variety of magnetic tiles and shapes...

and this young fireman likes to go "wee-ooo, wee-ooo, honk honk!".

More sweet friends!