Comments (11)

By Mom Unplugged, October 28, 2007 9:27 pm

The results: Left to right - ages 21 months, 7 years, and 5 years.

I don’t know about you, but we got messy again! Thank goodness for washable paints.

The kids had fun, especially the baby who seemed way more “into” this project than the last one. She was jumping up and down and squealing, all while adding more and more paint to her pumpkin until it was completely covered in a green, muddy mess (far left).

I hope it all went well for your household too. I look forward to seeing your finished work. Don’t forget to leave your name and link in Mr. Linky! Here are some more photos of our pumpkin painting session:

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I have had a request for a project next week that is “less arty.” That’s fine with me. In fact I called it simply “The Unplugged Project” (rather than the “Unplugged Art Project”) for exactly that reason. How about we try a writing/art project? For those who are more verbally inclined (but there is an art option too) here is next week’s project:

Haiku

1) Write a haiku and illustrate it, either via original artwork or photo

-or-

2) Read (and share) a haiku and illustrate it, either via original artwork or photo

-or-

3) For smaller children, parents can find (or write) the haiku and help their children “illustrate” it

-or-

4) Any other haiku/poetry possibilities that you can imagine! Anything is fine…just go with what you want to do!

(unless you have a newly budding photographer at home, the photo option is probably more one for any older children or adults who want to take part and would rather not illustrate)

Haiku:
- subject: everyday things - often nature, feelings, or experiences
- length: three short NON-RHYMING lines
- form:
1st line: 5 syllables
2nd line: 7 syllables
3rd line: 5 syllables

Click here for some examples.

Comments (7)

By Mom Unplugged, October 21, 2007 9:07 pm

Last Monday I proposed that any interested bloggers or readers come together for a weekly group children’s art project: The Inaugural “Unplugged Project. “

The “assignment” was to go outside with your kids and collect natural objects with interesting textures, then dip those objects in paint and use them as stamps to create art.

My kids had a great time with this. We did it when a friend was over to play, so all in all we had kids ages 7, 6, 5, and 21 months, plus two Moms (we couldn’t resist giving it a try ourselves).

The kids went out with baskets on a beautiful, sunny fall day and came back with pine needles, pine cones, leaves of various sorts, moss, twigs, rocks, and flowers. We poured paint onto plates and then they had at it! I gave them brushes also, in case they wanted to use them to spread paint on the objects instead of dipping, or for adding other “art” to their work.

Here is a photo of our session, plus the results.

Even the baby did one. Much to my horror, some of the paint ended up in her mouth…but it was labeled non-toxic and was manufactured in Canada of all places, so I felt much better! Here is my 21 month-old baby’s masterpiece:

NEXT PROJECT:

Now we need an Unplugged Project for this coming week. If this idea works out and we continue it regularly, I hope that you all might email some suggestions from time to time - I will surely run out of them soon! Next week, since it is almost Halloween here in the US, I choose this project:

Decorate a Small Pumpkin

Supplies:
- a small pumpkin (or big if you want!)
- paint and brushes

Have your child decorate a small pumpkin with paint. Leave it up to them. Younger children will want to just dab on paint. Older children might have a plan for a face, animal, design…whatever! If you don’t have a pumpkin, how about drawing one on a piece of paper and letting your child decorate that?

I will put a post up with a Mr. Linky next Monday morning - October 29th (or late Sunday night). Email me by Sunday night with photos if you don’t have a blog and want your photos online (unplugyourkids “at” gmail “dot” com).

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I hope this was enjoyable for everyone who took part and that you will join us again. Please remember that if you do not have a blog of your own and want to participate, simply send me your photos and I would love to post them here.

Also: If you want to join us but have been too busy to follow the exact plan, that’s totally OK! This is supposed to be fun. Please post whatever you and your little ones come up with this week no matter what it is!

If you took part in this week’s project, please put your name and link in Mr. Linky so we can all visit each other and see what the kids came up with. Enjoy!

Comments (8)

By Mom Unplugged, October 15, 2007 12:01 am

I truly believe that the way to raise environmentally aware children is to instill a love and appreciation of nature at an early age.

Here are some ideas and resources to help parents encourage a love of nature in their children. Just one of these ideas alone may not make much of a difference, but a combination of several should begin to have an impact on the way children perceive the world we live in. I hope so anyhow! Please give some of these a try:

1) Get your kids outside! Go for a hike, or even a walk around the neighborhood. The National Wildlife Federation has a website for parents and kids called The Green Hour which is filled with ideas for what to do outside. Also check out Backyard Nature with Jim Conrad for 101 nature-oriented activities that change seasonally.

2) Have your kids plant a small garden. If you live in the city, have them plant a pot or two on the deck or even in a sunny window. Here are some of my tips for gardening with children: The Children’s Garden.

3) Subscribe to nature magazines for children such as Zoobooks (ages 4-12), Zootles (ages 2-5), National Geographic Kids (6-14), National Geographic Little Kids (ages 3-6), Ranger Rick (ages 7 and up), Your Big Backyard (ages 3-7) or for really little ones (ages 1-4) - try the National Wildlife Federation’s Wild Animal Baby. Not only do these magazines teach kids about nature, but they encourage reading too!

Note: Ranger Rick must have been around for eons, because even I remember getting it, and loving it, as a child.

4) Subscribe to a nature club such as the Arbor Day Foundation’s Nature Explore Club.

5) Put out a bird feeder, or better yet, a variety of bird feeders (hummingbird, thistle seed, suet feeders, platform feeders, peanuts in shells, as well as the traditional sunflower and millet varieties). Even in the city it should usually be possible to hang a small feeder outside a window. If you can put out a bird bath, especially a heated one for climates with cold winters, you will notice an even greater number of bird visitors.

6) Get a kit for raising butterflies, frogs, ladybugs, or hermit crabs for example.

Or how about an ant farm?

Or my personal favorite…sea monkeys!

7) Set an example. Whether we like it or not, kids model parents’ behaviors. Show your own interest in nature, and point out interesting animals, insects, plants etc. on a daily basis. To inspire yourself, I suggest reading Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder. Read my review of it here. Also, you can check out the adult resources here, at the Hooked on Nature website.

8) Come up with some nature-themed art projects for your children, or recycled art. Good resources for ideas are: Nature’s Art Box, Recycled Crafts Box, and Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children

If you are interested, I reviewed Earthways here.

9) Involve children in your recycling. Let them help sort. Take them with you when you drop it off. Older children might benefit from a book like Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming. Read my review here for more information.

10) Read nature-themed stories to your children. Here are some suggested reading lists by age from the Hooked on Nature website:

Ages 3-8
Ages 6-14

11) Set up a seasonal nature table in your home where children can display their outdoor finds. A fall table for example might have fall leaves, acorns, and pine cones, whereas a spring table might have spring flowers, feathers and grasses. Change the table seasonally and see what wonders your children come home with.

12) Start solstice celebrations in your home. Explain about the movement of the Earth, what causes the seasons, and what the solstice means. Last year we had our first annual solstice celebration on the winter solstice. We lit candles and had a special meal. The children gathered whatever they could find outside to create the centerpiece (pine branches, pine cones, rocks, and twigs). They still talk about that evening more than any other holiday celebration that we have had! I believe that being more aware of the natural rhythms of life, helps build an awareness of the importance of nature and the planet.

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I really wish I had begun this post three weeks ago instead of last night, because I know that there are many more great ideas for getting kids excited about nature and the environment. This will definitely have to be an ongoing project for me.

I hope you have enjoyed my ideas, and will find them useful. The main point is that children are the future of out planet. Get them outdoors and teach them just how wonderful our planet is…PLEASE!!!!

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, October 10, 2007 9:13 pm

Yesterday I happened across an unused old Dollar Store, cheapo coloring book and put it on the kitchen table for the donation box.

As a child, I always liked coloring books, even the ordinary, unimaginative ones. But lately, I have become a bit of a coloring book snob. There are some really creative coloring books out there (subject of a future post - stay tuned!). Who says that you need to stay between the lines anyhow?

Well, my kids found this boring old coloring book after they came from school and pounced on it! But instead of each picking one picture to sit and passively color, they immediately started discussing the “books” that they were going to make.

It started with my 5 year-old son who found some dinosaur pictures and began coloring an array of very colorful dinosaurs. I guess there is no scientific reason why dinosaurs couldn’t have been red and blue with yellow stripes. Maybe that is why they became extinct. Poor choice of camouflage.

My 7 year-old daughter quickly jumped in with an animal theme and began work on her “book” too.

They worked for about two hours yesterday, and another couple of hours after school today. Here are the completed books, all stapled together and ready to be turned into stories:

What occurred to me as they were doing this, is that kids can do very creative things with ordinary objects, or things that we adults turn our noses up at. Being a coloring book snob, I was ready to give this one away, yet the kids found a very creative way to use it. Perhaps children are better able to “think outside the box” than we adults are.

If you haven’t read my post Ignore the Rules about how children often use toys in unintended, yet very creative ways, please give it a read. Perhaps those not so imaginative toys in your closet might have possibilities that we adults have never imagined!

Comments (10)

By Mom Unplugged, September 22, 2007 11:14 am

Here’s an Unplugged Project for kids: Origami! I used to love doing origami as a child and I even still have my origami “how-to” books and paper. Yes, I really am a packrat.

I gathered the kids, my old books and my ancient origami paper, and we made some origami. Here are the results. You should be able to find two butterflies, two swans, two fancy boxes, and one ruby-throated hummingbird. The hummingbird was actually one of my childhood creations. We found it squashed between the pages of one of the books!