Pond Life

 

It’s been quite a while since I posted – summer is such a busy time!

Today, we are heading to the pond. When I was younger, I would go down by the river ( I know, not the same as a pond, but you get the idea) to feed the ducks. As soon as one duck showed up, they would all waddle up to get their share of bread.

After talking about pond animals all week, we walked the kiddos to the pond a few blocks down the road from the childcare center in search of some ducks. Unfortunately, we did not see any. We did see a few turtles, some dragonflies and some other bugs. So, we went back to the center and made our own ducks 🙂

These cute ducks are easy to make, and even stand on their own! I had the kids use brown, green and white paint to paint a paper plate. Once dry, I folded the plate in half. The kiddos glued orange feet, cut-out of paper, to the bottom of the plate. They then glued on a cut-out head shape, and bill. Lastly, I found some feathers for them to glue wherever they wanted onto the body.

As you can see, some of our ducks have some pretty flexible necks 😉

I added these cute ducks to my pond bulletin board that I put up last month. During our pond theme, we also made cattails using the kids footprints. They added a nice, personal touch to our board.

Don’t mind the grease mark from the Mr. Twisters 🙂

 

Gone Fishin’

One of my favorite summer themes is my Fishing unit.

Every summer, my family goes “Up North” for a week. We spend the week on the lake, swimming, boating, tubing and of course fishing. Ever since I was little, I remember my Dad, Grandpa and Uncle taking the boat out every evening to go fishing. Once my brother got older, he joined them as well. When I was a teenager, my cousin and I would tag along sometimes. Now that I’m older, and my Grandpa and Uncle have passed away, I have taken the seat next to my Dad on the boat. I look forward to spending a week every year, in the middle of the Chequamegon – Nicolet National Forest, with no TV and little cell phone reception, spending time with my family.

The above picture is of my Grandpa and I, both with our mounted Walleye that were caught on Gordon Lake (caught in different years of course). Since fishing means so much to me, I love teaching my kiddos about it as well!

I compiled photos of Wisconsin fish, and created a fish matching game for the kids to play. There’s pictures of Northern, Walleye, Muskies, Sturgeon, Bullheads, Crappies, Bass and Bluegill. This game is available during free choice time.

Tonight, I want to share with you a fun little art project, using fishing lures – NO hooks! I found some of my favorite lures for catching those Walleye- Mister Twisters, along with a crayfish lure and some others. I attached string to a few lures to make them look and feel like they were on a fishing line, but easier for the kiddos to handle than actual fishing line.

I put out paint in various colors. The kiddos dipped the lures into the paint, and then onto their paper. The stringed lures were a little harder for them to handle, but maneuvering the string did assist them in using their hand – eye coordination.

The result was a colorful piece of art with lines, squiggles, and some claw marks 🙂

 

Speaking of my week Up North, I will be there next week, enjoying my time on the lake. Stay tuned for another post in a few weeks!