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By Mom Unplugged, June 21, 2007 6:59 am

I am always on the look-out for good books of activities that I don’t have time to do with my kids. One day…when the baby is a little older…not that I am wishing her precious babyhood away! But, I digress.

I stumbled upon this one at Amazon and I really like it! It is Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children by Carol Petrash. Here is a quote from the back cover: “This book is “filled with hands-on nature crafts and seasonal activities to enhance environmental awareness. The activities are carefully written and beautifully illustrated. Children play with the elements of earth, air, and water. They develop a respect for nature, for the earth and for all living creatures. they experience the awe and wonder of the world around them.”

While this may be quite an ambitious description of the book, I can tell you from a Mom’s (rather than a publisher’s) perspective, that it is a really cool book. Will it instantly turn my children into little green protectors of Mother Earth? Maybe not. But I do firmly believe that the more children learn about nature, the more respect they will have for it. Teaching children early on to appreciate the beauty of life and nature can only help the planet in the long run.

One of the things I really like about this book, and what sets it apart from other similar books that I have seen, is that the chapters are organized by season. Plus, each season has subsections: The Whole Earth Home and Classroom, Bringing Nature In: The Season’s Garden, Bringing Nature In: Seasonal Crafts, and Supplying the Missing Links. This makes it easy to find projects that are seasonally appropriate.

The “Supplying the Missing Links” idea is another feature which sets this book apart from other “nature crafts” books. The introduction describes this as providing “activities that will allow the children to connect a product which they often use and usually purchase in a store with the source and process from which it comes. The aim is that they will then have a subtle understanding of their strong connections with and dependence on the Earth and an experience of making things for themselves.”

I love this concept! My children are always asking me where things come from, and these projects can actually teach them a little bit about some of it. One of the more ambitious projects in this category is: “From Wheat to Bread” (no, Mom doesn’t go to Safeway for a bag of flour, the kids thresh and grind wheat themselves, then bake their homemade flour into bread).

Wow! I thought I was being “crunchy-frontier-mom” when I, on very rare occasion, bake bread from scratch without my machine. Now the bar is raised! If we do this experiment (not that wheat on the stalk will be easy to come by where I live - especially for a non A-lister like me), will the kids expect me to make my own flour every time I feel domestic enough to make bread? Hmm…could be a dangerous precedent to set, but cool idea nonetheless!

There is a similar project with Indian Corn (we can probably get that here): string necklaces of corn kernels, grind the corn and make corn bread, use the husks to make corn husk dolls, then grate the cobs to make a corn cob powder for play cooking. How about learning about wool, apples, pumpkins, and butter?

If you don’t have the time or ambition to make your own flour, then you will be happy to find other, more manageable projects here too. Some examples: FALL - leaf banners, leaf crowns, nature’s people, lanterns. WINTER - pine cone bird feeders, tissue paper transparencies, finger knitting, yarn dolls. SPRING - wind wands, pinwheels, kites, dish gardens, pressed flower cards. SUMMER - shooting star streamer balls, walnut boats, butterfly crowns, parachute people, paper birds.

I really love this book. Anyone who wants to unplug their children and tune them into nature needs this book. I know that any Waldorf or homeschooling family would love it too. Please check it out, I think you will be pleased!

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, June 7, 2007 6:55 pm

My 6 year-old daughter is obsessed with rocks. I find rocks in her pockets, in her little purses, in jars on her desk, in her nightstand drawer, and once, even in her bed! She even likes to look at and read books about rocks. I list her favorites below.

We got started on geodes when one of her school book fair books came with a small, uncracked geode. She brought it to school on her “Sharing Day” and cracked it in front of her class, a performance which was, apparently, a big hit with her classmates.

In case you have never encountered one, a geode is a very unimpressive looking rock on the outside, as you can see here:

Geodes form in porous rocks such as limestone or lava. If a hollow cavity exists in the rock, water containing dissolved minerals can seep in through the rock’s pores and crystallize on the inside walls of the cavity. If the crystals do not completely fill the cavity, then a geode is formed. The type of minerals in the water determine what type of crystals form inside the geode.

Geodes are a fun surprise of nature. You can’t know what you will find on the inside of a geode until you break it open!

During our trip to Phoenix we visited the Arizona Science Center. My daughter was very excited to find a large unopened geode in the gift shop. Here it is in its package:

The instructions said to keep it in its bag and bash it with a hammer. Here is my mini-geologist giving it a whack:

Well, it took a lot of banging and I was the one who had to deliver the final, fatal blow. I am not sure we centered our hammering too well (apparently it works MUCH better if you use a chisel first to score a line around the “equator” of the geode - see here for good instructions), but the crystalline interior is clearly visible:

Here is a close up of the surprise contents of our geode in the sunlight. Looks like lots of quartz and chalcedony:

You can find geodes in many science and museum stores, or order small and large geodes online at stores such as The Geode Gallery, The Desert USA Store or Mama’s Minerals.

My 6 year-old daughter’s favorite rock books:

Some good DK Publishing books for older children (9-12):

If you get REALLY into this geode-thing, here is a fascinating-sounding book all about geodes (written for adults, but mini-geologists might enjoy the photos):