Originally Posted by permanentvacation:
I am not knowledgeable about natural things. I can't pick a leaf off the ground and tell you what type of tree it came from, I can't name the different trees in my neighbors' yards. Rocks are simply rocks to me. I have wanted to add natural things to my daycare for a while, but when I think of picking up something from outside, lets say a pine cone, and bringing it in, I just think of all of the bugs that are most likely in the pine cone that would then be in my house! And I don't know what to tell the kids other then, "Yep. It's a pine cone." ...and that's the end of my lesson!
So, can anyone give me ideas and suggestions as to how to add nature into my daycare, hopefully without getting bugs into my home, and what to teach them about the items they are looking at. I guess I will be doing a good bit of research online about the nature items I get.
I don't think you have to give 'lessons' per se. It is fun and relaxing just to observe and enjoy. Also, I have found that little kids rarely ask any questions. Any that you couldn't easily answer anyway. They don't care whether it is the leaf from an oak or a maple. I loved to take the kids on walks and just observe and let them explore. A neighbor on our street has a huge tree but I have no idea what kind it is. We used to call it the 'humongous tree.' The point is that we were enjoying nature. They would pick up leaves and we would notice how they were different and then some comment like "There are all kinds of leaves, aren't there?" Like someone else said, we took a bag and they could collect whatever they wanted.
Off the top of my head simple nature ideas:
-Collect leaves, twigs, etc. from the yard and then take a piece of contact paper and turn it sticky side up. I stapled it onto a piece of construction paper so it wouldn't curl (sticky side up) and then stick your nature items on it for a collage.
-After a storm we would have lots of sticks in the yard. We would collect them and just make a huge pile. They just liked watching the pile get bigger and finding them. They liked to break them too.
-Rock/pumpkin scrubbing. In a school I worked at we had an activity they loved. Get a big rock, a pumpkin in the fall and then scrub it with a little stiff brush. We'd have a bar of soap on a rubber soap holder. Then rub the brush onto wet soap and scrub.
-Make 'soup'. Put water in a bucket or old pot and let them add 'soup' ingredients like grass, leaves, pebbles, etc. and stir. I used to love this as a kid. Soup goes good with mud pies. Yum.
-Put a blanket on the ground and lie on it and watch clouds. A good book to go with this activity is called 'It Looked like Spilt Milk' about clouds.
-Scavenger hunt-Give them a list of things to find. The list could be in your head with littles. "Who can find a rock?" "Who can show me a bug?"
-Let them just dig. Mine just liked to dig a hole. You can also give them artificial flowers and pots to play 'florist' with.
-I took mine on rain walks (if there was no lightning/thunder). They love to walk with umbrellas.
-Just mention weather when you are out. "Oh it looks cloudy today, I wonder if it's going to rain. See how the clouds look darker and I don't see the sun." Listen for bird sounds too and point them out. You can go online somewhere and hear bird sounds and identify the ones in your area. I just forget where but you could Google it.
Indoors
-Save seeds from apples, oranges, avocados, etc. and show the children how seeds look so different. Then a brief discussion of "this tiny apple seed grows into an apple tree", etc.
-Follow up outdoor activities with nature related crafts. Give them cotton balls to glue onto blue paper for clouds. Have them draw (or you can if they can't) a simple house and show them how to make it look like it is raining around the house. They love to bang the crayons on the paper and make rain.
-Books, of course
-House plants to water or just appreciate (but I always kill them)
I also am not into pets but maybe an ant farm (not for me though
)
Laurel