Outdoor Adventures: The Sun by Erin Uda

This week is the spring equinox, where the day and night are almost the same length.  From now on, the days will grow longer than the nights and will keep getting longer until the end of June, when they start slowly getting shorter again. 

Since winter is officially gone, let’s get out and enjoy the bright warm sunshine!

If you’re science-minded and want to talk with your child about the earth’s rotation around the sun and why we have seasons and our days get longer and shorter, use the links and charts below.  I suggest sitting near a bright window in the sun, if you have one, so your child can see and feel the difference between shade and sun.  When you talk about summer, stay in the sun, and when you talk about winter move to a shady part inside and have your child describe the difference he feels in both temperature and light.

Links and charts of the earth’s rotation around the sun: 

Journey North: Reasons for Seasons

Windows to the Universe: The Earth's Rotation

The Encyclopedia of Earth: Earth-Sun geometry

Exploring Nature: Earth's Rotation Around the Sun

Life's Little Mysteries: Why does the Autumnal Equinox fall on different dates?

Once you’re ready for some outdoor fun, get the following items and head to a sunny spot outside to make a sun dial.

• PDF for Older Children
• Print out for Younger Children
• Straw or pencil
• Compass

Even better, make your child the sun dial by going outside every hour to draw a circle around her shadow’s head while she stands in the same spot (I recommend drawing a small square where she should stand).  Write the hour inside each circle as you draw them.  

Explain to your child that when the sun shines down on us, a shadow is created where we stop the sun’s rays from reaching the ground.  Shadows are used to tell time, but they’re also useful in the summer when it’s hot, and they’re very fun to step on.  Try making your shadows do crazy things, like shake hands with each other, or not touch your feet.  Outline your shadow with sidewalk chalk and make fun shapes or letters.  Go out at different times of the day and measure the length of your shadow.  When is it the longest?  When is it the shortest? 

Use your shadow (and a flashlight) to make a profile portrait of your child.  If interested, use THIS LINK from Christina Williams that I found on Pinterest to help you make a cool piece of art from your outline.

(Image found HERE)

Try making art using the sun.  Find some solar photo paper (it changes color when exposed to the sun, found HERE) and create a collage out of natural items on it.  Or just place the items on a sheet of colored construction paper and leave it out for at least a couple of hours.  The color will fade on the areas of the paper that were exposed to the sun, while the areas covered with your objects will still be brightly colored.

Talk about the different light that comes from the sun, not just the light and colors that we can see, but also UV rays, which is light we can’t see.  These rays are what make the paper turn color or make certain colors appear to glow.  UV light can be seen by certain animals, and can be seen as a bright glow if you use a black light.  Try some fun projects by going to these LINKS:

• What glows under a black light?
• Glowing Water

And remember, UV rays are also harmful to our skin, which is why we wear sunscreen when we go outside.

When you’re ready to wind down, talk with your child about Stonehenge and the many ancient sites built specifically for keeping track of the sun’s progress through the sky.  Talk about how much work and study (and yes, math) went into making these sites and ask your child what they think.  Go on a photo tour of these places or go to the library and get some books about them.  The study of these places is called Archaeoastronomy.

Click links to learn more about each picture:

Stonehenge, England - 1

Stonehenge England - 2

Egyptian Sun Temples

Big Horn Medicine Wheel, Wyoming

The Great Sphinx, Egypt

El Castillo, Chichen Itsa (Mayan Temple)

Preah Khan Temple, Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Konark Sun Temple

San Juan de Ortega Monastery, Spain

Because the spring equinox was an important time in the lives of ancient cultures, it was celebrated with many different holidays and festivals, from religious to planting themes.  Look around and see if there are any in your area.

Recommended Books:

• Done in the Sun, Anne Hillerman (621.471 H557)
• Maui and the Sun, Gavin Bishop (398.297 M443)
• How the Rooster Got His Crown, Amy Lowry Poole (398.267 H8301)
• Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend, Eric A. Kimmel (398.267 T25)
• The Wind and the Sun: an Aesop Fable, Bernadette Watts (398.2515 W722)
• Guess Whose Shadow? Stephen R. Swinburne (770 Sw63)
• What Makes a Shadow? Clyde Robert Bulla (535.4 B872)
• The Reason for Seasons, Gail Gibbons (525.5 G352)
• The Day-Glo Brothers, Chris Barton (535.352 B2854)
• Light and Shadows, Brian Knapp (535 K7272)

A little something I did over the weekend...

Since we moved into our new rental home last month, Kevin and I have been trying to find ways to spruce up the place without upsetting the landlord or breaking our budget!  Here are a few little things we did over the weekend to make our office look a little less rented...

We found this chair in the crawl space under our house. It was pretty ugly but Kevin sanded it down and spray painted it white while I upholstered the top using THIS tutorial from Craftaholics Anonymous. Total cost: $10 (for spray paint and fabric, we had everything else!)

We also fixed up this old shelf that our downstairs neighbor (from our first apartment in Chicago) gave us. It was warm outside so I took it to the driveway and gave it a good sanding before using the same spray paint we used on the chair to give it some life. After the paint dried, I rubbed some sandpaper over the edges to give it an aged look. Then Kevin screwed little hooks into the bottom for me and voila!

We FINALLY have a place to hang all the running medals we've accumulated over the years! Best part, it only cost $2 for the hooks! We had everything else on hand.

What "trash to treasure" projects have you been working on lately? I would love to hear about them!

Outdoor Adventures: Snow Play by Erin Uda

Let’s go outside and freeze things!  

(Image found HERE)

 Start with bubbles – did you know they freeze if you blow bubbles in weather colder than 32*F?  Blow a bubble, catch it on your wand, and watch it turn into a small crystal ball.  You can also just watch the liquid crystallize on the wand.

Make popsicles by putting them outside instead of in the freezer.  Make your favorite flavor and once you have it in the popsicle mold, cover it with plastic wrap if needed and set it in a safe, cold spot.  Wait a few hours and enjoy!

(Image and more ideas can be found at Play at Home Mom)

Experiment with ice.  Fill a small bucket and a cookie sheet with water and place them in a safe area outside to freeze.  Keep an eye on them to see which container of water freezes faster.

Once they’re fully frozen, sprinkle salt on half of each container.  What does the salt do?  How far down does it affect the ice?  Does it make a difference if you add more or less salt?  If you try kosher, rock or table salt?  Try a variation by filling two small buckets, one with saltwater, one with pure water.  Watch and see how long each takes to freeze.

(Image and idea found HERE)

Create ‘ice gems’ by filling small water balloons with water and food coloring, or placing drops of water on a lined cookie sheet, then freezing them.  See THIS LINK for details on how to make them.  When you’re finished, use your gems to decorate your front porch, garden, or yard.  Try making the ice buttons into rainbows by layering different colors of water as they freeze. We put ours in our empty planter pot and they look beautiful

(Image found HERE)

If you want more color outside, fill some spray bottles (you can get these from the dollar store) with water and food coloring.  Take them outside and create colorful designs in the snow.  Make snow angels and give them faces and clothing.  Or color your snowman.

If it’s snowing, bring a piece of black construction paper outside with you.  Catch snowflakes on it and observe the different shapes of each one.

(Image and idea found HERE)

And if you just want to enjoy the wonders of ice indoor, try this SENSORY TUB from COUNTING COCONUTS. It would be especially fun for your littlest ones!

Recommended Reading:

• The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats (Caldecott Medal winner)
• The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder, Mark Cassino
• The Snow Child, Harriet Ziefert
• Charlie and Lola: Snow is my favorite and my best, Lauren Child
• Let It Snow, Maryann Cocca-Leffler
• The Jacket I Wear in the Snow, Shirley Neitzel

Family Home Evening: Wilford Woodruff on Journals

For this week's family home evening, we will be learning about the prophet Wilford Woodruff. 

Opening Wiggle Song:  Once There Was a Snowman (click on song name for music)

Opening Reverent Song:  My Heavenly Father Love Me (click on song name for music)

Opening Prayer: Given by Daddy

Lesson: Given by Mommy

Lesson Plan:  Today we are going to learn about a prophet of God. A prophet is a living person who helps us to know what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. This is the prophet Wilford Woodruff:

(Image Source)

He taught us that we should write in Journals so that our future children and grandchildren can learn about us, and so we can learn about ourselves by remembering our experiences. Journaling is also very helpful when people are trying to do Genealogy.

Lesson Application:  Today we are going to follow the teachings of the prophet and start our own journals! ( Here are some ideas for journaling that should cover all age groups.)

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 For very young children a journal could be as simple as drawing a picture about their week. All they need is a notebook with unlined paper and some crayons!

(Image Source)

 If your children are just learning how to read and write, you could try a journal jar like THIS one that can be found on Organized Christmas. You simply put prompts into a jar, they pick one out, and write about it!

(Image Source)

 For older children who are getting pretty good at writing, you could do a "Mama & Me" journal like this one from Mama Jenn. It works kind of like a pen pal. You write a letter to your child (perhaps prompting them about things they can write about or asking about their week) and then they write back.

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If you just can't think of things to write about, you can try these "fill in the blank" pages from Grace is Overrated. It is an excellent way to get your creative juices flowing!



Closing Song:  Latter-Day Prophets (click on song name for music)

Closing Prayer: Given by Lily

Treats: Prepared by Brooklyn... Hot Cocoa Cookies

A Fun Article to get you through the day...

I saw this article circulating on Facebook yesterday and it gave me a pretty good laugh so I thought I would share!

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/04/2011-lesson-2-dont-carpe-diem/

Enjoy!

Outdoor Adventures: Astronomy by Erin Uda

(Image Source)

The longest night of the year was only a couple of weeks ago.  So instead of turning into bears and hibernating, you can bundle up, make some hot chocolate, and get outside to check out the stars.

Your backyard will work just fine for this activity, but if you can, take a trip to a place far from the city lights so you get the best view possible of the stars.  There is a lot of light pollution in any city, which makes it difficult to see any but the brightest stars.  If you can’t go far, try a nearby park; they’re usually a bit darker than the average street.  

(Image Source)

 It will take a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the night sky.  If you choose to have a book or printout (HERE is one for the sky in UT) in front of you, use a red light or cover your flashlight with red paper or plastic to keep your eyes adjusted to the dark.

Once you’ve acclimated to both the dark and the cold (while drinking that hot chocolate) spend time locating the major constellations in your sky. 

There are plenty of easy-to-find constellations that are visible in the winter:

Orion & Orion Nebula

Milky Way

Big Dipper

Little Dipper

North Star

Cassiopeia

Cygnus

Taurus

Pleiades

There are also a few great sites for checking to see if there are any cool celestial happenings coming up:

1. NASA's "Astronomy Picture of the Day"
2. Earth Sky's "Tonight sky"
3. Sky and Telescope's "This Week's Sky at a Glance"

If you are looking for a project to do, click HERE to see a a fun craft I found via Pinterest to make during the day. You can use it to prepare your kids for their upcoming evening adventure.

(Image Source and Idea can be found at Play at Home Mom)

If it is simply too cold outside, or your children are too young to spot constellations in the sky, try THIS idea from PLAY AT HOME MOM! You can poke constellation patterns through one side of a giant cardboard box and then stick your Christmas tree lights through the holes to create a beautiful star cave for your little ones to play in. Don't forget to crawl in yourself and take a peek!

Recommended Reading:

• Turn Left at Orion, Guy Consolmagno & Dan M. Davis
• Sky Dragons and Flaming Swords: The story of eclipses, comets, and other strange happenings in the skies, Marietta D. Moskin
• The Man in the Moon: Sky tales from many lands, Alta Jablow

For more stargazing books, check out Call # 523

Family Home Evening: John Taylor on Tithing

For this week's family home evening, we will be learning about the prophet John Taylor.

Opening Wiggle Song:  Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (click on song name for music)

Opening Reverent Song:  I Wiggle (click on song name for music)

Opening Prayer: Given by Lily

Lesson: Given by Mommy

Lesson Plan: Today we are going to learn about a prophet of God. A prophet is a living person who helps us to know what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. This is the prophet John Taylor:

(Image Source)

President Taylor taught us that Heavenly Father wants us to pay tithing. Tithing is when we offer to give one tenth of our riches back to Heavenly Father to be used to build Temples and do other good things that will help spread the Gospel and build up our Church.

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This is how it works. If you work really hard to earn some money from Mommy or Daddy by doing extra chores, and they give you $10, you would take one of those dollars and give it as tithing to Heavenly Father.

(Image Source)

Some people call this a sacrifice, which means to give up something that is hard for you to do. But we know that even if it is hard, Heavenly Father has given us EVERYTHING that we have, so really we are just deciding to share some of it with him again! And when we do share, he will continue to bless us with the things that we need.

Lesson Application:  Gather your children together and assign them a special task to do that they will earn money for (i.e. load the dishwasher, clean up the yard, vacuum the house, etc.) When they are done, give them their payment and then help them to subtract 10%. Take that 10% and put it in a tithing envelope to give to the Bishop on Sunday, or into a special piggy bank that was designed to hold tithing until you're ready to pay it. Then don't forget to help your kids get their tithing money to the Bishop the following Sunday!

Closing Song: I'm Glad to Pay Tithing (click on song name for music)

Closing Prayer: Given by Brooklyn

Treats: Prepared by Daddy... Cake Mix Waffle Ice cream Sandwiches!