Seasonal Activities & Crafts
Photo courtesy of InterExchange
Summer
Learning About Insects
Talking to children about insects is a fun activity in the summer when there are so many around!
Insect Exploring
To learn more about insects, go on a hunt outside. Collect the insects you find in a jar and then examine them with a magnifying glass.
Ants on a Log
Spread peanut butter on a stick of celery and then add raisins on the top so they look like ants crawling on a log.
Books About Insects
Children love the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
Fall
Leaf Rubbing
Take a nature walk and see how many different leaves you can find. Bring a paper bag to collect the leaves. At home, make leaf rubbings by rubbing a crayon over a piece of paper with a leaf underneath. Notice the difference in shapes, colors, and vein patterns. Try to identify each leaf (using a book from the library if necessary) and make the leaf rubbings into a book.
Winter
Snowflakes
Make simple snowflakes from paper. You can tape these snowflakes to a window for a nice winter decoration or paste them onto a piece of folded construction paper for a great winter card.
Spring
Pressed Flower
This is a great activity to use all of the pretty flowers outside!
- Step 1: Pick some delicate flowers and leaves. Sturdy flowers and thick leaves do not work so well and take a lot longer to dry than the delicate ones.
- Step 2: Press each bloom/leaf in a thick book. You can protect the pages of the book and speed up the drying process by pressing the flowers between flattened coffee filters. The coffee filters absorb a lot of the moisture as the flowers are pressed. It can take up to two weeks to completely dry out and press a flower.
- Step 3: When the plants are dry, carefully remove them from the book. Arrange them on a piece of paper in an artistic manner.
- Step 4: Remove flowers from the paper and brush a thin layer of glue on the paper where the dried plants were.
- Step 5: Carefully put the plants back in place. This can be difficult; try using tweezers to place them on the glue. Make sure all the plant material is touching the glue and lying flat on the paper. Let the glue dry completely.
You now have beautiful stationery or cards!
