Learning About Tu B'Shevat through Loose Parts

When I realized that Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish new year of the trees is just a few weeks away, falling on January 20-21 this year, I kind of panicked. I had nothing or prepared at home. S will surely gain a great understanding and experience of this special day in school, but we are away for a week coming up to visit my family up north and I wanted something at home to supplement and make the day meaningful to the boys. I love when Tu B'Shevat falls in the dead of winter here. It really is a holiday centralized in Israel to mark the beginning of the season shift there. Here (although it's been unseasonably warm), the trees and plants are mostly dormant. Still, every season deserves its honor and what better way to view each one than through the cycle of a tree? And what better way to experience this than through child-led, hands on exploration of loose parts?

While doing a major playroom shift and setup is never a small feat (especially with little ones "helping,") this was kind of my version of an easy way out this year. Rather than focusing on directed activities and lessons at home (although we may do a few art activities and directed play and STEAM invitations), I wanted to set out materials the boys could explore at their whim that had to do with trees. So I set about gathering materials from around the house, printing and laminating labels and made a brief stop to the local craft supply store. Little money saving pro-tip: if you're looking for tree-related craft supplies and materials, right after Christmas is a great time to take advantage of super sales! And then, I revamped our STEAM Cart and top play shelf to incorporate a variety of loose parts and materials having to do with wood, woodworking, building, parts of trees/plants and seasons.

I envisioned completing this project in a peaceful and empty living room. What actually transpired was a very eager to help Y accompanying me on the endeavor. He had a lot of ideas, and you know what? They weren't half bad! (The bowl of flowers and apples are his addition--and we are celebrating the emerging growth of fruit trees and Spring in Israel, right?) He is also responsible for the loose parts shelf altogether as I only envisioned a small muffin tin and tinker tray in one of our STEAM drawers. He wanted to work with a larger pallet, and this reminded me keenly of the importance of seeing the space we intend for our children through their eyes and not only our own. So I upgraded from the muffin tin to a secondhand set of wooden salad bowls and we gathered and sorted materials. Some are natural and others man-made. 

We included:

• dried cotton flowers
• seed pods
• pine cones
• acorns
• cinnamon sticks
• acrylic acorns, leaves and large gems/beads
• wooden letter tiles (a fun way to sneak in some early literacy and writing)
• snowflake decorations (deconstructed Dollar Tree ornaments)
• silk leaves 
• silk flowers
• artificial apples

You can use solely items collected from nature or add in relevant man-made loose parts as well. I like the combination of the two and I think it can also spark some meaningful conversation about nature versus man-made materials. The finishing touch was to set out some of our favorite books about Tu B'Shevat and trees and a couple of decorative "trees" in the background.

Meanwhile in our STEAM Cart, I wanted to focus on building using tree-made materials--i.e. WOOD! S has long had a fascination with woodworking and Y is eagerly catching on and catching up. Our woodworking area in our play garden has been temporarily cleaned out and shut down for the winter weather. Much of the wood left outdoors needed to be recycled and the tools brought inside after a very wet summer. We definitely plan to open up shop again outdoors (perhaps with a more waterproof setup) but in the meantime, we have incorporated opportunities to plan, build and design indoors. Our STEAM cart labels were created using the editable version and read-made version of Pocket of Preschool's FREE STEM labels. The drawers are stocked with materials to encourage loose parts play, design, planning, recording, small world play, building and even woodworking (with adult support and supervision). Here's a virtual peek inside:

• Our top drawer (not shown) is still stocked with playdough and tools. Currently that includes homemade peppermint playdough and some winter and tree shaped cookie cutters along with rolling pins, trays and plastic knives. I also store small containers of kinetic sand here and silly putty--this is a quick go-to when we need a table time activity. Playdough can also be used in conjunction with loose parts to build and create tree-themed art. Stay tuned for a post on that in the future...
• Our write and record drawer still has colored pencils and pencils, graph paper and blueprint templates ready for use.
• Woodworking tools including sanding blocks/sand paper, safety goggles, hammers, nails, rulers and/or a tape measure
• Wooden craft sticks in a variety of sizes
• Wooden loose parts including peg clothes pins, mini Jenga blocks, unpainted wooden peg dolls, some painted wooden peg dolls and a set of seasons Russian nesting dolls I painted last year, and other unique small wood parts. You can include spools, clothespins, wooden cups, blocks, small toys and other shapes--whatever you have on hand.
• Wood Scraps purchased in bulk from craft supply stores are great for building temporary designs, practicing sanding, hammering and nailing and even planning and producing simple projects. Adult support and supervision is necessary when using tools and nails with young children.
• Large tree planks, wooden craft planks with the bark still on are available for building--these larger pieces are great for supports and foundations
• Assorted Small Tree Blocks collected from craft supply stores including tree circles, shapes and blocks with the bark still on, drift wood, etc. for building/designing
• Wood blocks in assorted shapes and sizes. You can find block sets in secondhand stores quite frequently and we also have some Jenga blocks thrown into the mix. 
• Cardboard tubes and/or other recycled materials are a great way to incorporate the idea of preserving and protecting natural resources into learning about the importance of trees. They also make fabulous tree trunks and building materials!

The boys have just begun to explore these materials and I am excited and eager for the play and learning that will come.

Even if you don't celebrate Tu B'Shevat, these ideas can be incorporated into a unit on trees, gardening, plants or the four seasons. I love that while our trees and garden lie dormant, this holiday helps me connect to the life that is sleeping just beneath the soil. A friend who is not Jewish shared with me that after learning through me about the holiday of Tu B'Shevat several years ago, she now takes a little hike in the woods each year on that day to visit the trees! What a beautiful and inspiring concept. So while we look longingly out of the window this time of year where I live, we can also enjoy a bit of nature inside. We'll be back with some more Tu B'Shevat inspired activities in the days to come. Until then...

Happy Playing!

Winter Story Stretcher: "The Fox and the Falling Leaves" by Julia Rawlinson

Most folks would probably think of Julia Rawlinson's The Fox and the Falling Leaves (also under the title Fletcher and the Falling Leaves) as Fall themed book and, indeed it does whimsically share the tale of a young fox, Fletcher and his fruitless attempts at "saving" his favorite tree from this thing called Autumn that is responsible for causing all of its leaves to fall off. As Fletcher tries again and again to help restore his poor, beloved tree to its leafy Summer self, he is confronted again and again by Autumn's seemingly gravitational pull and some other woodland critters who are of little help. There is a magical Wintry surprise at the end that makes this the perfect book to transition seasons. We chose this book for a star role in our Winter Break Story Stretchers Playcamp on the afternoon before Winter solstice and to celebrate and honor Autumn's departure with a fun STEAM activity to go along with it.

Lest you think that our Story Stretcher times look picture book perfect, there's Y wandering in the background and S trying to hear the story over his singing...

"Tree, tree!" shouted Y, gleefully bringing me the pipe cleaner tree from our activity setup at the table!

We gathered (more or less) on the rug for our story together, and then took to the table for our STEAM Challenge to Build a Winter Tree. This is the perfect activity to combine fine motor skills, art, engineering and creativity as the children got to use cotton ball "snow" and a prepared pipe cleaner tree trunk (I found a great tutorial and the inspiration for this project on the blog Play Trains!) If you have older kids, they can shape and form their own tree trunks and branches from pipe cleaners. Cotton balls have a lovely way of sticking to the pipe cleaners and Y even discovered how to pull them apart and stretch the cotton like drifts of snow. I was quite impressed! S followed suit. The harder challenge is getting loose parts like glass gems, sea glass and mosaic tiles to withstand slipping through the branches to taking the whole tree down! It's a challenge we were up for! As the boys were busy building, designing, constructing and reconstructing, I thought it might be fun to add in some Fletcher to Fox characters, and offered them each a small toy fox from our collection of winter forest animals.

I love using the collection of building prompts from Pocket of Preschool's Winter STEM pack to introduce our activity at the table. It supports the print rich environment I strive for and provides visual inspiration as well. To try this activity at home you will need pipe cleaners (black or brown) for your tree base and cotton balls for snow (alternatively you could use fiber fill or wool batting). Glass gems, mosaic tiles and/or sea glass make a lovely optional addition and the addition of a toy fox or other small toy woodland animals could make for some great small world play and storytelling.

I almost never know what activities will draw the boys in (one or both) and which will sustain their attention and curiosity. This one was a huge winner!  I aim to set up our area in ways that are thought provoking and visually appealing. The formality of wooden bowls added a sense of beauty and reverence to their work area and I think that goes a long way in capturing their interest. I love finding these at secondhand stores. I find them super inexpensively and they are great for storing and organizing art materials, loose parts, small toys, even jewelry and small personal objects. They are also a lovely addition to dramatic and sensory play. Both boys really had a great time with this activity and were quite pleased when I showed them that all of the parts to recreate it are readily available in our Winter STEAM drawers or other easy to access areas in our play space. I think it is especially important when children do take an interest in an activity like this to make it available for recreation and repetition.

With that, we've officially said so long to Autumn and welcomed Winter! And we will be back soon with some more Winter themed Story Stretcher fun. Until then...

Happy Reading and Happy Playing!

Beyond the Book: Eric Carle's "The Tiny Seed"

What is Shavuot without flowers? And one of my very favorite children's books about flowers is The Tiny Seed, written and illustrated by Eric Carle. This beautiful story chronicles a group of sunflower seeds through the seasons. As they make their journey through the pages and through different terrains and trials, one question remains--what will happen to the tiny seed? Will it succumb to its humble stature or triumph over the obstacles placed along its way? In addition to sequencing the four seasons of the year and the physical journey of the tiny seeds and its larger counterparts, this book also demonstrates the life cycle of a plant.

We have explored the themes of flowers, plants, and gardening before here through a variety of play activities and wonderful children's books on the topic. We have even read The Tiny Seed before and done extension activities with it. When it comes to Story Stretchers, repetition is OK! After all, how many times does your child request to read and reread a favorite book? I have even talked before about the benefits of using Story Stretcher activities to expand upon themes and concepts presented in a favorite book. This can encourage your young reader to engage in fabulous pretend play, sensory exploration and expand upon language development and other pre-reading skills. It can also eliminate some of the monotony of reading that same book again and again and again...

I find it helpful when engaging in a story stretcher to set out certain activities ahead of time and to have others prepared in advance to introduce throughout the day. I did a slight remodel of our toy/materials shelf to include some of the day's themed activities.

In the morning, I had set out this simple Flower Garden sensory bin for Table Time:

I included plastic flower pots, artificial flowers, scoops and tongs and a fluffy bed of paper grass. S LOVED planting flowers. He even went to our STEAM cart to add more flowers to the scene from another activity!

I introduced our target book at our Morning Meeting. S loves this book so much he wanted to read it twice in a row! It is a rather lengthy story so young readers may prefer a paraphrased version to reading it word for word. I also like resources like YouTube or audio books/Scholastic videos from the library for introducing children's literature. We did indeed listen to The Tiny Seed from the YouTube video posted above as we ate our lunch!

S genuinely wants to play with Y now that he is growing into more up and alert periods of the day and quite smiley and playful to boot. I have been eagerly brainstorming ways beyond our "brothers' basket" of toys to include Y in our play and learning activities. Creating a Tiny Seed Sensory Bottle seemed like a great activity to do with S that he could then share with his baby brother. I set out two plastic bottles (I bought these at a craft supply store, but you can use a recycled bottle if you have), some dry black bean "seeds" in a tall cup with a small scoop, a funnel with an opening large enough for the beans to fit through, and a collection of colorful silk flowers. I had a roll of thin duct tape with a fun floral print on hand for tightly sealing the bottles when we were done. You could use any type of duct tape or even hot glue your lid on if you wish.

S was so proud to be making sensory bottles himself and especially eager to share it with his brother...

...so eager, in fact, that delivering his gift could wait for nothing, not even a nap to be done!

The materials are quite simple, but the burst of color and the sound of the black beans as the bottles are shaken are wonderful elements to intrigue the sensory development of infants (and older siblings!).

While Y finished his nap, S and I took a Seeds We Eat Scavenger Hunt in our fridge and pantry. We looked for foods that

• have seeds on the inside (we found apples and pears, cucumbers and peppers, oranges and grapes, even frozen blueberries)
• have seeds on the outside (strawberries were a perfect candidate for this category--we had some in our freezer as well for use in smoothies)
• are seeds! (We had a snack of trail mix made from mixed nuts and seeds. We also talked about foods like beans and peas that are seeds we eat!)

Speaking of beans, transfer activities have been a longtime fine motor favorite for S--I set out this simple transfer tray and he played with it for quite a while! 

Next, it was time for a game! We played "Whose Seed Is That Anyway?"--a simple matching game I devised from recycled and laminated seed packet photos and ziplock bags of leftover seeds (ones we had from our planting earlier this season).

To play the game, I set out the pictures and held the bags of seeds. Each bag is labeled (so I know what's inside!) and one at a time, I presented a bag of seeds. Certain seeds, S recognizes quite well--like beans and peas. These are seeds that look like foods he is familiar with. I still present a series of clues with each bag, although as he familiarized with the game (and asked to play again and again!) I simplified my clues and eventually eliminated them altogether.

We had a lot of fun with The Tiny Seed story stretcher activities we did at home. Perhaps you'll try some of them in your own home or classroom. Want to do more? Here are some other play and learning activities related to The Tiny Seed:

• Plant some seeds of your own! Whether indoors or outdoors, planting seeds is a great way to take the journey in this book into your own hands and garden! You can chronicle your own seed's journey as it grows into a sprout, a plant, a flower or vegetable... Visit your seedlings often to observe and discuss their progress.

Observe a variety of seeds and photos of their mature plants. How are seeds different and how are they alike? Do big fruits and vegetables always have big seeds? What other things do you notice or wonder about seeds?

• Get crafty!

This was a cute handprint/footprint painting our local playgroup instructor did with everyone to create a sunflower painting. S loved getting his hands all painty and Y tolerated his foot being dipped in. We glued on poppy seeds and voila! 

Painting/printing with flowers is another great activity to try. We had some flowers on the wilt last year around this time and used red and yellow paint to create our own sunflower like the one on the cover of The Tiny Seed.

Aww, look at little S! He had such a great time dipping and dabbing those flowers on the paper plate that had been prepared with slits around the edge to resemble petals of a flower.

Once the paint was dry, we glued on some dry beans in the center to resemble sunflower seeds. You could certainly use actual sunflower seeds if you have them on hand!

• Get moving! Create motions or choose from Yoga poses to act out the story of The Tiny Seed!

What fun even the most familiar stories can be when we stretch our imagination and expand into a world of play and hands-on learning! Instilling a love of literacy in young readers is as simple as planting a tiny seed. Hope you enjoyed reading and playing along with us...

Happy Playing!

Tu B'Shevat Theme Round-up

We (myself included) had a lot of fun
with this invitation to create a tree
with playdough, foam beads and
this free printable playdough mat.

We had so much fun and learned a lot during our Tu B'Shevat/Trees unit. We celebrated Tu B'Shevat over Shabbos and enjoyed some delicious dried fruits in its honor. My husband and son helped make some tasty fruit and vegetable smoothies beforehand as well. We completed our unit with some fun art activities, a hands-on botany experience, and some great reading and playtime. We especially loved reading PJ Library's Tu B'Shevat book Thank You Trees! written by Gail Karwoski and illustrated by Kristen Balouch. Reading Plants Feed Me by Lucy Rockwell beautifully illustrated for my son all of the many foods he gets from plants and trees throughout the year--and were an interesting reminder that we eat all parts of plants including seeds, bulbs, roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits! (No one can argue they are or have a picky eater now!)

 We completed illustrating our own book to capture a tree in all four seasons using a variety of artistic mediums. The idea for this project was adapted from this site. He was so proud of his book and couldn't wait to share it with his Bubby who visited over Shabbat/Tu B'Shevat.
To make your own Four Seasons Tree book, simply trace and cut out the silhouette of a tree on plain white paper. To assemble, fold in half (pictured left) and staple down the center. I also doubled up and glued pages together since I had rather thin paper. I used enough sheets of paper (folded in half) to create a front and back cover and pages for each season, plus a final page (pictured right) to write/illustrate "Happy Tu B'Shevat!" We used markers, paint (with Q-tip brushes), dot markers, Kwik Stix, stickers and plastic gems to illustrate and decorate the book.

Loving those Autumn colors! He told a story as he drew about birds coming to the tree to eat bird seed treats!

 Some of our flowers from last Shabbos that we had purchased on our field trip to a nearby garden nursery were starting to wilt. Before we sent them along the next route of their journey from soil to store to table and back (eventually) to soil, we decided to become botanists and explore the parts of this plant with a fun flower dissection activity. He was totally engrossed in cutting leaves and stems, plucking flowers and pulling apart petals and closely observing all of the parts of our wilting tea roses!


The whole family got involved in this (literal) Family Tree art together activity. We used the tree poster that had been hanging on a door for vertical work over the last couple of weeks and added our own doodles, drawings and stickers to complete it. We all love doing process art together and it's a great family activity that includes minimal preparation and set-up.

There are so many great activities to do with and about trees, whether or not it's Tu B'Shevat time. We did quite a few of the ones I had planned and some we did not yet get to. These will be great to revisit as the seasons change and as we enter the warmer gardening months!
In the meantime, we are gearing up for another one of my very favorite themes to teach and play about: Community Helpers. Join us in the coming weeks for some great dramatic play, sensory, and learning activities all about some of our favorite community helpers--both in the Jewish community and the neighborhood at large!

Until then, Happy Playing!

Tu B'Shevat Theme: Throw Back Edition to Last Year & Young Toddler-Friendly Activities

Tu B'Shevat family art
& tree with fingerprint leaves

Last year around Tu B'Shevat time, I was still teaching preschool outside of the home during the day. I tried as much as possible to incorporate the themes I was teaching about at work into the play and learning activities we were doing at home with my then very young toddler. Sometimes that meant we did activities in the afternoons or as a family in the evenings. Other times, I set out activities my son could access during the day while his babysitter was here. As an added bonus (or surprise) we had a snow day last Tu B'Shevat--the perfect opportunity for some cozy indoor learning about trees on their special day!

Outside, we had a lot of snow this time last year. We made
some necessary accommodations to try some planting
activities inside instead! 

 Despite the wintry weather outside, we had some Tu B'Shevat themed fun last year were planting kitchen herbs together indoors. I set out an old tablecloth as a drop cloth, provided a bowl full of dirt and some small shovels and let my little guy (about 18 months old at the time) fill our planter with soil. I helped him put the seeds in the soil and water it before setting it on our kitchen windowsill. It is common to plant trees in Israel on this holiday. In the states, we often plant parsley that will (hopefully) come to fruition in time for Pesach (Passover) and grace our seder plates!

Definitely glad I tossed that old tablecloth down! He had fun, though!

I covered his little table with white craft paper last year and prepared a tree trunk on it in advance. Each day, I provided a new medium for adding leaves, flowers, even fruits to the tabletop mural. He loved working on it with his babysitter and while we were at home together. Afterward, we cut it out and hung it in his room beside his bed to admire for months to come!

We had some fun exploring the four seasons of a tree as well. I cut down some recycled brown paper bags for tree trunks and branches and glued them to four sheets of easel paper. Each tree trunk was devoted to one season and we used paint and a round sponge brush to paint each one together. These we hung along our staircase to be admired each time we went up or down. I'm looking forward to digging them out of the closet this year to admire again. While I do not save every bit of art we create, I do save some special items from each theme and season. It's wonderful to hang them up again as we revisit familiar themes or come upon holidays each year.

Autumn...

Winter, Spring, Summer...

On a smaller scale, my son also enjoyed making a colorful tree by adding his rainbow fingerprints (washable ink-pad) as leaves to a pre-painted tree trunk. 

We took an evening to do some family art together and made a Family Tree on canvas. Again, I painted a simple tree trunk and branches onto a blank canvas and allowed it to dry. As a family, we each chose a color of buttons (I happened to find some fun colors and shapes at our Dollar Tree) and using white glue and paintbrushes, stuck our button leaves to our Family Tree. The finished product still hangs in my son's room and is a beloved piece of family art.

 All of that planting and creating made us hungry. Next it was time for a tree-themed snack. We decided upon a peanut butter sandwich tree with raisin "fruits" growing on it.

He decided to pick off the raisins first and then tackle the sandwich!

Even very young ones (and adults alike) can enjoy learning about Tu B'Shevat! And while preparing art projects and planting activities are great ways to include the whole family in the process, it needn't be so involved or include a lot of preparation at all. In fact, the greatest way to learn about and appreciate trees is to enjoy them in their natural environment--outside! Whether it's snowing where you are or mild this time of year, getting outside together is a great way to observe and celebrate trees.

We are feeling nostalgic here as we revisit last year's activities and creations and feeling excited for the new level of independence that this year will bring as we gear up for Tu B'Shevat. Until then...

Happy Playing!