Great for reading to young children, especially when studying Australia. It is a counting book featuring animals of Australia. Maybe talk about how the Australian animals differ from locally found animals. Field trip idea too to see any Australian animals at the local zoo.
February, 2012
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One Woolly Wombat by Rod Trinca & Kerry Argent
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Cute Kangaroo Poem
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012When studying Australia or kangaroos etc. Here is a cute little song for little people.
Poem and next to it, the actions.
Jump, jump, jump Jump
Goes the kangaroo Jump
I thought only one– Hold up one finger
But now I see two! Hold up two fingers
Mommy and her baby Wiggle thumb between index and middle finger
With his head popping out;
He holds on tight Pretend to hold on tight
As they jump all about! Jump all about
Ocean, in Miniature
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Fill a clear plastic, two-liter soda bottle (or other vessel) halfway with tap water. Add a few drops of blue food coloring and shake gently to mix. Fill the rest of the bottle with vegetable oil, leaving no space for air. Cap the bottle tightly and then, tilt it slowly back and forth to see miniature waves roll and crest.
Idea for National Week of the Ocean, studying waves, ocean etc.
Boomerangs
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The idea was originally to make a boomerang of poster board and just decorate them. But with a boy, I’m thinking he could fashion a boomerang from wood or other substance, then decorate it and USE IT! This would be a great craft when studying Australia.
Playing wth Marbles
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012April is National Knuckles Down Month so celebrate by trying your hand at one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite games–marbles. Practice the true shooting technique: turn your hand palm up with all of your knuckles (except for your thumb) touching the ground. Place the marble between your index finger and thumbnail and flick it. Then, test your skills with a homemade course made of jar lids (to hit) and tissue tubes (to roll through). Or use chalk to draw a three-ring bull’s eye on a paved surface and assign each circle a certain number of points. Mark a shooting line several feet away. Then players can take turns trying to score by landing their marbles inside the bulls-eye.
April 18th
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Interesting fact: April 18th is the Anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
Apple Designed T-Shirts
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Decorate white t-shirts by cutting apples in half, brushing fabric paint on the surface, and pressing the fruit on the shirts. You could even take a bite out of an apple to personalize it further. Accent the apple prints with black seeds, green leaves and brown stems.
Additional idea: Wear them to go picking apples.
Shrunken Apple Heads
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Peel a large apple, red or golden delicious seems to work well
Coat the apple with a mixture of 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1 tablespoon salt
Using a knife, carve eye sockets, nose, mouth and ears
Stick cloves in eye sockets and rice teeth (be creative, especially if this is a Halloween decoration)
Place the apple on a cooling rack in a warm, dry place for 2 weeks, shaping the face as it shrinks and harden.
This Weekend
Friday, February 3rd, 2012This weekend we are heading to my in-laws woods to finish cleaning up the roads from the huge October storm that took out all our tubing for maple tapping. The storm took down an enormous number of tree tops which has taken us lots of Saturdays to clean up. This Saturday might be our last to work on this project though!! Thankfully this winter never has really materialized giving us lots of nice weekends.
February 1, St. Brigid’s Feast Day
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012Today is St. Brigid’s Feast Day. At dinner we read about St. Brigid while we ate vegetable soup and some oatmeal scones.
The Oatmeal Scones recipe follows. They were okay and as substitute for St. Brigid’s bread, which I could not make because I was lacking buttermilk and every recipe I checked needed buttermilk. I think next time I’d add maybe blueberries or dried cranberries to these scones.
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup milk
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl, beat egg until frothy, and stir in melted butter and milk. Pour into the well, and mix to create a soft dough. Pat dough into two 1/2 inch thick circles. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Score 8 wedges into each circle of dough.
- Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until risen and browned. Split wedges, and serve warm.