Skip to main content

Planting Caterpillars

Image
By
I've been somewhat preoccupied in my "spare time" (with some of the Benefits for Huntar Gustafson) and have not posted all of the fun things we have been up to. I'm going to try to catch up on a few posts today. They may be short and sweet, but at least you can see what we are up to!

Last week we "planted caterpillars." Now, I'm sure you're wondering, how on earth do you plant a caterpillar? It is really quite simple. First you need some egg cartons, some good soil, and some grass seed. We put our soil into the sensory table so that the children could play in the dirt as part of the experience.









We pre-cut the cardboard egg cartons into sections with three "pots." The children filled their sections with dirt and planted grass seeds. They have been watering them when needed. (Lately, that hasn't been often with all of the rain we have been getting). And now, the caterpillars are starting to get "fuzzy" In a few more days, hopefully they will sprout some more and will be nice and plush!


You could do this project with googly eyes and decorating the egg cartons, we opted to keep it simple and to use the biodegradable egg cartons so that they could be planted right into the ground. We did use permanent marker to label each one with the child's name.




Labels:

Comments

Jamie @ hands on : as we grow said…
How did you come up with that great idea? That would be a wonderful Eric Carle craft! And wonderful, simple, frugal for the classroom! I love this and I had to included it in a roundup of dirty, muddy ways to play!
June 29, 2011 at 8:11 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our DIY Light Tables

By
There has been a lot of buzz about light tables over at Teach Preschool on Facebook . Deborah has collected some great ideas for light table play and has been experimenting with making her own table over on the Teach Preschool blog.   I thought I would share with you our two light tables and how we made them. This first table is one that we put together with some scrap wood pieces, an old plexi-glass door from an entertainment center, and a couple of aquarium lights. Total Cost = $0. (We had everything on hand.)  The table needs a little bit of tweaking. (It is on my to do list).  Basically, we made a frame of wood around the plexi-glass and placed the lights under it. Our DIY skills in putting this together were far from expert, so the frame has a couple of gaps (and the reused wood is warped). We plan to try a new frame and use some caulk to seal any gaps.  We also plan to attach the lights to the side of the frame instead of just placing them on the f...
15 comments
Read more

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

By
Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...
15 comments
Read more

"The Markers Don't Work!"

By
How may times have you heard, "Ms. (fill your name in here), this marker doesn't work!" I know I hear it all the time. Sometimes it is because our little friends forget to replace the caps, and sometimes the markers have just been "all used up!" What do you do with all those markers that just don't work? Please don't tell me that you throw them out, try this instead: First, sort your markers out. Put the caps in one container ( save those too, I'll show you what you can do with them in tomorrow's post) and the markers in another. I have a box for the markers that "don't work" for the children to place them into every time they run across one. You can also have the children help you test the markers periodically to sort out the ones that need to be removed from the "working set." When it comes time to use "the markers that don't work," we use a small sponge paint roller to roll water onto our card...
16 comments
Read more