Nature's Playground with Aaron

There are lots of ways to get gross motor activities into your life, even when you don’t have access to a playground. You can ride a bike, climb some dunes, or help your teacher stack firewood. One of my favorite ways is to go find Nature’s Playground. It might be anywhere, and the journey is half the fun. Here is what you need:

• Access to the outdoors. If you don’t have an extended outdoor area near your house, there are many places nearby that can serve this purpose.

• Good shoes and appropriate clothing — remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear!

• Then keep your eyes peeled for something cool to climb on.

  • Fallen tree trunks: these make for great balance beams, and a surface to jump onto or off of.

  • Steep hills: these can be challenging to climb up.

  • Fallen tree tops: if you find a large tree that has fallen, the tops make a jungle gym type area that is a blast to climb through. Just make sure that the branches are thick enough and stable enough to hold the weight.

  • Streams: a thrilling challenge to jump across.

  • Rocks: Wait. Are there rocks here? I grew up in New Hampshire, and we had ROCKS. If you do find a large rock, the size and texture can be a good challenge for hand strength. And tell me where it is…I miss big rocks.

  • Climbing trees: these trees will have big, low branches that allow for hanging. climbing, stretching, and even relaxing. Be sure the branches are alive and sturdy.

Enjoy Nature’s Playground!

Fizzy fun!

Join LCC alumni Finn and Zander for a fizzy fun experiment! Kids will be fascinated with this colorful, fizzy, baking soda and vinegar experiment! You can set it up with just three common kitchen ingredients.

Materials Needed

• vinegar

• baking soda

• food coloring

Make your own book at home with Rachael!

I go into detail of the simplest tasks so that your children can watch this and create along with me. I hope you have some basic art materials, and although this is not a fancy or novel project, I hope it inspires you to take it in other directions! Your children are usually very excited about book-making, and are pretty independent with portions of it! Have fun and maybe post a pic of your books!? Miss you all! XO Rachael

Hands are for clapping!

Hands are for clapping and toes are for tapping…follow along with Sara Maleski for this LCC favorite by Jim Gill.

Chalk Paint

When the sun peaks through and the air warms up, we take art outside! Try making this chalk paint at home and bring some joyful color to the day. Experiment by painting on different surfaces, making the chalk paint thicker or thinner, and perhaps display in a place that may bring a smile to people passing by. We'd love to see photos of your creations.

Step 1: Gather your ingredients: corn starch, food coloring, water, and jars.

Step 2: Put your cornstarch and food coloring into separate bowls.

Step 3: Add water and mix thoroughly (it can be as thick or thin as you like)

Step 4: Head outside and paint the sidewalk, driveway, or any hard surface.

Step 5: As the paint dries up, the colors will brighten.

Enjoy the day!

1: Gather your ingredients. Corn starch, food coloring, and water! Don’t forget a few paintbrushes!

Step 2: Put your cornstarch and food coloring into separate bowls.

Step 3: Add water and mix thoroughly (it can be as thick or thin as you like)

Step 4: Head outside and paint the sidewalk, driveway, or any hard surface.

Step 5: As the paint dries up, the colors will brighten. Enjoy the day and have fun!!

Helping Young Children Through Coronavirus Crisis.

Thank you to LCC parent and licensed master social worker Emily Kohler for sharing this helpful and important resource with us. https://zerotothrive.org/covid-19/covid-19-kids/

"Dinosailors" read by Rhonda Mack

Rhonda Mack reads “Dinosailors” by Deb Lund. Prepare for a high-rhyming, tummy-tickling, rip-snortingly hilarious tale of hijinks on the high seas when a crew of novice dinosailors set sail for adventur!

Sara's Nature Mobile

Follow along with Sara Tall as she creates a nature mobile out of simple found objects in her yard and home.  

Holy Moly Pants on Fire!

This is a fun Leelanau Children's Center classic! Past LCC teacher, Doug Hansen, along with Funky Mama, the LCC staff, and other community supporters can teach your family how to do the "Holy Moly Pants on Fire" dance. 

"Mud Puddle" read by Nora (Copy)

This funny and muddy story by Robert Munsch is read by Nora Stone, LCC preschool teacher.  We certainly know at LCC how much kids love these two things; mud and stories.