I'm Not Scared!
LCC teacher, Rhonda Mack, reads Todd Parr's book I'm Not Scared!
With his signature blend of playfulness and sensitivity, Parr explores the subject of all things scary and assures readers that all of us are afraid sometimes.
Happy Earth Day from LCC
‘There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrain of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.’~ Rachel Carson, A Sense of Wonder.
We love celebrating Earth Day with our kids at LCC and this is the time of year that we finally get to put away the snow pants and watch things come to life in our natural playscapes. We also like to include kids in clean up activities around our neighborhood, taking care of our little corner of the planet. While we won’t be together this year, we hope that you all get to find a way to appreciate and nurture your own little backyard habitats and celebrate Earth Day today.
The Children’s Nature Network has some great resources for kids and parents to stay connected to the natural world during COVID-19: https://www.findingnature.org/
A Little Spot of Anger: A Story about Managing BIG Emotions!
LCC teacher, Cassie Burda, reads A Little Spot of Anger. Kids experience frustrating situations everyday, whether it's someone taking their toy or they feel like they can't do something. This story shows them that instead of yelling or stomping their feet, they can practice some fun ways to help them stay calm.
Angela's Ginger Lemon Scones
Simple recipe for yummy scones that will make your whole house smell delicious!
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
1 Tb baking powder
1 pinch of salt
4 Tablespoons butter at room temperature
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 Tb lemon juice
1 tsp ginger
3 Tb chia seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, measure flour, baking powder, ginger, and chia seeds. Cut in butter.
In a small bowl, whisk sugar, egg, lemon juice, and milk.
Fold wet ingredients into a large bowl.
Mix and drop small scoops onto a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes, and enjoy!
"Little Beaver and the Echo" by Amy MacDonald, read by Nora
Nora reads this story about Little Beaver who is on the search for a friend he thinks he hears across a pond.
Bubbles!
Here is a tried and true recipe for bubbles you can make at home
Step 1
Gather up your ingredients! You will need: ½ cup Dawn dish soap (or whatever you have on hand), ¼ cup light corn syrup, 3 cups water and bubble wands.
Step 2
Pour all three ingredients into a container and mix well
Step 3
Head outside and play! These bubbles will last quite a long time if covered. Have fun!!!
FYI
If you don’t have bubble wands at home, here is a link to ideas for making your own: Make your own bubble wand
Painting Fossils with Water
LCC teacher Sara Johnson shares a great activity that combines science, nature, and celebrates the unique place we live.
Materials: Any rocks or stones you have collected, small jar with water and a paintbrush
Our family loves collecting rocks while visiting our favorite local beaches. Where we live, we often find many petoskey stones and leland blues and an assortment of beautiful fossils. Water brings out the full colors and designs of these pretty stones and it can be very soothing and therapeutic. It’s a fun activity that you can come back to again and again.
Baking Math: A Fun Way to Work with Numbers
Math. A word that kind of makes me nervous. Big numbers, lots of steps, concepts upon concepts. But what if I told you math can be a really fun thing!
Baking is one of my favorite things to do. I love to make treats and projects with all kinds of ingredients. And while I’m working with my tools and supplies I’m also knee deep in ...MATH! Teaspoons, tablespoons, cups OH MY! Here are some of the key math wonders of baking.
-Introduction of simple concepts. A recipe with steps is a great example. Here we see the idea of following a sequence of steps. Recipes that have clear steps are the best way to start.
-Baking tools such as measuring cups are a great introduction to the concept of smaller vs bigger. They stack in a certain order and letting children work with the cups helps solidify this concept.
-Rolling pins can be a great method for working on hand eye coordination. Keeping dough even is key. Both your eyes and your hands working together makes that happen!
Baking tools are a great way to introduce math!
Cornstarch dough (a little math, a lot of fun!)
I love to bake! I love to craft! This recipe is perfect for both.
Here’s what you will need:
1 Cup Baking Soda
¾ Cup Water
½ Cup Cornstarch
Step 1: Place all your ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Keep stirring and stirring making sure to get all the stuff on the bottom of the pan mixed in. The mixture will begin to get thicker.
Once your mixture starts to look like really delicious mashed potatoes take it off the burner! I found that my dough took about 8 minutes over medium heat. All stoves are different. So just keep a close eye!
Step 2: Put your dough in a bowl and cover the bowl with a wet cloth. Let the dough cool before your take it out to roll.
Step 3: Roll your dough into a nice round ball. Take your rolling pin and begin rolling from the center of the ball. Roll left to right and then bottom to top. Work on keeping your dough nice and even. It takes practice but i know you’ll get it.
Step 4: This is the fun part (well it’s all fun but this is REALLY fun). Cut out shapes in the dough. You can use a cookie cutter like i did or you can cut the dough into squares, triangles, whatever you like. It’s up to you! I love hearts so that’s what I choose. *a little note! Your dough maybe a little sticky as you cut shapes. I find a spatula is helpful to preserve the shape after it is cut. Just gently slide it under the shape and transfer to your baking sheet.
Step 5: Heat up your oven to 175 degrees. Bake your shapes for 1 hour flipping them over after 30 minutes.
Step 6: Now it’s time to decorate! After your shapes have come out of the oven and had a good amount of time to cool you can work with them. I choose to paint this one because I love to paint. But you could use marker or glue things on them. Or even leave them plain. Your choice!
"I Feel Orange Today" read by Teacher Nora
I Feel Orange Today, read by teacher Nora, explores children's emotions as they may emerge on any given day, joyous sometimes, even jubilant, occasionally sad and lonely. The boy who feels orange today equates moods with all the colors of the rainbow.
