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Did you know that you can grow your very own avocados from the pit of the one you just turned into guac? Yup, you can bring a little bit of summer with you into the fall (and sneak in some STEM learning while you’re at it!) by planting your avocado pit. It’ll give you something scienc-y to do at home this fall – and it’s fun. Here’s how!
Use a spoon to gently remove the pit from a fully grown avocado. Wash it clean and dry it carefully. Find the flatter end of your pit – this is the bottom. With the bottom pointed down, insert three toothpicks into the sides of the pit.
Fill a small cup or jar (clear is better so you can see what’s happening!) with water and insert your pit so that the toothpicks are supporting it on the sides of the jar. The bottom half of your pit should be submersed in water. Place your pit on a sunny shelf and check on it every few days. Change the water about once a week.
After several (could be up to eight!) weeks, your pit will dry out and crack and a tiny taproot will become visible through the crack.
Keep your pit partially submerged in water, and you will see the tap root grow and branch. It may even sprout leaves!
Now, plant your pit. In a pot filled with nutrient-rich soil, dig a hole large enough for the roots and bottom half of the pit to sit nicely underground. Make sure the top half of the pit is poking out of the dirt. Place your potted plant in a bright and sunny windowsill. Keep the soil in your pot damp with regular waterings and an occasional soaking.
Once the weather begins to warm, consider moving your pot outside, repotting in a bigger pot if necessary, or planting in the ground. Spring and early summer are the best time to plant a young avocado tree.
Now, wait. It can take as few as five (and as many as 13) years for an avocado tree grown from a pit to bear fruit. But boy is it worth the wait!
While you’re waiting, you can work on color learning, fine motor skills, and social emotional skills with your little ones using Learning Resources’ Learn-a-Lot Avocados! Each avocado in this set of four features a different-colored inside and a double-sided, spinnable pit depicting two different emotions, perfect for fun and learning with your toddler or preschooler.
Start by opening the avocados, spinning one of the pits, and telling your child the name of the emotion depicted on the pit that lands face up. Tell them what makes you feel that emotion and share a story about that feeling. Then have your child spin and see if they can identify the emotion shown on the pit facing up. Can they make a face that goes with that emotion? Can they tell you something that makes them feel that way?
When you’re ready for a break from social emotional learning, use the Learn-a-Lot Avocados to practice color names and matching! Open each of the four avocados and naming each color as you go. Then call out a color and see if your child remembers which avocado is that color. Open the avocados up, shuffle the tops around, and see if your child can match the colored tops to the bottoms. Or call out a color and see if your little one can find that avocado half. If they can, and their success makes them happy, see if they can find the happy avocado face!
Did you know that you can grow your very own avocados from the pit of the one you just turned into guac? Yup, you can bring a little bit of summer with you into the fall (and sneak in some STEM learning while you’re at it!) by planting your avocado pit. It’ll give you something scienc-y to do at home this fall – and it’s fun. Here’s how!
Use a spoon to gently remove the pit from a fully grown avocado. Wash it clean and dry it carefully. Find the flatter end of your pit – this is the bottom. With the bottom pointed down, insert three toothpicks into the sides of the pit.
Fill a small cup or jar (clear is better so you can see what’s happening!) with water and insert your pit so that the toothpicks are supporting it on the sides of the jar. The bottom half of your pit should be submersed in water. Place your pit on a sunny shelf and check on it every few days. Change the water about once a week.
After several (could be up to eight!) weeks, your pit will dry out and crack and a tiny taproot will become visible through the crack.
Keep your pit partially submerged in water, and you will see the tap root grow and branch. It may even sprout leaves!
Now, plant your pit. In a pot filled with nutrient-rich soil, dig a hole large enough for the roots and bottom half of the pit to sit nicely underground. Make sure the top half of the pit is poking out of the dirt. Place your potted plant in a bright and sunny windowsill. Keep the soil in your pot damp with regular waterings and an occasional soaking.
Once the weather begins to warm, consider moving your pot outside, repotting in a bigger pot if necessary, or planting in the ground. Spring and early summer are the best time to plant a young avocado tree.
Now, wait. It can take as few as five (and as many as 13) years for an avocado tree grown from a pit to bear fruit. But boy is it worth the wait!
While you’re waiting, you can work on color learning, fine motor skills, and social emotional skills with your little ones using Learning Resources’ Learn-a-Lot Avocados! Each avocado in this set of four features a different-colored inside and a double-sided, spinnable pit depicting two different emotions, perfect for fun and learning with your toddler or preschooler.
Start by opening the avocados, spinning one of the pits, and telling your child the name of the emotion depicted on the pit that lands face up. Tell them what makes you feel that emotion and share a story about that feeling. Then have your child spin and see if they can identify the emotion shown on the pit facing up. Can they make a face that goes with that emotion? Can they tell you something that makes them feel that way?
When you’re ready for a break from social emotional learning, use the Learn-a-Lot Avocados to practice color names and matching! Open each of the four avocados and naming each color as you go. Then call out a color and see if your child remembers which avocado is that color. Open the avocados up, shuffle the tops around, and see if your child can match the colored tops to the bottoms. Or call out a color and see if your little one can find that avocado half. If they can, and their success makes them happy, see if they can find the happy avocado face!
Although its nontoxic, its not considered edible and neither is this kinetic sand recipe.
KINETIC SAND RECIPE
You can make your own kinetic sand recipe right at home with simple ingredients you already have at home.
1 cup white sand
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon clear or white hand soap
2 teaspoons water
We don’t suggest adding food coloring to the sand, this can stain your hands or containers. If you want colored Kinetic sand, you will want to use colored sand.
Mix the sand and cornstarch together very well in the container you have to store it in, (to ensure that it does not dry out, use a container that has a tight lid/ strong seal)
In a separate container, mix the water and soap together
Add the soapy mix to the sand/cornstarch mix
Mix all together
Now, you can start adding more of the extra soapy water mix to the sand mix as needed. Mix it all together each time to ensure you are getting it all mixed and getting the correct consistency. The consistency that you like might differ from the suggested above, so feel free to add more water, little by little.
(the correct consistency is damp, but not runny. It should also hold a shape for a few seconds.
If you’ve added too much water, you can add more sand.
Please note- If you want a more moldable sand, similar to what you would get at the beach, use this recipe:
4-5 cups white sand
3 cups flour or baby powder
¾ cup baby oil or vegetable oil
Once you have made the sand, you can add in your Halloween toys! Here is a list of items I used that I had at home:
Although its nontoxic, its not considered edible and neither is this kinetic sand recipe.
KINETIC SAND RECIPE
You can make your own kinetic sand recipe right at home with simple ingredients you already have at home.
1 cup white sand
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 teaspoon clear or white hand soap
2 teaspoons water
We don’t suggest adding food coloring to the sand, this can stain your hands or containers. If you want colored Kinetic sand, you will want to use colored sand.
Mix the sand and cornstarch together very well in the container you have to store it in, (to ensure that it does not dry out, use a container that has a tight lid/ strong seal)
In a separate container, mix the water and soap together
Add the soapy mix to the sand/cornstarch mix
Mix all together
Now, you can start adding more of the extra soapy water mix to the sand mix as needed. Mix it all together each time to ensure you are getting it all mixed and getting the correct consistency. The consistency that you like might differ from the suggested above, so feel free to add more water, little by little.
(the correct consistency is damp, but not runny. It should also hold a shape for a few seconds.
If you’ve added too much water, you can add more sand.
Please note- If you want a more moldable sand, similar to what you would get at the beach, use this recipe:
4-5 cups white sand
3 cups flour or baby powder
¾ cup baby oil or vegetable oil
Once you have made the sand, you can add in your Halloween toys! Here is a list of items I used that I had at home:
With more features, more coding, and more fun, Botley 2.0 comes with everything your little ones need to begin their screen-free coding journey. After they've mastered their coding basics with Botley's included activities and accessory set, they can discover even more fun ways to code with our free set of exclusive online coding activities. In this post, you'll find new inspiration for a classic Botley activity: the coding maze!
Back to Square One
Use the tiles included in the set, or create your own with construction paper. Start on the dark blue tile. Code Botley to get to light blue tile, then return back to the dark BLUE tile. Try to do this in the shortest code sequence you can!
Direct Flight
Use the tiles included in the set, or create your own with construction paper. Start on the light blue tile, and code Botley to get to the finish in the fewest steps. (Hint: use 45-degree turns to take a short cut and use fewer steps!)
Traffic Jam!
Make a maze of toy cars or blocks so that it looks like a traffic jam. Then, build a code to get Botley through the traffic without hitting any cars!
Yeltob! (AKA Backwards Botley!)
Using blocks or any other materials, build a maze for Botley. At the start of the maze, turn Botley around try to code your way through the maze backwards. This one's tricky!
Maze Master
Use construction blocks to build a maze, making sure that Botley can fit through the twists and turns. Then, build your code to get Botley through the maze. Take turns to see who can get through the maze in the fewest number of steps, then design a new one!Download our full online activity list for more than 50 fun, free ways to code!At Learning Resources, we’re here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.
Ways to Code with Botley 2.0: Mazes, Mazes, Mazes! With more features, more coding, and more fun, Botley 2.0 comes with everything your little ones need to begin their screen-free coding journey. After they've mastered their coding basics with Botley's included activities and accessory set, they can discover even more fun ways to code with our free set of exclusive online coding activities. In this post, you'll find new inspiration for a classic Botley activity: the coding maze!
Back to Square One
Use the tiles included in the set, or create your own with construction paper. Start on the dark blue tile. Code Botley to get to light blue tile, then return back to the dark BLUE tile. Try to do this in the shortest code sequence you can!
Direct Flight
Use the tiles included in the set, or create your own with construction paper. Start on the light blue tile, and code Botley to get to the finish in the fewest steps. (Hint: use 45-degree turns to take a short cut and use fewer steps!)
Traffic Jam!
Make a maze of toy cars or blocks so that it looks like a traffic jam. Then, build a code to get Botley through the traffic without hitting any cars!
Yeltob! (AKA Backwards Botley!)
Using blocks or any other materials, build a maze for Botley. At the start of the maze, turn Botley around try to code your way through the maze backwards. This one's tricky!
Maze Master
Use construction blocks to build a maze, making sure that Botley can fit through the twists and turns. Then, build your code to get Botley through the maze. Take turns to see who can get through the maze in the fewest number of steps, then design a new one!Download our full online activity list for more than 50 fun, free ways to code!At Learning Resources, we’re here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.
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