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Ultimate Nature Exploration Bag!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Jun 26, 2019 | STEM
Nature Explorer Packs
Creating an explorer pack can be a ton of fun! It doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive - ours are primarily made from items we found around our home. By taking the time to make these packs in advance, you will be much more likely to get outside and explore at the drop of a hat. It makes impromptu hikes and adventures simple because all of your supplies are conveniently packed in one place.To start, grab a backpack or bag that is comfortable and easy to carry around on a hike. We prefer bags with pockets or include smaller pencil pouches inside the bag for easy organization. I then add in a water bottle, a few snacks and a mini first aid kit. We also keep sunscreen and bug spray in our car, but those make excellent pack additions as well! We have binoculars, a flashlight, a compass, magnifying glass, tweezers and big view bug jars for any awesome things we may come across on our walk. I also pack a few sandwich bags to collect specimens or foliage that we may want to bring home.
We each bring our journals/sketchpads and colored pencils so we can sketch things as well. We don’t always do this while hiking and sometimes keep this activity until we are home. One great way to record things you find on the trail is to take a photo with your phone. This will be used as your reference while sketching later! I also pack a few field guides, but these go into mine or my husband’s packs, as they can get a little heavy for kids.
The Adventure Begins
Once we have everything gathered together, we pack up our bags and place them in a closet near our mudroom. When it comes time to head outdoors, I grab the packs, add water to the water bottles, and off we go!We have had so many wonderful adventures out in nature over the past few years. Things we discover while hiking lead to endless questions and research once we arrive back home. It allows me to take something my girls are interested in and run with it - often creating entire unit studies for them! We started keeping nature journals about a year ago, which are an awesome way to watch your child’s drawing and illustration skills mature. It also makes for beautiful keepsake art.
Being able to “pick up and go” due to our nature packs was a total game changer! Getting our family outdoors more has been one of the best things we have done. Save it for later!
Summertime Tie-Dye Beach Towels!
Let's bid farewell to Summer in style by creating tie-dye beach towels with the help of the color wheel, rainbow order, mixing, and pigment strength. Set up the activity in the comfort of your backyard, and don't forget to grab some gloves and plastic coverings if you aren't on grass.
What you'll need
- Spray Tie Dye Kit
- Duct Tape
- Beach or Bath Towels
- Warm Water
- Twisty Droppers
- Color Wheel
Tie-Dye Beach Towel Materials
This activity works best with the widely available spray tie-dye kits. They dry faster, making the application easier for even the youngest beach-goers.
Grab white beach or bath towels (the fluffier, the more color-absorbent), lots of duct tape, hot water for mixing the tie-dye, and the spray kit.
Lay your towel out on a flat surface, smoothing it out. Spell out your child’s name across the towel using the tape and moving slowly.
Make it a Learning Experience
Keep the color wheel handy as a guide. It is a great visual tool for classifying spectral wavelengths from red to violet.
Depending on the options available in the tie-dye set you’ve purchased, look at your color wheel and separate your bottles into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories.
Next, put on your gloves on a covered surface or grass and mix the tie-dye with the warm water. What colors are made from primary colors? Working from the color wheel, which colors will look best near each other on the towel?
Let the Fun Begin
With those gloves on, let the spraying begin! Be glad you have on gloves! The bottles can get messy fast. If you prefer the traditional route of tie-dying, try using Twisty Droppers! Pigment strength was brought up: how do we intensify the color?
It’s perfectly fine to get spray on the tape. Once the towel is pretty dry, flip it over to spray the backside! Flip back over and allow to dry completely. Wash the towels separately twice, alone in the wash.
The Benefits
- Creativity: Tie-dyeing allows children to express creativity through color and pattern choices. They can experiment with combinations and see how they turn out, encouraging them to think outside the box and develop their artistic skills.
- Fine Motor Skills: This activity involves handling small objects, such as bottles and droppers, which can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
- Science Exploration: Tie-dyeing also teaches children about science concepts like color mixing and pigment strength. They can observe how primary colors combine to create secondary and tertiary colors and experiment with different dye ratios to water to create varying degrees of color intensity.
- Sense of Achievement: Completing a project, such as tie-dyeing a beach towel, can give children a sense of accomplishment and pride in their work. They can use their monogrammed towels as a tangible reminder of their creativity and hard work.
- Bonding Experience: This activity can also be an excellent opportunity for parents and children to bond over a shared creative project, working together to create a unique and personalized item that they can enjoy using for years to come.
Voilà! Monogrammed beach towels created by your color-wheel-savvy children. Enjoy the summer!
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