Materials:
smooth rocks
cookie sheet
crayons (wrappers peeled off)
hot pad holders
a heat resistant cover for the table
oven

Directions:
1. Gather the smoothest rocks you can find and give them a good bath.
2. Put clean rocks on the cookie sheet and put in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. I’ve seen people put aluminum foil on the bottom of the cookie sheet, but this isn’t really necessary.

3. Peel crayons while you wait for the rocks to get hot.
4. Using a hot pad holder- CAREFULLY (HOT), place the rock on a heat resistant surface. Note- wax paper wasn’t the best choice for this project, I’m still scraping wax off the counter. Not sure where my head was!

5. Start melting the crayons on the rocks. It’s so pretty to watch the wax melt all over the rock. It’s more like painting with wax than coloring.

6. I kept the rocks waiting to be ”painted” in the hot oven to keep them hot while the girls worked on individual ones.

Warning- Fauna  and Araina found themselves burning their fingers more from the hot wax than the actual hot rock itself.

*I have actually braved this activity with a preschool class of 5 year olds years ago, I don’t plan on ever doing that again.  I would stick with the 7 year olds and up.

“That’s all,”
  Lisa

The future pinecones look like little candles in the shape of pine trees.

In the picture below, you can see both pinecones and needles being formed.

Make Wishes on the Needles

The needles are long and come in bunches of 2. You can make wishes on the needle bunches the same way you’d make a wish on a wish bone (being vegetarians, my little ladies have never made wishes on wish bones, they prefer to wish on pine needles).

The winner of course gets to make a wish!

So go find a red pine tree and make some good wishes!

I should give credit where it’s due- a Japanese woman shared this tradition of making wishes on red pine needles with my sister, Katrina, who works at an arboretum. We have been huge fans of the tradition ever since!

FYI- these pictures were taken during the summer, right now we actually have a lot of beautiful snow on the ground!

“That’s all,”
 Lisa

1. Cut a piece of paper into a perfect square. Mine is 7″ by 7″. Fold the paper in half making a triangle, then unfold.

2. Fold the paper into another triangle going the opposite direction. You should have a seam down the middle where your previous fold was done. Unfold.

3. Turn the paper over so you have a diamond shape facing you; fold the left and right points to the center.

4. Now fold the top and bottom points to the center so that all of the points touch in the center of the paper.

5. Keep the paper folded, turn it over and fold the points to the center once again.

6. Leave it folded, then fold in half leaving the four points on the inside.

7. Put your fingers inside the squares, manipulate it a bit and who-la……cootie catcher!

8. Now to write some directions to follow.  The catchers I made for the little ladies today involve nature and must be done OUTSIDE.
I included some close ups so you can see how I filled one of them.

Directions on how to use the cootie catcher:
1. Pick a topic from the 4 offered. Example:  Name a Tree
2. Spell out the name of a tree opening and closing the catcher with each letter.  Example: Oak- open and close the catcher 3x.
3. Choose a number. Example:1
4. Lift the tab with the number chosen and read the directions. Example: “Hug a Tree”, so I would go and hug a tree.

My 4 main topics were:
1. Name a bird
2. Name a tree
3. Name a flower
4. Name an insect

My 8 directions:
1. Hug a tree
2. Go to a backyard tree and find a seed
3. Take off your shoes and put your toes in the dirt
4. Whisper to a plant
5. Go left 30 steps and look for an insect
6. Pick up a leaf and find one similar
7. Look under a rock
8. Go right 60 steps and name all the plants you see.

More examples:
1. Count how many birds you hear
2. Touch 10 different textures
3. Go right 30 steps, get down close to the ground and name all the life you see in the grass
4. Name the trees you see
5. Look for 5 different leaves
6. Name something brown around you
7. Name something you smell
*use all the senses you can, give them directions to go- North, South, East, West, left or right; the possibilities are endless!

Now get outside and enjoy!!!!!

*Be sure to check out the new Have a Heart Monster in the shop!

Denali usually loves the snow-

But, today he was protesting. If you’ve ever heard a husky speak, you know how they like to protest! I know this guy thinks I’m a total nag, he “back-talks” me the most in the family. I don’t think he likes the sound of my voice. Too funny, I’m sure Dave can relate at times!

The little ladies, however, love the snow! It was hard to get them inside….until they heard there was a big cuppa hot cocoa waiting!

The neighborhood coyote pack have been quite the hunters in our back field for the last few days.  I think they are having a hard time finding food right now and I don’t think they care very much for the snow! (Sorry, no coyotes in the picture, they were a little shy and I need a telephoto lens).

 I hope everyone is enjoying their weather right now!

After watching the video, shown below, the little ladies and I were up for the challenge on this very cold, wintry day. Honestly, I thought it might be a little challenging in the winter wonderland right now, but our imaginations were on fire as soon as we ventured outside. We made all of our art purely from the materials provided to us by mother nature in our yard; no glue, no yarn, or clay was used. After our creations were made, we snapped some photos, then left the creations outside for the elements to do with as they pleased.

 ”Nature Chains Hanging in Oak,” the chain in the background (above photo) is made of thyme and the the one in the foreground is from a shrub in our front yard. To make the chains- cut a fresh stem and simply form a circle then twist one end around the other end of the stem.  If your stems aren’t pliable enough for twisting, cut a slit in one end with a sharp knife, then feed the other end through the slit. The key to this chain is live, green branches and stems.

 Here is Fauna’s “Snowboat” made of sycamore bark, a dogbane seedpod, and a scarlet maple leaf.

Araina’s “Pinecone Swordsman” made of a pinecone, acorn cap, and dogbane seedpod.

Now that you have seen our simple Land Art watch this amazing video created by Richard Shilling called- “Leaves and Light- The Land Art of Richard Shilling”

For more amazing photos of his Land Art visit his Flickr site, his webpage, and my personal favorite- Land Art for Kids  which is full of very inspirational things to create outside, snap photos of, and then leave outside. Now I challenge you to go outside, no matter the weather, and make your own Land Art.