Botany

Here is a great link to have a botany scavenger hunt, keeping in the theme of discovering botany and investigating nature! Spring is an awesome opportunity to introduce this.

Botany Scavenger Hunt

Dissecting a Flower

Dissection of an Iris

This is a wonderful activity for spring! Walking into the local grocery store I became overwhelmed with the beauty of the colors in the floral department. I decided I could not pass by this colorful display without purchasing a bundle of flowers. I realized I could enjoy these blooms and also create a lesson in botany for my kids. I found some wonderful worksheets on Enchanted Learning. I printed a flower anatomy chart and a label the flower worksheet for my 9 year old to use as reference.

She carefully pulled apart the flower with tweezers or her fingers and placed them onto a prelabeled paper provided for her, using the flower part diagram as reference.

The only tools I provided her with were some tweezers, tape, scissors and magniflying glass. She neatly taped the flower parts onto a large white piece of paper. The completed project looks like a piece of art!

Importance of Art Education

Wright's Stained Glass Art Activity

Stained Glass Art Activity

Materials: Self Adhesive Laminating Sheets (or contact paper), variety colors of tissue paper, scissors, black permanent marker

Instructions:

Cut out tissue paper into geometric shapes. Then cut one sheet of self adhesive laminating sheets in half (before removing backing) then I removed one backing on one half and laid out the different shapes into a unique pattern on the sticky side. Then I removed the backing of the other sheet and attached it (careful not to create bubbles) to the other sheet, enclosing the shapes within the clear sheets. Lastly, outline the shapes with the black permanent marker. Your faux stained glass sheet is ready to hang on a window with some transparent tape!

This art activity is based on Frank Lloyd Wright's famous stained glass. See samples of his work down below.

Montessori Penny Polishing Activity/ Dollar Bill Lesson

Montessori Practical Life and Science Experiment

Penny Polishing

President’s Day is a great time to introduce the Presidents to young children in a way that is sparks their curiosity. This hands-on experiment is wonderful for their development of a child’s fine motor skills. The photo shows the Montessori inspired experiment pennies, lemon juice, dropper, 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon, salt and a cloth for polishing.

You can present this to the child by placing one penny in an empty flat dish and then spoon 1/8 teaspoon of salt onto the surface of the penny. Then squeeze 2 drops of lemon juice on top of the salt. The acidity of the lemon juice combined with the abrasiveness of the salt will naturally clean the penny’s surface. Then, using the cloth, show the child how to wipe off the polish.

This is a great Montessori practical life and science experiment. Have a good supply of pennies because young children will enjoy repeating this activity over and over again.

For the “Dollar Bill Activity,” you just need a tray containing a dollar bill and a magnifying glass. Have a small bowl with a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar. Your child can study

the money with a magnifying glass and you can discuss which President's are on the currency.



NAMC-Montessori Homeschool Program

Great Montessori Homeschool Program: Check out link below.

NAMC HOMESCHOOL Program

Modeling Beeswax !

Modeling Beeswax

Wonderful modeling beeswax for little fingers. Helps develop child's finger strength and use their imagination. This kit of beeswax (see link above) has the simplest instructions included and comes in a nice little canvas bag. My kids love it.