Friday Home Fun – Spring Activities

Easter is here and that means Spring has also arrived! Below are some great Spring time activities to welcome spring into your home!

Mirrored Butterflies

It is time that our little caterpillar friends start to turn into beautiful butterflies! It is amazing to watch them transform, so if you come across one outside, keep an eye on it with your kids and perhaps you can experience their amazing transformation. Primrose students enjoyed watching their caterpillar friends turn into a chrysalis and hatch into beautiful painted lady butterflies at school this month!  Butterflies are amazing creatures! One of their amazing features is that their wings are symmetrical!  Teach your children about butterfly wings and symmetry with this fun project.

 

Needed Items:

Black Marker

Construction paper

Mirror

Paint

Start by folding the piece of construction paper in half. Using the fold line as a middle point, draw half of a butterfly on one side of the fold with a black marker.  Next paint the half of the wing in whatever design you’d like. Place the mirror along the fold. The reflection will then show the other half of the butterfly to make the butterfly whole. Talk with your children about how the wings look exactly the same in the reflection and that on real butterflies both wings look exactly the same. Complete your picture by pressing the fold on the page together so that both sides of the paper are touching.  *Note: You will need to do this while the paint is still wet. You can finish drawing the other half of your butterfly with the black marker to make your butterfly picture complete. Again show your child the wings are symmetrical, just like a real butterfly!

Paper Plate Springs Flowers:

Let the flowers bloom inside with this fun and easy Spring craft made from materials you might have around the house.

Needed Items :

Small paper plates

Decoration items (crayons, markers  paint, pom poms, sequins, buttons, etc.)

Green Construction paper

Popsicle sticks 

Glue

Get creative and decorate the plates with anything you'd like to create your one of a kind spring time flowers. Next glue the popsicle stick to create the flower's stem. Next cut leaf shapes out of the green construction paper and glue them to the Popsicle sticks and just like that, you've bloomed your own spring flower garden! 

Blooming Spring Tree

The first sign of spring we see are all of the blooms on the trees! These blossoms can be several colors like white, green, red or pink! Create your own Blooming Spring Tree with this simple craft.

Needed Items:

White paper

Green and brown construction paper

Tissue paper - white, pink or red or light green

Crayons or Colored Pencils 

Glue

Scissors

First you will need to create your grass for your picture.Cut a rectangle shape that will fit to the bottom of your picture. Next, use your scissors to cut the top of the rectangle to make your fluffy spring grass. Glue your grass rectangle to the bottom of a white piece of paper. Next use your fingers to slightly bend the grass to help it stick out and fluff up like fresh new spring grass! Next you'll want to cut your tree shape out of brown construction paper. Trees are all different shapes and sizes, so cut out whatever tree shape you'd like. Remember to make sure the tree has lots of branches to hold all of your pretty blooms you'll make next! Glue the tree onto your paper right above your grass. Next you can create your blossoms. Use tissue paper and rip small peices off. Ball them up to make them look like little flowers and glue them all over your tree. One you are finished you can draw other things on your picture that you might see in the spring time such as, butterflies, bees, flowers, etc. What else might you see now that Spring is here? 

Eggshell Seedlings

We are bound to have lots of eggs and leftover colorful shells after Easter! Why not put them to good use and start some seedlings for your garden! Spring time is the best time to start plants indoors to get them ready for planting outside. With this simple project you’ll be well on your way and be recycling at the same time!

Items needed:

Vegetable seeds (You can also plant herbs or flowers if you choose)

Egg Shells (You’ll need the full ½ egg shell still in tact)

Egg Carton

Potting Soil (seed starting mix works best)

Clean out the eggshells and place them in the egg carton. You’ll need to take the top of the egg carton off and only use the bottom half. With a spoon fill each egg shell with moistened soil. Place a few seeds in each shell according to the instructions for each type of seed. Place the egg carton in a window to ensure the seeds get enough sunlight to grow. Use a spray bottle to mist the soil every couple of days to make sure the seeds have water to grow.  When the seedlings are ready to plant outside, you can simply transplant them into the garden or a large pot by placing the entire eggshell into the dirt. First you’ll want to crack the bottom of the eggshell and remove a few pieces of shell on the bottom to make room for the roots to grow.  The rest of the eggshell with decompose in the soil and give the plant some extra nutrients as it grows!  

Bookflix Books

Don't forget to check out the great selection of books on bookflix! If you need your logon and password for this site, be sure to check with your management staff so that you can access this wonderful resource for your children at home!  www.bookflix.scholastic.com