House plants need watering?
Pro-tip#1 Set them all together in a place tat can get wet.  Set out a large bowl, pot, or bucket with water. Put out a small measuring cup or other vessel for transferring water. Be sure to use a small pouring vessel or this will be over immediately. Invite your child to give the plants a big drink.

When a child asks a "big" question
Pro-tip #2   
Break it down and try to figure out what it is that is really being asked. Let them ask the next questions, rather than feeling the need to tell them everything you know about the subject.

​Creating Plant Rainbows
By Amalia Smith-Hale, Elderberries teacher 
Take a walk around your neighborhood or a local park. Take a moment to observe all of the plants and flowers in bloom around you. Can you find a plant of every color of the rainbow?
How many different shades of green can you find? What difference can you observe between each of the plants? How do they feel? How do they smell? How is their shape different or similar? 

Creating Rock Rainbows
By Lauren Newey, Cattails teacher
When you look closely and compare rocks, you can see that they are all colors of the rainbow. On a wander with a child, ask them to find all of the colors of the rainbow in the rocks they collect. If you get them wet, the colors change. 

Creating a Rainbow Indoors
When indoors send your child to find objects that are the colors of the rainbow. Search the house to make a color arrangement! 
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink

We built a ship upon the stairs
All made of the back-bedroom chairs,
And filled it full of soft pillows
To go a-sailing on the billows.

We took a saw and several nails,
And water in the nursery pails;
And Tom said, "Let us also take
An apple and a slice of cake;"--
Which was enough for Tom and me
To go a-sailing on, till tea.

We sailed along for days and days,
And had the very best of plays;
But Tom fell out and hurt his knee,
So there was no one left but me.
Robert Louis Stevenson

The Did You Know Project 
Posted by Erin Boehme

Did you know that every day there is something to wonder about?
It’s true! What can you discover about the birds, beasts and plants that live around you? What do your children have to share about their relationship to nature? 
You can start a “Did you know?” board in your home.  

• Take the time to write your child’s words exactly like they dictate on index cards or scraps of paper. Support children to write their own “Did you knows?”, add your own from stories and observations.
• Post each statement on the dining room wall, on a magnet board, clothesline across the room with tiny clothespins - wherever you will all see them often.
• Soon there will be a thought provoking, imaginative and emotional display of your family’s relationship to the natural world. 

Here are the skills you need to start: 

• Find the materials you would like to work with and keep them handy. Choose something all ages can use. 
• Practice asking questions in your mind and out loud.
• Examples: “Huh, I wonder what beavers eat for breakfast?”  “I wonder where butterflies sleep at night?” “Can a bird cry tears?” “Do plants have friends?” “How do rainbows know just the right moment to appear?” 

Let go of the need to have the answer!
Say “huh?” instead of “no”. Become comfortable with not knowing. 

Allow your children to lead the discovery. The answer is less important than the journey. Honor the relationship that is being built between the human and nature.  We promise it will be magical and much more fun than seeking facts adult style…borrrring. Hold the answer, you can do it. 
Allow imaginative, creative and playful facts and stories to thread through your board.
My daughter was the Antelope when she was 5 and her “Did you know?” stated: “Did you know that antelopes have 5 legs, that is why they run so fast.” True, the Pronghorn Antelope is the fastest land mammal in North America.

Children know things:  There’s no need to make corrections of their "facts" Children also grow up and they can iron out the details later. What’s important is that children get to keep the connection now. 
The Beginner's Mind:
If you are a seasoned naturalist, use the beginner’s mind when you practice collecting “Did you knows?” with your children.
If you are truly a beginner or truly in beginner’s mind, celebrate! You are about to embark on an exciting journey. 
Add drawings to your board: some things need to be expressed in pictures. 

Not you friends: Google and scientific/environmental studies are not the right resources for this project.  

Your friends: Keen observation(even out the window while you wash dishes) long walks, curiosity, field guides, stories and phone calls to grandparents and friends.  Pssst, secret...grandparents like to be asked lots of questions about nature, they’ve been around a long time).  

This is not a homework assignment: Please do not treat this like an assignment, get a couple started, model by being curious, put up "Did you knows?" when they happen, this is an authentic wonder moment, enjoy! 
Caution: Once you start this project could go on your whole life! ​

By Tyler Starbard, Dandelions teacher 

Take a look at all the various pieces of debris on the ground around you somewhere outside.
Notice how many there are, and all of their shapes, sizes and types. Now seek to rearrange them to build a face.
At first you may just see sticks, pebbles, leaves, and seeds; but suddenly an eyeball pops out at you, then a second, and probably a third if you are aiming to create a triclops.
Before long you are intently scanning for that perfect smile shaped twig or the right material to use as hair, along the way you may pause to say hi to brother ant and might even get down on your knees for a closer look.
The pieces come together and take on an earthen character, and just like that you’ve built new relationships with the world around you.
The Elm tree becomes the Eyeball Seed Tree and the name opens a deeper relation to that species.
Empathy then grows for the often overlooked tiny pieces of Earth.

Enjoy the simple details in a creative new way. This activity makes both you and the face you have built smile.
Express yourself and let your child take interest through seeing the fun in turning rocks into noses! 

​By Jenn Sepulveda, Elderberries teacher

Our wanders through Nature nourish us on so many levels. When I’m out and I feel overflowing with the beauty that unfolds before me at each step, I often want to reciprocate. I want the land to know that I’m witnessing the generous offering of gifts(the breath of the wind rustling leaves and grasses, the dance of sunlight through the morning dew dipped spider webs, the sustained chorus of birds and insects, the intricate patterns of leaves and petals and seeds…).

I want to acknowledge and give back… but how? Here is one suggestion that I particularly enjoy:

When you’re out exploring with your child in your own back yard or in the nearest open space,  consider making a practice of honoring the places you frequent by leaving behind a bit of beauty for Nature to enjoy.

• Bring along a harvest basket or a handkerchief to temporarily hold your treasures. 
• Take a moment to harvest some of nature's beauty along the way(different colored leaves, interesting sticks or stones or…)
• Sing a little song as you harvest (to the leaves, to the flowers, to the trees…) in gratitude for their medicine and their beauty.
• Your child will make up their own song if you ask them. Children know just what the plants want to hear. 
• Once you are satisfied with your harvest, set out to find a place to leave your special offering. You might choose the base of a favorite tree, or the top of a boulder, or near a fairy’s house.
• Create a mandala of beauty with your treasures, and sing, sing again!