Explore Outdoors ~ checking the floral "wildlife"

Early spring brings yellow flowers to our neck of the woods. The first ones, shaggy and looking like dandelions, are called "Coltsfoot" for the shape of the leaves that will eventually emerge. And of course there are the soft, gray "wildcats" clinging to branches of trees. As spring progresses, they begin to open.

Play Like an Animal!

Play Like an Animal!: Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase 
by Maria Gianferrari; illus. by Mia Powell
32 pages; ages 5 - 9
Millbrook Press, 2020

theme: animal behavior, play

Dash! Hide! Splash! Ride! 

Do you like to play? Animals do, too. When animals play, they might be practicing how to hunt, how to fight, or how to escape from predators. Or – they might just be having fun. From mud-splashing peccaries to a wolf pup tug-of-war, Marie Gianferrari shows thirteen different animals at play.

What I like love about this book: I love the VERBS! These animals plonk, chase, slide and glide. They dunk and punch, bound and wrestle. So much action happens on these pages that you just want to get up and move!

And I love the Back Matter! This is where we learn whether animals play by the rules and why play is so important to animals – and humans. And there are plenty of fun facts about each of the animals featured in the book.

I caught up with Maria by email to ask her One Question ~

Archimedes: Do you think it's important for grown-ups to play?

Maria: I don't play enough, but I'm about to start another jigsaw puzzle. They're so meditative! And play is the perfect stress reliever, so my motto is #playeveryday, for both kids and adults. I hope that staying at home is leading to playing at home!

Beyond the Books:

Find out more about the games animals play. You can read an article here, and watch some wolf pups playing here.

Modify your favorite games to play indoors. We played sock-hockey in the kitchen, using rolled newspapers as hockey sticks. How about balloon volleyball? Tape mazes? Duck-duck-goose or hide-and-seek? Here are some ideas for active indoor play – and here’s more.

Make up some active games to play when you are stuck inside your house for a month. And share your list with your friends.

Write a list of VERBS that describe the ways you play. Do you squirm? Chase? Tumble? Race?

Maria is a member of #STEAMTeam2020. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Explore Outdoors ~ Fooling around with Acorn Caps

I am finding all sorts of things in the yard: bark bits covered with lichen, pine cones, and lots of acorn caps left behind when squirrels took off with the nuts. They may look like nature's debris to us, but did you know that acorn caps make the perfect hats for finger puppets? Or dishes for clothespin dolls?

 Acorn caps also make fantastic fairy castles. Balance one on top of the other and ~ voila!

Or make a Bug Village. Directions here.

Paint numbers on them, put in a cup, give a shake, and pour 'em out to create a game. What are the rules? Not to worry, you'll make 'em up as you go.

If you've got ends of candles, melt the wax and fill up the acorn caps - add a short wick to each - and you've got tiny candle boats.

And if things are too quiet, try making an acorn cap into a whistle. Directions here.(full disclosure: I have yet to get my acorn caps to whistle)