Springtime Bird Cookies and a Short Morning Talk for Children

The bluebird has a coat of Blue,

The robin wears a vest of Red; 

The chickadee is speckled Brown,

The crow is Black from tail to head.

(Such a sweet little verse to help with teaching colors.)

Today I'm sharing a very simple recipe you can do with the children to make Springtime Bird Cookies. It can be hard to find ways to include children in the kitchen and also inspire a love for getting outside. With the weather warming up a bit, this activity can be done in under one hour (including hanging them up outside) using things already on-hand in your pantry. And, once you get the children outside to hang up their cookies for the birds, they will be all ready to continue playing in the beautiful fresh air.

Have the children put on their aprons and tell them a simple story of the birds in the backyard of your home or school as you make your bird cookies together. 

Below is an idea of how to storytell during this activity.. but please add your own voice and ideas as you work with the children. It must come from your heart and should not be scripted:

 "Children, do you know that I heard such beautiful sounds coming from outside my window when the sun rose this morning in our backyard? Did you hear those beautiful little sounds also? 

There were many sounds... all different but still the same.. they were just like little songs. First it came from one place.. and then I heard another a little different but the same, and then another.. 

Can you guess what was making those sounds that I heard?

(Give the children time to share ideas and really listen.)

It was all of the sweet little birds that live in our backyard!! 

They are so very happy to feel the warm sunlight on their feathers again now that springtime has arrived. They are filled with gladness to live in this beautiful place and they are singing with joy. I feel happy to live here and share this space with you, just like those birds.

Many of the birds flew away this winter to keep warm. It can be hard to find food in the winter. Some of the birds stayed close in our backyard, but it was hard to keep their families warm and find enough food to eat. We are so lucky to be inside with blankets and food in the winter.

Today we are going to make the birds a special treat from us to show them how thankful we are that they chose us to be their neighbors. Let's make them bird cookies and hang them up on a little tree for them to eat".. 

Springtime Bird Cookie Recipe

Supplies Needed

1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour 

(nothing bleached or enriched)

2  Eggs

A Small Handful of Birdseed

A Sprinkle of Salt

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tbsp Real Maple Syrup or Honey 

(nothing with added flavors or artificial sugars)

Natural fiber yarn (no acrylics or synthetics) 

Have the children help you mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. There is not really a wrong or right way to make these simple little cookies. A little extra or less of an ingredient really doesn't matter much in the end. The important part is that you work together with joy and allow the children to do the work by imitating your actions. 

When the dough reaches a good consistency, make one large ball or each child can roll a small ball of dough of their own.

Roll it flat. This would be a wonderful time for singing. Even a simple song such as "This is the way we roll the dough, roll the dough, roll the dough.."

For adults and older children, you can get very creative and make your own shapes. Here we made a bird and even a rooster by hand! You can also use cookie cutters. But quite simply, letting the children flatten their little balls and poke a hole in the center is really just as good.

Before baking, poke a hole through each cookie in a place that will not pull and rip through when hanging later.

Put cookies on a sprayed cookie sheet and bake on 175 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. You are really only cooking the egg a bit and firming up the dough. Don't overcook it or overthink it.

Using a yarn needle, string your yarn through each cookie together. This is a wonderful task for children in Kindergarten and beyond. Also, please be sure whatever materials you use are natural and safe for animals and our environment. 

Put on your coats and shoes and sing a song as you go outside. Ask the children where they would like to hang their cookies for the birds. As with most things, whenever possible let them do it themselves. 

Then when you are done, find some meaningful work to do of your own outside and let them play. Nothing structured, nothing planned.. just natural, unhindered childhood play.  Like it was and should be.

Happy Spring from Little Acorn Learning! 

Easter Playsilk Basket Giveaway from Sarah's Silks

A warm March welcome to Little Acorn Learning's newest Sponsor, Sarah's Silks!

I can't begin to tell you how special Sarah's Silks have been to my family and business all of these years. It still amazes me how something so very simple can bring so much joy to a child like these beautiful playsilks do.

Not only have they been so special for the children in my life, they are also such a beautiful way to decorate for the seasons. I've used them for our nature tables, to fill our Easter baskets, under a pretty bouquet of flowers on our dinner table and so many other ways.

Some flashback photos:

Their simplicity is what is so amazing about them. They inspire free, creative and independent play that sparks the imagination. A blue silk can be a river, a green can be the grass.. I've used a pretty yellow silk rolled up as the sun in many of  my circles when I was teaching at the Waldorf school. I can't begin to tell you how many forts have been built in my little school and Kindergarten class with play clips and silks.

That's why I am so extremely excited about today's giveaway. Sarah's Silks is generously offering to give one free Easter Playsilk Basket (a value of $100!) to a lucky Little Acorn winner!  And just for fun, we've decided to throw in our April Early Childhood Curriculum too (a $18.75 value)!

Here's what is included in the offer:

Simple Easter Basket
Green playsilk
Blue playsilk
Playsilk Wings/Cape
Hair Garland
Two Play Clips
Play Wand
April Early Childhood Curriculum

Here's how to enter (as simple as 1-2-3):  

1. Follow Little Acorn Learning and Sarah's Silks on Facebook and Instagram
2. Comment Here, on the Facebook Post or Instagram Post
3. Tag 3 Friends if you comment on FB or IG or share the link to this blog post with 3 friends

Commenters on all three formats will be pooled together and a winner will be randomly selected and announced on March 26, 2019. Only one chance per person so you can comment wherever you wish. 

Best of luck!  

Great Outdoor Challenge - Afterschool Gardening

For all of my Waldorf Afterschooling friends. When my girls were little, I also did my best to supplement their afterschool experience while using traditional schools. Here is a post I am resharing from 8 years ago (wow!) to inspire you to do the same:

One of the things I try very hard to do with the girls is to make sure that they are able to get a good amount of outdoor time after school. This is one of the bigger challenges I face as a waldorf-inspired parent who is not using a waldorf school or homeschooling. The girls get home around 3:30 and they are tired, hungry and have homework. But if it fits into our afternoon - I try very hard to get them some free time outside to "shake off" their day.

As a waldorf parent and teacher, I do my best to foster a love of nature and appreciation of the natural, wild, untamed, deep rooted world around us in my own children and the children I care for in my nursery program. I know that they will be the ones left here after I am long gone... what I teach them now, they will teach their own children and carry into a future WAY beyond myself... and they are the only hope for our planet, the human race and the future. This is what I try to tell parents and caregivers... your job is SO extremely important... the ripple effects can truly change the world.

There were so many leaves and acorns in our garden. We raked, picked, shoveled and dug... we're getting ready to plant and the girls are getting excited. We have four square foot boxes and each girl is in charge of one. They will make sure their box is planted, tended to, weeded (not many weeds with square foot gardening), watered, picked and cared for each day.

The daycare children will help when the girls are at school by watering and caring for our garden as well. We also have a lot of other areas where we will be planting herbs, flowers, strawberries and lots of other fun things!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this year is OUR YEAR for a lot of little green thumbs at Little Acorn Learning :) Wish us luck!

Walk into Spring

Finally! This winter has dragged on for me for so many reasons -  the cold being one of them, of course. We would get a taste of warm weather and then a snowstorm, over and over again and it is really hard to handle when it is that freezing bitter cold that numbs you both physically and mentally.  I'm trying not to get too excited but today I went for a walk and was so happy to see flowers blooming all around my neighborhood. Can it really be Spring? 

I have not even thought about my garden this year. No plan, no seeds indoors.. nothing. And the dandelions are popping up along with other flowers which means the ground is ready to plant. I will have to direct sow my seeds this year and hope everything grows.

I've been walking and exercising a lot lately. In addition to spin class which I love, I recently got a FitBit and have been competing with some other (crazy) competitive people like myself.  And, I've been walking everywhere to try to win... around my dining room table ten times, around the neighborhood, at my children's sports practices - you name it.  I feel like Forrest Gump (minus the running part). Today Keira walked with me while Maia practiced lacrosse...

I love the little messages I get from Mother Earth when I walk and look closely.  Today this heart rock right in my path...

At the shore this pretty sand dollar:

Walking is good therapy. On the beach, I looked behind me to see my footsteps leading me to where I am. 

Then when I looked ahead of me there was untouched sand, ready for me to decide which footprints to leave on it. For now, I'll just take in the view and stand still.

Happy Earth Day! Take 50% OFF at Little Acorn Learning!

Happy Earth Day!

To celebrate, enjoy the Little Acorn Learning Late Spring Festivals E-Book at HALF PRICE through Friday, April 24th!

A Colorful Late Spring Festivals E-Book (over 130 pages big) 

packed full of Waldorf songs, 
stories, verses, crafting tutorials 
and much more to help you 
celebrate Passover, Earth Day, 
Mother's Day and May Day with 
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Here is a story about little earthworms that you can share with the children:

Earthworms

After a long and soaking rain, the Earthworms came out of their burrows, or rather, they came part way out, for each Earthworm put out half of his body, and, as there were many of them and they lived near to each other, they could easily visit without leaving their own homes. Two of these long, slimy people were talking, when a Potato Bug strolled by. "You poor things," said he, "what a wretched life you must lead. Spending one's days in the dark earth must be very dreary."

"Dreary!" exclaimed one of the Earthworms, "it is delightful. The earth is a snug and soft home. It is warm in cold weather and cool in warm weather. There are no winds to trouble us, and no sun to scorch us."

"But," said the Potato Bug, "it must be very dull. Now, out in the grass, one finds beautiful flowers, and so many families of friends."

"And down here," answered the Worm," we have the roots. Some are brown and woody, like those of the trees, and some are white and slender and soft. They creep and twine, until it is like passing through a forest to go among them. And then, there are the seeds. Such busy times as there are in the ground in spring-time! Each tiny seed awakens and begins to grow. Its roots must strike downward, and its stalk upward toward the light. Sometimes the seeds are buried in the earth with the root end up, and then they have a great time getting twisted around and ready to grow."

"Still, after the plants are all growing and have their heads in the air, you must miss them."  "We have the roots always," said the Worm. "And then, when the summer is over, the plants have done their work, helping to make the world beautiful and raise their seed babies, and they wither and droop to the earth again, and little by little the sun and the frost and the rain help them to melt back into the earth. The earth is the beginning and the end of plants."

"Do you ever meet the meadow people in it?" asked the Potato Bug.  "Many of them live here as babies," said the Worm. "The May Beetles, the Grasshoppers, the great Humming-bird Moths, and many others spend their babyhood here, all wrapped in eggs or cocoons. Then, when they are strong enough, and their legs and wings are grown, they push their way out and begin their work. It is their getting-ready time, down here in the dark. And then, there are the stones, and they are so old and queer. I am often glad that I am not a stone, for to have to lie still must be hard to bear. Yet I have heard that they did not always lie so, and that some of the very pebbles around us tossed and rolled and ground for years in the bed of a river, and that some of them were rubbed and broken off of great rocks. Perhaps they are glad now to just lie and rest."

"Truly," said the Potato Bug," you have a pleasant home, but give me the sunshine and fresh air, my six legs, and my striped wings, and you are welcome to it all."  "You are welcome to them all," answered the Worms, "We are contented with smooth and shining bodies, with which we can bore and wriggle our way through the soft, brown earth. We like our task of keeping the earth right for the plants, and we will work and rest happily here."

The Potato Bug went his way, and said to his brothers, "What do you think? I have been talking with Earthworms who would not be Potato Bugs if they could." And they all shook their heads in wonder, for they thought that to be Potato Bugs was the grandest and happiest thing in the world.

Spring Things in Our Etsy Shop

I spend a little time this week making some wool hair clips to put in the Little Acorn Learning Etsy Shop.  They came out very sweet and the girls were wonderful models for me :)

Needless to say, it doesn't feel ANYTHING like Spring in Connecticut. Our woodstove is pumping daily, our wool is on and the snow is still knee deep on the ground.

It will come, though. So we wait. Next I will try to find the time to plan out my garden and start some indoor seeds.

As far as my clean eating goes, I was doing so well but have had a few slips this weekend. I'm headed in the right direction again with the start of a new week.