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Story Stones

Story Stones

Posted by on Jul 31, 2014 in Camping, Literacy Activities, Rock Activities, Sensory Bins | 0 comments

My bugs love listening to stories and engaging in pretend play, so when I came across the idea of story stones on Pinterest I was inspired to make some of our own. Being avid rock collectors, my boys already had a pile of stones stashed under the deck ready to be washed and used. If you don’t have any smooth stones on hand, you can always purchase some from the dollar store. I’m not very good at drawing, so instead of painting directly onto the stones, I cheated and resorted to using stickers and Mod Podge!

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Hot Rock Melted Crayon Art

Hot Rock Melted Crayon Art

Posted by on Jul 29, 2013 in Camping, Outdoor Activities, Rock Activities | 0 comments

This is a fun and simple activity to do either on a cold/rainy day indoors or on a very hot day while camping and/or enjoying the outdoors. The only difference will be in how you heat up your rocks. If it happens to be a sweltering, sunny day, instead of turning on your oven, try letting the sun do the baking for you! When we coloured our rocks, it was a warm day with an overcast sky, so we were restricted to using the oven. I’ve been meaning to try this project while we’re out camping, to see if the sun will actually heat the rocks to a warm enough temperature- which, I’m pretty certain it will- but I keep forgetting!

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Rock Creatures

Rock Creatures

Posted by on Jul 10, 2013 in Camping, Outdoor Activities, Painting, Rock Activities | 2 comments

My boys love collecting rocks, especially when we’re camping. I remember being obsessed with rocks as a kid too. I must have driven my parents a little bananas because wherever we went anywhere I was always on the hunt for a unique rock to take home and add to my expansive collection. There was a time when I could go through each individual rock and tell the story behind it- where it was from, who was with me, what we were doing, how I found it- but my teenage self flippantly dumped all of them in our alley one morning, in order to make room for more important things like CD’s, and magazines :(. It’s funny how our priorities seem to come full circle as we grow; it’s only once we’ve reached late adulthood that we finally realize how wise we were as children, to actually see and appreciate the wander and beauty in all the “little things”.

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Caterpillars and Ladybugs Rock!

Caterpillars and Ladybugs Rock!

Posted by on May 24, 2012 in Awesome iPad Apps, Bugs, Caterpillars and Butterflies, ladybugs, Math Activities, Painting, Picture Book Activities, Rock Activities, Spring Crafts and Activities | 0 comments

M and I have been making a lot of trips to the public library. He really enjoys listening to the stories and songs at story-time, and then browsing the shelves for books to take home afterwards. M has always enjoyed books. Many times, when things get just a little TOO quiet, I can find M sprawled on the floor, or sitting in his room, flipping through books and trying to retell the story in his own words (it makes my heart sing every single time!). I hope his interest and love of books is just one of the things he carries with him for the rest of his long life.

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