At Tinkergarten, one of our favorite ways to play with rocks is to transform them into creature friends. In this activity, kids turn ordinary rocks into lizard friends, then use objects from nature to create imaginary spaces and play experiences for lizards. Here’s how:
The Guide
Step 1: Make stone lizards.
Use a permanent marker to make simple lizard drawings on rocks. We really love the simple line art design inspired by the Mimbres people (see below).
To add color variation to your lizards, use different colored markers for each stone. Or, paint your stones with acrylic paint before adding your lizard drawings. To help kids explore the concept of camouflage, paint some of the rocks with bright colors not often found in nature and some rocks with nature-based colors (or leave them unpainted).
Step 2: Play!
Invite kids to invent their own ways to incorporate lizard stones into their play. Or, try out some of our favorite ways to play with lizard stones:
Hide-and-seek: Hide your lizard friends around your outdoor space and invite kids to find them. To introduce the concept of camouflage, notice together which lizards were easier or harder to spot and wonder why. Then, kids can hide lizard friends for you to find!
Color sort: Many lizards have bodies colored to blend in with their surroundings. Walk around your outdoor space with your lizard friends and hunt for objects in nature that have similar colors to each of your lizards. Sort your found nature treasures into piles based on color.
Make a hideout: Select a spot in your outdoor space for kids to create a special hideout for a lizard friend. What would the lizard need to feel safe and secure? What objects from nature could your child use to keep lizards hidden from predators?
Lizard playground: Lizards like to play, too! Offer a bin or bowl, some nature treasures and a container of water and invite kids to make a special playspace just for lizard friends. Let kids know that sometimes lizards like to warm up in the sun and sometimes they cool off in the water. Wonder how lizards might like to play, what features might be found in a lizard playground and what materials they could use to create them.
Want more ideas like this? Try these DIY activities to inspire kids to make discoveries with rocks:
Hunting for colorful lizard friends is a super way to introduce kids to the concept of camouflage in an age-appropriate way. Hunting for various colors on a natural background also helps children develop both their sense of sight and their ability to focus. When playing hide and seek, kids learn to problem solve and think strategically about what makes a good hiding place. Thinking about the needs of another creature is also a super way to boost kids’ empathy skills.
By creativity, we mean the ability to both imagine original ideas or solutions to problems and actually do what needs to be done to make them happen. So, to help kids develop creativity, we parents need to nurture kids' imaginations and give them lots of chances to design, test, redesign and implement their ideas.
"Creativity is as important now in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status.”
Why, you ask? For one, it is through being creative that a person is able to get senses, sensibility and spirit working together. Simply put, without creativity, we don't think our kids will live a full life.
On a more practical level, it's also the means by which humans of all ages make an impact on the world and other people around them. A lot of heavy stuff is going to go down in our kids' lifetime, and their generation will need to imagine and implement solutions to big and very complicated problems. Although our kids are still far from public office or the boardroom, today's political and business leaders worldwide are already pointing to creativity as the most important leadership quality for the future.
Although years from the art studio or design lab, little kids can learn to think and act creatively if you give them time and the right practice.
Focus & Self Control
Category:
Thinking Skills
What is Focus and Self Control?
We think of self control as a child’s ability to focus on something in such a way that maximizes learning. In order to do that, they first need to direct their attention and focus on a single thing. They also need to discern which information around them is most important and deserving of their attention. Thirdly, they need something called “inhibition.” Think of inhibition as the ability to control impulses, block out distractions and continue attending to the same thing. Focus, discerning and inhibition all require rather fancy brain work and are thought to be part of the “executive functions” or the set of cognitive processes involving the prefrontal cortex that help us manage ourselves and the environment to achieve a goal.
Why does it matter?
Our world is full of distractions, more today than ever. Kids who are in any learning situation need the ability to control their impulses, block out noise and attend to the person, objects, events, or discussions that are central to learning. As classroom teachers, we saw that kids who did this ruled the classroom. As outdoor educators and parents, we know the same holds true outside of school.
But don’t take our word for it; the research is impressive. It turns out that these executive function skills are closely tied to success in the classroom, higher level education and life beyond school. Experts like Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia have shown that, “If you look at what predicts how well children will do later in school, more and more evidence is showing that executive functions—working memory and inhibition—actually predict success better than IQ tests.” Although these skills are difficult for young children and don’t crystallize until adulthood, the more kids practice them, the better at them kids become.
Sensory
Category:
Body Skills
What is Sensory Development?
Although some scientists classify as many as 20 senses, when childhood educators talk about "developing the senses," we typically mean developing the five standard senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. In addition to honing these senses, educators care about sensory integration, which is the ability to take in, sort out, process and make use of information gathered from the world around us via the senses.
Why does it matter?
The better kids are able to tune and integrate their senses, the more they can learn. First, if their senses are sharper, the information kids can gather should be of greater quantity and quality, making their understanding of the world more sophisticated. Further, until the lower levels of the brain can efficiently and accurately sort out information gathered through the senses, the higher levels cannot begin to develop thinking and organization skills kids need to succeed. Senses also have a powerful connection to memory. Children (and adults) often retain new learning when the senses are an active part of the learning.
So, if kids have more sensory experiences, they will learn more, retain better and be better able to think at a higher level. Makes the days they get all wet and dirty in the sandbox seem better, doesn't it?
Empathy
Category:
Social Skills
What is Empathy?
Simply put, empathy is the ability to think and care about the feelings and needs of others. The good news is, the more we study, it appears that children are empathetic by nature. All we need to do is nurture it in them—that of course is now always easy. Even though young children are simply working on gaining control over their emotions and won’t learn to really think about their emotions and the cause and effect of their behavior on others until their school years, they can start to develop the foundation for empathy much earlier. Taking actions (and watching adults take actions) that benefit other people, caring for animals and their environment and even just wondering how other people or creatures are feeling helps build both positive habits and a strong base for the development of empathy.
Why does it matter?
Empathy is at the root of what psychologists call “pro-social” behavior—behavior that people must develop in order to develop a conscience, build close relationships, maintain friendships, and develop strong communities. Empathy also helps kids avoid bullying, one of the most worrisome social challenges young kids face. Being able to think and feel for others can keep kids from becoming either bully or victim and equip them to stand up for others who are bullied. Imagine if all kids had such tools!
Age: 0 to 8+
Time: 1 hour+
Materials: stones, permanent markers, (optional) acrylic paint
