Early in the spring, dandelions pop up to entice and offer pollinators like bees and flies a source of food while other plants take their time in producing nourishing flowers. These amazing flowers are often weeded out in pursuit of the perfect lawn or over picked for play, taking that important early food source away from our friends, the bees—friends who are increasingly in danger and need our help! Even the smallest child can learn how these flowers support bees and take action to help. Just take the dandelion challenge, spread the word and help save the bees!
This activity is featured in our May Activity Calendar. Download your free copy here.
The Guide
Step 1: Pick Just One.
First of all, dandelions are amazing—hundreds of tiny flowers in each dandelion you pick. Kids should experience the wonder of picking and exploring a dandelion. Plus, as David Sobel says, kids have to fall in love with nature before they are really ready to save it. So, pick one—and only one, promising to leave the rest for the bees.
Step 2: Make Art.
Many of us love to make dandelion crowns, soups and other things that use way more than one dandelion. So, this year, make dandelion art instead. Use any of these ideas or your own inspiration to create a piece of art inspired by dandelions. Need inspo? Here are some ideas:
Rub the petals from your one dandelion on a piece of paper. Or, use one of another yellow flower, or even a lemon! Then, use a marker, crayon or rub a blade of grass to make your stem.
Pull out dandelion colors from your art supplies, grab paper and head outside. Let kids create whatever they like using paint, chalk, crayon, pastel, etc—whatever you've got!
Look through old magazines for dandelion colors and rip or cut them out. Kids can rearrange those colors into a collage that represents or just reminds them of a dandelion.
Search the yard for fallen, "on the ground" things that are yellow and green. The plants no longer need them, so kids can use them to make art! Glue them to paper or press them into forest putty or mud to create something new!
If kids can write or draw, encourage them to create a "Save the Dandelions (and the bees!) sign using whatever materials they have on hand.
Encourage older kids to dissect their dandelion and draw some of the amazing structures inside!
Take any loose parts and build your own 3-D dandelion!
Step 3: Share and encourage friends to join in.
When you are done, take a photo or video of your dandelion-inspired creation and share it! Inspire others to pick just one and leave the rest of the dandelions for our friends, the bees! See a sample post below to get started. And, be sure to tag @tinkergarten and #TGMoments and/or share in our OutdoorsAll4 FB community to inspire others to do the same!
Sample post: Friends! This spring, we’re saving the dandelions in support of our friends the bees! Join us in picking just one dandelion and making dandelion-inspired art to spread the word. The bees need our help! @tinkergarten #TGmoments #savethebees
Why is this activity great for kids?
Kids today can't help but feel the concern we all share for our planet, and kids naturally feel for other creatures. Bees really do need our help, and this project gives kids a way to make a difference and part of a larger community of caring kids and adults who are taking action too. There's no better way to help kids balance their worries and nurture hope. Plus, taking action in support of another creature teaches kids to exercise compassionate empathy—that ever important ability to put empathy into action!
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.
Naturalist
Category:
Thinking Skills
What is a Naturalist?
The oldest and simplest definition, “student of plants and animals,” dates back to 1600. The term has evolved over time, it's importance changing as the values of dominant culture have changed. 400 years after that old definition, Howard Gardner, the paradigm-shifting education theorist, added “naturalist” to his list of “multiple intelligences.” Gardner challenged the notion that intelligence is a single entity that results from a single capability. Instead, he recognizes eight types of intelligence, all of which enable individuals to think, solve problems or to create things of value. To Gardner, the Naturalist intelligence enables human beings to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of the environment.
A true naturalist has not simply Googled and learned the names of plants, animals, rocks, etc. Rather, he or she has had direct experience with them, coming to know about them and using all senses to develop this intelligence. A naturalist also has a reverence for nature, valuing and caring for living things from the smallest mite to the tallest tree. A naturalist comes to not only knowing the creatures and features of his or her environment, but treasuring them in thought and action.
Why does it matter?
In the process of becoming a naturalist, children become stewards of nature, a connection that is associated with a range of benefits, including greater emotional well-being, physical health and sensory development (not to mention the benefits to nature itself!). In a world in which primary experience of nature is being replaced by the limited, directed stimulation of electronic media, kids senses are being dulled and many believe their depth of both their interest in and capacity to understand complicated phenomena are being eroded. To contrast, the naturalist learns about the key features of their natural environment by using all of his senses and be interpreting open-ended and ever-changing stimuli.
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: various art materials (paint, paper, markers, crayons, glue, etc.)
