Aug. 17, 2008

Unplugged Project ~ Trees

This week Unplug Your Kids' weekly unplugged project is about TREES. We started by borrowing the above book, the take along guide Trees, Leaves and Bark by Diane L. Burns from the library. This is a fantastic book which looks at 16 different trees describing where to find them, what they are used for, lifespan and more all with absolutely superb drawings of each tree's leaves, bark and seeds! There are also some great projects tucked inside as well. I had originally thought that we would do some rubbings or perhaps a leaf mobile but the kids had something entirely different in mind! *grin*


They decided to raid the scrap pile where Opa is building in search of chunks of wood to build with. The found cedar, fir, hemlock and even some roots :) Above is L's playground. The piece of wood on the left side of the picture has her slide (triangular piece of wood), a trampoline (the round section of a limb), the monkey bars (a chunk of root), and her playhouse. I just love her imagination!


K found some old siding that he cut into the deck of a pirate ship with his hand saw and the masts are actually made from apple tree branches that he salvaged and peeled the bark off of from the damage we recently had due to black bear troubles.


Then they really started to get creative and started to build stables for their ponies and playmobil horses :) Above is L's, complete with hay in the stalls and the doors swing open on little nail hinges :) It's so cute and she was so excited to show me. She built it entirely on her own!


K's stable went one step further with the addition of a roof :)


He even put the names of his horses on the stall doors *grin*. Of course all the names could only be 3 letters long so that they would fit. LOL. I love how this project evolved from nature study exploration, studying different trees, their leaves and bark to using the wood that trees provide in a hands on project full of imagination :)