Showing posts with label Banff National Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Banff National Park. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
365 Days With Kiddos - #9 - Observe Animals in Your Neighborhood
We live in a tourist mecca in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, that also happens to be a national park. In Banff National Park we are surrounded by natural beauty, which includes wildlife. According to Parks Canada there are 53 species of mammals in our backyard. My kids regularily see elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and occassionally fox and coyotes. Usually, the bears stay in the woods but sometimes they cross main street. Yet as often as they see these amazing animals, they are just as happy to see squirrels and birds. We have a squirrel who "lives" part time in our fenced in backyard. He runs along the fence, darts in and out of deck furniture, and steals bits of the old push mop my husband left propped against the outer wall of our house long ago. My kids delight in seeing him! Quin calles him "my friend, Squirrly". They also like to watch the birds, like the magpies that land on the neighboring roofs and in our trees, especially now that the Mountain Ash in our front yard has berries. Whether you live in a city, a rural area, on an island, or in the desert, there is some kind of wild animal that you and your child can observe in it natural habitat. Take a look around and start to notice what kinds of animals you see. Google your area or check your library for local guides. If you want to attract birds to your yard, hang a bird feeder. There are many wonderful DIY bird feeder projects online. I have been wanting to make some but here in Banff we are not allowed to have bird feeders. We can have bird houses (I will have a share a bird house project soon). If you don't have a backyard, go to the park. That is where I shot the above video of my children, earlier this week, watching a squirrel putting away food for the winter. Watching animals will lead to questions from your kids that you may not always be able to answer but the great part about that is that together you can research to find out more.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day! A Kid's Craft Project and a Couple Children's Book Recommendations....
Today, it was FREEZING here... especially since yesterday was extremely springlike. Our Earth Day saw flurries. Oh well, I keep saying it is not really spring here until June...
I taught an Earth Day craft to an enthusiastic group of kids, ages 6-12, at the Banff Public Library this afternoon. The book that originally inspired our craft today is called "Seeds, Seeds, Seeds" by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. This wonderful books tells the story of a young bear, whose grandfather sends him 5 seed projects in the mail. Each project is dedicated to several pages of the book. I would love to teach a whole afternoon that is just centered around this book. The projects include making seed identification cards, watching how a seed germinates over time using illustrations on cards, planting a seed, making a bird feeder, and making a frame covered with beans and seeds. The book is recommended for ages 4-8 but could be adapted to all ages.
Our project involved decorating mat board with seeds. I photographed each child at the beginning of the hour, and Tonya, one of the librarians who was also my lovely assistant (thanks, Tonya!) for the class, ran them to Banff Camera where they were printed while she waited.
Project Materials
- Mat board with window
- Decorative paper
- White glue
- Raffia
- Poppy Seeds, Sunflower Seeds in the shell, and Pumpkin Seeds
- Photo corners
- Photo
1) Select a piece of decorative paper and a mat. Using the mat as a template, draw around it, then cut out a piece of paper the same size as the mat board.
2) Put glue on three sides of the back of the mat board, flip over the paper so that the colored side is glued to the back of the mat (so that you could see the color through the window).
3) Take a couple of strands of raffia, twist the ends, cover them in glue, and stick them between the paper and mat board, on the side that is not glued together. Now glue the edge together.
4) Now, it is time to work on the design. Using glue in a squeeze bottle it is very easy to create your design. The large seeds can be glued right on. The poppy seeds are sprinkled onto the glue, then the excess is tapped of the back. I work over a shoe box lid when sprinkling the seeds and then tapping. I use a small dish to hold the seeds and to sprinkle from. It is easy to repeatedly pick up the box top and return the seeds to the dish during the process.
5) Put the photo corners on the edges of the photo, and lick, or if self adhesive, remove the backing.
6) Center photo and stick down. Voila!
The kids did a great job. I am always struck by the variety of designs that come from kids in the same group using the same materials. It is amazing!
The book that we read while our glue was drying is called "June 29th, 1999" by David Weisner. It is about a girl who sends her seeds up to outer space to see what will happen. She reports to her class what she is hoping and soon GIANT vegetables start landing in the area. It is only once vegetables she had not planted start to arrive that she realizes these must not be her experiments... I will leave the surprise ending for you to discover. The illustrations are lovely and the language is wonderful!
Happy Earth Day!!
I taught an Earth Day craft to an enthusiastic group of kids, ages 6-12, at the Banff Public Library this afternoon. The book that originally inspired our craft today is called "Seeds, Seeds, Seeds" by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. This wonderful books tells the story of a young bear, whose grandfather sends him 5 seed projects in the mail. Each project is dedicated to several pages of the book. I would love to teach a whole afternoon that is just centered around this book. The projects include making seed identification cards, watching how a seed germinates over time using illustrations on cards, planting a seed, making a bird feeder, and making a frame covered with beans and seeds. The book is recommended for ages 4-8 but could be adapted to all ages.
Our project involved decorating mat board with seeds. I photographed each child at the beginning of the hour, and Tonya, one of the librarians who was also my lovely assistant (thanks, Tonya!) for the class, ran them to Banff Camera where they were printed while she waited.
Project Materials
- Mat board with window
- Decorative paper
- White glue
- Raffia
- Poppy Seeds, Sunflower Seeds in the shell, and Pumpkin Seeds
- Photo corners
- Photo
1) Select a piece of decorative paper and a mat. Using the mat as a template, draw around it, then cut out a piece of paper the same size as the mat board.
2) Put glue on three sides of the back of the mat board, flip over the paper so that the colored side is glued to the back of the mat (so that you could see the color through the window).
3) Take a couple of strands of raffia, twist the ends, cover them in glue, and stick them between the paper and mat board, on the side that is not glued together. Now glue the edge together.
4) Now, it is time to work on the design. Using glue in a squeeze bottle it is very easy to create your design. The large seeds can be glued right on. The poppy seeds are sprinkled onto the glue, then the excess is tapped of the back. I work over a shoe box lid when sprinkling the seeds and then tapping. I use a small dish to hold the seeds and to sprinkle from. It is easy to repeatedly pick up the box top and return the seeds to the dish during the process.
5) Put the photo corners on the edges of the photo, and lick, or if self adhesive, remove the backing.
6) Center photo and stick down. Voila!
The kids did a great job. I am always struck by the variety of designs that come from kids in the same group using the same materials. It is amazing!
The book that we read while our glue was drying is called "June 29th, 1999" by David Weisner. It is about a girl who sends her seeds up to outer space to see what will happen. She reports to her class what she is hoping and soon GIANT vegetables start landing in the area. It is only once vegetables she had not planted start to arrive that she realizes these must not be her experiments... I will leave the surprise ending for you to discover. The illustrations are lovely and the language is wonderful!
Happy Earth Day!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Park Radio Feature
Today, I was interviewed for a local radio program called Affecting You. It will run three times this week on the radio and is podcast so I believe I will be able to post it here eventually. I was approached by the program host, Alana McGregor, which was a nice change since it seems like as an artist I am always chasing the publicity... I was teaching a mosaic workshop for kids at the public library last Thursday, I will post photos of that soon, and I was handed a phone message. It was from Alana McGregor, wanting to talk with me about my art and the community classes I will be teaching in the fall. Amongst the classes I will be offering is a weekly recycle craft that I will teach as part of the Banff Elementary After School Program. I want to show the kids how to make something functional and artistic out of thrift store items and items they might have at home that are broken or not serving a purpose... Hard to put in a nutshell but it won't be the traditional kid crafts out of coffee can lids and toilet paper rolls. Much more creative... So, we talked about that, about my upcoming show, and about the environment. I am lucky to live in a National Park, where everything that is possible is done automatically by the town to make it a greener place.
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