Lovely Lake Lunches, Labeling Plants, Learning about Power

We had an awesome time at the lake park today with my sister Julie's kiddos. They are so cute, entertaining and ...cautious. I live with one fairly mellow little girl, one moderately mellow oldest boy, and two crazy little bundles of energy. My sister's kids are not so crazy-hyper. When we get the cousins together, the stark contrast in personalities is evident.

Take rock-crossing for example.

Little Lad just took off running across each rock, sure that his leap would land him safely on the other side.

Scarlett... cautious... slow... even turns around to step down. :-)Little Lad, leaps again, now certain that he is King of Rocks and his magical super powers will carry him across any gorge. Scarlett watches. In awe? Or does she think he's out of his mind? Then we came home to finish up school. In the spring, the picture below is our typical school day. We load up our books, activities, snacks, and drinks and haul it all to the picnic table. LittleLad plays around (or under) us as we work. I can't think of a better environment for learning.
**contented sigh**

Below, Learning about different kinds of power

Making waves-- Studying hydroelectricity and Wave Power.

(Clear bottle filled with half blue-tinted water, half baby oil. We added glitter and shells to ours.)

After school, we planted!!! Our soil and pots were ready and waiting, and the front flower beds have been cleared. We planted flowers galore, strawberries, herbs, and transferred veggies.

Naturally, plants must be labeled, and that's where ART comes in. Oh, the possibilities.

Labeling with painted Popsicle sticks

New this year: using objects, such as small decorative eggs
to display the plant type. For more ideas and pictures of what we did, check out our art site about it here.