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At the library!
Rainbow Fish
A great project is to read The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and then draw a fish outline and make many sparkly colored scales to glue on to your own Rainbow Fish. To make the scales try this...Separate pieces of broken crayons by color into individual ziplock bags. Use a meat tenderizer or a rolling pin to pound them to small pieces, add some glitter if you like. Put the small pieces between waxed paper and an ADULT should gently iron the paper between layers of newspaper. You can cut tiangles from the paper and use them to create colored scales for your Rainbow Fish.
Make your own “stained glass”
Spread out newspaper and make crayon shavings (a small pencil sharpener is perfect for this). Cover the ironing board with newspaper and sprinkle the crayon shavings on a square of wax paper. Cover with another square of wax paper and more newspaper. Press the paper with a warm iron until the wax of the crayons is melted. These look beautiful hung in the window! Make a frame out of construction paper if you wish.
Head for the Library and find some "Bunny Books"
Bunny Crafts
"Rip a Rabbit"! Cut a sheet of paper in half - plain white or pastels work fine. Have the children tear an oval shape from one half and two ears from the other half. Glue the ears to the top of the oval; use crayons to color ears, eyes and nose. Poke 3 whisker holes on either side of the nose with a toothpick and thread dry spaghetti or straws from a broomstick through the holes for whiskers. Add a cotton ball for a tail - display your bunnies around the house.
Bunny Game
I Spy a Bunny - if you have a stuffed bunny at your house "hide" it in a different place every morning, not too difficult to find, and challenge your children to find it. After a day or two they will really look forward to this morning puzzle! "Here's a Bunny" finger play Here's a bunny, with ears so funny (hand forms head with two fingers slightly bent for ears) and here is a hole in the ground (form a hole with the other hand) When a noise he hears, He perks up his ears (wiggle ears) And jumps in the hole that he found. (Bunny dives into the hole)
Pretzel Recipe
Ingredients:
Directions:
Combine the 1.5 cups warm water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
While you wait for the water to boil, turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a traditional pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined pan.
Place the pretzels into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Paper-Making Recipe
This paper-making recipe will help you recycle some of that wasted paper around your house, such as newsprint, envelopes, writing paper, left over gift wrap, or other types of paper. Note: Sort the paper by color, because it will come out that tone.
Materials
1. Soak It: To begin, shred the paper into small squares about 1×1 inch and put them into the bowl with hot water. Let soak for half an hour.
2. Make a Mold: While the paper is soaking, make the mold by attaching the screen to each frame using staples.
3. Turn it into Pulp: Place the soaked paper in the mixer bowl or food processor half filled with water. Mix at half speed until smooth. At this point, you can also add small quantities of vegetables or plants to the pulp. In this case, mix until the mixture is uniform. (Only a small amount should be used or you will end up with mush.) To add color to the paper, add nontoxic fabric dye or food coloring to the mixture.
4. Swish it in a Basin: Pour warm water into the basin until it is half full. Then, pour the pulp into the basin until the mixture resembles thick soup. The thicker the mixture, the thicker your paper will be. Working in the basin, place the pulp on the screen in the frame and shake it from side to side to distribute the pulp evenly until it makes a sheet of paper.
5. Drain: Take the paper pulp and frame out of the basin. Place the other framed screen on top. Hold both frames and turn them over so that the pulp is on the dry frame.
6. Let It Dry: Place the frame flat and let it drip dry.
7. Leftovers: When you are done, you can throw away the screened pulp or keep the drained, leftover pulp in the freezer, in a plastic bag, for later use. NOTE: Do not pour the pulp into the sink or toilet because the pulp could block the drain.
Remember use your imagination! Earth Day activities
Earth Day coloring page
Click on a day to learn more!
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