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Greetings!
EFC GARDENS
The kids have been busy attending to their vegetables. So far, we have picked a bunch of cucumbers, the herbs and lettuce are ready to be picked, the tomatoes will be ready any day. The EFC Farmers Market will be available soon on the front counters. Please take home some of the harvest!!
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GETTING TO KNOW YOU!!
Tuesday, August 7
, is National Night Out!!! If your neighborhood doesn’t already throw a party, be the family to start the tradition. This is a great way to get to know your neighbors and be part of a neighborhood watch.
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SPECIAL DAYS IN AUGUST
Wednesday, August 1- Vikings Day
Thursday, August 2- Wild Day
Friday, August 3- Gophers Day
Tuesday, August 7- In House Field Trip - High Touch Science- “Out of Sight Light”
Tuesday, August 14- Hat Day
Friday, August 17- Splash Day
Tuesday, August 21- Farmer Day
Thursday, August 30- Backwards Day
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IN HOUSE FIELD TRIP
On
Tuesday, August 7, “Hightouch high-tech” will be here to lead the children through hands on science fun. The program theme the children will be learning about is “Out of Sight Light”. They will explore the discovery of what light is. Have fun as we explore shadows. We are even going to make a magnifier to keep.
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UPDATING FILES
If you receive paper work to be completed for you child, please return it as soon as possible. This is required paperwork for the state of Minnesota. As always if you change phone numbers or address let us know so we update your child’s files.
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LOOKING AHEAD
EFC is closed on
Friday, August 31, for professional development day and
Monday, September 3, for Labor Day weekend Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend!!
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SUMMER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT
Try this fun science experiment with your child to talk about the life cycle of a plant as well as what a plant needs to grow and flourish!
Materials needed:
- 4 small plastic cups
- 4 stalks of celery
- 4 different food-colors
Directions:
- Add 10 drops of food coloring to each cup (1 color per cup), then add ¼ cup of water to each cup.
- Place 1 stalk of celery in each cup. Notice how the color begins to leak up the celery almost immediately!
- Let the celery soak overnight, then take a peak in the morning to see the changes!
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Image from: laughingkidslearn.com
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GREAT, GROWING GARDENS!
Check out the progress on our summer gardens throughout EFC!
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PLAYING WITH NATURE
With only one month left of summer, I’m assessing whether or not we have taken full advantage of Minnesota summer at our house. We have done lots of swimming and biking. We eat as many meals as possible outdoors. And we interact with neighbors as we are out working on our lawns and playing with the children. That part I find especially fascinating as toddlers to teenagers to adults play games and mingle in front yards. It is such a relaxed and special time.
But during our hours inside we tend to gravitate to the same activities we do throughout the year. We play board games, do a little coloring, read stories, chat about our days and do household chores. Hey, why couldn’t we fold laundry on the patio instead of on the living room couch? And the spot for reading stories could move under a tree or on lawn chairs.
My goal for August is to bring the inside out. We started the other night when our grandson wanted to play Candyland after dinner. My husband said, “Let’s take it outside and play on the patio table.” What fun it was to enjoy the incredible weather while playing a favorite family game. After we finished, we stayed outside to play “I Spy with my Little Eye.” It was a whole different experience than playing the same game inside.
We then went over to one of our birch trees and examined what the Japanese Beetles are up to. We found a couple of toads hopping across the lawn. We picked a few weeds. It was a great evening outdoors.
During August I want to do some projects with materials from nature. We will collect items from around our neighborhood and sort them into categories. I read about a fun activity where you wrap tape around a child’s wrist with the tape inside out to create a sticky bracelet. Children can stick small treasures to their bracelets as they explore and then sort, play and do crafts with them later.
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I remember doing sand art and leaf prints as a child. We may even create a bulletin board of nature art to see how many different creative projects we can come up with that use elements from the outdoors.
We each have special ways of enjoying summer. Look on our blog where we have listed a few projects. And add your own ideas to share!
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TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS
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We were interested in this Community Playthings article,
Giving Children a Natural Start
, which discusses the reasons for and methods of giving children an environmental education. The concept of literacy (what you know, how you feel, and what skills you have) in the context of the natural environment is so important.
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Especially for Children
8885 Evergreen Blvd
Coon Rapids MN 55433
Lisa Ward
Director, EFC Coon Rapids
(763) 784-0901
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