Lil Sprouts June Activity Day

Our lil sprouts were so excited to come and play with us this weekend!

We had lots of new faces join us this week, kids from as young as 9months to 5 years old. It was so much fun to see them so excited to play.
We set up the tent for our lil sprouts to explore, they made their own camping lanterns, learned all about trees, used their math skills to make their own trail mix snack and participated in a backyard scavenger hunt.

Amanda and I feel so blessed to get to share our love of science and education with the littlest members of our community.

Our Activities

 

One of our activities was all about our "Tree"mendous trees. We had a few samples of branches and stumps that were sliced from large trees for our lil sprouts to take a closer look at. We showed them the patterns and the rings. They learned how a tree gains a ring as it grows each year, we showed them the knots in the tree "cookies" We talked a little about decay and how we use trees.Each of our lil sprouts got their very own tree "cookie" necklace. They used their little fingers to make little thumbprint insects. We had little red ladybugs and tiny black ants....and some of our littlest sprouts were able to do their entire hand.

Our next activity was creating a kid friendly camping lantern. We used clear plastic tumblers from Walmart and hot glued a red bandana ribbon for a handle and around the rim of the tumbler. Our lil sprouts learned about colors, red, yellow and orange and even saw how red and yellow blend to make orange. The glued their tissue paper flames onto a thin strip of construction paper. They slid this into the bottom of their lantern. They added a flameless candle into the bottom and Viola! Their very own kid friendly lantern perfect for a backyard camp out or even a night light next to their bed.

 Our little campers practiced their math skills by counting out trail mix. There were 5 different items. Each lil sprout counted out 10 of each item and placed it in their bag. When they were done they had practiced counting by 1's and 10's and had a yummy snack perfect for any camp out!

Our last activity was a fun scavenger hunt. We created a smaller version of our Camping activity Pack which is on sale this week in my store.  The lil sprouts had to find several items around the yard that were on their scavenger hunt. They immediately were off trying to check off every item. We were so excited to hear the conversations between the lil sprouts and their parents. The learning that was taking place was astounding. The little ones were building vocabulary, the 2 year olds were using context clues to find items, the 3 and 4 year olds were following a list and the 5 year olds were off to the races trying to find each item as quickly as they could. It was a great learning opportunity for all ages.

To keep up the exploration and learning at home our lil sprouts got their very own bug catchers. They had nets and tweezers to pick up those icky bugs.

We were so glad all of our campers came out to learn with us. We even were able to get all of our activities in before the rain came. 

We hope that you will join us for the next lil sprouts event!

We didn't get a picture with everyone but we did get a few lil sprouts together for one before everyone headed off.

A Huge Thanks to My great Friend Darcey who helped out with our lil sprouts today! 

You are the best!

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Through creating children bloom!

Simply Sprout’s Lil Sprouts events are a wonderful way to let your child’s inner artist, thinker, and dreamer shine. Lil Sprouts focuses on educational concepts with a creative twist!

Our next event is

Saturday, June 23rd from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at The Whitaker Home (details will be sent via email once you register)

The cost is $15 per child.

Activities are designed for children ages 1 - 5

June 23rd is National Backyard Campout day so in order to celebrate We will be hosting a backyard campout of our own with educational activities that will get your little ones interested in the great outdoors!

Our Lil Sprouts will be exploring and creating and will participate in:

A Nature Scavenger Hunt

Artistic Leaf Impressions

Camping

Mighty Mighty Trees

Our Lil Sprouts will also be using their math skills to create their own camping snack, be sure to join us!

Sign up for this event on our Simply Sprout Facebook page by June 20th. Please only sign up if you intend on coming. We work hard to provide quality materials and instruction to our lil sprouts and to do this we need to rely on an accurate count of participating children.

For information on upcoming Lil Sprouts events please contact us at simplysprout@gmail.com.

Please feel free to invite your friends!

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Lil Sprouts May: Ocean Fun

 

Our lil sprouts had a whale of a time today learning about the ocean!

We started off with a book about whales, Baby Whale's Journey

We did a little science demonstration to show the lil sprouts how whales use their blubber to keep warm on their long journey to arctic waters.

Our lil sprouts put their hands into our ice bucket to experience the frigid temperatures. Then they slid their little hands into a glove insulated with blubber (crisco) and dipped their little hands back in. Our little ones noticed a definite change in temperature and were able to see how a whales blubber would help to keep them warm and insulated.

 Learning Centers

Next our lil sprouts were divided into groups.
They rotated between 3 learning stations to complete 3 different activities. First they made jellyfish, they added tentacles and used their hands to get creative with some finger paint.

 The next station was ocean sensory bags. We love encouraging our lil sprouts to learn through sensory experiences. They filled their ocean bags with shells, ocean animals, fish stickers, and fish bubbles (sequins). We then added a little glitter sand and then the fun stuff our blue ocean goo (or dyed hair gel) When the little ones were done we closed them up tight and they had an ocean in a bag. These are great for counting, classifying, and tracing their letters. Our lil sprouts practiced making o's for ocean using their pointer finger tracing it in the gel.

                                                                                The last activity was painting seashells, our lil sprouts examined some pretty cool seashells and looked at their brilliant colors, then we let their artistic touch take over. they used q-tips to apply paint to their seashells, we had some beautifully colored shells when they were all done.

Making an Edible Beach

To finish our activity day our lil sprouts made their very own edible beach. We talked about seashells and how the waves pound them down to make sand. Each lil sprout got their own bag with Nila wafers in it and we encouraged them to crumble, smash and bang them until they were mere crumbs. Like the waves erode the seashells in the ocean. We discussed animals that live in the ocean and they added gummy fish and sharks to their jello ocean. When they were done adding their wildlife they sprinkled their sand on top of their ocean. They added a gummy beach towel an umbrella and some star fish and crabs, some even added a few water toys like a gummy life preserver.

Exploring the ocean with a sensory pool

 

To encourage our lil sprouts to learn, laugh and play we set up a double sensory pool that had a sandy shore where they could investigate with shovels, seashells and sand toys. And an ocean sensory pool where they could explore with ocean animals, water buckets and other water toys.

These ocean sensory pools are great summer fun for your little ones, they take just a few seconds to set up and provide hours of learning fun for your little ones.

The kids really enjoyed their playtime as well, its always fun to explore and play on a swing set!

We had a whale of a time learning with our lil sprouts today! As favors our lil sprouts took home their very own sea creature we can't wait to hear their observations as they watch them this week! We look forward to comments from our lil sprouts!

Amanda and I love watching our little friends play, learn and explore! We look forward to next month when we explore a new topic and have s'more hands on learning fun! We hope you will join us next month, Saturday, June 23rd in the afternoon, more details will go out via facebook later this week, and as always will be posted on our site.
Be sure to sign up as a follower so you don't miss important dates and new activities!

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Lil Sprouts Event for May!

Through creating children bloom!  

 Simply Sprout’s Lil Sprouts events are a wonderful way to let your child’s inner artist, thinker, and dreamer shine.  Lil Sprouts focuses on educational concepts with a creative twist!

Our next event is 

Saturday, May 26th from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.. at The Grauer Home
The cost is $15 per child.
Activities are designed for children ages 1 - 5

Join us as we learn a little more about the ocean and the animals that call it home.
Our Lil Sprouts will be exploring and creating:
 Ocean sensory bags
A counting Jellyfish
Painted seashells
Exploring why whales have blubber
Our Lil Sprouts will also be creating and edible aquarium, be sure to join us!

 Sign up for this event on our Simply Sprout Facebook page by May 23rd.

For information on upcoming Lil Sprouts events please contact us at simplysprout@gmail.com.

Please feel free to invite your friends!

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Lil Sprouts celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax

Simply Sprout hosted a Lorax party for Earth Day where our preschool friends learned about conservation, recycling and keeping the earth clean. They learned a few lessons from our friend the Lorax and had a lot of fun along the way.

Learning to Recycle with the Lorax

The little ones learned all about different recyclable materials and how to sort like objects. They sorted the paper, plastic and metal and put them into the corresponding bins...they caught on so quick! I see a lot of future recyclers in our midst.This is definitely a job they can help with around the house.

Painting with Recyclables

 

Our little friends painted personalized canvases using recycled materials. They each got their very own canvas, and chose their paint colors. They used plastic bags to apply the paint onto the canvas and then paper towel rolls to apply circles onto their painting. When they were all finished we removed the painters tape to reveal their masterpieces. They turned out simply beautiful....we definitely have some budding artist in our group!

 The last of the "Truffula Seeds"

The kids decorated their own pots and planted the very last of the "truffula seeds!"

They practiced identifying their colors and made their own swirl paper using liquid starch and craft paint. They loved seeing how their designs floated right on top of the starch. Even our littlest of sprouts got in on the action.

 

 To make the swirl pots just pour some liquid starch into a shallow container, add a few drops of craft paint. Have little ones create a swirl design using a toothpick. Then take your paper insert from the pot and float on top of the starch, pick up gently and set aside to dry. While our little ones waited for theirs to dry they listened to our inspiration story, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.

"Truffula Tree" Cupcakes

 For treats they made "Truffula tree" cupcakes with coconut and cotton candy among other things. The lil sprouts iced their very own orange cupcake and added a little bit of coconut flakes ( dyed green of course) They put their cotton candy tufts onto the end of the straw and added it to their cupcake. They washed their cupcake down with a little bit of Lorax Lemonade!

On the way out our little friends took a treat with them to remind them of all the fun they had today learning and exploring!

 Our Little Loraxes learned a whole awful lot!

It was lots of fun and educational too! A perfect way to celebrate Earth Day!
Be sure to check back for future simply sprout "Lil Sprouts" events. The themes vary and they are offered each month at various places around Tallahassee. Please email us for more information simplysprout@gmail.com

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