The Bluebird's Nest

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Just Call Me Miss Merriweather: A DIY Felt Board

The Squirrel Patrol is very happy to be going on walks again.

Although my gardening project hasn't quite taken off (yet), I was inspired by the slightly warmer temperatures this week to make a weather themed felt board for storytime. Here is how, so you can too!

What's the Weather?

(Sung to the tune of Oh My Darling, Clementine)

What's the weather? What's the weather?

What's the weather like today?

What's the weather? What's the weather?

What's the weather like today?

Is it sunny? Is it cloudy?

Is it rainy out today?

Is it snowy? Is it windy?

What's the weather like today?

Materials:

- Any type of board will work as long as you can put pins in it or shoot it with a staple gun. I upcycled an old bulletin board (24"x12") that I found in the Creepy Craft Closet in the basement of the library.

- Push pins, staple gun and staples, or hot glue in a pinch. Push pins or staple gun will work best.
- Felt

- Scissors
- Ruler
- Tacky Glue
- Marker
- Unless you're feeling an extra oomph of creativity and want to make your own, you will also need to print letter and shape templates. I'm a little (a lot) OCD when it comes to lettering so I opted for using the lowercase letters template from Activity Village. They also have upper case letters. (Hang on to these for other projects!) If you would like to use the shapes that I did, I am happy to email the templates.

Email: margaretbooneli at gmail dot com

For a weather and seasons board here are some shape suggestions:

- Sun

- White Cloud

- Gray Cloud

- Rain Drops

- Lightning

- Snowflake or Snowman

- Wind Spiral

- Tree

- Green Leaves for Spring and Summer

- Red, Yellow, Brown, and Orange Leave for Fall

- Snow

- Grass

Extras: Sunglasses, rain boots, snow boots, umbrella, etc. so you can talk about what type of things you need in certain kinds of weather.

How to DIY in 6 Easy Steps!:

1. Gather your materials! Isn't that a wonderfully organized pile of felt?

2. Measure and cut the color felt you would like to use as the background. You can cover the entire board or only a mid-section, just make sure your felt surface area is big enough for the shapes you will be putting on it.

3. Use push pins, staples, or hot glue to secure the background felt. [Please excuse the gnarly backside of this board. Like I said, it was found in the Creepy Craft Closet. However, it should be noted that it has a wire hanger at the top - which is super useful - if you want to add one to your own board.]

Tada! You just made a felt board!

4. Cut out letters and trace them with a marker on felt. [Tip:: If you trace all the letters and shapes backwards/upside down, the front facing side will be marker-free!]

5. Use Tacky Glue to secure the letters on the board. A little dot of glue on the edges is enough.

6. Trace and cut out your shapes.

Partly cloudy, stormy, sunny, snowy... you're all set!

Spring

Summer

Stormy Summer

Autumn

Winter

(I don't want to be thinking of winter for a very looooong time!)

Friday, March 28, 2014

Spring Resolutions, Bees, the Seed Library, and Planting a Rainbow

Persephone is slowly but surly bringing spring to Ohio (hurry up, already, lady!), and with spring comes all things new. Popping sprigs of green, baby animals, sunshine...

More so than the first of the year, spring has always been a time for me to make resolutions; a time for growth and new projects. Last year my project was running (ha!), this year it is gardening. I WILL BECOME A MASTER GARDENER!!!! Well, I will at least grow a little green thumb.

This is a picture of me in my future garden.

I have decided to start with a few vegetables, either in containers or raised beds, and some native-to-the-Midwest wildflowers. I read that wildflowers, once you get them growing, are pretty impossible to kill. Fingers crossed. I ordered a mix of wildflowers from American Meadows. Just turn the soil, sprinkle seeds, and water, right? If anyone has advice, I'll gladly take it.

In addition to the ease of care, I chose this particular mix of wildflowers because many of the flowers are bee-friendly. Due to pesticides and disease, the bee population has been drastically declining worldwide. I know bees are terrifying. Husbando and I were both chased down and stung by swarms of angry little ground bees when we were small - which is probably why we are meant for each other - but without bee pollination, we do not have food. I don't know about you, but I like food. A lot. Did you know bees are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat? Be concerned. I read that the best thing to do is plant bee-friendly flowers (without the use of chemicals and pesticides) in gardens and window boxes. Here is a neat illustration from Hannah Rosengren that shows which plants are best for bees:

I am going to try my hand (thumb?) at growing veggies too. In partnership with Food Not Lawns Cleveland, my coworker (also named Maggie!) has started a totally awesome Seed Library. If you are in the Cleveland area and are interested, the launch is this Saturday, March 29th at 11:30 at the Coventry Village Branch of Heights Libraries. Mari Keating from Food Not Lawns will be talking about the basics of seed starting and saving. There is more info here: Coventy Village Seed Library. Basically, you come visit us at the library, sign up, pick your seeds, grow your crop, and bring seeds back at the end of the season to replenish our stock. Completely free and open to the public with or without a library card! I picked two types of tomatoes, two types of peppers, a lettuce mix, and cucumbers.

Now is the perfect time to start seeds inside - so I hear - and I found this DIY video on how to fold newspaper seed-starting pots. You can plant the pots directly in the ground since they are biodegradable.

I also found this article on how to construct affordable raised beds: Raised Bed Gardening

I haven't decided if I am going to go the container gardening or raised bed route. Our backyard is too swampy and shady to plant anything directly in the ground, but we have some sunny spots along the driveway that will work well. I may have to try my thumb (har har) at some elementary construction. [Insert Hammer + Nail + Thumb Joke Here]

Rodale's Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginners Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden by Deborah L. Martin

Rodale's Basic Organic Gardening is the perfect book for beginners. Martin breaks basic organic gardening down step by step - even how to read a seed packet - and speaks in a language accessible to the most novice gardener.

All this talk of springtime and planting inspired storytime this week. Here is what we did!

Planting a Rainbow Storytime

Wonders of Nature: Rainbows by Dana Meachen Rau

Using nonfiction in storytime is always a good idea. Children relate to things that are true, which helps them connect with concepts and ideas. We didn't read the whole book, just a few pages with fun facts about rainbows.

Fun Fact: Did you know the rainbow got its name because it is shaped like the bow of a bow and arrow?

What Makes a Rainbow by Betty Schwartz

Little Rabbit asks his mother, "What makes a rainbow?" Mama Rabbit suggests he ask his friends. Each page is dedicated to one color of the rainbow, starting with Ladybug red. You may be wondering what a Magic Ribbon Book is...

With each page, the corresponding color ribbon is pulled through the book. Very magical, indeed!

Little Mouse, Little Mouse Feltboard

"Little Mouse, Little Mouse are you in the orange house?"

Meredith, my youth services partner-in-crime, made this awesome feltboard activity a few weeks ago. It is super versatile and can be used for all sorts of storytime themes. Hide Little Mouse under one of the houses (no peeking!) and then have the children guess which color house they think Little Mouse is hiding in. All together now! "Little Mouse, Little Mouse, are you in the (color) house?" Keep playing until Little Mouse is found. The children and adults thought it was a hoot and we ended up playing a couple of times.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Gorgeously illustrated, Planting a Rainbow takes us through the stages of plant life from bulbs in the fall, to seeds in the spring, and finally a fully grown summer garden.

I brought in a variety of seeds to show everyone and talked a little bit about the Seed Library. Hopefully we will grow some tiny green thumbs this summer!

Five Little Seeds

Five little seeds, five little seeds, (hold up five fingers)

Three will make flowers, (hold up three fingers)

And two will make weeds. (hold up two fingers)

Under the leaves and under the snow, (fold hands on top of one another)

Five little seeds are waiting to grow. (wiggle five fingers under one hand)

Out comes the sun, (make a circle with your arms above your head)

Down comes a shower, (raise arms and lower moving fingers)

Up come three pretty pink flowers! (hold up three fingers)

Out comes the sun, (make a circle with your arms above your head)

Which every plant needs,

and up come two silly old weeds! (hold up two fingers)

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall as a tree.

"But green is the color of spring, and green can be cool and friendly-like,

And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain, or tall as a tree."

-Kermit the Frog, It's Not Easy Being Green-

It is officially - though it may not feel like it! - the first day of spring! Hoorah! There is hope for green grass and flowers and sunshine! To celebrate, my partner-in-crime at the library put together a fantastic display of GREEEEEEEN picture books, which just happens to be my favorite color. Here is a quick list of some of the books on display plus a few other favorites. Happy spring, everyone!

A Leaf Can Be... by Laura Purdie Salas