Earth Month Part 2

For our second activity for Earth Month I decided to show Ryan what the Earth actual was. So we sat down and watched a few youtube videos and I showed him a few pictures. I'm sure he still doesn't fully understand what the Earth is but over time I sure he will. We did this activity the same day we made the flower, except I had planned this one to be an outside activity. Sadly Mother Nature had other plans. Usually around this time of year we are outside sweating like crazy cause it is so hot. But not this day. This day it poured so we went to the garage opened up the door to listen to the rain and get as much "we are outside" feeling as we possibly could.

The set up for this activity was rather simple. Last year I had bought a plastic shower curtain from Dollar Tree to use for an indoor winter activity but we never got around to it. So now we use it as a drop cloth for our more messier activities.

For this activity you will need a drop cloth, unless you don't mind getting paint on the floor or you have washable paint, blue, green, and white paint, something to put the paint in, sponge water balls, and of course a large circle to represent the moon.

If you've never made sponge water balls before it is rather simple. Buy some really cheap sponges, I got mine for Dollar Tree, cut them in four or five stripes long ways. You can layer them as one color for each ball or make them different colors like I did. Get some string and lay it down, next layer four strips on top of the string, then layer another four on top of those strips. Take both ends of your sting and tie them around the sponges, pull really tight. Make a knot and you have yourself a reusable sponge ball. These are great for replacing water balloons, and there is no tiny bits of balloon to pick up at the end of the day.

The whole idea for this craft was to throw the paint filled sponge balls at the paper. But Ryan didn't really care for the throwing part. He did it a few times then gave up. In the end he decided that his hands did a much better job. And I have to agree with him. I also love that he decided to take this craft and make it his own. After a while he ended up with blue hands so I usually keep a bowl of water and an old towel on the side so he can wash up when he needs too.

Over time he even started to use the sponges again. But instead of tossing he decided to use them as sponges. I'd have to say this kept him busy for a majority of the morning. In fact we lost track of time that we completely forgot about going in for lunch. Which I really don't see as a problem because this activity was so darn fun. I also plan to incorporate it into as many lessons as I can, cause come on who doesn't love to get messy.

 

This is one craft I am super proud of. He did it all by himself with hardly any instructions from me. His Earth, along with his flower, are proudly hung up in our living room for all to see. Every time I walk past it I can't help but smile.