Play, Create, and Learn
Painting with Mud
Mud painting easily combines sensory play, art making, and exploring the natural world. Use our simple mud paint recipe for hours of backyard fun in any season.
Making Nature Mobiles: Our Kind of Bat Mobile
From modern art museums to nurseries, people of all ages love mobiles. Nature mobiles offer a creative way to showcase items brought back from your latest nature walk, and they make for some pretty fun DIY seasonal decor ideas too! Check out my new Halloween favorite, the Bat Mobile, here!
Recipes for Edible Slime: The Marshmallow vs. Jello Test
Looking for a fun but simple project that will shift the whole family’s attention outside? Make some classic milk carton bird feeders together. Sometimes our favorite crafts are oldies but goodies for a reason!
STEAM Spider Crafts for Preschool
Invite children to play with art and nature with these simple project ideas inspired by our favorite creepy crawlers. Plus nature walk and story book extensions, of course!
Nature Scavenger Hunts for Kids
Nature scavenger hunts for kids are an easy way to get your family outside and enjoying nature wherever you are. Scavenger hunts are one of my favorite activities to plan, and have been for a long long time. At its core, a scavenger hunt is simply a game in which the...
Paper Airplane Birds: Using Art and Science to Understand How Birds Fly
Do you have a budding birder like us? JJ has been obsessed with Peregrine Falcons lately, and he asked to make one at home. We decided to blend an art project with a little STEAM experiment in which we learned about the four different wing shapes through paper airplanes. And then we added the feathers and googly eyes! Click here to see how you can make your very own paper airplane birds, and to check out some cool videos about birds in flight!
Camping Crafts for Kids: DIY Lanterns (aka Night Lights!)
Before going on a trip, we like to do some projects to get the boys excited about where we’re going. This DIY Lantern Project is simple, uses recycled materials, and best of all, doubles as a nightlight for the kiddos.
Meet Goldo: JJ’s Foil Art Souvenir
After visiting Hakone Gardens, JJ really wanted something to remind him of his favorite fish in the koi pond. We decided to make our own, using tin foil and permanent markers to bring some shine to this souvenir.
“How Does Ice Work?”
JJ asked to learn how ice works, so we made up a fun story in which the boys had to save their PJ Mask friends from the Big Freeze. Learn how to set up your own ice experiments at home with a few simple steps.
Painted Walking Sticks
In our recent interview about rattlesnake safety with Genie Moore, walking sticks kept emerging as useful advice for careful stepping. John has long been in the habit of picking up a good walking stick on a hike, but given this renewed perspective, I thought it might...