March 19 - March 26, 2001

Creativity basket tips for the week:  
Color samples.
Try our pattern for  tic-tac-toe.

I have always loved to play scrabble, and I learned at an early age to look for (and remember) interesting words that use the letters assigned high point values -- Q, J, X, and Z.  Creating this month's garden alphabet has been an especially enjoyable puzzle for me and I was delighted each time I remembered, discovered or (often) had Mom (Corinne in Teacher Tips -->) suggest a flower that began with a challenging letter. 

Though I tried to stick to flowers we can find in flower shops or ordinary gardening books, for certain letters (notably, "u" and "x"), I included flowers that are unfamiliar to many adults!  It is wonderful that we can learn something new while working with our children.  After this month's alphabet exploration, I'm sure our children will have greater flower fluency than many adults!  

To help your children build on their new garden vocabulary, try some follow-up tips from my kitchen table to yours:

1.  Treat yourself to one special gift -- a small bunch of flowers, a living plant or silk flowers.  Whatever you prefer, select something to celebrate the time you are taking to share learning with your children.

Get a little extra educational value from your flowers by showing them to your child.  

Point out the flower petals, any buds, the stem and leaves.  

Let your child feel and describe the stem or leaves.  (Smooth, shiny, soft, firm, squishy.)  Match the petal colors to a crayon.

2.  Visit any nearby store that sells seeds.  Spend some time looking at the seed packages.  Read the names of the flowers, point to each package as you read it.  Try to find seeds for some flowers you discussed in Butterfly School.  (Possible stores:  hardware stores, department stores with garden centers, nurseries.)  You might select one packet to grow at home -- beans grow easily & quickly.  Marigolds are usually successful for beginners.

3.  When you have the chance, stop to notice the flowers around you:  in magazines, in paintings, on restaurant tables, in building lobbies or on people's desks.

If you know the flower's name, tell your child. 

Count the petals.

Describe the flowers.

4.  If you can, invest in a well illustrated guide to the flowers that grow in your area.  I prefer guides with photographs.  Let your child select a flower that he likes and read about it.  Even a very young child can point to colorful flowers and will enjoy identifying the color of the flower!  

Enjoy checking the book after you have found a pretty flower in a picture or a park.  It is a fun resource you can share with a child of any age, and it will expand your vocabulary too!

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You are ready for the Activity Sheets now; you can print them from here (Get Sheets), or go back to the Butterfly School home page.

From Butterfly Central,

-- Jessica Steigerwald

For more great ideas, check out the activities at our site www.shininghours.com.  

Explore Colors!

Teacher Tips
from Corinne Steigerwald

It is exciting to introduce your child to colors.  At first, children recognize the basic primary colors:  red, yellow and blue.  They learn to identify black and white, and eventually green, orange, purple, brown and gray.  Mouse Paint, by Ellen Stoll Walsh (Red Wagon Books, Harcourt Brace & Company) $6.00 is a great basic book.

As the rods and cones in a child's eyes develop, he will be able to discern more colors and light and dark shades of the same color.  You can help your child broaden their color experiences by identifying light and dark shades of a color, eventually adding "medium."

Flowers are a wonderful way to explore and introduce these colors.  As you look at gardens or garden catalogs, point out the many colors you see.

Other great color resources:

1.  paint sample cards (but don't chew them!)

2.  crayons -- take turns selecting crayons and read the interesting names on their labels!

3.  watercolors or other water-based paints.  It is wonderful to demonstrate paint mixing with your child.  She will love watching the color magic as you mix red and blue to create purple.

Questions for Corinne: corinne@shininghours.com

Coordinated resources:

1.  paper roses  
   

2. daisies & asters
   

3. bluebells