Okay, according to this chart, Spring began on March 20th, 2011... Although It certainly doesn't feel like Spring where I live! So this means Mud season has officially began. Try out these "mud" related activities and treats with your children.Year: Spring begins on ...
2009: March 20
2010: March 20
2011: March 20
2012: March 20
2013: March 20
The Magpie's Nest
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/bird-day/short-stories/the-magpies-nest.html
by Joseph Jacobs
All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach them how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all at building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show them how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of round cake with it.
"Oh, that's how it's done!" said the thrush, and away it flew - and so that's how thrushes build their nests.
Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud.
"Now I know all about it!" said the blackbird, and off it flew - and that's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day.
Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs.
"Oh, that 's quite obvious!" said the wise owl, and away it flew - and owls have never made better nests since.
After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside.
"The very thing!" said the sparrow, and off he went - so sparrows make rather slovenly nests to this day.
Well, then Madge magpie took some feathers and stuff, and lined the nest very comfortably with it.
"That suits me!" cried the starling, and off it flew - and very comfortable nests have starlings.
So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build nests, but none of them waiting to the end.
Meanwhile Madge magpie went on working and working without looking up, till the only bird that remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all along, but only kept on saying its silly cry, "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"
At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across, so she said, "One's enough."
But the turtle-dove kept on saying, "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"
Then the magpie got angry and said, "One's enough, I tell you!"
Still the turtle-dove cried, "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o!"
At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but the silly turtle-dove, and then she got rarely angry and flew away and refused to tell the birds how to build nests again.
And that is why different birds build their nests differently.
Graphing Mud Pies
http://kindernature.storycounty.com/display.aspx?DocID=2005420125
Read the story Mud Pies by Judith Grey. Have the children list their favorite pie. Make paper circles. Cut each into 6 or 8 pieces. Give each child a piece of pie and have them color it. Create a graph of favorite pies.
Using fabric or large sheet of paper, make a grid large enough to accommodate the pie shapes.
As a follow up, have the children create their own mud pies. To make a soft batch of mud, mix garden soil with water in a bucket. Provide each child with a small foil cupcake liner. Fill each cupcake liner with mud and let it dry over the next week. Spray with acrylic and use as a paperweight.
Worms help us Sung To: "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
The worms are mixing up the soil,
Up the soil, up the soil.
The worms are mixing up the soil
So we can plant our seeds.
The soil is loose and all mixed up,
All mixed up, all mixed up.
The soil is loose and all mixed up,
The seeds are growing well.
I Love Mud
http://www.kidslist.uc.edu/gs/neil/nsong2_002.html
Chorus:
Mud, mud, I love mud.
I'm absolutely, positively, wild about mud!
I can't go around it, I've gotta go through it.
Beautiful, fabulous, super-duper mud!
Big Teddy White, his clothes were mighty clean.
Went swimming in a pool of mud, he made quite a scene.
He started with the backstroke, followed by the crawl.
You should have seen him swimming when he heard his father call!
Julianna Root, in shiny yellow boots,
Saw a pool of mud that she wanted to go through.
She only took two steps, then she disappeared.
Nobody has seen her for twenty-five years!
Mud, Mud, Mud Is Fun
http://kindernature.storycounty.com/display.aspx?DocID=20054191149
(To the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Mud, mud, mud is fun
Watch us stir it up
Round and round and round and round
Mud is fun to make.
Mud, mud, mud is fun
Listen to it squish
Through our fingers, round our toes
Squish is how it goes.
A Song For Making Mud Pie
(To the tune of Sing a Song of Sixpence)
Sing a song for mud pie,
It’s my favorite brand.
Mix it ‘til it’s mushy,
Squeeze it with your hand,
Put it in a tin pan,
Leave it in the sun.
Wait about an hour,
Then you know it will be done!
Oreo Sand & Dirt Cups
Digging for worms with a spoon??? No problem, because these worms are gummies buried in pudding and cookie crumb dirt. Yum!
•2 cups cold milk
•1 package (4-serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
•1 tub (8 ounces) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
•15 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, finely crushed, divided
•10 paper or plastic cups (6 to 7 ounces) or dessert dishes
•10 worm-shaped chewy fruit snacks
Prepare 1 package each (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding and JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding separately, with 2 cups each cold milk, as directed on packages. Let stand 5 minutes.
Gently stir 1/2 cup of Cool Whip Whipped Topping into each bowl of pudding. Finely crush 20 Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon into bottom of 8 (6-ounce) dessert cups. Top each with 1/4 cup vanilla pudding, 1 tablespoon cookie crumbs and 1/4 cup chocolate pudding. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cookie crumbs. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.
Insert 2 gummy worms into each dessert cup just before serving. Makes 8 Oreo Sand and Dirt Cups.
