Mullein
Part of Nature For Kids is practicing plant recognition. To start off I thought I’d introduce mullein.
Mullein leaf is the teddy bear of wild plants. It’s not dangerous to animals or humans and its soft and cuddly leaves make it fun to inspect.
Mullein, also known as rabbit ears, has a variety of uses. Native Americans were known to use it as bandages and I’ve read that later early colonists used mullein as padding on the inside of their shoes. It’s also a great alternative to toilet paper.
Mullein has also been known to be a remedy for skin, throat and breathing ailments. At the Mother Hood I found eardrops containing mullein that help clear up the onset of earaches.
See if you and your kids can find mullein when you’re out on your next adventure.
It has a stalk of yellow flowers that shoots out of the center during its blossoming time. It’s common throughout the entire U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. Share it’s uses with your kids so they can know more about it.
If there are any other plants you’d like to learn about or share leave a comment below at Nature For Kids.
nature, kids, plants, wild plants, native americans, adventure
Where Food Comes From
Day in and day out my kids come to the dinner table and are fortunate enough to have full plates and eventually tummies. At times I get frustrated that they aren’t more grateful. They seem to think the food will just appear, just as the sun rises. I constantly find myself urging them to eat all their food, similar to Ralphie’s little brother from A Christmas Story… “Show me how the piggies eat”
I don’t believe kids can actually appreciate what they have, whether it be a motorized scooter or a chicken taco, unless they gain knowledge about it, or even work for it. I decided to give my kids a hands-on experience with the food they eat and share it with Nature For Kids.
We recently took a trip to Idaho and on our way passed bold green fields of potatoes, sugar beets, corn, wheat and alfalfa. My kids had the opportunity to learn where food comes from and how exactly it grows. Their grandpa is a farmer of over 500 acres in south-central Idaho!
When they dug up the potato plants their eyes widened as they counted the golf ball sized potatoes, each plant having 12 or more.
Their grandpa explained that the potato plant grows from seed potato. It’s a very healthy potato cut in half and placed in the ground and then covered with dirt. He then pointed out the rows and rows of sprinkler pipe that keep the fields irrigated.
In the Fall I hope we can make another trip to show them the harvest process. They will surely be surprised to see how their golf ball sized potatoes have grown to become truckloads of large spuds filling huge potato cellars to the ceiling.
Later that same day, the kids helped plant corn in grandpa and grandma’s garden. Ideally I’d like them to be there to water and weed the corn and then a couple months later taste the fruits of their labor right off the cob.
Fortunately we’ve planted strawberries and a cherry tree at our house that they take care of willingly. Mostly because each time they water and weed there’s always a red juicy sweet treat to reward them!
For a family dinner, before we left Idaho, we cooked up loads and loads of french-fries from potatoes grown the previous year. The kids seemed pretty impressed with the results. Hopefully our dinner table conversation won’t be plagued with lecturing and persuasion any longer. Yeah right! I think their experience of learning where food comes from will help take the edge off though.
Everyone Needs To Read This!
I came across this interesting quote by way of Farm Aid, “Young farmers are becoming a rare breed: only six percent of American farmers are younger than 35, while the majority of today’s farmers are between the ages of 45 and 65.* Introducing children to farming and gardening at a young age may inspire a new generation of family farmers that will strengthen American agriculture and protect your food choices.” *United States Department of Agriculture, 2002.
ACTIVITIES -These are some really fun and educational food activities that you can do with your kids.
Where Food Comes From:
Here’s a fun idea I got from Kids and Cooking. After grocery shopping take your food and lay it out on the table. Have your kids read each label on the food products to find out where they came from. Then go to a world map and find the location of where your food came from. It’s a fun way to educate kids.
Fake vs. Real:
I came across this activity at USA Today. Ask your kids what they think cave men ate. Their response will probably be something like nuts, berries or meat. Explain to them that these types of foods are “real foods”. Then point out some “fake foods” or foods that cave men didn’t have like fruit snacks, cheetos, or jello.
*picture from USA Today
They’ll probably catch on pretty quick. Explaining that real foods have more nutritional value than fake ones can help your kids make better food choices. You take this activity further by having them keep a journal of what they’ve eaten in the past three days and then circlce the foods that are “fake”. This can help your kids and you as a parent realize where you’re getting your nutrition!
Pick Your Own:
Picking your own veggies or fruit is fun and rewarding. Check out the blueberry picking post submitted by Becca Renfroe of Northwest Arkansas. Have your kids decide what they want to pick and then go to pickyourown.org to find a farm near you.
Plant Your Own:
Planting a garden would always be ideal but if you’re lacking the space for a full-on garden consider follwoing these step by step instructions for container gardening. Making your own pop bottle terrarium is also a space saver. Planting chives inside it is a great way to add flavor to your kids’ day and your baked potato!
Besides teaching kids where food comes from, do you have any other ideas on how to get them to appreciate healthy food more? Leave a comment here at Nature For Kids.
gardening, farming, food, plants, healthy kids
Pop Bottle Terrarium
I did this activity a couple weeks ago with the scouts I work with in our area. It was so fun that when I got home my kids wanted to do it. I thought I’d share it here at Nature For Kids.
A pop bottle terrarium is like a small garden that you never have to water. The water cycles through the soil, plant and air. The plant soaks up the water where it is then released through its leaves. It then condenses, forming droplets on the pop bottle wall. Then it drips back down into the soil and is reused by the plant.
What a great opportunity to teach your kids about the water cycle!
Here is a short video I made with my kids to show you how to make your own pop bottle terrarium.
After making our pop bottle terrariums we took a two week trip to visit grandparents. The first thing my son did when we arrived home was check on the progress his plants had made inside the terrarium. He was so excited to see that several little stems with healthy leaves awaited him.
Filed under Crafts For Kids, Water, education | Comment (1)Flower Child
Our first rose of the season has bloomed and thankfully it will be the first of many!
Here’s my little flower child Ava. Can you smell them? So Yummy!
Send in your best flower child shot and I’ll put your name in a drawing for a free Nature For Kids logo sticker and feature the pictures on this blog! Send photos to shawna@natureforkids.net. Flower child picture submissions end July 31, 2008.
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