Book of the Week GIVEAWAY: Just One Quiet Pine Tree by Chris Butterworth
Why we love this book:
In honor of April as Earth Month and Arbor Day this Friday, we’re celebrating our earth. Something we actually like to do all year long. Just One Quiet Pine Tree is a ” Nature Map Book” that unfolds to highlight how different animals use the tree from the tip-top branches all the way down to its roots.
“Just one quiet pine tree, that’s what you can see. But come closer . . .” Each page of this small square book unfolds into a large diamond illustration made of collage and paint, showing the importance of each part of the tree from providing shelter to food. Children are immediately thrilled with the surprise of the unfolding pages and the hidden animals.
Earth Month Projects
Ms. Trisha’s Preschool Class
Project: Earth Collage
Supplies:
- book – The Earth Is Good by Michael De Munn
- paper plate or circle card stock
- markers: greens, blues and browns
- construction paper scraps: greens, blues and browns
- glue
- sentence strips
Steps:
- Read aloud The Earth Is Good with the repetitive chant, “The earth is good. The trees are good. The mouse, the worm, the soil are good. . . .”
- Talk about the colors of the earth: greens, blues and browns
- Collage earth
- Let each child complete their own sentence about the earth . . .
Pups are good.
I am good.
Project: Earth Suncathers
Supplies:
- crayon shavings: greens, blues and browns
- wax paper
- iron
- round lid for tracing (these are about 4 inches in diameter)
- scissors
- hole punch
- string
Steps:
- scatter crayon shavings on wax paper
- cover with another sheet of wax paper
- iron until melted and let cool
- trace lid and cut out earth
- punch hole and tie with ribbon
- hang in a sunny window
Project: Arbor Day Trees
Supplies:
- Book: Just One Quiet Pine Tree by Chris Butterworth
- brown paper bags and green paper
- markers
- scissors
- glue
Steps:
- Read aloud Just One Quiet Pine Tree
- brainstorm animals that live-in and use trees
- cut tree trunks and branches from brown paper bags, cut-out green tree tops and leaves, glue together to create a tree
- draw animals in the trees
Snakes need trees.
Bugs and birds and squirrels need trees.
En Plein Air Painting: Step-by-step directions for how to draw a tree. (preschool – grade 3)
Print the FREE Song: The Green Grass Grew All Around and Around
Book: Tweedle Dee Dee by Charlotte Voake
En Plein Air Collage Art: Step by step directions for creating a backyard collage. (preschool – grade 2)
Book: Peek! A Thai Hide-and-Seek by Minfong Ho
More En Plein Air – Outdoor Art Ideas this Week!
We’re GIVING AWAY one hardcover copy of Just One Quiet Pine Tree by Chris Butterworth.
To enter this contest, just answer the following question in the comments section of this post.
How do you and your children celebrate the earth all year long? (Or just say “Hey.” We’re flexible around here.)
The Rules:
One entry per person, please.
No entries after 8:00 pm Central Time, Thursday, April 26, 2012
The winner must be a resident of The United States.
The winner will be selected at random and announced Friday, April 27, 2012. Check back to claim your prize. It might be you!
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We care for the gardens around our school and feed the birds.
Great books and projects for young learners. I think the best way to celebrate Earth is to spend a lot of time outside in nature.
We recycle and use reusable bags for shopping.
We celebrate the earth all year long by trying to follow the three principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle and by appreciating the glory of nature in both its tiny and immense aspects.
We also try to be thoughtful about what it really means to be “green” and to not merely accept everything that markets itself as “green” as truly good for the earth and its inhabitants. For example, wind turbines are a good and clean source of energy in some environments, but in other conditions, they are not suitable and just lead to waste. We want our children to grow up to be able to think critically about these important issues because being “environmentally-friendly” and “green” have become such buzz-words and such big marketing slogans, but they are not always trustworthy and are often misused.
But our kids are still young, so mostly we just focus on having fun outside and taking care of the beautiful places where we go so that others who follow can enjoy them as we did.
we have a garden that we care for using compost and use vegetables from the garden.
We never litter and we always pick up litter when we see it thrown down on the ground.
I think the best way we celebrate Earth is by getting outside and exploring nature. This teaches the children to appreciate everything the natural world provides. Then I just have to mention how this or that helps to keep nature beautiful and they are on board 100%.
We “celebrate earth” by making sure that our children know where everything that we enjoy came from. Our God is mighty and awesome, and I want to instill in our boys a love for Him by bringing everything nature-related back to God!
We keep Nature Journals all year long to record our observations, findings, curiosities etc.
We plant flowers and herbs in the spring. We do a lot of nature crafts.