Farm & Family
Exploring Nature with Kids: Fall Wildflowers
We love to study wildflowers, especially local varieties. Over the past few years, we’ve slowly learned to identify several common wildflowers from each season. It’s so fun to be driving along, and hear one of the boys exclaim “I see some chicory!” Or “Look at the yellow rocket!”
This Year’s Garden Experiment: A Headless Chicken & The Great Guinea Massacre
Warning: The following tale is not for the faint of heart. As you might have guessed from the title, it involves murdered birds and decapitated chickens. Blood and guts. Feathers and more feathers.
Exploring Nature with Kids: Fall Leaves
Today I’m sharing three simple ways to get outside and enjoy the fall leaves…with kids. Fall is such a perfect time to head outdoors with—or without—the kids. It’s my favorite time of the year for family nature walks! The temperatures are just right and the leaves are starting to put on a pretty amazing display. And those brightly…
Changing of the Guards: Our Rotating Book Display
Well, it’s a new month and almost a new season. We’ve also got a birthday in a few days. [Older Brother will be 7–I can hardly believe it!] At the Yankee Homestead, all of this adds up to: A New Book Display. Several new book displays, actually.
Year Round Nature Activity for Kids: Raising Butterflies
Raising butterflies is a perfect nature activity for young children–it’s fairly easy to do, and gives everyone a firsthand look at a butterfly’s life cycle. Reading excellent books on the topic makes the experience even more delightful. Want to give it a shot? Read on for our favorite butterfly-raising resources.
Free Printable Activity: Last Days of Summer
Last Days of Summer It’s hard to believe that fall is just around the corner. Summer is still with us for a few more weeks, though, and what better way to enjoy these final days of the season than with this fun (and free!) printable activity from Harmony Art Mom, over at Handbook of Nature…
This Year’s Garden Experiments: Organic Bug Control
If you’ve been following along with our Garden Experiments, you may know that we’ve experienced a few mishaps along the way. Recently, I showed our abundant green bean harvest, so you may also know that we’ve experienced some success as well. The first major Garden Experiment was the implementation of a new method: Square Foot Gardening. You can…
Nature Activity for Kids: Butterfly Identification
As you may know by now, we’re crazy about nature here at the Yankee Homestead. [By the way, if you’re a parent or teacher, or have any interaction or influence with children, I highly recommend this book: Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. It’s fantastic–both inspirational and practical. Read my…
2 Favorite Folk Singers and 1 Fantastic Venue {Part Two}
Did you catch this post: 2 Favorite Folk Singers and 1 Fantastic Venue {Part One}? If there are any children in your life, I highly recommend the two musicians–and their CD’s–discussed in that post. This part is for the locals, or for visitors to our nation’s capital… Do you live in or near Northern Virginia (outside…
2 Favorite Folk Singers and 1 Fantastic Venue {Part One}
Our family has a slight obsession with good folk music. I love these words from Ruth Crawford Seeger, in her wonderfully helpful book American Folksongs For Children: Many of us open a savings account at the bank when a child is born, and add layer after layer of small deposits which he can later draw…