Showing posts with label Around the Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Around the Home. Show all posts

2023/01/22

Did You Ever Find a Special Rock?


The first rock in my rock collection was a gift from my grandmother. It had a small black crystal sticking out from the mostly light brown rock. I've wondered about that crystal forever. Did you ever find a special rock?

After my crystal rock, I found rocks of different colors and shapes on my own. The easiest rocks to find were in my garden, or on the way to parks in my neighborhood. When I went to the school library, I checked out a book about rocks. Later, I bought a laminated, fold-out guide to basic rocks to carry with me. Oceans and rivers have smooth rocks. Mountains, deserts, and valleys have all kinds of rocks.

Rocks are one or more minerals in many different combinations. As a rock collector, I learned that only twelve minerals make up most rocks. There are three main kinds of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous. An important fact to know about rocks is how they were made. Every rock has a story. Sometimes how one finds a rock is also a story.

To learn more, check out one of the many books about rocks at your library.

To show how big a rock is, put a penny nearby.
copyright 2023 Linnea Heaney

Here is a book title to take to the library and start your rock explorations:

ALL ABOUT ROCKS: Discovering the World Beneath Your Feet by Alessandra Potenza, illustrated by Gary Lacoste (2021, Scholastic).


2018/01/28

Bubbles Everywhere

Bubbles Everywhere

Did you know that the sound of waves crashing onto the land is the sound of bubbles crashing? Take a road journey to a beach on an ocean. See the color of the water, and the color of the waves. Walk along the water and wiggle your toes in the bubbles as the tide comes in. Feel softness. Listen. Smell the air. If the salty ocean is too far, consider a water park trip when the temperatures warm. For now, think about garden water features that bubble up. Can you find a water feature in your town?


Your Own Bubble Liquid
   Dishwashing detergent
   Water
Gently add about 1/2 cup water into about 1 cup of dishwashing detergent. Find an old or new wand, or have an older person help you make a wand out of wire. Slide wand in and out of a pie pan filled with your bubble making liquid. Blow bubbles outside, at a nearby park, or playground.

Draw a bubble picture with you inside. Write words describing your journey with bubbles. Can you make up a story with bubbles in it?


2016/09/30

Collecting Fall

Go on a walk in a city park or neighborhood trail and collect as many different kinds of leaves as you can find. Identify the trees, press leaves in an old catalog, and/or make a leaf rubbing. Decorate with nature's art!

See Highlights Online for rubbing directions and other activities:

www.highlights.com


2015/06/30

2014/12/22

Roll a Book

Many years ago, I took an art class taught by Jacques Rupp, best known as a layout artist for Walt Disney's LADY AND THE TRAMP. This You Tube clip allows us to hear about the "perfect recipe" found in making Disney’s DUMBO. The drawing lessons I learned from Mr. Rupp are always with me.

 
Pencil Journey
Cut a strip of paper. Draw a story in a few cartoon squares (frames) on the paper with your own story and characters. Make sure to add a few words with your cartoon drawings. Roll it up, like in this DUMBO You Tube clip, and you have a “Roll a Book.” For a quick design, glue a pencil at the beginning of the rolled paper and another pencil at the end. These fun stories are for you enjoy and share.
 

2014/02/14

Journey into the Past

Students, parents, and teachers wanting to learn about American history through all kinds of activities and books can visit the Our White House website from The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance.


OUR WHITE HOUSE

Road trip guides are on the website, too!
FAMILY FIELD GUIDE

More info:
THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BOOK AND LITERACY ALLIANCE
  

2013/10/31

A Halloween Reading


CAUTION—
this scary reading by Benjamin Percy is for those not going to bed right now:
https://www.graywolfpress.org/blogs/most-terrifying-story-youll-ever-hear

Night-night.

GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd. 

 

2012/12/12

CLOUD KEY



How Do We Get There?
copyright 2008 Linnea Heaney
Click label on each post to see archive.


Around the Home: activities for fun 

Book Questions: interesting questions

Book Journey: books to read 

Linnea's Stories: about Linnea’s stories

Pencil Journey: art and writing activities 

Picture Book Shelf: picture books to read aloud 

Road Journey: on the road ideas 

Trail Journey: on the trail ideas


Linnea's Website 
http://www.linneaheaney.com/

Linnea's Illuminated Notes 

Linnea's Illustrated Stories 



2012/02/13

Rust’s Favorite Teen Burger

To make a Teen Burger:

Help a parent or grandparent to get these ingredients ready. The burger can be pan-fried or grilled outside. Cook the beef and bacon well, melt on the cheese, put together in a sesame seed bun, and have fun!

A ground beef patty grilled
Salt and pepper to taste
1 slice American cheese
2 slices cooked bacon
1 hamburger bun with sesame seeds
Mix a little mayo & barbecue sauce to put on the burger
1/3 cup chopped iceberg lettuce
1 slice tomato
3 slices pickles


2011/09/08