Planting Party: Meeting Fourteen

Our Planting Party was quite the endeavor.  The goal was to get 5 six year-olds and 3 seven year-olds to plant a 11x14 foot garden without trampling anything.  That led to me down the rabbit hole until I decided I needed to give them each one-on-one attention while they were planting.  Thankfully, that morphed into the slightly more reasonable, if still elaborate schedule you see below.

We had two additional moms helping that day as well as my  next door neighbor, a Girl Scout Junior, and my husband on the grill.  I had one mom doing the rabbit garden and garden game and the other mom and the Junior Girl Scout manning the craft table.  I was in the big garden covered with dirt the entire time while my co-leader kept time and moved from station to station making sure everything ran smoothly.  Incredibly, it did.


Daisy Scout Meeting Fourteen
Planting Party!
First Week in May

Goals and Badges:

At the beginning of the meeting, we finished up the Honey Bee Award and had a simple ceremony to give it out.  We learned another song for the end of the year show and added Honey the Honey Bee and Clover from "Using Resources Wisely" to our garden posters.  Then we planted our Vegetable Garden for our Amazing Daisy Award and made Mother's Day gifts.

Patch set with Honey Bee and Amazing Daisy Awards.

*******

Arrival - 4:05            Honey bee craft
               4:05-4:15    Circle: Promise, Songs, Hello in Dutch and Persian
               4:15-4:25    Honey bee Song
               4:25-4:30   Honey bee Ceremony

               4:30-4:50   Dinner

                                        Group A                 Group B                       Group C              Group  D    
              4:50-5:10    Plant in garden   Rabbit garden          Crafts                  Crafts
              5:10-5:30    Rabbit garden     Plant in garden        Crafts                  Crafts

              5:30-5:40   Break for drink and cleaning up
    
              5:40-6:00   Crafts                Crafts                          Plant in garden   Rabbit garden
              6:00-6:20   Crafts                Crafts                          Rabbit garden     Plant in garden

              6:20-home   Ice Cream and closing


Crafts
1. Clover in Garden
2. Paint Suncatchers
3. Decorate Boxes

*******

Email I sent out about the Planting Party:

Friday’s meeting is going to be a big undertaking.  Here are somethings to help it run smoothly:

1. Drop off your daughter at 4 at the front door (we’ll be starting the meeting upstairs) and pick them up in the backyard at 6:30.
2. I’m planning on A___ and J____’s help. Anyone else planning on staying, let me know (so I can make sure you have a job ).
3. Dress- Bring their vest, we’ll be giving out honey bees in the first part of the meeting, but otherwise dress in old clothes that can get dirty. I recommend old jeans, because they protect your knees in the dirt. If they want to wear shorts warn them their knees will get dirty. I also strongly recommend crocks if they have them, but otherwise just make sure whatever they have can get muddy.
4. Bring an extra set of clothes in case they get really dirty and wet.
5. Bring kids gardening gloves if you have them (I have three pairs, I really only need one more).
6. Please bring the food item you signed up for.  If your kid doesn't like what’s on the list, feel free to have them bring something they will eat.

7. Please bring a box the size of a large shoe box.

8. Also bring the “Using Resources Wisely" Worksheet, but they don’t need their journey book.

Gathering

For the gathering we had the girls' Garden Posters set out for them to add Honey the Honey Bee.   I laid out an example and the supplies and the girls were able to make them without further instruction.

My Honey the Honey Bee

Supplies for Honey

1. Yellow pom-poms

2. Black pom-poms (ours were sparkly) 

3.  Black pipe-cleaners cut to 2.5 inch lengths

4.  Googly eyes

5.  Wings cut from white cardstock

6.  Black and gray sharpies

7.  Elmer's type glue

One of the girl's Honey

For the girls who finished too quickly, I had red sequins and black sharpies to make ladybugs.

Poster with red sequin ladybugs

Daisy Circle

We gathered the girls around the Daisy Circle and recited the Girl Scout Promise, then sang several of the songs we had learned over the year.  After they had settled a bit, we (as per the handbook) said hello in Dutch and Persian.  These languages are supposed to represent the countries Tula the Tulip originate from.  I like to use Omniglot on my iPad to model for the girls so I don't butcher the pronunciation.  Also it's more fun.  The girls found it very funny how not different the Dutch "Hallo" is.

Dutch

Persian

After, we went over what the rest of the afternoon's schedule and broke the girls into pairs.  My co-leader and I spent a good amount of time prior to the meeting choosing the groups.  We wanted the pairs to get along, but we also wanted the girls to be with buddies they wouldn't normally choose to foster friendships outside their comfort zone.    

Honey Bee Ceremony

For the Honey Bee Award ceremony we put on "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and had the kids pretend to be bees flying about.  Then we called them over one by one so I could Badge Magic the bee onto their garden patch.

We didn't have a cd of "Flight of the Bumble Bee" and didn't want to spend $0.99 on it on iTunes so we used a YouTube site like this one:

YouTube "Flight on the Bumble Bee"

Baby Bumble Bee Song

After the ceremony, my co-leader ran off the join my husband and the other moms to get dinner ready while I took the girls out back where there were plenty of dandelions to pick.  I don't know about you, but when I was a girl we always sang "Baby Bumblebee" with a freshly plucked dandelion.   

Now, I know this song doesn't exactly embody the nature loving ideals we're trying to impart, but its catchy, fun, and quickly became the girls' favorite.  Also, I've noticed that most of the Girl Scout Camp Songs are at least this morbid, so... Yeah.  

If you don't know this song from childhood, in the first verse the girls hold the flower in their cupped palms.  In the second, she smushes it violently between two hands.  In the third, she pretends to lick it up.  In the fourth, she clutches her stomach and pretends to vomit (everyone's favorite part).  And in the fifth, they sweep it up.  When we do this my daughter always points out that is the only verse where mommy would actually be proud.

Teaching the girls the "Baby Bumble Bee" Song

Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee 

I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee
Won't my Mommy be so proud of me
I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee -
OUCH!! It stung me!!

I'm squishin' up my baby bumble bee
Won't my Mommy be so proud of me
I'm squishin' up my baby bumble bee -
EW!! What a mess!!

I'm lickin' up my baby bumble bee
Won't my Mommy be so proud of me
I'm lickin' up my baby bumble bee -
ICK!! I feel sick!!

I'm throwin' up my baby bumble bee
Won't my Mommy be so proud of me
I'm throwin' up my baby bumble bee -
OH!! Another mess!!

I'm Cleanin' up my baby bumble bee
Won't my Mommy be so proud of me
I'm cleanin' up my baby bumble bee -
Bye-Bye baby bumble bee!!



Dinner

We had a sign-up for dinner items on shutterfly.  If I remember correctly we had hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, watermelon, chips, and lemonade.   This is pretty standard fare for us.   All our girls eat hot dogs.   We had ice cream sandwiches as a carrot for being good at the end of the meeting. 


Planting in The Big Garden

I planted the big garden with the girls.   I had measured everything out and put popsicle sticks where each vegetable would be planted earlier in the day.  This may seem like overkill but I've learned to make a "garden map" for all my vegetable gardens, the only difference for this one was that I had it laminated and drew in the veggies because most of the girls couldn't read yet.

Map

I divided the map into four strips so each girl got to plant different types of plants.  We added pea and bean seeds to the ones we had planted two weeks prior since you can plant a lot of those close together and they grow fast.  The carrots were also planted from seeds.  Once the plants were in the ground I had peat moss for the girls to sprinkle on the. Then they look turns watering.

The first planters.  Peat moss in the pink bucket.

Popsicle sticks marked where to plant

Tomato plants are in the  back since they get huge.

Next group of girls with the hose.  (No we don't plant organic. 
 I'm addicted to Miracle grow).

Rabbit Garden and Game

A rabbit garden, for those of you who don't know, is a garden that's not protected by a fence or anything else and is expressly planted so that the rabbits and other critters can eat their fill.  Hopefully, this means they'll leave your main garden alone.  It's a very eco-friendly version of pest control.  Unfortunately, it's no match for a really good fence, but its a nice idea.  Ours is out by the edge of the woods, far behind the house, whereas the main garden is directly adjacent to the house where the deer at least are too nervous to wander.

We had four square raised beds for the girls to plant and a whole bag of different kinds of seeds.  When one of our girls was asked, "Do you know why we're planting a rabbit garden?"  She answered, "Because we can't all fit in the big garden at the same time."  While she wasn't wrong, the rabbit garden also let the girls choose whatever they wanted to plant and however they wanted to plant it (as opposed to my very organized main garden).

Since I was too busy to observe what happened there I'm just going to give you the OCD instructions I left for the mom in charge of this activity.  (She said she appreciated the detail and didn't think I was a crazy micromanaging lunatic at all. Really.)

Rabbit Garden

1. Talk to them about why you have a rabbit garden.  It’s a natural form of pest control.  Feed the rabbits and they won’t be as hungry to try and get in OUR garden.  We like the rabbits and want to keep them though we don’t want them eating our vegetables.
2. Have each group pick a square for them to plant and show them the seeds.  Then as a team they should discuss how they want to plant it.  Will it all be one type of seed, do they want to do several different types.  Do they want to do it in rows or scatted, etc. 
3. Once the two of them can agree on what they want to do with their team square give them the seeds they need and a shovel each and let them go to town.  They can do it any way they want as long as they stay in their square.
4. Once they’re done they will need to carry the watering can to the hose, fill it up and water the seeds.

Our four raised beds.  My Dad made them from scraps.

Planting seeds.

The second activity in this station was a game straight out of the Daisy Garden Journey Handbook.   We modified it only slightly to fit our needs.  I filled the bag with different types of rocks, branches, leaves and pinecones.

From the handbook.

Nature in a Bag Game

1. We’ll give you a draw string bag with a handful of “natural” objects.  The girls should take turns reaching into the bag without looking and trying to name the objects. 
2. Once they’ve both had a chance to feel all the objects dump them out to see how they’ve done.
3. Let the girls search around to find a new and different object to add to the game for the next group of girls.  If they find more then one they like, ask them to pick the one they like best.

Gold Coins

I’ll also give you gold coins to give the girls after the whistle blows if they behave well.  Feel free to not give it if they don’t listen.

Clover

The craft group was actually two groups combined together.  We put up a large folding table and chairs in the yard.  I had boxes set up with all the supplies for each of the crafts as well as my OCD directions for the moms.  

The girls working of their Garden Posters outside.

Our garden posters were almost done at this point, only two flowers left including this one.  We had just done "Using Resources Wisely" on a field trip two weeks before and used this time to add Clover.

My Clover

A Girl's Clover

Supplies for Clover

1.  Multiple width petals cut from white cardstock. (Sorry, I can't remember where I got that shape).

2.  Multiple small clover leaves cut from green cardstock. (I used a picture of a real clover as a template).

3.  Green pipe-cleaners cut into one long and two short pieces.

4.  Googly eyes.

5.  Stapler.

6.  Elmer's type glue.

7.  Red and/or pink sharpies.

Directions given to mom in charge:

Projects: (I would make them stay together and clean up one project completely before moving on to the next.)

Clover Flower for Gardens
1. Hand out the gardens, a zip lock bag with all the flower pieces, and a glue bottle.
2. Pass around the picture of real clover, remind them that Clover “Uses Resources Wisely.”
3. The girls will whine, “I don’t have any more room.” Tell them they do have room and use my garden as a guide. Tell them flowers like to be close together.
4. The girls should glue down their pipe-cleaner stems. You will need to go around and staple the stems to the poster-board to re-enforce them. 
5. For the flower head, I recommend taking one of the larger white petal shapes and gluing shapes behind it to make it look layered. Then glue the completed head to the top of the stem. It doesn’t matter, though. If they don’t want to do it that way, just show them mine and let them do it however they want. 
6. Have them use the small green circles to make three and four leaf clover leaves
7. Glue on the eyes and use sharpies to draw on mouths.
8. If some girls finish way before others you can let them put on more ladybugs with the red sequin.

Suncatchers

Our second craft project didn't have anything to do with our Journey or Petals except maybe that I was able to get flower shaped wind chimes and garden stakes to paint. For the most part, however, it was just fun, easy, and good as Mother's Day presents.  

I got all the supplies from Oriental Trading:

Wind Chimes 

Wind Chimes Link

This is the Paint I bought, though unless you make 
lots of suncatchers I wouldn't buy this much.  

Suncatcher Paint link

Garden Stakes 

Garden Stakes Link

Palettes I highly recommend.

Palette link

If you get the above, the only other things you need is paper plates (if you don't have palettes), cups for water, and paint brushes.   Here were my instructions for the mom in charge:

Sun Catchers
1. Give them each a paper plate and have them write their name on it.
2. Each girl gets one bug suncatcher for the garden and one mobile suncatcher (the second in a mother’s day gift so remind them to not let their mom’s know.  No surprise for you, sorry :S)
3. Have them go to the hose and carefully fill up a water cup.
4. They get one pallet and can chose 6 colors and only six colors, they can squeeze it themselves if they don’t overflow and waste it (tell them if they start to mix colors and make a mess they won’t get any more because the paint is expensive).
5. Let them paint and create and lovely peace. (ahh 5 minutes of calm)
6. They can each choose one additional sun catcher if they want and you aren't running short on time.
7. Put the sun catchers on the plate to dry so I know whose is whose and have the girls wash out the paint supplies with the hose.


Planters

I think only one group got to the "planters," but it really didnt matter.  This last craft involved using craft supplies I already had lying around to decorate the shoe boxes the girls had brought.  

Directions for moms:  

1. Each girl should have brought a box to use to as a “planter” to bring home extra plants.
2. They can use construction paper, markers, crayons, and stickers to decorate their box.
3. Make sure they put their name on the side.

Wrap up

After our stations, we asked the girls to help us clean up.  When they were done, everyone got ice cream sandwiches and got to play in the yard until their parents came to pick them up.  At that point, everyone got 6-8 plants to put in their "planter" and take home.

Tomatoes right before planting

Peppers ready to plant

Afterward: Harvest

We started harvesting the vegtables the last week in June.  My husband and daughter made our first drop off at the food bank.  Starting in July, each girl signed up for a week where she came over and helped us pick vegetables.  Each family was responsible for the delivery of these vegetables to the food pantry that week.  

Not every food bank takes fresh vegetables.  Ours was a 30 minute drive.  They are out there so if you want to do this project, and I so completely recommend it, its worth the effort to find one that does.  The girls loved it, the food bank was very appreciative, and the parents felt good about it.  All in all I found it extremely satisfying.

Peas from the first harvest

Picking beans

The first harvest: beans, lettuce, and squash

Zucchini!

Picking a pepper.

Harvesting from the mid-summer garden

cucumber

Mid-summer harvest: cucumber, peppers, beans, tomatoes

Tomato and pepper plants

The garden late-summer

Lady Bug Party: Meeting Thirteen

Now that we're finally done with our second bridging it looks like I finally have time to come back and try to finish blogging about our first year.  Now I know why now one does this in detail.  It takes too much time! 

 I'm going to do my best to remember what we did last year and, hopefully, I can finish our first year before I have to start planning our third.  I'm going to try to be more brief to get through more quickly, though God knows brief does not come easily to me.



Daisy Scout Meeting Thirteen
Lady Bug Party!
Third Week in April

Goals and Badges:

This was an extended meeting for the girls to work on their Garden Journey, specifically the Honey Bee Award.   This was the meeting where we ordered live Ladybugs for the girls to release into the neighborhood to eat all the icky aphids.  They also planted more quickly growing plants for our vegetable garden.  There was also a small tie in to our "Using Resources Wisely" Green Petal during this session with the girls bringing in a recycled container.

Honey the Honey Bee

Note on various journey awards: The Daisy Garden Journey Handbook is actually rather confusing as to how to work through the various steps.  Our interpretation was that they suggested two projects to do as part of the second step, the Honey Bee Award; either ladybugs or worm composting.  Then we were to do another, more community based project for the Amazing Daisy Award.  You might interpret the book differently.  No one claims the Journey books to be well written.  I think our version turned out to be great fun, but it required a lot of creativity to make it so.

Excerpt from Daisy Garden Journey Handbook

Note on schedule: You will see two schedules below.  The first is the one we planned on and that I had really hoped to use.  The entire event was scheduled later than usual in the day so that the ladybugs could be released at dusk.  Apparently Ladybugs don't fly in the dark and releasing them in the late evening helps them hang around and make your garden their home.  

Unfortunately, my plans were thwarted by the rain.  It was only drizzling when the girls arrived so we swapped the whole schedule and did the Ladybugs first.  I still think the first schedule would have worked better.

*******

                      Arrival: Gathering - 1- Prepare plants
                                                                2- Decorate shaker

                     5:55 Daisy Circle- Promise/Hello in French (Africa)
                                                           Songs
                                                           Water team garden

                     6:10 Plant cucumber/squash

                     6:20 Read Chapter 4
                                 Snack
                                 Smell plants
                                 Pictures of aphids

                      6:35 Learn Ladybug Song and Dance

                      7:00 Make Ladybug houses

                      7:15 Gather stuff for houses/ Ladybug facts

                      7:30 Release Ladybugs/Collect

                      7:45 Home

                                                                       *******

 Rain Plans (AKA what we had to do on short notice)

                       Arrival: Make Ladybug houses

                       5:55 Daisy Circle-
                                    Promise/Hello in French (Africa)
                                    Ladybug facts

                       6:05 Gather stuff for houses/Release Ladybugs/Collect

                       6:20 Ladybug Movie

                       6:30  1- Prepare plants
                                  2- Decorate shaker


                       6:45 Read Chapter 4
                                  Snack
                                  Smell plants
                                  Pictures of aphids
                                  Songs

                       7:15 Plant cucumber/squash

                       7:25 Learn Ladybug Song and Dance

                       7:45 Home

                                                                       *******

Gathering:  Make Ladybug Houses

All the girls were asked to bring a recycled container to make a ladybug house (I had grand ideas that I would give the girls ladybugs and the ladybugs would breed and lay eggs so the girls could see the ladybug life cycle.  It didn't happen).  The jars/tupperware etc were a tie in to the "Use Resources Wisely" Petal that we were also doing this month.  We asked that parents to punch holes in the tops of any jars with a hammer and nail before they sent them in.

The craft room was laid out with various foam sheets and stickers as well as sharpies.  The girls also brought sticks, rocks and leaves that they gathered after school (and before the storm) to put in their houses. We also had enough dandelions that they all got at least one since apparently ladybugs eat Dandelion pollen.  

Beyond that we let the creativity flow.

           

Making the ladybug homes

Sharing stuff we found outside

Examples of homes

         

Daisy Circle

                       
In the Daisy Circle we recited the Girl Scout Promise and then went around the circle saying hello in French. (This is something that is part of the Journey Handbook.  I really don't understand what it has to do with anything.  Its supposed to relate to where the various flowers originate, but it seems a stretch).

After that we talked about ladybugs.  I had given each girl a ladybug fact at the end of the Tea Party.  They were each supposed to learn their fact and present in the circle.  My girls did very well and were very proud of their facts.  I figured this was more a more interesting way of presenting the information than me or my co-leader lecturing at them.  

Facts sheet I used:

Nursery Rhyme History:

Many believe this began in England as a warning to ladybugs crawling on old hop vines. After the hops were harvested, the vines were burned to clear the fields. The adult ladybugs could fly away, the larva could crawl away, but the pupae could not leave the burning plants.

Ladybug ladybug fly away home,
Your house in on fire and your children are gone,
All except one and that's little Ann,
For she crept under the frying pan.

• In the past, doctors would mash ladybugs and put them in your mouth to cure a toothache.
• In Switzerland, ladybugs are called good God's little fairy.
• You can fit 80,000 ladybugs into a gallon jug.
• Male ladybugs are smaller than female ladybugs.
• Ladybugs are the official state insect of Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio and Tennessee.
• They can live for as many as three years.
• A ladybug beats its wings 85 times per second when it flies.
• Their spots fade as they get older.
• The spotted wing covers on ladybugs are made from a material called chitin, the same as our fingernails.
Ladybugs grow from larvae to an adult in 2-3 weeks.
As Larva ladybugs look like little alligators.
Their spots appear about 12 hours after hatching.
A ladybug will eat 5,000 aphids in their lifetime.
When ladybugs sense danger, they roll over and play dead.

 I cut the 8 most interesting and least disturbing facts to give the girls (I'm pretty sure I skipped the one where they grinded them into toothpaste.  Yich!)  I presented about the nursery rhyme, which I thought was cool, but a little lengthy.


Live Lady Bugs

It's actually a lot easier to get live Ladybugs than you would think.   Just order them from Amazon for about $15 with shipping, then put the whole box (smaller than a shoebox) in the refrigerator to keep them hibernating until you are ready to release them.

Amazon Ladybugs we used

There are all sorts of instructions and tricks to keep the ladybugs from flying away immediately after releasing them.  Letting them go at night, spraying them with sugar water to glue their wings closed, and spraying the bushes with a solution for them to feed on are a few.  I did all these things and the ladybugs were still completely gone in two days.  I think the problem was that at the end of April I had no aphids for them to eat. 

So do those things or don't, I doubt the ladybugs will hang around unless you release them somewhere that is infested with lots and lots of food for them. But really, it was cool and exciting for the girls even if the bugs had "flown away home" in a few days.  And I suppose the ladybugs flew off to eat someone else's pesky bugs and still helped the environment, right?

Ladybugs Release

Originally, I had wanted to release the ladybugs behind my house in the common area so that it would be more for the community, but since it was already starting to drizzle and there was a storm brewing we released the majority of the ladybugs in my front garden onto the rose bushes (where I usually get an aphid problem).  

The ladybugs came in a mesh bag with powder that could be mixed to form "Nature's Elixir" to feed the bugs.  We sprayed this mixture into the mesh bag, then on the rose bushes (though who knows how long before it washed away with the rain).  After, I cut the bag and sprinkled a few bugs into each of the girls' "Houses."  I think they wound up getting about 10 each.  The ladybugs were pretty small.

Cutting open the ladybug bag

Delivering ladybugs to their new homes.

Rain's a comin'

One girl already had a bug home. 

We had a big sheet of mesh fabric that we cut into pieces and fit between the top and bottom of the houses so the ladybugs wouldn't climb out of the air holes.  

Another mom handed out the mesh.  It was thin enough that you can barely see it in the picture.

By then it was really starting to rain and we hurried the girls inside, while I gently laid the bag in a bush and allowed the rest of the bugs to climb out on their own.  

Ladybugs crawling out onto my bush.

Close up.  (This is a real picture.  Not taken off the internet.)

What you need for live ladybug project with Houses:
1.  Live ladybugs (ordered online)
2.  Spray bottle to mix food in if the ladybugs come with that or to spray the bush with water (if it isn't raining)
3.  Jars or other recycled containers
4.  Stuff to decorate jars
5.  Mesh fabric

Ladybug Movie

As we were cleaning up and getting ready for the next project we had a quick movie for the girls to watch online about the life cycle of ladybugs.  I still had hopes the bugs would breed in captivity at that point.  

Ladybug Lifecycle Video

Lady Bug Shaker Project

                                           
I came up with this as a fun craft to along with our ladybug theme and that we could also to use at our end of the year show.  It was inspired by something I did with my kids as toddlers in Gymboree.

Supplies
1.  Red plastic or paper disposable bowls (I got them in the party section of the dollar store)
2.  Dry kidney beans
3.  Black pipe cleaners
4.  Hot glue gun
5.  Black sharpies (enough for each girl to have one)

Steps (The girls made these assembly line fashion):
1.  Grab two bowls, move down the line, measure out a half cup of beans and put them inside.
2.  Gab a pipe cleaner and fold it in half.  Twist it into antenna.
3.  Bring both bowels to an adult (me) to hot glue the sides together. (I've since let them hot glue on their own, but not at this young age of 6/7).
4.  Move on to the table to draw on spots and eyes.  
5.  Ready to shake (but not too violently or they will break).

              

Finished product with song (I'll post lyrics later in this blog).

Story and Snack Time

After making the Ladybug Shakers we gathered for story and snack.  My co-leader read Chapter 4 of the journey book.  It's a rather long and hefty chapter so we tried to stop and talk about things here and there.  When they talked about the plant smells I brought around some of the plants we were growing and had them smell the unique scent of tomato plants, paper plants, and marigolds.  I also had pictures of ladybugs and aphids to pass around.

Chapter 4

I also remember that we had a pretty significant snack since it was such a long meeting, though for the life of me I can't really remember what we had.  I know I made ladybugs out of apples and grapes, but I'm pretty sure we had other things as well.

I think this is close to what we did, but with a grape for the head and half grapes for legs.

This also looks a bit like what we did too, only I never would have used raisins.  My daughter hates raisins.  

I just found this one using carmel instead of peanut butter for the troops with peanut allergies.

After the story we reviewed the songs that we had already learned, like Planting Time and the Amazing Daisy Song.

Plant Cucumber, Squash, Beans and Peas

Next we went into the craft room to plant the vegetables for our garden that would have grown much too big if we had planted them the month before.  At this point, we had two weeks until we were planting them in the garden out back.  

We used the same methods we used for the tomato and pepper plants.  For those who don't remember (or didn't read that blog), the plan was to harvest the vegetables over the summer and give them to a local food bank for our Amazing Daisy project.  We used seed starter pellets that the girls poured water on while they were standing in line to make their shakers.  By the time we were ready to plant the pellets had expanded to peat pods.  Then each girl got 8 starter pods to plant 2 each of peas, bush green or yellow beans, cucumber, green or yellow squash.  Each peat pod got two seeds.

The girls were really good at this by now and really enjoy planting.  These plants grow very fast and I posted the following pictures online so they could see the progress over the next week.  

Day 3 Bean Plants

Day 3 Pea Plant with Cucumber in the background.

Day 3 Cucumber and Squash.

Day 6 Plants

Day 6 Cucumber and Squash

Day 6 Beans and Peas

Ladybug Song and Dance

The Ladybug song that we learned was from Girl Scouts Volume 11:Amazing Daisies.  I've talked about it before.  The CD is $9.99 on amazon or you can get the song for $0.99 on itunes.  

You can listen to a clip and get the music here:

Amazing Daisy CD

We made up the dance using the shakers.  This was the one song during the final show that we played on the cd player instead of having the girls sing it acapella.   Here's the lyrics plus the movements we used:

Lady Bug 
By Melinda Caroll

There is a little lady bug who likes to visits me. 
(Hold up shaker in one hand and point to self with other)
From time to time, we'll make a rhyme while we're sipping tea.
(Hold shaker on palm of the hand like a saucer and pretend to drink hot tea)

Chorus
My little Lady Bug, Lady Bug, tell me where you’ve been!
My little Lady Bug, Lady Bug, thanks for dropping in!
(Dance two steps right, shake shaker right, dance two steps left, shake shaker left repeat)

 There is a little lady bug who sits upon my shoe.
(Balance shaker on feet)
 And when I go to pick her up she always says ahh-choo!
(Go to pick up shaker and mime sneeze)

Chorus

There is a little lady bug who sits upon my nose.
(Tip head back and put shaker on nose, hold with two hands)
 And when I go to pick her up she dances on her toes!
(Bring both hand over head like a ballerina and turn in a circle on toes)

Chorus

There is a little lady bug who lays among the flowers.
(Hold shaker in one hand and pantomime a flower with other)
 And when I go to pick her up she smiles for hours and hours!
(Use fingers to show a big smile on the girls face)

Chorus

There is a little lady bug who snuggles in my bed.
(Hug shaker close)
 But I can never wake her up, she’s such a sleepyhead!
(pretend to sleep with shaker as pillow.)

Chorus
Chorus



Homework

For homework we asked the girls to the pages 61 - 65 in The Daisy Flower Garden Journey Book.

Page 61

Page 62 & 63

Page 64 & 65

Afterward on ladybugs:

The Ladybugs didn't survive very well in their recycled homes, despite the dandelions.  I am proud to say that everyone of my girls, independently, decided to release their ladybugs within the first three days.