Poof! Nature!
Make a nature wand with Caitlin Luttjohann, Director of STEAM Education at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center and imagine what you can do! Children gain social and emotional skills through dramatic play. When they pretend, they are experimenting in social roles, practicing language, and solving problems. This activity is powered by our friends at Evergy.
What you need:
- Stick in a “y” shape.
- Yarn.
- Leaves and/or plants.
Directions:
- Locate a stick in the shape of a “y.”
- Use the yarn to wrap around the stick leaving spaces for you to add the leaves.
- Tie the yarn to the stick so it will not slide off.
- Weave in the leaves and other plant life into the yarn.
- Your wand is ready to go!
Ways to Expand the Activity:
- Does your wand have magical powers? Add some! What kind of powers would a nature wand have that other wands wouldn’t?
- Add other things you find in nature. Pine cones and rocks could transform your wand into an even more powerful nature wand! Use your imagination!
What Kids Learn:
- Children gain social and emotional skills through dramatic play. When they pretend, they are experimenting in social roles, practicing language, and solving problems.
- Basic engineering skills. Engineers solve problems with constraints. They learn to solve problems by using the engineering design process: asking questions, coming up with solutions, building, testing and improving.
- Fine motor skills. Kids practice using the small muscles in their hands later used for writing.