Posts filed under ‘Environmentalism’
Chipper Recycle Craft + Snack: Garden Lady Bug
Spring is in full throttle and summer is right around the corner! Now is the perfect time to get outdoors and explore your gardens! Finding little creepy crawlies with your little ones is not only a fun exercise, it instill an inherent curiosity in your child. That curiosity will push them to explore and learn about not only the great outdoors, but all aspects of the world. Education should inspire them to find out more, not stifle their natural wonder.
Take your little one(s) on a nature walk, strolling slowly in your back yard or community garden. Take 5 minutes in each area, observing things carefully, to see what you can find! Keep a look out for lovely little ladybugs. Here are 10 fun facts about ladybugs to teach your kiddos:
- Ladybugs are also called Lady beetles or Ladybirds.
- The male ladybug is usually smaller than the female.
- A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.
- The spots on a ladybug fade, as the ladybug gets older.
- In many countries, ladybugs are considered to be good luck.
- Aphids are a ladybug’s favorite food, making them good for your garden.
- There are over 5000 different kinds of ladybugs worldwide.
- A female ladybug will lay more than 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
- Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.
- Ladybugs are all around us! Ladybugs can be found in trees, shrubs, fields, beaches, and even houses!
LADYBUG CRAFT
What you Need:
- Egg carton or round cardboard piece
- black and red markers, paint or crayons
- scissors or whole puncher
- Pipe cleaners
- Optional: googly eyes
Instructions:
- Separate one cup from an egg carton or use any round cardboard pieces you have on hand.
- Using markers or paint to color the egg carton cup red. Then, using black paint/markers, color in the head, and make spots on the body.
- Using the point of a scissors or a hole puncher, an adult should make 6 small holes (3 on each side) at the base of the cup (these will be for the legs. Make 2 small holes (for antennae) where the top of the head will be.
- Insert a black pipe cleaner into each a side hole and out the other side for the legs. Use half a pipe cleaner for the antennae.
- Glue on googly eyes or paint on white eyes.
- Take your ladybug into the garden and try to spot some real ones!
LADYBUG SNACK
This Simple Recipe is Tasty and Cute!
Ingredients:
1-small red apple
2tsp.- strawberry cream cheese (low-fat)
1/8 cup- raisins or dried cranberries
1 or 2-red or black seedless grapes
Optional: lettuce leaves for garnish if desired.
Alternatives: peanut or almond butter instead of cream cheese. Round cereal instead of raisins, a small pinch of cinnamon. Use your imagination and what you have on hand in the kitchen.
Directions:
Wash the apples and lettuce. Arrange a few lettuce leaves on each plate. Cut apples in half from stem to bottom. Remove seeds. Lay each half of apple cut side down on
cutting board and cut in half from stem to bottom. With skin side up place both halves of apple on top of lettuce. Put a small amount of cream cheese in-between the apple
halves to adhere the apple back together (enough to have a small amount squish out the top). Stick raisins to cream cheese down the middle of apple, then use a small dab of cream cheese to adhere the raisins (see picture below) on each wing. Cut a grape in half and use cream cheese to stick it to one end of your ladybug apple for the head.
This is a perfect recipe for adults and kids to make together. It’s fun, easy, cute, and so tasty. And did Chipper mention it’s healthy too? “Healthy before sweet, can’t be beat!”
Chipper Adventure: May Day and New Born Islands
No! This is not a beach.
WHERE IS THE VOLCANO?
WE STAYED ON THE EDGE OF THE WATER.
THEN THIS WAS SPOTTED: ASH AND
And, while WE were watching,
a plume of black ash, a HUGE CLOUD.
COVERING EVERYTHING IN RED, EVEN THIS FAR AWAY.
THEN THE SKY TURNS BLACK WITH ASH
OUT OF THE OCEAN, MOUNTAIN PEAKS ARISE?
MORE ERUPTIONS; ASH AND CLOUDS.
THEN MOUNTAIN PEAKS RISE HIGHER
AND A BRAND-NEW ISLAND IS FORMED!
CREATION OF MOUNTAINS
CAN YOU IMAGINE THE THRILL OF BEING
Photos courtesy Jesse Allen NASA Earth Observatory
Chipper Recycle Craft: Arbor Day Tree
Happy Arbor Day! Arbor Day is a national holiday that encourages people to care for, appreciate, and plant trees. Each state tends to celebrate Arbor Day on its own day, the most common date for Arbor day is the last Friday of April. Proposed by a journalist by the name of J. Sterling Morton, the first Arbor day was celebrated in Nebraska, 1872. Other countries besides the United States celebrate environmentalism and tree-planting, too:
Japan – Greening Week
Isreal – The New Years Day of Trees
Korea – The Tree Loving Week
Yugoslavia – The Reforestation Week
Iceland – The Students’ Afforestation Day
India – The National Festival of Tree Planting
In celebration of Arbor Day, Chipper made a coffee sleeve tree recycle-craft this week! This craft is simple, eco-friendly, and even incorporates the theme of trees for Arbor Day!
Here’s what you need:
First, cut the coffee sleeves open and cut pieces to create a trunk. Cut the green coffee sleeves open and cut leaf shapes. If you don’t have green coffee sleeves, just use marker, paint, or crayon to color your coffee sleeves green!
Then, place glue (or tape!) down the center of your piece of construction paper like so:
Place the pieces down like so:
And there you have it–a fun and simple tree craft for Arbor Day! After creating this craft, spend some time with your little one discussing trees. Did you know that trees help keep our soil healthy by minimizing soil erosion? Or that there are over 23,000 kinds of trees on Earth? Click here to read and learn more about trees!
Let’s Go Chipper for Arbor Day!
(Chipper got the idea for this craft from this blog.)
Chipper Craft: Celebrate Earth Day
With Earth Day inching closer, now’s a great time to start thinking about good ol’ Mother Earth. Held annually on April 22, Earth Day is a world-wide support day for environmental protection. Earth Day began in 1969 when John McConnell, a peace activist, proposed a day to celebrate the environment and Earth’s beauty. The reason why Earth Day is on April 22 is because of the abundant amount of youth activism in the 1960s: April 22 is a likely day for college students to be available because it falls between Spring Break and Final Exams. Interesting, right?
In celebration of the upcoming Earth Day, Chipper made an Earth Day craft this week! Not only is this craft simple, it will teach your little one about the importance of loving our planet.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Firstly, draw a circle on blue construction paper and cut it out. This will be the water of planet Earth.
Secondly, cut out arbitrary land-like shapes out of green construction paper and glue (or tape) them onto the blue circle. Your planet Earth is starting to take shape!
Then, place your hands into a heart like shape like so. Trace your hands and cut them out.
It will end up looking like this:
Using glue or tape, adhere your hands onto your already-made Earth. Voila! This craft symbolizes the importance of using your hands in activity to love on the environment around us.
Optional: Using red marker, draw a heart in the middle like so. This could further solidify the link between using hands to actively take care of Mother Earth.
Let’s Go Chipper for Earth Day!
Chipper Craft: Recycled Spring Blooms
Spring is here at last! What better way to celebrate than by spending some time with your little one’s making a craft? Crafts are not only great fun, they make pretty, sentimental decorations for around the house or classroom and they help develop your little one’s mobile skills, creativity, and coordination. Try making some Spring Blooms using recycled toilet paper rolls this season. This craft will teach your kids how easy (and pretty!) reusing trash can be.
Learn more about Spring with your little one’s as you make the craft and talk about the importance of recycling. Make your own garden this season! Planting the seed, watching them grow, and seeing them bloom is a valuable experience for children of any age. It’s also another great way for you to connect and spend time with each other. Children are natural gardeners: They’re curious, like to learn by doing, and love to play in the dirt. Working in a garden, a child can experience the satisfaction that comes from caring for something over time, while observing the cycle of life firsthand. Gardening gives children a chance to learn an important life skill, one that is overlooked in standard school curriculums. Gardening is also a great way to teach environmental awareness by exploring the workings of nature.
What You’ll Need:
- Empty toilet-paper rolls
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Kid-friendly scissors
- Bamboo skewers or stick with a pointy end for stem (pencils work great!)
- Paint or Markers
- Paintbrush if using paint
- Tissue paper or recycled paper colored and crumpled
- Green cardstock or construction paper (Alternatively, you can use recycled cardboard or paper and color it with markers or paint)
Instructions:
- Draw a ring 2 inches from edge of tube. Repeat on other end. Then, from each 2-inch ring, draw cut lines every 1/2 inch. Snip along each line to make petals.
- Fold petals back to create flower. Paint flower and bamboo skewers; let dry. Cut out green leaves and glue to skewers.
- Push the skewer through one end of the flower’s center until it just touches the other end. Crumple an 8-inch square of tissue paper and place in the center.
Let’s Go Chipper this Spring!
Chipper Tip: Spring Time Growth and Learning
“In the middle of it all, pause and look around you. Appreciate what’s beautiful. Take in the love. Nod to what’s good and true. And then move forward one step at a time.” — Kathy Freston
Happy First Day of Spring! It’s the time of the year when nature blooms, grows and expands. These processes can be translated into growth and expansion of your child’s mind and body. All life starts with a seed and for that seed to grow, it needs to be nurtured. Nurturing your child is not something we all learn how to do properly–it’s more of a trial and error process for most of us. That’s where Chipper and his friends come in! Our Eco-Educational books, apps and programs help parents and teachers engage and educate their kids to grow into compassionate and considerate adults. Connecting environment and its processes, with various daily lessons and activities, helps children develop a greater understanding of themselves and the world them.
What do people do in spring? Brainstorm ideas with children. Some people participate in outdoor activities such as picnics, bike riding, and watching or playing baseball. Spring is also a time when many people garden, planting flowers and vegetables to last them throughout the summer.
Arbor Day is a special day in spring (April 26, 2013) when people plant trees in their communities and learn how forests are changing. Learn how your community celebrates Arbor Day, and make plans to help plant trees!
Earth Day is also celebrated in spring. It is a day to learn about how our planet is changing and how we can help our environment. Many communities run special programs on Earth Day and Chipper encourages all to participate!
Remind children that spring is the season between winter and summer. In most places, spring is warmer than winter, but cooler than summer. Engage in conversation, ask your child what they know about Spring. What is spring weather like in your community? Have children share their ideas. How do they know when spring has arrived? Explain that in spring, the days are longer than in winter, and there are more hours of sunlight. Take the time to explain Day Lights Saving if you haven’t already.
Find comparisons: At dinnertime in winter, it might be dark outside; but dinnertime in spring is much lighter. In some places, spring days can be sunny and warm. Flowers begin to bud, leaves reappear on trees, and birds and animals return from migration. Many places get a lot of rain in spring. Tell your little one’s of the old saying, “April showers bring May flowers” and discuss its meaning together. How might rain help plants?
School Garden of Snap Dragons
Plant a community or school garden this Spring! The picture above is from a local school that planted 58 Snap Dragons in two 3X6′ planter boxes. Parents, teachers and student came together as a community to not only beautify their school, but learned and experienced planting seeds into dirt. The students wrote stories about their planting experience; they guessed which colors would grow, and watched and discussed the flowers as they sprouted and bloomed. They made deep connections with nature and the community that will last them a lifetime. Take the time to have your little one’s learn, see and experience the growing process so they, in turn, grow themselves. Let’s Go Chipper this Spring!
Chipper Recycle Crafts: DIY Paper Flowers
Recycle crafts are great for the environment, low-budget, and really teach kids how to maximize the resources around them into a creative utility. With spring right around the corner, these bright paper flowers are the perfect craft to refresh a classroom or any kind of room space.
How to make a Paper Flower:
1. Color in the cardboard packaging fillers in with your favorite color marker–be sure to color both sides! These pieces of cardboard are from the packaging material between some bowls that were recently purchased. If you don’t have these flower-looking pieces of cardboard lying around, use some scrap cardboard and cut out a similar shape! Don’t have cardboard? Local grocery stores will often give them out for free.
2. Draw and cut out a small circle out of black construction paper. Chipper used a small bowl to draw a perfect circle. Similarly draw and cut out a bigger circle out of yellow construction paper. Chipper used a larger paper plate to measure out the diameter.
4. With scissors, 1″ cut strips around the perimeter of the black ovule at every 1/4″ or so. Do the same with the yellow stamen, about 2″ strips.
5. Using a thin marker, pencil or chopstick, curl the strips on both the black and yellow circles.
6. Using glue or tape (Chipper used glue), assemble all the pieces together. The order is as follows, from bottom to top: two cardboard packaging fillers, the yellow stamen, and the black ovule.
7. Create leaves by folding green construction paper in half and drawing a leaf shape. Cut them out and glue or tape them to the back of the assembled flower!
Once your little one has finished his/her floral creation, have your kids name the flower parts and functions of the parts they assembled! (Leaves, petals, stamen, ovule). By interacting with the flower in a hands-on way, kids will remember and recall the information more easily.
Learn about Metamorphosis: Chipper Caterpillar and Butterfly Crafts
Teaching our younger generations about natural processes is not just about them passing science class. It gives them a deeper understanding of the world and all it’s critters. Metamorphosis is a process some animals go through to become adults! It is a series of physical changes. Metamorphosis is especially common in insects. Genes and chemicals called hormones control the process. 
Teach your little one’s about this natural process with a hands-on craft project! First make a recycled caterpillar craft and talk about how the caterpillar must eat lots of leaves before making his cocoon. Explain that this biological transformation into an adult happens with in the pupal casing spun of silk.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
-Glue or Tape
-Constructions Paper
-Scissors
-Hole Pincher
-Pipe Cleaners or any other material to make antennas
-Google eyes or a marker/pen to make the face and eyes
-Toilet Paper Roll (for Butterfly body)
HOW TO MAKE A CATERPILLAR:
First, cut two inch-thick strips of paper in two different colors (or the same color, it’s up to you!).
Then, either tape or glue the two strips of paper together at a right angle. 
Now, just fold one strip of paper over the other, going from color to color, until your reach the ends of the paper! Then secure with glue or tape.
Add antennae by punching two holes into your caterpillar’s head, cutting an 2 inch long segment from a pipe cleaner, and stringing it through. 
Now for the Butterfly! When he’s ready, the adult unravels the silk to enter a new world of flight! Much like when your little one leaves home for college or other pursuits, the newly-formed butterfly must learn to take care of itself. Complement this information with an adorable butterfly craft made from a recycled toilet paper roll!
HOW TO MAKE A BUTTERFLY:
This is a very simple craft. First, fit a strip of construction paper around your toilet paper roll and secure with tape or glue.
Then cut out wings (best way to do this is fold a paper in half, draw half of the wings with a pencil then cut out!).
Attach wings to your toilet roll body with glue or tape and then decorate! Use glitter, googly eyes, or whatever you can find around the house. Add antennae like you did with the caterpillar or add a string to hang your butterfly creation around the house or outside!
Once your crafts are made, take them outside and see you if you can spot caterpillars, cocoons, and butterflies in your own backyard or nearest park! Making a set of recycled binoculars can be a fun additional craft to take outside and explore! Your little one(s) will not only learn about this natural process but get to look for it themselves. This hands-on approach solidifies their newly found knowledge into their minds so they will remember it and connect with it throughout their lives. Let’s Go Chipper into the Great Outdoors!
Chipper Events: I’m Chipper for Hyatt Place® Phoenix/Mesa!
Let’s Go Chipper!™ is an award-winning eco-educational series playfully teaching children good character & a love for the environment. This year we’ve partnered with Hyatt Place® Phoenix/Mesa to bring Chipper into the local Arizona community and into the classroom in order to inspire conscientiousness in kids. Come visit on your next business trip or come stay for a family weekend getaway filled with Chipper fun. Learn more about our upcoming events at our Chipper for Hyatt Place®Phoenix/Mesa website.
The Let’s Go Chipper series featuring books, apps, movies school- and community-based programs that playfully teach children respect, good character, and a love for the environment. Contact Chipper for your classroom kit or to book a story time with one of our Chipper Ambassadors, or let us create a program for you school, church, or community organization!
A little bit about Arizona
Ready to learn about Arizona? Check out these fun facts about the state’s history, people and official state symbols.
History
- Statehood: February 14, 1912. Arizona was the 48th state to join the United States.
- State Flag: Adopted in 1917, the lower half of the flag is a blue field. The upper half is divided into thirteen equal segments, six light yellow and seven red. In the center of the flag is a copper-colored five-point star. The red and the blue are the same shades as the flag of the United States of America, and it measures four feet high and six feet wide.
- State Seal: Arizona’s main enterprises and attractions are represented in the seal, which was adopted in 1911. In the background of the seal is a range of mountains with the sun rising behind the peaks. At the right side of the mountains are a water storage reservoir and a dam, with irrigated fields and orchards. There are cattle grazing on the right, and a quartz mill and a miner with a pick and shovel on the left.
Population and Geography
- Population: 6.5 million (2008 estimate)
- State Capitol: Phoenix
- Largest Cities: Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Glendale and Scottsdale
- Border States: California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
- State Size: 113,909 square miles, the 6th largest state in the USA
State Symbols
- State Motto: Ditat Deus (“God Enriches”)
- State Nickname: Grand Canyon State
- State Songs: “Arizona March Song” and “Arizona”
- State Flower: Saguaro Cactus Blossom
- State Gem: Turquoise
- State Tree: Palo Verde
- State Bird: Cactus Wren
- State Fossil: Petrified Wood
- State Mammal: Ringtail
- State Reptile: Arizona Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake
- State Fish: Apache Trout
- State Amphibian: Arizona Tree Frog
- Official Neckwear: Bola Tie
Nature-inspired, play-based learning, enjoy hands-on crafts that will engage children while teaching valuable lessons in science, art, and social skills. Have you made a Helping Hands tree?
Chipper Ambassadors are available for story time activities in the classroom, community, or visit us during a Chipper family getaway providing fun for kids while parents reconnect.
Fun Things to do with the Kids in Arizona
Desert Botanical Garden | Located within Papago Park, this beautiful botanical garden has stunning plants and flowers as well as special exhibits. Children’s program activities, like weekend face-painting, are included in the admission price and are supervised by the head of the garden’s nature preschool program, which runs for three weekly 90-minute sessions in spring and fall. One exhibit you won’t want to miss is the butterfly habitat.
Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum | This is the ultimate playground for every kid who fantasizes about sliding down a firehouse pole. Visitors climb aboard the historical fire engines and try on real firefighters’ hats and gear. In addition to exhibits that bring Arizona’s firefighting history to life, don’t miss the presentations about fire safety. The staff and volunteers who give these talks are so animated that the kids become mesmerized and don’t even realize they’re learning valuable life lessons.
Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum | Young visitors meet the Old West at this re-created pioneer village, where your family can explore life as it was in Arizona a century ago. Stroll past historic buildings that range from a schoolhouse to the blacksmith’s shop to an opera house. Since this was rancher country, there’s plenty of livestock on hand to capture your kids’ attention. Arrive in time for the re-enactment performed daily at 11:30 a.m. and you’ll even have an encounter with the sheriff, his deputies, and the bank robbers they’re pursuing. The show culminates with a shoot-out, after which the actors sign autographs.
Let’s Go Chipper Craft: Make a Helping Hand Tree
Let’s Go Chipper Craft: Make a Helping Hand Tree
Double-click, save (optional), and print! Then have your little one(s) color and cut out.
Join Chipper and friends on a playful journey that will teach kids the importance of using our hands in helpful ways with our book, Helping Hands. By positively reinforcing the good that comes when we all work together, children will be ready to lend their hands and hearts around the home, school, and community.
Whether you are a parent or a teacher, making a Helping Hands tree craft is a great activity to teach your little ones to lend a Helping Hand! Learning should always be fun too. Making a Helping Hands Tree Craft is easy. First, print out some of Chipper’s Little Helping Hands coloring sheets above and ask your little one(s) to write and/or color how the ways we can/could help out our family, friends, and the planet! Such as use recycled paper when possible 
Not you can begin making your tree by taping or gluing strips of cardboard, brown construction paper and/or recycled paper bags to a recycled cardboard tree trunk (use a rectangular piece of cardboard, whatever side you like…You can make it more tree-like by cutting the edges with scissors). All you need is some tape or glue and a pair of scissors! You can add a “hole” in the trunk as seen below just by cutting out a circular shape from black construction paper and taping or gluing it on. We made the Helping Hand Tree below for a community Chipper Camp-out at the Sequoya Country Club, CA in under 15 minutes but it might take you a bit longer than that the first time 
See a video of this fun camp out event here.
Have your kids write and/or color something they have done to help out family, community or the environment on their helping hand. Then cut out and attach the hands as leaves for your tree. Keep adding to your tree all through the year and get inspired to help out in many different ways!
Place your tree somewhere in your home or classroom to admire. Add more hands with every new way they help out! Make a fun game out of it and challenge your kids to fill up your tree by a certain date. Then have them share all they’ve done to help with friends and family and discuss other ways to help out. Our children learn by example so add a few hands of your own to the tree and connect with your kids positively.
Let’s Go Chipper and Lend a Helping Hand today!
