Today in Piney Ridge, Clover, Bev, Edgar, and Tutu threw a surprise hero party for Lilly, Dougie, and Otto.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What are acorn caps?
  • The tops of acorns that attach them to the tree
• What did the friends use to make a banner?
  • Slough Sedge (tall thick grass) made into strips and leaves
• How did Clover make paint?
  • By crushing berries and boiling flower petals and adding sap
• What did Clover use to make pink paint?
  • Pink petals (from a rhododendron)
• Why did the friends through a hero party?
  • To say welcome home to their brave friends who helped a little bird get home
• What did the friends use as a bowl?
  • Acorn Caps

For an activity, let’s make our own watercolors. You are going to need leaves and/of flower petals, Alum powder, Soda Ash/Washing Soda, tall glass cups/mugs, small glass cup, strainer, and coffee filters. First take your leaves and rip them into little pieces or grind them up in a mortar and pestle. If you are using petals, remove all the petals from the flower(s). Next either boil your leaves/petals on the stove for 10-20 minutes or place you plant material in a mug and pour boiled water over them and let it steep like tea for 30 minutes. Afterwards pour you liquid through a strainer into a tall glass. Once the liquid has been poured into the glass, make sure it is still warm. Add 2 teaspoons of alum into the liquid and stir it until completely dissolved. In small cup add 1 teaspoon of the soda ash and add just enough hot water to dissolve it. While stirring the liquid with the alum, slowly pour in the soda ash mixture. It will bubble and effervesce like when you add baking soda to vinegar. If you used red leaves, the red liquid will turn dark green when the soda ash is added in. After the 2 liquids have been mixed, place a coffee filter in the strainer and place that over you smaller cup and then slowly pour your mixture through. After the liquid is done straining (may take an hour or so) place your coffee filter with the gooey “gunk” and place on a flat surface to dry (can take up to 48 hours). I put mine on a large plate to be able to move it around as needed. After it has fully dried, scrap off the remaining stuff off the filter and into a sealable container. This hardened stuff is called lake pigment, and it is what you will mix with a little bit of water to make your own water color. Make sure to mix the water with the lake pigment in a ramekin or some kind of small smooth glass container and using a smooth metal or glass object grind the powder into the water until smooth. And now you have made your own watercolor!

https://linktr.ee/Pineyridgekidsanimalstories