Earth Day Snacks

Sunday was Earth Day. Junior Rangers went to Georgia King Village and Bradley Court. As a part of the kitchen crew, our main focus was creating a snack for the kids that was healthy yet good and that they would enjoy. We centered the snack around Earth Day. We filled a cup with different fruits that could represent the different layers of the earth. For example, peaches and strawberries represented lava; Low Fat Honey Graham Crackers were the dirt; we used blueberries and blackberries as the water; kiwi slices stood for grass, and we used whipped cream for the clouds. The kids enjoyed the snack very much. They even asked where you buy the fruit from and how much it is. One of the children at Georgia King Village, had learned about the layers of the Earth in school and said the snack was a better way to learn because you can eat it. At Bradley Court, one girl said it was her first time trying kiwi, and she loved it. She said she was going to ask her mother to buy her some from the store.

Peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi -
Earth parfaits are fun with fruit!

Making whipped cream! 

Enjoying the perfect Earth parfait!

Crushing graham crackers to represent the crust of the Earth

A Mole Lot Of Fun!

Our guacamole recipe!

This week, we made Guacamole with Georgia King Village and Bradly Court. Guacamole has avocado which conatins Vitiman A. This is good for your eye sight.  The guacamole was used for a dip while the kids used tortilla chips to dip inside. They enjoyed the guacamole even though they thought it looked gross at first. We altered the recipe a little. We used salsa instead of tomatos and onions, but it turned out great! Therefore you can try it that way. Overall everything went well and the kids really loved it.

Making guacamole at Georgia King Village

Guacamole and salsa at Bradley Court

Gardening Developments

Good news, guys! Our plants have made progress! About a month ago, we planted seeds such as radish, lettuce, carrots etc. When we went to Georgia King Village this week, the plants had grown about 3 inches tall. That was really good, but when we went to Bradley Court today, guess what? They had grown 7.5 inches tall! We were really surprised at how tall it had grown. So today we watered the plants and weeded the plant beds. We are hoping to see an even greater progress next week! Can't wait!

GKV March 28, 2012

GKV April 18, 2012

BC March 29, 2012

BC April 19, 2012

Environmental Uno

Our activity for this week was to play Environmental Uno. For those who haven't played Uno or forgot how to play, it its very simple. All you have to do is match the number and/or color to the card on top of the deck. When one of the players has one card left they say Uno or Uno out. The first player to get rid of all his cards wins.
With environmental Uno, we had the cards in different categories. For example, there were red, blue, green, and brown sections that correspond to different things in the environment. At Georgia King Village, since there were a few more kids then expected, we had to split the group of about 8 in half. In all, the game went on smoothly and the kids seemed to enjoy it. We only had time for one game because the first one took a little longer than usual.

As for Bradly Court, unfortunately we didn't have time to do the game of Environmental Uno. Instead, we took the kids outside and had them play Simon says. At first, it was a little crazy because the kids didn't want to listen, but after a while, they did, and we got the game started. But that's not all, we also had the kids who lost at Simon says go with another Junior Ranger to play Red Light Green Light so they wouldn't get bored.

We are happy to teach kids fun games to keep their bodies and minds active!

Mango Smoothies for All

This week's lesson was mainly about one specific fruit, which is the mango. Our plan was to have the kids try the mango a couple different ways. One would be dried using the dehydrator. Another was fresh mango so that the kids have a chance to try it. The other way was a mango smoothie, which we would make with the kids.

At Georgia King Village, there were only about three kids at first. As time went on, a few more kids came. We showed the kids how a dehydrator works and how to put the mango slices in the dehydrator. Not only that but we also showed the kids how to cut the mango two different ways. Then we made the smoothie. The kids seemed to like the dried mango, fresh mango, and the smoothie.

At Bradley Court, we did mostly the same things, but the children weren't able to try the fresh mango. Close to twenty kids attended our lesson, so there weren't enough for them to have and also make the smoothie. The children at Bradley Court didn't seem to like the dried mango as much as the smoothie. Some kids even came up for seconds of the smoothie. Try the recipe for yourself and see if you like it as much as they did!

Garden progress at GKV

#TeamGardenCrew
              Today we went to our work site. My job as part of the garden crew was to gather everything that we will need for the garden. When we reached the garden there were great improvements. The peas grew tremendously since last week. The radishes were just starting to grow. Our other plants are not yet progressing. As part of the garden crew we took many pictures of the plants. As for the children they colored flower sheets when we reach inside. The topic of the sheets was "What I Like About...." The children stated what they like about the Earth,the garden, their family, spring, and their community.
                                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                                           Garden Crew 


P.S : One of the residents at GKV left us a potted plant to add to the garden at the gate. ^_^!

Mango lesson

This week in the garden we are going to be watering over the soil and plants. Also, taking out any weeds we find in the soil. Our activity will be based on an environmental and educational process. The activity consists of drawing and cutting out a paper flower and on each petal writing good things about the environment or ways to support the environment. During snack time, we will give examples of ways a mango can be processed into eating - for example, dried, fresh, and in a smoothie.