Pick A Pocket of Prairie

Saskatchewan Day was celebrated earlier this month.  I’m from the Saskatchewan prairies and my children, although born in the Northern Ireland hills, also consider themselves to be from the prairies and like to learn about the area Mommy grew up in and where their Nana and papa live.

On Monday we talked about “If You’re Not From The Prairie…” and the children remembered back over two years ago to their last trip to Canada and spoke of the extreme cold and snow.  They’ve been watching the hot weather, thunderstorms and tornadoes that Southern Saskatchewan have been having this summer.  Here it isn’t as cold and it doesn’t get nearly as hot.  How does the climate affect the wildlife in different locations?  This let to discussions about bird migrations and hibernation of other animals.

On Tuesday we posted about getting buggy with graphing and reading the fence with Wise Owl Factory’s No-Prep Graphing Thru The Year resources.  The insects in that pack are the same ones we have here, which was also an interesting topic.  Two different climates, but yet we have some of the same insects.

Last month I noticed that Carolyn of Wise Owl Factory had created an interactive notebook/lap book based on the book, “Plant A Pocket of Prairie” by  by Phyllis Root, and illustrated by Betsy Bowen.  We don’t have the book, which looks beautiful, but that hasn’t stopped us learning about the flora and fauna of the North American prairies.  Carolyn lives in Minnesota, USA, but landscape doesn’t recognise political borders.

Pick A Pocket of Prairie is a free resource filled with 40 pages of colourful learning fun.  The pack includes cards that can be sorted into “pockets”, or they can also be used in pocket charts or cut and made into a matching game.  The cards could be printed smaller for use in an interactive notebook as well.  Carolyn has all of these details within the pack.

Also included are a whole extra set of special interactive elements that are just perfect for lap booking.  Tristan and Kallista really enjoy lap books.  They haven’t done one since last summer, so I figured this was the perfect time to start again as they’ve been waiting very patiently for me to print a new one for them.

Both Tristan and Kallista cut out the elements of the lap book and then Tristan glued them into a file folder while Kallista was busy elsewhere.  The kids have been having a lot of fun folding all of the flaps to learn to the names of the plants and animals that are hidden behind.

Tristan and Kallista are learning that the plants and animals on the prairies are different from the flora and fauna here by the sea.  It’s been a good opportunity to talk about the different climates between here and “home”.

If you’re looking for printables for extra learning that go hand-in-hand with children’s books, Wise Own Factory is the place to go!  We’ve used her fine resources for expanded learning while using the books, Harry and the Hot Lava by Chris Robertson, as well as Blucy and Faux Paw by Julia Dweck.

If you enjoy nature activities with your children, keep coming back as I have a few more posts lined up over the rest of this month.