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SAND ART
Invite your children to try one or more of the following ideas.
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Paint glue designs on heavy paper and sprinkle on sand
tinted with food coloring or powdered tempera. |
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Model with play dough that has been mixed with a little
sand. |
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Draw with crayons on sandpaper. |
PRICKLY CACTUS
ART
Try these activities with your group.
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Give your children large cactus shapes cut from
green construction paper. Let them glue on broken
pieces of uncooked spaghetti or toothpicks (requires
close supervision) for spines. |
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Have the children use green clay or play dough
to make cactus plants. For spines, let them stick
in short pieces of thin yellow drinking straws.
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HOT AND COLD
Explain that in the desert, days are hot and nights are cold.
Then try these activities.
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Let your children sort a box of clothing into two piles:
clothes for wearing in hot weather and clothes for wearing
in cold weather. |
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As you name things that are hot and things that are
cold, have the children fan themselves or shiver. |
DESERT
ANIMAL GAMES
Photocopy small pictures of desert animals, such as camels,
lizards, and snakes. Make two copies of each picture and
glue the pictures onto individual index cards. Then use
the cards for these games.
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Place the cards in a pile and invite your children
to find the match-ups. |
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Play a game of Concentration with your group. |
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Hold up one card at a time and have the children
act out the animal's movements. |
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DESERT SAND FUN
Display picture books about the desert and talk about them
with your group. Place sand in a large tub or box for a desert.
Let your children use their hands to create sand dunes. Give
them a piece of aluminum foil to use for an oasis. Then provide
them with small plastic desert animals and plants to arrange
and play with in the sand.
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CACTUS
GARDEN
Visit a plant store or nursery and purchase several different
kinds of cactus plants. Use directions from the store or from
gardening books to set up an indoor "garden" for your
cactuses. Let the children take turns caring for the plants.
How is the cactus plant care different from that of other plants
your children are familiar with? |
I'M A CACTUS
Tune: "Clementine"
I'm a cactus, I'm a cactus
In the desert, oh so dry.
I am prickly,
So don't touch me
As you come a-walking by.
Talk about other things that are prickly, such as pine cones,
hairbrushes, and porcupines.
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DESERT
SNACKS
In some deserts, date palm trees often grow in the sand near
an oasis. Make a fun "desert snack" for each of your
children by sprinkling graham-cracker crumb "sand"
over a small bowl of pudding and topping it with chopped dates.
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