R was 17 months old at the time of this activity

Song: 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – We’ve practiced this song many times in the past, so R is familiar with this one! She’s now learning to sing some of the words to twinkle twinkle little star. She sings the, “up above the” part and sings it “uppa bubba” :). I love how she knows to change words into “songs” by extending them as she sings.

Activity:

1. Under the Stars

I have no idea why, but R absolutely loves cardboard boxes.  She can spend forever in a box laughing, playing and exploring.  For recreating the experience of camping under the stars, I poked some holes in a cardboard box and we looked at the how the light was shining through the holes.  As R poked at the holes in the cardboard box, we sang twinkle twinkle little star together.

Extension Activities:
a. Explore the concept of translucent, transparent and opaque materials with your child.

2. Marshmallow Painting

I drew some logs on a black piece of card stock and R painted red, orange and yellow strokes using marshmallows to represent fire.  The marshmallows made neat bubbly strokes! Since I had the marshmallows sitting in the paint for a while (I prepped this activity a few hours before R played with it), the marshmallow smeared onto the paper along with the paint and gave a cool grainy texture to the painting.  As usual, R painted the paper and her hands!

Extension Activities:
a. Look at pictures and videos of what camp fires look like.  Have the child decide what colours the painting should be done in.

3. Bird Search

I made three sized birds on red, blue and yellow card stock using my Cricut machine and Create-a-Criter cartridge.  I taped the birds to different surfaces around the backyard for that R could search for them.  I showed R how to use the binoculars to spot the birds and then the playing began.  I would tell her to bring me a bird of a particular colour and she would bring it to me.  She brought me the correct bird each time I asked and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!  She was too distracted with the outdoors to continue playing the game for a second round, however.

Extension Activities:
a. Have the child search for birds based on their sizes.  Ask him/her to find a big, medium or small bird and bring it to you.
b. Add more features to the birds (open or closed eyes, spotted or striped wing, etc) and ask the child to bring you a bird based on two features, for example, a small bird with its eyes closed.

Check out the rest of the Camping Theme:
1. Camp Out!
2. Fishing for S’mores
3. Spying Coloured Birds
4. Forest Shadows
5. Glowing Fire