Pickleweed and Pine

You may (or may not!) notice posts disappearing from our page and instagram. This is entirely intentional! Due to recent social media events, we've decided to revamp and only show content with ourselves or with our children from behind or with their face edited out.
We aim to make P & P bigger and better with this new roll out. If you have any ideas of what you'd like to see - types of projects, worksheets, play ideas, reels vs pics, resources around the province, etc - drop it in the comments or send us a DM. We love hearing from you!

If you haven't heard of the recent movement away from showing children's faces in public social media, I've included the URL that led us to make this decision.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11050173/Mom-led-TikTok-movement-remove-pics-children-amid-concerns-exploitation-three-year-old.html

Also... anyone else have kids who eat off their highchair tray like this??

Simple things like switching up your classroom or playroom by putting things down on the floor can make everything seem new again! Get that chalkboard, whiteboard, mirror, etc. off the wall and watch what happens!

Watch this reel by pickleweedandpine on Instagram Azide • Switch It Up

Pipecleaner Flowers
(FREE printable)

We're all in the mood for some summer fun! We've provided a FREE printable to create a fun project for your little. You only need to provide the pipecleaners and white glue. Although a glue stick can be used, it's often not as sticky as white glue.

1. Download and print our pipecleaner flower printable.
2. Pick out your pipecleaners. If you want smaller flowers, cut the pipecleaner into smaller lengths.
3. Pinch the end of the pîpecleaner. Roll the pipecleaner into a tight spiral.
4. Repeat to make more "flowers".
5. Glue your flowers at the top of the stems.
6. Draw some creatures who are visiting your flowers.

Follow the link to download our FREE pipecleaner flower template.
https://linktr.ee/pwandpine

We'd love to see your pipecleaner flower creations. Please share your art below!

Celebrating world bee day with some fun honeycomb sensory play! When my new spice jars arrived with this cool styrofoam, I knew I had to make it into a bee activity.

This activity has them working on:
- color recognition
- number recognition
- categorizing
- fine and gross motor
- hand eye coordination
- so much more!

We had a lot of fun making our sprucecone bees together yesterday! Simply wrapping yarn around spruce cones and adding coffee filter wings. Instant 🐝 !

Splat flowers

It's the time if year where we enjoy doing our messy projects outside. I often save the more mess creating fun for our outdoor play to help save on clean up and scrub up. Who doesn't love a hose down when it's hot?

The splat flowers could be adapted for younger children or for less mess by placing the paper and paint covered sponges in a plastic bag.

For my baby, I created a paint and sponge sensory bag. I watered down the paint and added a few cut up sponges. They create nice squishy bubbles when pressed or squeeze. As always, I double taped the opening. If you're using a thinner freezer bag, double bagging can save on unexpected mess.

What you'll need:
Sponge cut into smaller pieces (I cut a cellulose sponge into 6)
Paint - add water to make it slightly more runny
Paint brush
Paper
Spoon

1. Dip the sponge in the paint and place it on the paper
2. Hit with a spoon so that it "splats"
3. Repeat as many times as you like
4. Add on "stems" to the splats to create flowers.

What other type of messy play or outdoor play would you like to see us do?

Who doesn't love a cute little handprint craft for your special day?

Whether you're celebrating a parent, grandparent, relative, caregiver, or other special person in your life, a bouquet of little handprints will brighten anyone's day.

This special vase will be going to a very special (great) Nana ♥️

Want to add in a little skill building? If your little one is old enough, they can trace their hand and help you cut them out. Cutting out straight stems is good for scissor early learning or practice. Your little one can design and cut out the vase or decorate it however. As always, the message is up to you!

Anyone else ever wonder why they live where it gets very hot and humid but also very cold and frigid. Aaaah Maritime weather 😂

Some kids look for any excuse to stay indoors, and “bad” weather is often an easy one. And let’s face it… adults often use that excuse too! But we all need to remind ourselves of just how valuable outdoor time is for children, regardless of the conditions — optimal or otherwise. A rainy day can include just as many adventures as a blue-sky day!

https://getthekidsoutside.com/get-outside-in-bad-weather/

Anyone else joining in?

Happy May everyone!
Join the City of Fredericton this month in giving the lawnmower a break and letting the grass and wildflowers grow! Allowing dandelions and other flowering plants to grow freely for the month of May will provide bees and other important pollinators with a much-needed early nectar source and will reduce our carbon emissions.
Check out the City of Fredericton’s No Mow May commitment here: https://engagefredericton.ca/no-mow-may.
If you are interested in a sign to showcase your commitment to a natural yard (and to let your neighbours know your actions are intentional), consider participating in NWAI’s “Natural Yard Pledge.” Commit to three of our ten suggested actions and receive your free sign. By reducing your mowing in May, you’ve already checked off one of them! Learn more about the pledge and our natural yard tips here: https://www.nashwaakwatershed.ca/resources/natural-yard-pledge/
Contact [email protected] to receive your sign!

Trace with Dots

I always love using different paint tools. It's even more fun when they can also be combined with a little learning and fine motor prewriting skill building.

When children trace along shapes, they are practicing the different line formations that will later be used for writing. Tracing along lines doesn't have to be solidly tracing along a line from end point to end point. There are many ways to trace and form lines such as with loose parts, sliding along the line with a cotton ball, or using paint dots like this.

We've been working on our numbers lately and how many go into each number so combined today's fun with math!

That first one is a toss up... But totally drink cold coffee, clean up p*e, clean up paint, and coffee in peace... If only 🥴

12 Books to Celebrate Earth Day!

Today we celebrate Earth Day, a day dedicated to protecting the planet. We're sharing with you our favourite books about saving our planet.

Many of these books can be found at your local library, through your library's online platform, or available as a read-to-me book on YouTube.

Here We Are by Oliver Jeffries
I am Earth by Rebecca and James McDonald
Love Our Earth by Jane Cabrera
Franklin Plants a Tree by Paulette Bourgeois
Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals
Touch the Earth by Julian Lennon with Bart Davis
Change Starts with Us by Sophie Beer
Counting on our Earth: 123 of our Planet
It's Earth Day! by Mercer Mayer
This is the Tree We Planted by Kate McMullan
Why Should I Recycle?

Do you have any Earth Day books that you would add to our list?

April 22, 2022 is Earth Day! Celebrate Earth Day with our letter "r" playdough mat.

Playdough mats are a fun way to work on those very important fine motor skills for future writing by mashing, rolling, squeezing, and shaping playdough. Keep an eye on our page for future printables, including a full alphabet and number playdough mat.

Playdough mats can also be used indoors or outdoors (with a cover) with any loose parts of any theme. To follow an earth day theme, you can use recyclables such as applesauce pouch tops.

Follow the link in our bio or click on the link below to download a copy of your own!
https://linktr.ee/pwandpine