Snowberry Park

Please join us this Sunday 11/6 for a fall clean up from 1-3pm at the park! Bring your own rake and/or broom, dustpan if you can!

Spring clean up!

A few belated photos from our fall clean up!

Thank you Josh, Chris and Chad for spreading fibar at Snowberry and filling the holes! 🙌💪

Thank you to everyone who came out to clean up the park for our annual Earth Day clean up, it was small and safe and the park looks so nice!

Not sure what year this is but this is what used to be on what is now Snowberry Park!

As summer days wane, here are a few more activities you can do from home!

Seeds Are Everywhere!
Discuss seeds and how plants produce seeds to propagate themselves. Look for seeds in the environment: acorns near an oak tree, seeds at the base of a marigold flower, for example. Dissect an apple, orange, peach, etc. and take a look at the seeds within.
Purchase sunflower seeds at the supermarket and perhaps a bunch of sunflowers. Make the connection between the sunflower seeds that we eat and the seeds at the center of the sunflower. What other seeds do we eat? Pumpkin, flax, sesame, and poppy are some examples.

The Ants Go Marching
Ants are fun to study even if we’re not fond of them on picnics! Encourage your child to observe the comings and goings of ants they find on the sidewalk or in the back yard. They may even find some ants carrying crumbs to their colonies.
Have fun singing “The Ants Go Marching One by One” and then make a special treat—“Ants on a Log.” You’ll need celery (the log), either peanut butter or cream cheese, and raisins (the ants). Spread the peanut butter or cream cheese on the celery stalk and sprinkle with raisins. Enjoy!

Sprouting Seeds
Here is an activity that will help your child understand how seeds germinate or sprout. Take three or four dry beans such as lima beans and place them in a baggie with a moist paper towel. Keep the paper towel moist but not soggy. Place in a light area but not in direct sun. Check the baggie every day. Soon you’ll see a sprout emerge from each bean and eventually some roots. You can use other seeds and beans for this experiment. Which seeds sprout the fastest?

More Spouting Fun
Here’s a fun activity that will encourage your child to use his or her observational skills. Take the top half of a carrot (unpeeled) and insert two or three toothpicks into the side of the carrot about an inch from the top of the carrot. Immerse ¾ of the carrot in a glass of water. In a few days, the top of the carrot should sprout some leaves and roots should begin to grow in the submerged part of the carrot. You can also try this activity with a half-potato (unpeeled). Change the water when it gets funky. Caution: the leaves that sprout are inedible!!

Egg Carton Caterpillar
Take an egg carton, preferably one made of cardboard. Cut it in half lengthwise. Have your child use paint or markers to decorate the “caterpillar.” Add googly eyes (you can substitute raisins) and pipe cleaners or toothpicks for antennae. Act out the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and discuss how a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

We are happy to share a series of simple lessons you can do at home since Green Team Growers had to take a break!

Leaves, Stems, Roots, or Flowers???

When you eat a vegetable, which part or parts of the plant do you eat? Using the produce in your refrigerator, begin a discussion with your child about which parts of each vegetable we eat and which parts we discard.

For example, for carrots and turnips we eat the root. We discard the stems and leaves. In the case of celery, we eat the stems (stalks) and sometimes we use the leaves in a soup. Spinach and lettuce—the leaves. And for broccoli, we eat the stems and flowers (florets).

After this discussion, continue the activity on your trips to the supermarket!

Green Team Growers will take a break this summer however we do plan to create some virtual gardening lessons you can do at home! Look for posts early July!
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While the park and playground is closed we look forward to welcoming everyone once this passes! We plan to have clean ups and Green Team Growers! But for now hang tight and stay safe!

Please join us on Sunday 10/13 for a Fall Fest and Park clean up from 3-5pm!

Green Team Growers has ended for the season, we had a great time! check out a few photos from our last few sessions, see you next spring! Stay tuned for details on our fall clean up!!