Welcome spring!

Welcome the season with crafty springtime activities.

Learning Stages

By Candace Lindemann

Children's Author & Education Consultant

Candace Lindemann is a published children’s writer and educational consultant. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You can also find Candace blogging at http://NaturallyEducational.com. While Candace’s degrees prepared her for a career in education, she’s found that the best preparation for parenting is on-the-job training.

Eager to say goodbye to a long and hard winter, we're welcoming spring at our household.

Clean up your act

If I could choose one thing about myself that I would improve upon, it would be to take more pleasure in cleaning the house.  Even I can appreciate a good spring cleaning, though!  By working with your family to clear out the clutter, freshen up your living spaces, and wash the windows to let the sun shine in, you are sending a message to your baby that spring is a time of renewal.

As soon as they were able to stand, my babies loved to "wash the walls and windows" (water and a paint brush or sponge in a bucket). Once everything is clean, celebrate by hanging up prisms or homemade sun catchers. DIY toddler sun catchers are easy to make with contact paper or wax paper and tissue paper!

Plant a seed

Spring means renewal and blooming flowers. Gardening with your baby is a perfect way to share the joys of the outdoors with her. Choose fragrant herbs and hardy flowers and give your toddler her own little spot to tend. Make a stepping stone with baby hand prints or a mosaic design.

Have toddlers add a "fairy circle" of small pebbles or encourage preschoolers to build a fairy house out of mud bricks or pine cones and other materials you find outdoors.

Babies will learn about the sights, smells, and tastes of the garden while older toddlers and preschoolers get first lessons in nutrition, the life cycle of plants, and responsibility. Cut flowers can be given as gifts or pressed for future craft projects.

Some more ways to welcome spring:

  • Visit baby animals at a local farm
  • Make fresh lemonade
  • Go berry picking