#funfriday : Magic Stick

The stick collection

Have some fun today by going on a walk. It’s rather warm out, so I try to walk first thing when I wake up, or I wait until the evening when it cools down again. While you’re out, go on a scavenger hunt for sticks! Collect as many as you can. Little ones, big ones, thick ones, thin ones, straight, crooked, crinkly, smooth. Gather them all!

Once you’re back home take out the art supplies. Anything and everything. You’ll probably want to set everything on a tablecloth or some newspapers. Paint, markers, crayons, yarn, string, pipecleaners, feathers, paper, pom poms, beads, gems, googly eyes! If you have glue and tape bring that out too. Don’t forget the scissors! It will be a creation station for magic to happen. Lay your sticks out too, so you can see the selection you have.

I arranged mine from smallest to biggest. Some children like to lay things in a pattern. Ask your child to lay out the sticks and see what happens.

Can you think of a story, from when you were a child, when you were playing with sticks or amongst trees? Share these stories with your child. They love hearing about stories from when you were a kid. That is a bit of magic for them, because wait… you were a kid too??? (My story is below.) Talk about the strength of a tree and how their stick was a part of that tree and is sharing it’s strength with them now. They can decorate it and make it their very own! Or maybe they’ll just want to instantly play with it! Let them lead with their ideas. It might not be what you expected and that is ok! Let the adventures begin!

My tree story: My grandma used to live by an old, giant tree with big roots when I was a child. We would walk by it every day I visited and look at it in awe. One day she told me, “If trees could talk, this tree would tell great stories.” Well every time I look at a tree, I think about all the things that tree has seen, heard, and felt. From just a tiny seed, a tree can grow so big and strong, just like children.

Happy Friday!