Sprouting

We have a few things sprouting these days - some garlic, an avocado seed and some little grape hyacinth bulbs the fairies left my little one. Yes, the fairies seem to come by at least once a week, here and here and here and a few others that I did not mention. The last thing my little one left the fairy was a curved paperwhite leaf and 2 twigs, which of course, was a boat for the fairies. (sigh... Love that imagination!) Aside from my daughter's love of fairies, she absolutely loves the book, The Story of the Root Children by Sybille von Olffers.





It's a delightful story about Mother Earth awakening the little root children, who have been asleep all winter, deep underground. When spring comes, they make their flower dresses and paint the ladybirds and beetles. They spend all summer playing in the ponds, meadows, and fields before returning to Mother Earth in the autumn. Now is a perfect time to incorporate this story with the changes we notice outside into our seasonal nature table.




The snow is melting, exposing the earth and moss (if your lucky) and it's a great time to go outside exploring for some treasures. My little one is completely involved in bring her discoveries to our nature table and adding to our scene. Our nature table continues to be a very special spot in our house. I think a seasonal nature table is an invaluable way of making young children aware of the changing cycles of the year and upcoming holidays.