Author: keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

Bees

Posted on by keepinthesunlightblog@gmail.com

My daughter recently joined the Girl Scouts as a “Juliette” brownie.  This means, for now, she is scouting as an individual.  I’m quickly realizing what an amazing addition this is to our homeschooling.  At this point, I don’t know how long her scouting journey will last, but she is SO excited about it.  And so am I.  What a perfect program to match her age.  The badges are set up to learn and explore several different topics, and I’m a big believer in young kids not being overly committed to one specific focus too young.  It’s such a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to different interests and areas that I may not have thought to introduce.

She’s decided to start working towards her “bug patch” first, and I can’t believe how she’s taken to it.  She spent a good chunk of time yesterday creating a large poster about butterflies.  I learned a bunch of new facts when she shared it with me.  And while I’m excited to see what other bugs she decides to explore, I took it upon myself to search out some bee resources.

I was amazed at how many bee farms and shops we have in the area and how many bee resources are online for kids.

One of my FAVORITE resources has been Maddie Moate.  This woman amazes me.  She’s fun and energetic and entertaining, and her videos cover just about every topic there is.  But she has some wonderful bee videos.  You need to check them out!

Also, since writing (and forgetting to post) this, we’ve been to our local bee store several times.  (Their honey is AmaZing!)  And while they were very busy the first couple times, we happened to go back on a slow day.  The owner was so great.  She showed the kids around the supplies and did a mini lesson about beekeeping for us.

Bees are an essential part of all our lives, and we need to all be doing more to support them.  Education is the first step, and I’m so very grateful for all the resources out there, so people like me can start to learn more about how we can help.

10 Ways for Kids to Help Bees

One Flower Project

Bee Activity Sheets

More Activity Sheets

Wings of Life (various short videos)

National Geographic Kids (2:03)

World Honeybee Day (3:36)

Great Sunflower Project (1:18)

Picture Books:  Bee Books

Good News!

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I’m on so many email lists for environmental causes and petitions.  When I’m in a Pollyanna spirit, these are great.  I’m so heartened to see organizations working for a better world and collecting information to share with like-minded people who care to make a change.  Usually though…  I get easily overwhelmed and discouraged reading about all the areas of our environment that need help.  Opening my email elicits an emotional response almost every single time.  I can feel my heart sinking even before I glance at the subject headings.  For years I’ve debated whether to just unsubscribe from all of these for my own peace of mind.  And I really have tried to weed some of them out.  But I just can’t fully disconnect.  It’s not in my nature to play the “ignorance is bliss” card.  Recently, I ended up on a new list (this happens, which is why the emails have multiplied over the years) and it claimed to be a bearer of “good news.”  Only it wasn’t.  At all.  Maybe tucked into corners here and there, but mostly it was just more overwhelming, scary news about our world.

Some people really do need to hear the realities of what’s going on in our environment.  A lot of people need a major wake-up call.  Like, NOw.  But, I am not that person.  I’m here.  I’m on board.  Let’s do this thing!  I work hard in my daily life to make conscious choices and do my small part trying to passing information and ideas along the best I can.  What I need is some good news.  I need something that’s going to keep me inspired and staying positive on this journey.  I need one of those large thermometers that shows we are indeed making progress towards a goal.  I need to hear about the large groups of people and companies who are also making huge efforts in their corners of the world.  So, for my own benefit (and hopefully someone else’s too…), I’m collecting some Good Environmental News here. (Coming Soon!)

Polly, Put the Kettle On

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Polly, put the kettle on,
Polly, put the kettle on,
Polly, put the kettle on,
We’ll all have tea.
Sukey, take it off again,
Sukey, take it off again,
Sukey, take it off again,
They’ve all gone away.

The nursery rhyme “Polly Put the Kettle On” dates back to the early 1800s, and the tune dates back to the late 1700s.  It’s one of my favorites for some reason.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when my youngest was a baby, I felt like I was constantly having a little dance with making tea where I’d start the water and then have to turn it off again before I could actually get around to making a cup.  As much as I love this little song, I’ve struggled to find (bearable) versions of it online.  I rather like this one I did find, but the video quality isn’t great:

Polly Put the Kettle On

Mostly I found these bluegrass-y/folksy versions, which are a lot of fun, even if they aren’t quite the little nursery rhyme I had set out to find:

Fiddle and banjo

This one has more adult lyrics (nothing bad, just not kid) and is a lot of fun.

I’m going to continue my search for more versions of this rhyme and post them here if I find them.

Rice

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Basmati Rice in Instant Pot
Brown Rice in Instant Pot

The Instant Pot has been such a wonderful help for me.  I know rice is not complicated to make, but there’s something about just throwing it in the IP that makes it that much more effortless.

My personal fav of these two is the brown rice.  It comes out buttery and perfect every time.  But lately my kids have been requesting basmati instead, so that’s been our new go-to.  I love mixing rice with pesto or vegetables.  The kids love rice vinegar and cucumbers mixed into theirs.  Rice is something my I know my one picky eater will always eat, so I love having these simple recipes on hand.

Oven Baked Chicken

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Recipe

I gotta say that when I first realized that I could cook chicken in the InstantPot, it was a game-changer.  I seriously dislike handling raw chicken, and I’ve always teetered on vegetarianism.  I feel like I eat meat more because it’s something my body needs, rather than because I want to.  ANYway.  I’ve been cooking all chicken in the IP for awhile, but I branched out the other night and tried this recipe.  Wowza!  It was so amazing.  And even though I did have to handle the chicken a bit, it was pretty darn easy.  Even the leftovers were so tender and tasty.  I highly recommend this!