Michael Ross - Sandbox Scientist. Real Science Activities for Little Kids

Thanks to Sherry Grazda and her students in Mckinleyville for inviting me to explore with them. Many thanks to Ellen Jones and Cyndi Rose for always welcoming me and my stuff at the El Portal Child Development Center. I am especially indebted to Allison Bown, who became a true partner in exploring the world of scientists at play. Last, but not least, this book is a tribute to all of the children I watched playing at the El Portal Elementary School, the El Portal Child development Center, and my local neighborhood.

A wide variety of tools and equipment are available at your local hardware store. Check at your local store for acrylic tubing, PVC pipe, funnels, pulleys, measuring tapes, pipe insulation, screwdrivers, pliers, plungers, and trowels.

There are many materials and tools that are also free for the asking. Ask lock and key shops for discarded locks and keys. Hospitals and clinics are a great source of plastic tubs, tubing, tweezers, and bottles with droppers. Construction sites yield discarded plastic pipes, gutters, and pipe insulation. Tile shops have leftover pieces of unglazed tiles, which are useful for rock explorations.

Bradley, Fern Marshall and Barbara W. Ellis. The Organic Gardeners Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1992.

An easy-to-use encyclopedia with complete instructions on how to safely protect your garden.

Campbell, Stu. Let it Rot! Pwnal, VT: Storey Publications, 1990.

A gardeners guide to composting.

Carlson, Laurie. Green Thumbs: A Kids Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1995.

With a few seeds, some water and soil, and this book, kids will be creating gardens of their own in no time.

Druse, Ken. The Natural Garden. New York: Clarkson Potter, 1988.

Learn how to design a garden that works with rather than against natural processes.

Ernst, Ruth Shaw. The Naturalists Garden. Old Saybrook, CN: Globe Pequot Press, 1993.

A guide to designing a garden that attracts, houses, and shelters wildlife.

Gershuney, Grace and Deborah Martin. The Rodale Book of Composting. Emmaus, PA. Rodale Press, 1992.

An essential guide to composting with useful advice for apartment dwellers, as well as suburbanites. Includes plans for building compost bins.

Ocone, Lynn. The Youth Gardening Book. Burlington, VT: Gardens for All, 1983.

A guide to gardening with groups of kids, includes 28 activities and experiments.

Perenyi, Constance. Growing Wild. Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words, 1991.

The story of a yard that goes to seed and transforms into a wildlife preserve.

Pyle, Robert Michael. Handbook For Butterfly Watchers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992.

Covers butterfly garden, rearing, identification, and ecology.

Tekulsky, Matthew. The Butterfly Garden. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Common Press, 1985.

A complete manual on how to attract this elusive animal to your garden.

Tilger, Linda. Lets Grow: 72 Gardening Adventures with Children. Pwnal, VT: Garden Way, 1985.

This book is full activities, projects, and exuberance.

Verey, Rosemary. The Scented Garden. New York: Random House, 1989.

How to choose, grow, and use fragrant plants.

Big Book of Fun

Creative Learning Activities for Home & School, Ages 4-12 Carolyn Buhai Haas

Illustrated by Janet Bennet Phillips

Includes more than 200 projects and activitiesfrom indoor-outdoor games and nature crafts to holiday ideas, cooking fun, and more.

ISBN 1-55652-020-4, 280 pages, paper, $11.95

Frank Lloyd Wright for Kids

Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen

A thorough biography is followed by stimulating projects that enable kids to grasp the ideas underlying Wrights workand have fun in the process.

ISBN 1-55652-207-X, 144 pages, paper, $14.95

Green Thumbs

A Kids Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening

Laurie Carlson

With a few seeds, some water and soil, and this book, kids will be creating gardens of their own in no time. They will also create compost, make watering cans, grow crazy cucumbers, and much more. Ages 3-9. ISBN 1-55652-238-X, 144 pages, paper, $12.95

Happy Birthday, Grandma Moses

Activities for Special Days Throughout the Year

Clare Bonfanti Braham and Maria Bonfanti Esche

Illustrated by Mary Jones

Two hundred related activities pay charming, educational tribute to the holidays, history, and accomplishments of many cultures and many people. Ages 3-9. ISBN 1-55652-226-6, 304 pages, paper, $14.95

Huzzah Means Hurray

Activities from the Days of Damsels, Jesters, and Blackbirds in a Pie

Laurie Carlson

Kids can re-create a long-ago world of kings, castles, jousts, jesters, magic fairies, and Robin Hoodall they need are their imaginations and materials they can find at home. Ages 3-9.

ISBN 1-55652-227-4, 184 pages, paper, $12.95

Kids Camp!

Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness

Laurie Carlson and Judith Dammel

Fun and educational camping activities teach kids how to construct a tarp tent, make jean daypacks, tie knots, and even make the ultimate lunch: hot dogs and smores cooked in a solar oven.

Ages 4-12. ISBN 1-55652-237-1, 184 pages, paper, $12.95

Look at Me

Creative Learning Activities for Babies and Toddlers

Carolyn Buhai Haas

Illustrated by Jane Bennet Phillips

Activities for babies and toddlers that inspire creativity and learning through play. ISBN 1-55652-021-2, 228 pages, paper, $11.95

Messy Activities and More Virginia K. Morin

Illustrated by David Sokoloff

Foreword by Ann M. Jernberg

Encourages adults and children to have fun making a mess with more than 160 interactive games and projects. Ages 3-10.

ISBN I-55652-173-1, 144 pages, paper, $9.95

MoreThan Moccasins

A Kids Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life

Laurie Carlson

Kids will discover traditions and skills handed down from the people who first settled this continent, including how to make useful pottery and communicate through Navajo code talkers.

Ages 3-9. ISBN 1-55656-213-4, 200 pages, paper, $12.95

My Own Fun

Creative Learning Activities for Home and School

Carolyn Buhai Haas and Anita

Cross Friedman

More than 160 creative learning projects and activities for elementary-school children.

Ages 7-12. ISBN 1-55652-093-X, 194 pages, paper, $9.95

These books are available through your local bookstore or directly from Independent Publishers Group, 814 N.

Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610,

1-800-888-4741.

Visa and MasterCard accepted.