Reuniting Kids w/ Nature - Make Your Own Flip Book

Source

MATERIALS: 
Growth chart (optional), blank paper (printer paper),   scissors, a stapler, markers, crayons or colored pencils

TIME FRAME:
15 - 60 minutes
PROCEDURE:

1. Take your blank paper, one page at a time, and fold it into eighths (fold it in half, then in half again, then in half again).
2. Once you have several sheets of paper folded into eighths, begin cutting them up on the lines you folded (this will give you many small pieces of paper that are all the same size)
3. Once all of your paper is cut, stack it up carefully so all the sides lines up as much as possible, then staple them all together, creating a small, blank book.
4. Each day, as you are tracking the plant of your choice on your growth chart, also draw a small picture of what you see.  
5. Only use one side of each page, so when you flip through it, you are only seeing one picture at a time.
6. Once you’ve filled up your book with your observations, you can flip through it and see a movie of your plants growth!

REFLECTION: 
How does it feel to draw a picture of the same thing every day?  What small changes have you noticed through your careful observation that you might not have noticed before?  How does this relate to your day to day life and the importance of careful observation?

TIDBITS:  

• The flip book looks like a small notebook – originally stapled, mostly bound today- that you hold in one hand while you flip over the pages with the thumb of the other hand, either from front to back or from back to front. 
• The first flip book was patented in September, 1868 by John Barnes Linnett.

IMAGININGS: 

• Imagine a time when there was no TV or movies and a flip book was the only way your could “watch” a show that was not being performed on stage.
• Using your flip book, imagine the excitement of seeing the images “move” right before your eyes, breathe in the smell of the paper, feel each page as it slides past your thumb, listen to the ruffling of each sheet as it makes it’s way by.

This activity is part of a series of low cost, hands on activities that can be used by anyone who has a passion for nature and who believes that a child's time spent in nature is not only important, but necessary.  Each activity was either created by me or gathered from a variety of sources.  You can find the complete list of all of the activities on my Nature Activities tab.

xoxo,

M

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