#TWKatHome Monthly Content
April Eggs & Earth Care
Welcome to TWKatHome, our fun, free online content that helps kids and families explore food and build positive, healthy eating habits. Each month, we will provide activities and ideas for ways to engage children as they learn about food and where it comes from.
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Eggs Across Cultures
Eggs hold significant cultural meaning throughout the world. In ancient cultures eggs were associated with death, rebirth, and royalty. In 1610, the practice of staining eggs was adopted by the Christian Church. The style and techniques in the art of egg decorating takes many forms throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Past Content to Explore
For example, people who are Jewish and celebrate Passover, part of their tradition is to place a hard-boiled egg on the Passover ceremonial plate and to eat hard-boiled eggs dipped in salt water as part of the ceremony.
Eggs are eaten worldwide in a variety of forms- deviled, sandwiches, curries, loaves, frittatas, omelets, and tarts to name a few. Here are 13 egg salad recipes you may want to try!
STEM in the Kitchen
Let's Stain Eggs
Try making your own natural dyes with fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers!
Earth Day
April 22nd is Earth Day! Across the globe, people come together on this day and throughout the month to take part in initiatives to restore, protect, and conserve mother nature. Earth Day was first recognized in 1970 as a rise up against community exposure to air pollution from leaded gas, and the realization that environmental toxins from industries negatively affect the health of surrounding communities.
Activities
Reuse (use it again), Recycle (convert it into a reusable material) or Repurpose (use it for something else)
- Try making recycled paper! This paper will turn out thick with a rough texture. We recommend using it for arts and crafts, as it is not ideal for journaling.
- Repurpose egg shells with these simple seed planters. Eggshell Seed Planters - YouTube
- Repurpose a plastic bottle into a planter. Get creative or keep it simple. Try starting herbs like oregano, parsley, and rosemary or greens like lettuce and spinach.
Composting at Home
There are so many benefits to home composting. Composting reduces the amount of garbage you produce and frees up space in landfills. It helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (which contribute to global warming.) The end result of composting is food (natural fertilizer) for your plants! Composting may seem intimidating, but it’s quite simple and can be fun for the whole family!
6 Different Ways To Compost, No Matter Where You Live - YouTube
Writing Prompts & Conversation Starters
- What do seeds and eggs have in common?
- What could you do to protect the environment?
- What could your family do together to care for the earth?
- How could your community work together to reduce waste?
- Does your family have a home compost? If so, what do you compost? If not, what could you compost that you usually put in the trash can?
- You have probably heard the term Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Give an example of how you can reduce waste, reuse resources, and recycle materials in your daily life.
Book Recommendations
Here are a few book suggestions for young learners.
- The Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Siddalls is a fun A to Z book describing the variety of items that can be included in a compost pile.
- Wiggly Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer is an educational story describing the life of worms and how they benefit the soil.
- Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch is a brightly illustrated story of the movement and responses of plants to their environment.
- The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds by Patricia Relf is an informational adventure book about how plants grow.
