The Learning Bin

What would the world be like without beauty such as this? Think twice before using products with palm oil in them, because places like this are disappearing in favor of palm plantations. Stop buying these products and the cutting of jungle will not be profitable. Location: Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra Indonesia

If you are patient and thoughtful, the small and beautiful bits of our world will take notice.

When I take the "long" way to work I pass by this impenetrable wall of green leaves. Each leaf is between 12 inches and 3 feet long. Everyday I wonder, what might live behind this wall of green? I'm planning on using this image as a writing prompt for part of our jungle unit.

This scene took place outside of my house last night and I dreamed about what the tarantula was thinking. I thought this photo would make a great writing prompt.

This weekend's marketing made me think of seeds! Pumpkins and melons are in season here, and we discovered white fleshed passion fruits. Since I think just about every early childhood program I've ever worked with has had a seed study, I thought I'd post my fruit and veg prep pictures. As a side note I roasted my pumpkin seeds with garlic powder, mustard powder, a bit of cayenne pepper, and salt. They turned out wonderfully!

I always have my eye open for writing or story prompts. This past weekend when the hubs and I were doing our marketing we came across a new restaurant's grand opening. In our part of Indonesia when there is cause for celebration people and businesses send each other big signs made of fabric flowers to say congratulations. I thought it would be so neat to have a writing activity where kids can do their own celebration sign using tissue paper or fake flowers. Fun fact: the language that is used in this sign is Bahasa Indonesian.