Here in Chicago I had a growing season almost to the end of November before I had to put my garden to bed.  I took all the pots from the side yard and put them under a sand box next to our wall, packed in real tight.  I am hoping that it will keep the temperature even enough that the perennials survive.   Even in January the parsley is still green!

While I can’t be out with the dirt I have been crafting.  My new passions come from Betz White’s sewing green that I got for Christmas.  I have been making Morsbags and totes out of reclaimed linens that I found at the Salvation Army and other Thirft stores.  See later posts for details.

The Boy is lucky enough to have a fossil collection from his great-grandfather.  These make it into school once a year or so.  Last year his Mor-Mor did this and ended up making coffee ground fossils and had some activities surrounding it.

This year I am bringing them in and need to have 27 kindergardeners keep busy and well behaved as the teacher works with them one on one.

One of the activities is a work sheet that has the kids fill in the first letter.  The work sheet is here: Fossil worksheet.

Another of the activities I created is a match the fossil with what made it.  I gathered leaves and plants and made a salt dough.  I then pressed the leaves and plants into the dough to create a fossil.  I made 5 sets of the plants.

Bake or dry according to instructions.

Then I rubbed black paint into the “fossil” and wiped it off to create more definition.

Black painted salt dough fossils

I saved 5 sets of plants and leaves which I encased in wax paper and made 5 worksheets to match the fossils onto.

Fossil work sheet

Kids can then look at the fossils and match them with what made them.

Matched up fossils