Alphabet Adventures: E is for Eclairs at Elizabeth's Park

Okay, as we already admitted on Facebook, determining an Alphabet Adventure for the letter "E" stumped us a little. Luckily nearby we have a great, free park and playground called "Elizabeth's Park." We don't make it there on a regular basis, so it's always a treat when we do go. And we decided to add in a sweet treat too, eclairs!

The Adventure

This one was an easy one, we didn't need to pack too much. We loaded the cooler with a few healthy snacks and stopped quickly at the local grocery store for eclairs. The clue bag had the letter E and a picture of the wooden playground.

Once there, everyone had a chance to play.

We played long enough that our eclair snack turned into an early lunch, but luckily we'd packed more than just the sweet treat and had a small picnic. Big Brother, who'd never had these treats before, couldn't wait to try them!

Of course, after eating we played some more too!

The Project

Our E project used a new art material for us, crushed egg shells because E is for egg. 

A few days ago when baking I pre-washed the eggs with dish soap before adding them to the batter. After breaking them I washed the inside as well and let them dry on the windowsill. When we got ready to do our project I gathered the egg shells, a glue stick, and white paper. I drew an egg shape onto the white paper with pencil. 

We've been getting fresh eggs from my husband's coworker which come in several colors naturally. 

Big Brother first smashed the egg shells into pieces and then broke the pieces into even smaller parts. 

He then used the glue stick to fill in the egg shape and added the shell bits on top of the glue. 

After it dried I cut out the shape and mounted it onto colored card stock, which I added to the "e" page of our alphabet book.

We ended our E activities by reading The Beautiful Egg by James and Ruth McCrea. The tale tells of a hen who is teased by a robin and wren for having plain eggs, only to discover that her eggs are the ones being used to create beautiful painted eggs. 

A few other E adventure ideas: egg hunt (either one like those at Easter or perhaps one with real hens), something done in the evening, or something done early.