It’s Mother’s Day in the Garden!
This week’s garden-themed activities celebrate someone very special – mothers!
Here at Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, the mother who started it all was Mareen Kruckeberg. In addition to raising five kids here, Mareen designed much of the Garden you see today! Mareen was also an artist, creating botanical illustrations of some of her favorite garden plants. Check out some of amazing Mareen’s artwork below in the Arts & Crafts section.
Learn more about some unique animal mothers and their babies in this weeks lessons, activities, and crafts!
Learn
5 REASONS WHY MOMS ARE AWESOME – There are countless reason why moms are awesome, but check out this list by National Geographic Kids about 5 amazing animal moms.
GROWING UP GORILLA – The Woodland Park Zoo has a new member in their animal family! On March 12th, Uzumma the gorilla gave birth to a baby boy! Read all about Uzumma and her baby in the Woodland Park blog and sign the wish book!
LEARN ABOUT BABY ANIMALS – Spring is the perfect time for baby animals to be born! Learn how different animal mothers (and fathers!) care for their young. Brought to you by HomeScienceTools.
Games & Activities
A DEN FULL OF CUBS – Create a cozy den fit for a mama bear and her cubs in your own living room! A great rainy day activity for cubs ages 0-8 years old by the Woodland Park Zoo’s Zoomazium.
SILENT SHARING WALK – Take a walk this weekend with your mother or another adult in your life. As you walk quietly, point out to each other anything special or interesting you see. This silent activity is a great way to share a special moment with someone you care about. This activity is brought to you by Sharing Nature.
FIND MY PLANKTON BABY PICTURE – Plankton are tiny creatures that live in the ocean. Some plankton are actually the babies (also known as larvae) of much larger sea creatures. Play this fun online quiz by Ology to guess what some famous sea creatures look like as tiny plankton babies.
Arts & Crafts
MSK COLORING PAGES – We’ve turned some of Mareen’s botanic illustrations into printable coloring pages! Check out alpine clematis, white forsythia, corydalis, and winter hazel.
MATCH THE BABIES – Animal mothers and their babies have many unique adaptations to help them survive and thrive in the wild. Match the baby animal with its adaptation, then color in each animal.
MY MOM IS… – Describe your mom in this fun and easy coloring page.
PAPER BOUQUET – Leave the flowers for the bees! This Mother’s Day, print, cut, and color your own unique paper flower bouquet for your mom. Printable coloring page by Krokotak.
Videos & More
UZUMMA WITH HER BABY – See Woodland Park Zoo’s Gorilla mom, Uzumma, with her new baby!
INSIDE THE KILLER WHALE MATRIARCHY – Did you know that killer whales (also known as orcas) are led by their grandmothers? This 5-minute video explores the role of grandmothers in our local orca pods. Created by Darren Croft and TED-Ed.