Washington Monument Cherry Blossoms Craft

The cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. are iconic. I have several friends who live in the D.C. area who post photos when the blooms are at their peak. One such photo inspired me to make this craft featuring the Washington Monument. Affiliate links below. 

Washington Monument Cherry Blossoms Craft

Materials:

• cardstock or construction paper (blue, white, black/dark blue)
• brown marker
• tissue paper
• scissors
• craft glue

Steps: 

Use the brown marker to draw branches and twigs on either side of a piece of blue cardstock. They'll largely be covered with blossoms. 

Cut a narrow rectangle from the white and black (or dark blue) cardstock. Glue them together so that half of each color shows. With scissors, trim the top of each color to make the point of the Washington Monument. Then, on each side, cut a slight taper from the top of the rectangular part to the bottom. 

Cut shades of pink and/or white cardstock into 1" squares. 

Glue the Washington Monument onto the blue cardstock. Put a dot of glue onto one branch, then crumple up a square of tissue paper and stick in to the branch. Repeat this process until you've filled the branches. You might find it easier to do all the crumpling and then all the gluing. I worked in batches of about 10 blossoms at a time. 

In researching this project, I came across these fun facts about the Washington Monument, courtesy of the National Constitution Center. We visited in 2017 and LOVED it. I hope to return someday. George Washington will still dwarf Trevor, but not by nearly as much!

Washington DC and NYC 2019

Trevor spent his 2019 spring break on a trip to Washington DC and New York City with his classmates. The trip was virtually identical to one I took as a kid in 1988 and as a teacher in 2001. It would have been awesome to have completed the trifecta (taking the same trip as a student, teacher, and parent) but it was not to be. 

DC & NYC 2019 (affiliate link)

Trevor had an incredible time and loved every minute. Although he traveled with a camera and a cell phone, he came home with a lot fewer photos than I'd hoped. Fortunately, the fabulous Mrs. Brucia (the teacher in charge) and the other chaperones took plenty of pictures. I found the best ones that actually had Trevor in them, added a few others, then put them together on this spread. I left plenty of space for journaling. 

I'm so glad Trevor had the chance to travel with his school friends and make such great memories. 

Exploring Virginia (and Washington DC) Through Little Passports

Time to share our latest Little Passports adventure, a virtual trip to Virginia and Washington DC! Trevor started by building a model of the White House.

Then we did the art activity. We learned how to draw the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial. Trevor will be visiting both, along with many other sites, when he travels to the east coast with his school next March. I had the pleasure of taking a group of students to Washington DC as a teacher and it was incredible. I am so glad Trevor will have a similar experience.  

We read about the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach and used a series of clues to determine which drawing of the Neptune statue was accurate. Then we unscrambled puzzle pieces to reveal a photo of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. We solved a matching activity about Monument Avenue in Richmond and solved a map puzzle based on the Pentagon. 

Next, we learned about the plant life in Virginia's coastal wetlands. We read about the performers and guides at Colonial Williamburg and discovered the town's motto: "That the future may learn from the past." We worked on a rebus activity about how some of Virginia's state parks (Smith Mountain Lake State Park, Chippokes Plantation State Park, Kiptopeke State Park, Fairy Stone State Park, and Holliday Lake State Park) were named. We added the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria to our list of places we'd like to visit someday. 

We read about famous events from Virginia history and learned some fun facts. Three presidents graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg; George Washington received a surveyor's certificate there. The first successful electric trolley system in the country opened in Richmond in 1888. The largest bridge-tunnel complex in the world, the 20+ mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, opened in 1964.

The cooking project was Mary Ball Washington's Gingerbread. She was the mother of George Washington and, like him, born in Virginia. She was well-known as an outstanding baker.

We certainly enjoyed it!

Virginia was our 50th and final virtual adventure through Little Passports. Looking back on all that we did and learned together, I could not be happier. Trevor and I had so much fun learning about our 50 states through cooking, crafts, science, puzzles, and other fun activities. I highly recommend Little Passports for the child in your life!