Painting with Jars

Today we tried a new medium to paint with.....Jars!  My kids loved it.  I like to challenge the kids by putting out unusual items to paint with.  We have used rocks, jelly beans, Lego's, and ice.  It allows the children to use their problem solving skills, imagination, fine motor and many other benefits. 

 

this jar had ridges on the bottom and the kids figured out that if

they dragged the jar it would make this print

 

I just love how these jar paintings came out. 

*As always, when children are using anything breakable, close supervision is required. 







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Rock Houses

If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I am all about recycling and cheap!  I don't know if I can get any cheaper than this and my kids love this play set.  We washed out some juice and milk cartons, cut them in half and painted them with craft paint.  Then, we cut doors into our little "houses" and added some little details.  Next, we went out into the yard in search of some smallish rocks.  We looked for ones that we were able to stand up.  Then we painted those, added googly eyes and drew on mouths.  Voila!  Done and done.  Cute little play houses for our little pet rocks.  So fun, so cheap and recycling at the same time.  What's not to love??

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Paint with Fizz

We are always experimenting with baking soda and vinegar.  We made FIZZ, we used it to blow up a balloon, made sidewalk paint with it, and of course, the good 'ol Volcano.  I thought it would be fun to make some paint with baking soda and see if we could make some fizzing paintings.  I mixed baking soda with watercolors (you can use food coloring too) until it became a paint consistency. I put vinegar in jars with droppers.  The kids painted their pictures and then drip dropped the vinegar onto their paintings to fizz them up!  Super fun and easy!  The pictures do not do this experience justice AT ALL!  Go ahead and try it, you and your kids will love it!



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Painting with Pineapple Leaves

Did you know that you can paint with pineapple leaves?  I actually have never thought about it, but my kiddos sure did.  While cutting up our pineapple, my daughter pulled each and every leaf out of the top of it.  Then asked for some paint.  Why not?  We got out the paint (yellow and green for pineapple colors, of course) and some paper.  That's all it took to set these little artists up!  It is always fun to paint with unexpected materials.  Keeps the creativity fresh and challenges those developing minds to think outside of the box.  Pineapple leaves will no longer be seen the same in this house!



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Pool Noodles and Golf Tees

There are lots of fun things to do with pool noodles.  I think noodle-sword fights are my kids favorite.  I have seen them cut up and used as blocks, stringing them on yarn, stamp painting with them, cut in half to create marble runs with and many others.  Just search "pool noodle" on Pinterest and you will have loads of ideas at your fingertips.  What I like, is you can find them for less than 1.00 right now!  So I bought some, we had a few battles with them, then I cut them into smaller round circles. Then, I set them out with the golf tees and let the kids create. 

Of course, T made a robot!

Great for fine motor development, creativity, problem solving and sensory.



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Stringing Eggs

I saw this idea on Pinterest.  I was thinking this would be a fabulously fun, fine motor and math activity for my snake happy son.  We used plastic eggs and a pipe cleaner for ours, but you can see the original idea HERE.  I made a small knot at the end of the pipe cleaner so the egg ends wouldn't slip through.

I was thinking they looked a little like caterpillars, but Tayler saw his as a cobra snake.  So he stuck one of the eggs on the opposite way to create it's "hood".  Then he added eyes and left the pipe cleaner sticking out for the tongue.  Pretty dang cute cobra to me!

Another great fine motor skill.  You could incorporate patterning and counting into this as well.

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Get Crackin'

My kids love to crack the eggs when we are cooking.  So, it gave me this idea. I poured a small amount of (watered down) paint into plastic eggs..  I didn't match the color of paint to the egg just to add to the element of surprise, but you could certainly do so.  I put paper in a box lid just to contain the paint.  Then I handed them over to the kiddos!  This was a blast and I couldn't fill up the eggs with paint fast enough.  A fun way to strengthen those muscles needed for writing along with some great creativity. 

Deborah over at Teach Preschool  had this same exact idea.  Her kids extended this a bit with some rolling and dabbing.    Such a great process.  Hop on over and check out their work too!

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Fluffy Stuff

After seeing Lisa Murphy do THIS I had to try it.  All you need is a bottle of shaving cream and a box of corn starch.  This was enough for two tubs of this wonderful, fluffy stuff!  We poured about half the box of corn starch in each tub and then just squirted the shaving cream into them.  We used the entire bottle between the two tubs.  The incredible thing about this is that after a bit, it's moldable!  The kids LOVED it.  Now to replenish my shaving cream supply.  Next time we will try adding some color too.  So fun and a great fine motor and sensory experience!



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Monster Truck Derby with Smashable Aluminum Cars

Recently, we went to a Monster Truck show, where the huge trucks were jumping over and smashing into junk cars.  Ever since then, my son has been creating his own monster truck shows.  The issue was his little cars would not smash!  So my husband came up with aluminum molds to jump and crash over.  Genius!!  He cut a small piece of aluminum foil and pressed it on top of the car, creating an imprint of it.  Then, my son lined them up and smashed away.  The super thing about this is that the cars can be "created" over and over again.  Serious fun!

Let the Smash Up Derby Begin!!!

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Robots using Recyclables

If you have been following me for awhile now, you know that my son LOVES to build and create.  Mostly he loves Lego's, but anything he can create and build with is right up his alley.  He asked if I would help him build a robot.  So we looked in our supply of recyclables for what he thought he might need.  This is what he chose;

- plastic lids

- tin cans of various sizes

- plastic bottles

- cardboard tubes

We got out the glue gun and began construction.  He began to get frustrated when his robot would not stand up (it was top heavy).  I suggested we add something heavier to the bottom of it.  He thought about it for a minute and then ran outside to get a couple rocks.  He stuck these in the bottom cans. He then named him Rock Robot and wrote that on the arms.  

I just smile looking at these cute robots. 

My kids worked so hard and did all their own construction and hot gluing. It took a lot of problem solving and truly enjoyed watching them come up with their solutions.

These were so fun to create.  I highly suggest you give it a try.

our supplies

Hot Gluing

learning about balance

language, writing, letters recognition, small motor

Rock Robot

 



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Cake Mix Playdough

I got this fabulous recipe from Lisa Murphy's Ooey Gooey Tooey book.   You will need:

1 box of cake mix (any type will do)

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 cups of salt

6 tsp of cream of tartar

6 tbls oil

3 cups of water

Mix it all in a bowl (we used an electric mixer).  Then pour into a pot and cook on medium heat until the dough begins to form a ball.  Plop it on the counter and let it cool.  Knead until it is soft and pliable. This play dough, if kept in an airtight container) will last for weeks.  It is so fun and smells incredible.

 

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