I saw these in Family Fun magazine and thought we could give them a try. We didn't follow the instructions exactly but probably should have. Anyway, we glued a piece of tissue paper to a square of construction paper. Then we cut the tissue paper into fringe. We added a line of glue and glued the square into a cylinder shape. We used clothes pins to keep it together while it glued. We glued a strip of paper to the top and put a piece of yarn through it. Then we taped the yarn to a straw. That was it. When we do this again, we will try a glue stick instead of Elmers glue. Less wait time! Just a hint if you do try making these. R played with it all afternoon!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Felt Ice Cream Creations
I made felt cupcakes a couple months back and since the weather is suppose to be warming up soon (come on warm weather!), I thought the kids would have fun creating ice cream creations.
All you need is a couple different colors of felt. I cut out half circles to represent bowls, triangles for the cones and "scoops" of ice cream. I used the scraps to make sprinkles. We cut out some yellow cresent shapes so we could make bananna sundaes. Kept us creating for awhile!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Sock Toss
It was a little tough to get any good pictures of this fun game. Actually, my son came up with it and I just expanded on his idea. His idea was to take his socks off and ricochet them off the TV. So I grabbed a big tub and a bowl, put a collection of balled up socks in the bowl and had him practice his aim and hand/eye coordination by tossing the socks into the tub. When we mastered tossing into the tub, we tried aiming for the smaller bowl. We played this for a long time, good times!
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Labels:
fun,
games,
hand/eye coordination,
large motor,
spatial awareness
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What We Did With Plastic Eggs
This time of year you can find these eggs EVERYWHERE, and for really cheap. So, we have an abundance of them and we found sooooo many things to do with them, besides fill them with candy and hide them! I decided to just do one post dedicated to what we have done in the past few days with them.
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I hid little objects in the eggs, like a paper clip, button, piece of a straw, etc. Then I lined up a matching object on the floor. The kids shook the eggs and tried to guess what object was inside. They set it next to what they thought was in the egg. When all the eggs were shook and matched, we opened them up to see if our guesses were correct.We used rice, beans and pasta to fill up the eggs and make musical shakers. I added a couple dots of hot glue before I closed them so they wouldn't open all over the floor.
We sorted them by color....
made patterns with them.....
we scattered them all over the floor and picked them up by color, T picked up the green, R picked up the pink and purple (of course!)
We had races with them, first pushing them with our noses, then blowing them to them to the finish line!So much fun and great learning experiences too!
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Labels:
cause and effect,
colors,
counting,
fun,
games,
matching,
math,
patterns/math,
science
Monday, April 18, 2011
Egg Shell Art
We saved our egg shells from breakfast this morning. I washed them out and let them dry. Then we broke the shells up into tiny pieces. We divided them up into little cups and added a couple drops of food coloring. We mixed them up but you could put the shells in a baggie and color them that way too. I cut out the center of a paper plate because it is a little more sturdy than regular paper. R just squirted her glue on and then sprinkled on the egg shells. T painted his glue on and sprinkled the eggs. I think they came out beautiful! Such a great sensory experience.
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Labels:
colors,
creativity,
fine motor,
sceince,
sensory
Sunday, April 17, 2011
3D Sticky, Drippy Corn Syrup Fun
We poured corn syrup into some cups and colored it with food coloring. Then I made cones from white paper so that the syrup would drip down them. We used spoons to pour the corn syrup onto the cones. It was really messy but the kids had so much fun watching the colors mix and drip. The syrup dries hard and shiny but takes awhile to get there. We put the cones on wax paper overnight. Definitely a process not product experience!
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Friday, April 15, 2011
Looking in the Mirror
The other day my son was asking me if I could see his forehead? his chin? his hair? We discussed why he could not and then we went into the bathroom so he could see his full face. He ran and grabbed some paper and the markers so he could draw himself while looking in the mirror. It was a great experience.
Labels:
creativity,
problem solving,
science,
spatial awareness
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Awesome Aluminum Art
We did these the other day and the kids had so much fun making their aluminum pictures. They kept asking for more. I gave them small pieces of aluminum and they tore it into the sizes they needed. Tearing and squeezing the glue bottle is a great way to strengthen those little muscles needed for writing.
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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Through a Child's Eye
T figured out how to use our camera and we let him go to town. It really is amazing to view what he saw through the lens. If you can, hand over the camera to your kid for a bit. You will be pleasantly surprised, not to mention it will keep them entertained for a minute or two...that is always priceless! Here are a few that T took recently.
His Socks
my food
his fork
his face
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Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Star in the Apple Story
This is a fun story with a little surprise at the end. All you really need is an apple and your imagination...
The Little Red House with No Doors and No windows and a Star Inside
There was once upon a time a little boy who was tired of all his toys and, tired of all his play. "What shall I do ?" He asked his mother. And his mother, who always knew beautiful things for little boys to do, said, " You shall go on a journey and find a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside."
This really made the little boy wonder. Usually his mother had good ideas, but his thought that this one was very strange. "Which way shall I go?" He asked his mother. "I don't know where to find a little red house with no doors and no window ." "Go down the lane past the farmer's house and over the hill," said his mother, "and then hurry back as soon as you can and tell me all about your journey."
So the little boy put on his cap and his jacket and started out. He had not gone very far down the lane when he came to a merry little girl dancing in the sunshine. Her cheeks were like pink blooms petals and she was singing like a robin. "Do you know where I shall find a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star in inside?" asked the little boy. The little girl laughed, "Ask my father, the farmer," she said. "Perhaps he knows."
So the little boy went on until he came to the great brown barn were the farmer kept barrel of fat potatoes and baskets of yellow squashes and golden pumpkins. The farmer himself stood in the doorway looking out over the green pastures and yellow grain fields. "Do you know where I shall find a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?" asked the little boy of the farmer. The farmer laughed too. "I lived a great many years and I never saw one." He chuckled, "But ask Granny who lives at the foot of the hill. She knows how to make molasses, taffy and popcorn balls, and red mitten! Perhaps she can direct you."
So the little boy went on farther still, until he came to the Granny, sitting in her pretty garden of herbs and marigolds. She was wrinkled as a walnut and as smiling as the sunshine. "Please, Dear Granny," said the little boy. "Where shall I find a little red house with no doors and no windows and a star inside?"
Granny was knitting a red mitten, and when she heard the little boy's question, she laughed so cheerily that the wool ball rolled of her lap and down the little pebbly path. "I should like to find that little house myself," she chuckled. " I would be warm when the frosty night comes and the starlight would be prettier than a candle. But ask the wind who blows about so much and listens at all the chimneys. Perhaps the wind can direct you."
So the little boy took off his cap and tipped it politely to the Granny and went on up the hill rather sorrowfully. He wondered if his mother, who usually knew almost everything had perhaps made a mistake. The wind was coming down the hill as the little boy climbed up. As they met, the wind turned about and went along, singing beside the little boy. It whistled in his ear, and pushed him and dropped a pretty leaf into his hand. "I wonder," thought the little boy, after they had gone along together for awhile, "if the wind could help me find a little red house with no doors and no windows a star inside."
The wind cannot speak in our words, but it went singing ahead of the little boy until it came to an orchard. There it climbed up in the apple tree and shook the branches. When the little boy climbed up, there at his feet lay a great rosy apple. The little boy picked the apple. It was as much as his two hands could hold. It was red as the sun had been able to paint it, and the thick brown stem stood up as straight as a chimney, and it had no doors and no windows. Was there a star inside?
The little boy called to the wind, "Thank you," and the wind whistled back, "You're welcome." Then the little boy gave the apple to his mother. His mother took a knife (AT THIS POINT , START CUTTING AN APPLE CROSSWISE) and cut the apple through the center. Oh, how wonderful! There inside the apple, lay a star holding brown seeds.
"It is too wonderful to eat without looking at the star, isn't it?" the little boy said to his mother. "Yes indeed," answered his mother.
We tried making apple star prints with our DIY paint. They didn't turn out that great but would be great with a stamp pad!
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Sunday, March 27, 2011
DIY Paint or Something
We have never made this type of paint but thought it looked interesting. We mixed equal parts of flour and salt in a tray. Then the kids picked which color of paint they wanted to make. They put a few drops of food coloring in the bowls of water and then mixed everything together. The result wasn't quite paint (or actually not paint at all) but was a fun, different sensory experience. All we had was wheat flour so maybe that is why it had such a grainy texture. Anyway, it was fun and the kids had a great time mixing and painting, not to mention getting a little messy!
Labels:
cause and effect,
colors,
creativity,
fine motor,
fun,
science,
sensory
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