Aa is for Apple

Now that KID 1 is spending his days in his Kindergarten classroom, it's up to KID 2 and me to keep the alphabet soup bubblin'!



This week was "Apple Week" here. I only wish we had apple orchards nearby where we could go and pick fresh apples! We studied an apple and all its many colors, then filled in a big apple outline with colored tissue paper. KID 2 had fun tearing the tissue into little pieces for gluing. I watered down some Elmer's and gave her a paintbrush to apply her glue. She really enjoyed this project!





This one is MY apple project. I want to make a banner for each month so we can hang it on the mantle to mark the beginning of the new month. Here is September's banner:

How do you celebrate the month of September?

Earth Day Activity with The Lorax

We read The Lorax by Dr. Suess this week, enjoyed an ongoing discussion about the importance of trees, and followed up with this art activity today, making our own "Truffula Trees."

I cut toilet paper rolls in half lengthwise and the kids painted them brown. Then we glued them to a piece of construction paper. Next we put some cotton balls in a plastic container with some green tempera powder, popped the lid on and shook. The result was a variety of shades of green puffs, perfect for truffula trees! (Or thneeds, if you're familiar with the book!)

My 5-year-old son is very intent on realism in his artwork right now, so he needed the book to look at as he painted the Lorax next to his tree. The two 2-year-olds had no such requirements and went to town painting yellow suns and Loraxes all over their pages:

Happy Earth Day!

Rainy Day Art: Stained-Glass Masterpieces

Contact paper, colored tissue and a permanent marker were all we needed to make these beautiful stained-glass creations:





Even without the sun shining through, they sure brightened up our dining room window on this stormy day!

An Easy Easter Project and Fun New Resource!

We recently opened a fresh new stack of colored construction paper (a BIG event around here!) and KID 1 was anxious to make something. I did a search for "construction paper crafts" online and came up with a cool site with alphabetized paper crafts:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/paper.htm

They also offer thematic materials, such as the Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? link with printable templates for coloring or making feltboard characters (there's a brown bear, red bird, yellow duck, etc.). They call this collection of resources the Book Breaks. Check out the Nursery Rhymes section, too! I wish I had known about this site sooner!

For those of you working on letters or numbers of the week, this could be a great resource for hands-on projects!

We started with the Easter Chick and added some fluffy yellow feathers to his wings. KID 1 liked cutting all the basic shapes and then putting them together to make something new. I wonder what we'll make next...hmmmmm...

Playdough Resurrection Cross

Favorite Lent Activity: The Resurrection Cross (in playdough!)

Homemade playdough, small cookie cutters and white birthday candles are all the supplies you'll need to create this countdown cross. Each Sunday we light one less candle leading to Good Friday (when our Light went out). During Sunday dinner or devotional time is a good time to incorporate this activity. Turn overhead lights off for good visual effect and note how it gets darker each week as you light fewer and fewer candles.

Do a special lighting on Good Friday and let the kids blow all the candles out. Light them all again on Easter Sunday, symbolizing Jesus's resurrection. His sacrifice enabled his light to shine all over the world and right into our hearts.

Note: It's not too late to create your resurrection cross. Just pick up with this coming Sunday's lighting and blow out all but one.

Favorite Homemade Play Dough Recipe

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tablespoon cooking oil or baby oil
1 cup water

Mix ingredients together. Stir constantly over medium heat until play dough consistency is formed. Cool and knead. Store in a tightly covered plastic container. Add food coloring to the water before adding it to the other ingredients, or knead in colors at the end while still warm (kids enjoy this part!).

We love this recipe and use it for playgroups and projects all the time! A triple batch makes enough dough for 6-8 kids.

A Book, a Boy, and a Body

Kids never cease to amaze me with their natural curiosity and limitless enthusiasm for things that inspire them! Our son, age 5, recently amazed us with his artistic (and scientific) rendition of the human body. As is often the case around here, the jumping off point was a book he read before bed with his daddy, The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body, by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen. (We love this series of science discovery books. They're well-illustrated by the talented Bruce Degen, and offer lots of detailed information about each topic in a very kid-friendly format.)


Upon waking the next morning, KID 1 informed us, "I'm going to make the human body today!"


"Oh. Okaaaaay...how do you plan to do that?" I inquired, my curiosity piqued.


I offered clay, but he declined. He said he needed paper, markers, and paint.


"Great!" I responded enthusiastically, relieved that we had all those supplies on hand.



He proceded to set his easel area, completely unassisted, with every paint pot we own, each with its own paintbrush standing at the ready.

I noticed he had found the Magic School Bus book from the previous evening's bedtime reading, along with a larger lift-the-flap book of the human body. Both were propped at his feet, ready for close inspection.



I taped up his paper and he set to work immediately, starting with an outline of a body. Then he was flipping through his books feverishly, stopping on pages that intrigued him to add an organ here, a blood vessel there, a representative bone or an important muscle. The end result is amazing (and funny: note the green blob of brain!).



When he finished his painting, I asked him about each part he included in his body and he matter-of-factly named each one for me so I could label it. Kidneys. Esophagus. Windpipe. Large intestine. Small intestine. The villi inside the small intestine. All the while, I'm thinking "Is this normal? He's only five! How does he remember all this, yet can't identify letter "Gg" correctly?"



Thank God for good books that feed my child what I didn't know he craved. Amazing.

A Little Art

One Little, Two Little Budding Artists

The Hands of an Artiste!

Her Marvelous Mix-Up!

Just a little window into our creative morning...I can't wait to show you what he created! When he finished, he said, "Oh, Mommy! I'm just so impressed with myself!" Nothing like a little confidence, huh? ;-D

Painting with Magnets

Continuing on with our exploration of letter Mm, we tried a new "Mark-Making" art activity: Magnet Painting.

We have a set of Magnetix ($3 at a children's consignment sale) that works perfectly for this activity. I cut some of our easel paper to fit a cookie sheet and taped it in place. If you have strong enough magnets, you could just use the tabletop. KID 1 used two metal balls and two magnetic posts, one for each hand.

He really enjoyed sliding his magnets around the bottom of his tray and watching the effects as the little metal balls rolled through magenta paint.

Special Note: The "stand" for the cookie sheet is actually a tv table turned upside down! Whatever works, right? The links below show three different sizes available in these magnetic building sets. The smaller sets have smaller balls that could be a choking hazard for little ones. Any of these sets would work for this art project, plus add a science toy to your playroom. What a great way to learn cause and effect!




For more tips and tricks, head on over to Works-For-Me Wednesday.

Musical Murals

We're learning about letter "Mm" this week, and I'm anxious to share one of our very cool activities!

On Monday, I cut a big, long piece of easel paper and taped it to the floor. I gave both kids their own set of crayons (we used Colorations Silky Sticks, which are soft and glide over the paper).

To prepare them for the activity, I told them to just listen to the music and draw what they feel. I didn't say much more than that, and they didn't really need to know more. After a questioning look from KID 1 (What are we supposed to do?), I reassured him that he would know how to draw the music once he heard it.

The first piece of music I selected for them to "draw" was "Moonlight Sonata," which has lots of repetitions. It's very smooth music, and my 4-year-old really reflected the feel of the music as he drew, using large, sweeping movements of his arm in concentric circles. My toddler tapped, dabbed, and pounded her crayon to the beat, raising her crayon over her head with a flourish as she looked up to see if we were watching.

I tried to melt into the background and just observe, occasionally reminding them with a hand signal to just listen. I didn't want them to feel their art time was a performance, but it sure was fascinating to watch!

The second piece was my husband's choice (he was home from work by then and thoroughly fascinated by this little experiment) and we moved this new mural up to the table so the kids could really move their whole bodies. He chose "Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)" from the Swing Kids soundtrack. Oh, my goodness, it was so funny to watch! And what a difference between the two pieces of art! Fast, jaunty scribbles took up the center of the page as his feet flew beneath him! Watch our video...it's too funny!

Combining our love of art and music really works for us!

The Letter "Cc"...continued...

Briefly the world's tallest building, the Chrysler building is truly an American icon in architecture and the New York skyline. We are using clay to make miniature sculptures of the Chrysler building today. This gives us an opportunity to talk about uppercase and lowercase letters and when to use them.


Adorned with metal hubcaps, radiator caps, car fenders, and hood ornaments, as the name suggests, this building gets much of it's inspiration from a car! If it has anything to do with cars, it works for us!

Happy Works-for-Me Wednesday!

____________________________________________________________________________________
The follow-up: Sculpting was very challenging, but we had so much fun making all sorts of things!

My nine-year-old niece and my son really "went to town" with their creations. He sculpted a city and she did a shoreline with a lighthouse and the Little Mermaid on her rock!

Messy Art Table

Our art table is always a mess! I love to give my kids access to their art supplies, but we need a better way to organize them so that clean-up isn't such a chore.

Here is a brief overview of our basic materials:

LOTS of paper, different sizes
Paint - watercolor palettes, powdered tempera, poster paint, finger paint
Crayons
Markers
Colored Pencils
Stamps and ink pads
stencils
scissors
glue
writing paper
fat writing pencils
paper punches
paint applicators

How do you organize your materials? Do you limit child access to them? What works for you?

Making Their Marks: Straw Painting

We recently tried using straws as paint applicators. I demonstrated the technique first, putting one end of the straw into the paint and my finger over the other end of the straw. Then I brought the straw over the paper and released the paint where I wanted it. Now I could blow the paint across the paper using the straw. My son couldn't wait to try it. He really enjoyed this new method!

Our 1 1/2 year-old had more trouble with this technique, of course, but she enjoyed dragging the straw across the paper, making her own unique marks!

Both kids worked on the same paper, and the finished product was later presented to Aunt Beth for her birthday. She loved it, of course!

Special Note: Even though I used wide, shallow bowls for the paint, we still ended up with a spill (they will always find a way!). We had to turn the big brown spill in the corner into "intentional art!"

Making Their Marks: Toothbrush Paintings

Why throw away an old toothbrush when you can paint with it? This one was fun for both kids. Just make sure it doesn't go in the mouth!

Check out more of our fun art ideas! Or check out Crystal's blog for more Frugal Friday links.

Making Their Marks: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

This is the first in our Preschool Art series Making Their Marks.

A fun art session that BOTH our kids enjoyed on Monday was an easy prep and required something we have in abundance around here: little cars and trucks.

I picked out some cars and trucks ahead of time that had different kinds and sizes of wheels. The little jeep had a chunky tread, the tractor had a wide tread, etc.

The kiddos like to help with the color-choosing, of course, and we ended up with pink and turquoise blue. Our 4 1/2 year-old son's FAVORITE color is pink, and he has stayed true to this preference for the past couple of years! At birthday parties, he really, really, really wants the pink party favors (usually princess-themed, but he doesn't care), not the blue ones (this has come up a couple of times, believe it or not!!!).

Anyway, we don't make a big deal about it...if pink is his favorite, he gets pink, by golly! No gender-stereotyping here!

We put each paint color on its own flat plate with several cars and trucks to roll through. Kid 2 (age 1 1/2) really enjoyed rolling one color over the other on her paper, making purple, of course!

What fun! And I can't help mentioning one of our favorite books around here: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!

Preschool Art: Making Their Marks

When it comes to "art," babies and toddlers really take a scientific approach. They want to experiment with their materials: color, different sizes and shapes of paper, and things that make interesting marks: markers, pens, crayons, colored pencils, and paint.

Just look in the art supply aisle of any store and you'll find the options are almost overwhelming. I find that some basic tempera paint really goes a long way for art time here. Just be sure that whatever you buy, it needs to be non-toxic.

When we use paintbrushes, they are the fat-handled kind for little kids. Our son (age 4 1/2) is ready to use the skinny kind, but he still enjoys the thick bristled ones that make a big, wide mark.

We try to think outside the box when it comes to paint tools and applicators. We'll try anything! In the next few weeks, we'll be posting some of our art experiments. Mostly because it's fun for us, but perhaps you'll find inspiration here as well!

So get some paint and some nice thick paper and get ready to try some fun things with your little ones! See some of our recommendations below.

Have fun!

A Playspace That Works

I love creating kid-friendly spaces! Our playroom (an enclosed side porch Realtors technically called a "third bedroom," since it has a tiny closet) has been a work in progress since we moved in 2 years ago...for a few reasons:

1. As our kids grow and change, their playtime changes, too. Especially in the first few years! We've finally landed on some things that BOTH kids can play with, albeit differently, in their age-appropriate ways. Even my 9-year-old niece has a ball in our playroom...and it's designed with preschoolers in mind!


2. We kept reorganizing things to see what works best in this small space (an 8 x 5' rug just fits with a few feet of bare floor left over for the art table and chairs). Our goal: to create a space that both our kids can enjoy and then clean up...without a lot of adult intervention.


3. We had too much stuff in the playroom...it's been a process of elimination. What we're left with is a great selection of classic toys. We only kept what the kids actually play with, and we tried to focus on toys that will stand the test of time and accommodate their growing skills and imaginations. Coming Soon: Playroom Purge: The Toys We Kept

We are really blessed to have a playroom space completely dedicated to playtime. However, these ideas can be applied to any space you call a play space. We chose to put our son and daughter in one bedroom, figuring they can comfortably share a room while they are little. So far, we're happy with our decision, since we get to use the "third bedroom" as play space.

For the playroom, I took my cue from my son's preschool classroom. It, too, was a very small space, and it had to accommodate TEN three-year-olds! If Miss Ann could do it, I knew I could turn our small space into a kid-friendly place for two!

And like most preschool classrooms, our playroom is organized into "centers," which thrills my son to no end. We have the dress-up center, housekeeping, trucks and blocks, art table center, manipulatives (puzzles, stacking toys, beads, and sorting shapes), a music center, and lots and lots of children's books. I was thrilled when the puzzle rack I ordered arrived...slowly, but surely, each thing in the playroom finds a special home!

Because space (and money) is limited, I've had to get creative with our storage. As I went through the kids' bedroom closet, weeding out anything I could, I added this old diaper organizer to the pile of donations...until my practical side won out. I thought, "Surely I can find a way to use it somewhere in the house!" It became our music center, handily organizing and displaying our instruments for easy access.

Eventually, we hope to have built-in storage in the playroom, complete with pull-out trays for musical instruments, like my resonator set from the Musikgarten company. It's beautiful and deserves a special place of its own. For now, sadly, it rests on the floor beneath the diaper --I mean, music--caddy.

We may have mismatched shelving units, some tall, some short, but the space serves its purpose where it counts: at the eye level of a preschooler!

Rhythm Shakers

One activity that both our kids enjoy blends art and music: making and decorating their own rhythm shakers. We had so much fun with this, we did it again with friends for our 4th of July parade, and again for a MOPS Jamboree playdate!

You will need:

• Empty containers: No glass, please!
  
• Stickers or colored tape
  
• Noisy fillers
  
• Measuring spoons
  
• Funnel (you can roll a piece of paper)
  
• Hot Glue Gun
  

1. Start with a couple of empty containers from the recycling bin. Clean, dry plastic bottles work fine (soda, water, milk jugs, popcorn seed jars, condiments, all shapes and sizes work fine, as long as they still have a lid or top...we even took the label off a white acetaminophen bottle), coffee cans, salt containers, etc.
   
2. Decorate the containers: We take the labels off, when possible. Stickers or colored tape are easy and fun. Markers work well on cardboard containers, like salt or oatmeal cylinders. You could even decorate your own paper label and tape it on.
   
3. Offer some different noise-making fillers, one type per container: a bowl of dry rice, a bowl of dry beans, small jingle bells, small pebbles, popsicle sticks, popcorn seeds...anything that will make a great sound inside the container.
   
4. Just a tablespoon or two of filler is plenty for a shaker...this isn't going to deplete your rice or beans supply. Consider buying some just for crafts; they make great cheap collage material! A funnel helps younger kids get more filler into their bottle and less on the floor! We made one out of paper.
   
5. Hot glue the lid on, so no accidental spills end the fun too soon. Just keep the hot glue gun out of reach of small hands.
   
6. Notice with your child how each container sounds different. Talk about the different sounds. Why do you think the beans sound different than the rice? Is the rice louder or softer than the other materials? Etc.
   


7. Put on some music or just sing a silly song and jam with your rhythm shakers!

Cheap Art: Beautiful Junk

We LOVE art time around here, and with two preschoolers who don't understand the concept of "use it sparingly," we really burn through our supplies quickly. So in order for my kids to be creative, I have to get creative with materials. Okay, the coffee mug on the end is what gets Mommy through our beautiful art sessions in the morning!

Here is our "Beautiful Junk" Art Box (these are for collages, inventions, or whatever inspires them):

My 4 1/2 year-old son loves the empty containers for creating cool stuff like rockets, robots, food for his kitchen, etc. For a while, he saved every cereal box for his unnamed "project," piling them all over the kids' craft table, until I finally had to dump them in the recycling bin in the dark of night.

Hey, you know you do it, too! My husband and I are like the sneaky nighttime bandits when it comes to purging junky toys, favorite WAY-outgrown clothes, and random collections of things: rocks, sticks, acorns, boxes, etc.

Anyway, back to our beautiful junk. We use the pasta for stringing on necklaces or adding to a collage. I try to find interesting shapes and colors. We also have a bin of pasta tubes...I'm not sure where that one disappeared to.

My mom, a former preschool teacher of 12 years, picked up some Easter basket filler when it went on clearance one year and gave it to my son for his art projects. He LOVED it! It's the paper kind, not plastic, so it glues onto paper really well (and it won't hurt if my toddler gets a bit in her mouth...it happens!) Now I pick up a couple of bags of Easter grass/filler after Easter every year...it's super-cheap.

Do you have any frugal favorites for art time?

Creative Kids Playdate

I truly wish I had my camera this morning at our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) playdate! Darn it!!! We had a great turnout of kids, too!

A friend of mine, Bryssy of RadicoolLife, organized a cup cooking activity for the kids. At one station, following the illustrated instructions, they measured 3 tablespoons of gingerbread mix (a box mix), and 1 Tbsp. of water into a paper cup with their name on it. Popsicle sticks were provided for levelling and stirring. At the end of that station, their cups were put into an electric skillet, set to 400 degrees, for 10-15 minutes.

Then they moved over to the lemonade station. Each kid measured 1/4 cup of water into a cup, then 2 tsp. of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Then they squeezed half a lemon over a bowl and added 2 tsp. of lemon juice to their sugar/water solution. A bowl of ice waited at the end of the table to make their homemade lemonade cool and refreshing! Yum!

While they waited for their gingerbread snack to bake and cool, we headed into the craft area. My station was all set for torn paper art a la Eric Carle (for examples, see yesterday's Art After Breakfast blog). Once again, I provided:

• A stack of Eric Carle books, all in his signature paper collage-style illustrations
• Colored construction paper on each table
• Paper egg cups of glue with cotton swab applicators
• Large construction paper for the base of their project

We had some beautiful creations! One table chose a little grey mouse, another group worked on a black and white dairy cow, while others were inspired by an apple tree illustration, all from various Eric Carle books.

Cleanup was easy...I keep all the scrap paper in a zip-top bag for my beautiful junk box. What looks like trash to us is artistic treasure to a kid! We threw away the glue cups, stashed the extra paper in my bag, and wiped down the tables. I love it when playdates go this well!

The gingerbread cup cooking was a hit, by the way. When Miss Bryssy took the cups out of the electric skillet, she set them upside down on plates to cool. The little muffins dropped to the plates as they cooled and the kids found the cup with their name on it with their little baked treat hiding beneath...they loved it! Scroll down for a selection of Eric Carle's books available through our Amazon.com store.