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Mother’s Day Card

 

I found this very cute idea on Miss Kindergarten Blog, while I was browsing ideas for Mother’s Day. I will make a similar card with my kids this year.

 

Materials needed: paper, buttons, foam letters, napkin, split pin, sequins, stamps, OR any other decorative things.

You just need to fold an A4 paper in half, then cut the handles and let the kids decorate the purses as they wish. I have very young kids in my group, but 4 y.o. can already cut the handles by themselves. The nice thing about this craft is that the kids can use different supplies to make an original card. They can paint, stick feathers, sequins, draw, stamp their name…the possibilities are endless.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made a flower out of a napkin, because I wanted to try and see what it would look like. Here are the steps for creating the flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the card you can let the kids draw their mothers, write a message for them, stick a poem, or write a short interview about their mothers, whatever is appropriate for their age and skills..

I hope you like this idea :)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Papier Mache Bracelets

 

Today we made a very fun BUT MESSY art project: papier mache bracelets. If you want to do papier mache, be sure to properly cover the whole table and use aprons or painting overalls…otherwise the paper mache glue will be really difficult to clean!

 

These are the steps you need to follow to make the bracelets:

  • cut strips of paper/newspaper;

  • cut bracelets from a cereal box and staple them;

  • make paper mache glue/paste;

  • dip the strips into the paste;

  • then cover the bracelet with the wet strips.

 

For the paste, I used the recipe from one of my favourite art blogs - the Artful Parent.

  • mix 1 part flour to 2 parts water

  • add some glue

  • add salt (to prevent mold)

Now our bracelets are drying, and we’ll paint them next week. I’ll post some photos of the finished products!

 

 

Wax Crayon Easter Eggs

 

Today is Easter for Orthodox people, so we painted eggs with the kids from our play group. We decided to try a new technique from the Artful Parent, which uses wax crayons and food colouring.

 

It was so much fun! The kids got to do almost everything by themselves, so it was much better than the traditional way of dyeing eggs. They created fun patterns and interesting drawings, then dipped the eggs in a bit of food colouring, water (3/4) and vinegar (1/4).

 

You can read the step by step intructions here.

Happy Easter!

 

 

Easter Sensory Tray and Marbled Eggs

 

So…as I promised, I’m back with some photos of our Easter sensory tray. We have made bunny crafts, chicks, Easter baskets, even roosters!

We also practiced counting with tweezers, pompoms, and the baskets we have.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, I took some photos of the awesome Easter eggs our colleagues made with the kids. Thank you K. and I. for the idea and the hard work! :)

 

This is how they made the eggs:

1. Take an egg, poke 2 holes (at opposite ends) with a needle;

2. Blow in the egg to empty it;

3. Place it on a stick;

4. Pour water in a bowl, then add the colours (MARBLING PAINT) that you want;

5. Place the egg in the coloured water.

Here are the results:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Decorations and Crafts

 

Easter is just around the corner, so I started working on classroom decorations and on our sensory tray. We have pompom chicks, bunny crafts, egg baskets, plastic and polystyrene eggs, feathers and lots of other tiny decorations. I will post some photos next week, after I see the kids’ reaction. I hope they’ll like the sensory tray!

Till then, here are some photos of the bunnies I made for next week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went and took some photos of the older kids’ Easter window display, because it looks very colourful and happy:

 

 

Animals from Popsicle Sticks

 

Popsicle sticks are very easy to use and so versatile...you can teach numbers, make crafts, create stick puppets for songs and stories, use them to build something, etc.

 

Here are some animal crafts that you can make with kids:

 

Painting with Straws and Bubbles

 

This is a very easy art project you can do with kids of all ages, even 3 y.o.

 

Materials: plastic cup (as many as the colours you want to use), water, dishwashing liquid, food colouring, straw, paper.

 

Instructions: pour water and dishwashing liquid in the plastic cup (the ratio can be 2:1) and the add some food colouring. Mix and then it’s ready to use! Place the straw inside, then over the paper blow through it. You’ll be able to make fun colourful bubbles. When there’s too much liquid in the straw, paint by blowing on it. You’ll make interesting prints.

 

I used blue, yellow and red with my kids. They were able to see how primary colours combine to make new ones.

 

Make Your Own Paint

 

I was a bit bored during the weekend: it was freezing cold outside, so I decided to stay indoors and try to use some ingredients that I had to make something else.

I mixed some hand cream with food colouring to make some paint. The texture is quite nice…it’s soft and it doesn’t ruin the paper. The only negative aspect is that it takes a while to dry…but it smells nice. :)

Colour by Number Freebie

 

 

 

Kids enjoy colouring, so this is a good way of practising number recognition. You can download these cute colouring pages with kids doing sports here.

 

 

Wet Chalk Drawings

 

Materials needed: Coloured chalk, black construction paper, water, a plastic cup.

 

The kids in my group enjoy arts and crafts a lot. That’s why we need to find new ways of using the art supplies that we have. We drew with wet chalk on black construction paper and this is the result! Lively colours and creative drawings.

 

 

Christmas Tree Crafts

 

Less than two weeks until Christmas and I’m excited! I love Christmas, although this year we might not have snow in Helsinki (yes, Finland and no snow!!).

 

I’m already in a Christmassy mood, so I planned some Christmas tree crafts that you can also make with your kids.

The first one and my favourite is the straw Christmas tree. It’s an easy craft that helps kids practise sizes and colours. First, cut different length straws. The kids can then sort them according to their length. Place a piece of scotch tape on the table (sticky side up) and start placing the straws in the right order.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next craft is an ice-cream stick Christmas tree. You just need to glue 3 sticks to make a triangle, then decorate them with pompoms or paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to send Christmas cards to your relatives and friends, you can make one with your kids. They will have fun while making them, and your relatives will appreciate the gesture!

The card in the photo is made with washi tape and construction paper. Stick the washi tape on white paper, then cut a triangle to make the tree. Glue the triangle on red construction paper and that’s it!

 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mice Made of Shapes

 

Materials: construction paper, black and white paint, googly eyes, scissors, marbles, box, paint brush, pipe cleaners, hole punch.

 

Instructions: Cut the triangle that will make the body, then punch a hole in the middle of one of the sides. Take a small box, mix black and white paint to obtain gray. Then place some marbles in the box. Use them to paint The triangle. When the paint is dry, glue the eyes and the ears on the mouse, then add the tail.

 

 

Art and Craft Supplies

 

  • A4 white paper

  • Beads

  • Beads and string

  • Blu tack

  • Buttons – different colours and sizes

  • Chalk

  • Chenille stems – pipe cleaners

  • clay

  • construction paper – different colours

  • Cotton balls and pads

  • Crepe paper

  • Different containers

  • Easel pad

  • Erasers

  • Feathers

  • Felt sheets

  • Foam letters/numbers/shapes

  • Foam sheets

  • Glitter

  • Glue – liquid and stick

  • Googly eyes

  • Graphic and coloured pencils

  • Hole punch - different shapes and sizes

  • Ice cream sticks

  • Laminating pouches

  • Laminator

  • Markers – different colours, whiteboard markers, dry-erase markers, permanent markers

  • Notebooks

  • Paint – at least primary colours and black and white

  • Paintbrushes and sponges

  • Paper and foam cups

  • Paper plates

  • Pencil sharpeners

  • Pens

  • Pipe cleaners

  • Playdough, cookie cutters, playdough mats

  • Pompom mats

  • Pompoms – different colours and sizes

  • Scissors – wavy and straight, for left and right hand

  • Scrapbook paper

  • Sequins

  • Stickers

  • Straws

  • Things to make modelling clay and slime– borax, Elmer’s school glue gel, cream of tartar, food colouring, glycerin, liquid starch

  • Tissue paper

  • Toothpicks

  • Toy critters

  • Transparent tape

  • Tweezers and scissor scoops

  • Washy tape

  • Wrapping paper

 

Halloween Crafts

 

Halloween is a holiday that most of the kids enjoy, because it has everything from spiders, skeletons, witches, princesses to candy and nice songs. Here are two crafts that you can make with kids on Halloween.

 

The paintings were made with stamps. One of my colleagues, W., made the stamps using erasers and a cutter. They look great, don't they? :)

 

Happy Halloween!

Colourful Chick

 

Materials: large circles (paper plates can be used, but I cut them out of yellow paper), scissors, feathers, googly eyes, glue, pipe cleaners, yellow crepe paper

 

Instructions: The kids will cut the beaks and glue the pieces of crepe paper, the feathers, and eyes. Some children might need some help with the pipe cleaners.

The crafts can be used for songs, for example:

 

Five little chicks went out one day,

Over the hill and far away

Mother hen said “cluck cluck cluck cluck”

And only four little chicks came back.

 

(Sung to the tune of “Five Little Ducks”)

 

Red Crabs

 

 

It's still summer and we are talking about animals and colours, to review some vocabulary and learn new words, as well.

 

Materials: paper plates, scissors, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glue, red paint, paint brushes, red paper

 

Age: 3-5

 

Instructions: These are our cute crab crafts. With younger kids, you can have everything cut beforehand, but older kids can cut themselves. Also, some children might need some help with the pipe cleaners.

My kids enjoyed making the crafts and playing with them later on. If you have enough space on your sensory table, you can add some water and maize and have fun playing with the crabs.

 

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