Sandpaper Letters

This activity is short and sweet. Give your child a sheet of coarse sandpaper and a few short pieces of yarn (the fluffier the better). Practice making letters, shapes, anything you want. The yarn will "stick" to the sandpaper. It's nice to have a little textile variety!

Do-It-Yourself Mobile

I know. I know. Valentine's has come and gone, but this is a project that is EASILY adapted to any burst of creativity. Learning about clouds? Rain? Moon? Stars? Flowers? You name it. You can make a mobile out of it. You'll need:

Colored paper

Crayons or paint

Long, thin supports

String

Scotch tape

1. Cut out paper into whatever shapes you want. Kids can color it, paint it, etc.

2. Attach string securely (aka tape generously) to the ends of of your supports (I just used colored pencils...it's not like this mobile will hang in your house for years to come) and tape the cut-out shapes to the string.

3. Tie another string in the middle of the support, don't secure yet. Hold up the mobile and slide the middle string back and forth until it balances at its fulcrum (yes, we're talking simple machines/levers here). Tape string securely into place.

4. Work your way from bottom to top, making the mobile as elaborate as you'd like.

5. Hang up your child's mobile for all to see.

5. Gush over how awesome it looks to anyone passing by. Make him/her agree with you. Because really, mobiles are the BOMB of all hanging, preschool art projects, right?

-original idea from...whoever first invented the mobile, I guess.

Paper Chain Butterfly

Materials:

Construction paper (3-4 colors)
Paint
Tape
Marker

1. Fold one piece of construction paper in half. This will be the wings.

2. On one half of the folded paper, put small dots of paint. (My daughter was too little to do this herself, so she chose the colors and I poured the paint.)

3. Fold the paper in half again so the paint spreads out on both sides. While it is folded, cut out around the paint to create the wing shape. Unfold and allow to dry.

4. While the paint is drying, create the butterfly's body by cutting paper into thin strips. (I wanted more loops, so I made them pretty small.) Loop them together and tape them closed to make the paper chain.

5. Add one loop of a different color at the top of the chain for the head. Draw a face and add small antennae (curl them around a pencil to make them round).

6. When the paint is dry, attach the paper chain between the two wings by taping it down in each place where the loops lay flat.

Idea originally from www.dltk-kids.com

Homemade Icebergs

We learned about icebergs and then made some of our own with a few toys thrown in them for added fun! The next morning the "icebergs" were frozen and we threw them into some water to play with. They were only half frozen by afternoon so we decided let them sit overnight. Our dining area was a bit wet by the end, but it was so worth it! My five year old had an informal q and a lesson about buoyancy and phases of water. My two year old learned a bit about hot and cold, that ice melts in warm water, and about what sinks and floats.

Thanks to Delia for the snow/cold weather activities that will be featured over the next little bit! Check out her blog Delia Creates at http://deliacreates.blogspot.com/!

Ice Cube Scavenger Hunt

I froze ice cubes dyed with food coloring in our freezer. Yes...we have star shaped ice cube trays. I hid them all over the yard like an Easter egg hunt. I tried not to make it too hard since the stars could easily get buried and then lost. We worked on math skills with this one. My five year old had to count how many he had to find by counting the empty spaces in the ice cube tray. As he found some we subtracted them from our "total to find" and put them back in the tray. My five year old loved this one!

Thanks to Delia for the snow/cold weather activities that will be featured over the next little bit! Check out her blog Delia Creates at http://deliacreates.blogspot.com/!

Borax Cystal Snow Flakes

Here is the how to:

Materials

Boiling hot water - enough to fill your pint sized mason jar
1/3 cup borax - you can find this in the laundry aisle.

pint mason jar
pencil
pipe cleaners
string/yarn

Directions

1. Form your pipe cleaners into a snowflake shape or whatever shape you desire, while you boil water.
2. Add water to your mason jars.
3. Mix in borax. Stir it but don't worry if it isn't completely dissolved.
4. Attach your pipe cleaner shape to the string and hang it from the pen/pencil while submerging it in your jar.
5. Leave it overnight. The next morning you should have a nice pretty crystal snowflakes!

Thanks to Delia for the snow/cold weather activities that will be featured over the next little bit! Check out her blog Delia Creates at http://deliacreates.blogspot.com/!

Feather Turkeys

This activity is easy enough! But a winner for Thanksgiving.


Materials:

Brown or tan construction paper

Orange construction paper

Red construction paper

White paper

Colored feathers (we found ours at Wal-Mart)

Google eyes (optional)

Elmer's glue

Hot glue


Directions:

On your brown paper draw a shape like a short, squat bowling pin. Then cut it out. Glue this shape onto the middle of a white piece of paper with Elmer's glue - leave an edge around the outside (glue mostly in the middle).


Next, take the colored feathers and decide how you want them arranged around the turkey. Using a hot glue gun put a thin squirt of glue on the bottom of each turkey feather and quickly push it under the brown paper. You can try this with Elmer's glue, but the feathers might just fall out.


After the feathers are glued on, cut out a beak, feet, and waddle with your colored paper and glue them on. Glue on your google eyes as well (or, you can make your own eyes by drawing them on or using white paper to cut some out).


You can have your little one stick on all the parts of the turkey with your help! If your child is old enough he/she can cut out the parts of the turkey.

Paper Bag Pumpkins

Materials:

Brown Paper Bag (lunch size)

String (any color - green is fun)

Newspaper

Orange and Green Paint

Paintbrushes (large foam paintbrush is best)



Description:

Have your child wad up 1-2 pieces of newspaper into a big ball. Have him/her stuff the newspaper into the brown bag. Using the string, tie the bag closed (I used white, but green is a bit more fun if you have it). Then dump some orange paint into a bowl and let your little one paint the outside of the "pumpkin" (we used finger paints, but crayola tempura paints are good too - just make sure they are washable, so avoid acrillic - this gets messy!) Lastly, use green paint to color your "stem." That's it!!



**Tips, make sure your table is well covered with a plastic cloth or newspaper - the paint tends to drift with this activity.



**Optional additions - add a face to make your pumpkin a jack-o-lantern. You can do this activity in October for a Halloween decoration or you can do it in November (without a face) and just use it for a fun fall craft.

Frankenstein Trick or Treat Bag

A simple and fun idea for a trick or treat bag. We made them at a friends house when they invited us over for a play date last week and our girls loved it {thanks Jeni!}

You will need:
a paper bag
black, green and pink or red construction paper
googly eyes

Measure the length of your bag and cut a large green square of green paper. Glue on bag to use as your monster's face.

Then cut a strip of black construction paper for Frankenstein's hair. Make one edge zig-zag. Glue on top of green paper at the opening of the bag.

Cut out a nose and a smile and let your child glue them on.

Then just add googly eyes.

Fill with treats as you go door to door on Halloween night ;)

Nature Walk & Collage

This is a very fun activity for this time of year!

Wrap a piece of packing tape around your child's wrist, sticky side out. Go for a walk outside and let your child pick up any leaves, twigs, etc. off the ground and stick it to the tape.



Once enough nature has been collected, remove the tape and put it onto a piece of paper. You now how have fall collage!

Paper Plate Pumpkin

This is an easy and cute craft that is perfect for Halloween-time! All you need is a paper plate, some orange paint, and paper. Start by painting the plate orange. You can paint either the inside or the back. My toddler wanted to paint the inside because she said "that is how plates go" :). After the paint is dry, draw and cut out pieces for a jack-o-lantern's eyes, nose, and mouth. Let her child glue them on. Then just add a green stem.

No Mess Painting--Fall Leaves

Put a piece of wax paper on your table or work area. Put a piece of construction paper on top of that. Squeeze small amounts of paint onto paper.

Put a second piece of wax paper on top of paint. Press and smoosh paint with fingers. Kids enjoy the sensory experience of feeling the paint and watching it blend, and parents love this mess free version of finger painting :)


Carefully remove the top piece of wax paper and look at how beautifully the colors mixed together!


Once dry, cut out into fall leaf shapes.


We then displayed ours in our window. So fun! :)

All about colors

Here is an activity for each day of "color week". With each activity, emphasize the color you are practicing. Point out anything you see in the color. Write the word down so your child can see it in print. It would also be fun to wear clothes of that same color during the day.

These activities were designed for a 2-yr-old. Adapt as needed if your child is older or younger!

DAY 1: Green

Since we are still close to summer, most things outside are green. Walk around and collect anything green your child can find. Glue them onto green construction paper to make a collage.

DAY 2: Red

Lunch! Choose 2-3 foods that are red and serve them together. For example, we had spaghetti with marinara sauce, raspberries and roasted red peppers.

DAY 3: Yellow

Choose as many different art mediums as you can find in yellow--crayon, marker, colored pencil, paint, chalk...then let your child go wild with them all!

DAY 4: Blue

Pictures can be a very fun thing now in the days of digital cameras. Walk around your house (or neighborhood) and take pictures of anything blue your child sees. If you have a cheap camera, you may consider letting your child take the pictures themselves--they'll love it! Pull them up on the computer to practice the color again later.

DAY 5: Purple or Orange

Go through your child's toys and find all the toys of one color you choose (choose a color that will give you a good selection of toys). Take them into an area that usually isn't used for playing, such as the dining room or mom and dad's bedroom. Then just sit down and play together!

Bike Wash

The above picture was found from google. Unfortunately I did not snap my own pictures of this :(

I wish I had my own picture for this activity. Sorry! Sometimes we just get too wrapped up in an activity to remember to pull out the camera and I guess that's OK :)

I got this idea from my sister-in-law. The adults had some yard work and organizing in the garage to do and the kids needed something to keep them entertained. My super smart SIL got out all their bikes and a big tub with soapy water and sponges, rags etc. She told them to have a bike wash.

The kids thought it was a blast! They had so much fun covering their bikes with soap and then spraying them off with the big hose. When they were finished, they ended up covering themselves with soapy bubbles and rinsed off by running in the sprinklers. They were enjoying themselves so much that they didn't even realize they had helped their mom by washing the dirt of summer off their bikes :)

I totally recommend it!

Rubberband Music

Materials needed:

Small box
Several Rubberbands of varying sizes

What to do: Wrap the rubberbands around the box. Pluck the "strings" while singing your favorite songs!

Extra challenge: See if your child can hear the difference in the pitch of the rubberbands. Put them in order from lowest to highest notes.

Thumbprint Mice

Materials needed:

Paper or index cards

Stamp pad (any color)

Glitter Glue or Pencil


What to do: Have your child use press his/her thumb into the stamp pad and then transfer their thumbprint to the paper. Add as many as you want of different colors (or sizes, using your thumb or siblings). Then add ears and a long tail to make little mice. You can make a mice family too!

Homemade Ice Cream in Bag

Materials:

1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint size ziploc bag
1 gallon size ziploc bag
ice

Directions:

Combine the sugar, milk, and vanilla in the pint size bag. Fill the gallon size bag half full of ice and add the rock salt. Place the pint size bag inside the gallon bag. Make sure both bags are sealed tight! Shake the bag until ice cream is done, about 5 minutes. Wipe off the little bag and enjoy!

Decorative Drinking Straws

Materials:
Craft Foam, straws, and scissors

Instructions:
Cut out a two to three inch shape out of craft foam, such as a star or a heart. Carefully fold the shape in half. Cut two small slits about 1/2 " apart in the center of the shape. Pull straw through the loop. Now your straw is ready to brighten day when you take a sip of your nice cool drink. :)

Jellyrolls

Materials:

Bread
Jam or Jelly
Rolling Pin

Directions:

1. Roll out bread as flat as possible. Kids love doing this! If you don't have a rolling pin you can use a large cup or glass.

2. Spread jelly on bread.

3. Roll bread into a cylinder shape.

4. Eat up!

Popcorn Pictures

Materials:

Construction paper or Cardstock
Popcorn
Elmer's Glue
Paints (optional)

Instructions: Sing "popcorn popping" with your child, or some other song about spring. Then pop some popcorn in an air popper or a stove popper. Draw a picture of a tree on construction paper, you can use colored construction paper to make nature objects like grass and the sun or clouds. Then using Elmer's glue, glue the popcorn onto the tree. You can also paint the popcorn in purples or pinks to show some pretty colored blossoms.