Handmade Ornaments

Why not try spicing up your tree with some homemade ornaments your little one can help with??

Ornament 1 - Christmas Bear

Materials:
(For EACH bear)
One large brown, black, or white craft ball
One medium brown, black, or white craft ball
5 small brown, black, or white craft balls
5 tiny brown, black, or white craft balls
2 google eyes
Small piece of ribbon (optional)
Glue Gun or Elmer's Glue

Directions:
Glue the large ball to the medium ball one on top of the other to make the body and head of your bear. Obviously hot glue will work best, but Elmer's glue also works (just takes a long time to dry) if you want your little one to help. Then take the 5 small balls and glue 4 of them on the front of the body to make arms and legs. Glue the last small ball to the back of the body to make a tail. Glue the 5 tiny balls on the face - two for the ears, one for the nose, and two for under the nose to make the mouth. I use different colored balls for the face to add variety. Glue the two eyes in place. Finally, tie the ribbon into a bow and glue it onto the neck of your bear. YOUR DONE!!

Ornament 2 - Glitter Pinecone

Materials:
(For EACH ornament)
1 large or medium pine cone
Glitter of any color
Elmer's glue
Small length of yarn or ribbon

Directions:
Place your pinecone on a paper plate or newspaper and run glue over the pinecone's outer edges. Have your little one sprinkle the pinecone with glitter. After the glue dries tie a piece of yarn onto the pinecone to make a hoop for putting the ornament on the tree. You can also embelish your pinecone with a large ribbon or bow on the top.

White Christmas

To kick off the first week in December, why not talk about SNOW! Adapt this to the age of your child. With my four year old, we talked about how no two snowflakes are the same and that when magnified they make beautiful patterns. If your child can use scissors he will love cutting away making snowflakes.

We kept things light and simple by reading snowman related books. After which we made a picture of a snow man glittered with salt.

Variation: If your child is too young for scissors you can make the paper snowflake, cover with a thin coat of glue, and have your child sprinkle it with salt. Using a cardboard box top can help contain the mess.

Rice Crispy Turkeys

To make these cute edible turkeys, mix up a batch of chocolate Rice Krispy treats. Grease your hands with vegetable spray and form the the Krispies into balls. Using the end of a spoon, make holes for the candy to be placed in the body. For the snood (the red thing on the turkey's beak) try a red Mike & Ike cut in half or even cut a gum drop in half. Candy corn for the beak is a fun choice-perfect size and color.Then add the feathers. Tons of possibilities for this! Try toothpicks, marshmallows, cereal, gumdrops, etc. and then use mini M&M's for the eyes. These sweet turkeys could even be saved for a fun table decoration on Thanksgiving day to be eaten as part of dessert-so fun!

Courtesy of www.alphamom.com

Leaf Art

Spend the day talking about seasons and leaves!! Start out by reading I Am A Leaf by Jean Marzollo. This is a great little book that takes you on the journey of a leaf through four seasons. (Note: it does talk about chlorophyll but when we read that part my 3 year old didn't ask, so I didn't worry about it). Then show pictures trees in all four seasons, and discuss how each season is different and how it affects the trees.

Finally, take your little one(s) outside and collect leaves of different shapes and colors. You can do green leaves for summer, colored leaves for fall, and blossoms and green leaves for spring. Winter is tricky.... :)

Take your leaves inside and flatten them with a heavy object. Then arrange the leaves onto white or colored paper and glue them on. You can also do leaf rubbings with crayons!

Get Creative with Leaves!

Paper Bag Costumes

Next time you are checking out at the
grocery store say paper instead of plastic!

So I KNOW Halloween is over but it is still fun to dress up any time of the year!

We talked about the first Thanksgiving today and made some Native American costumes out of brown paper grocery sacks. I cut a hole at the top for the neck and two arm holes on the side to create a "tunic" for my son to decorate with crayons. I am sure you could get more elaborate with painting it and gluing embellishments on it but we went for simple today. I then used another paper sack to make a head band. I drew feathers on colored construction paper and had my son practice fine motor skills by cutting the feathers out. We taped them to the head band and then taped it around his head. This could easily be done as a pilgrim costume instead.

I am sure you could use this paper sack costume for a multitude of different costumes so get creative and comment on our activity corner blog when this activity gets posted on there in two weeks. We would love to see what you have come up with!

Sensory Bottles

LAVA BOTTLES
Materials:
clean, empty plastic bottle (water or soda)
water
food coloring
baby oil

Directions:
a. Fill the bottle halfway with water.
b. Add as many drops of food coloring as desired.
c. Fill the remainder of the bottle with baby oil.
d. Fill the lid with hot glue and twist it back onto the bottle. Give glue time to dry.
e. Tilt the bottle for a colorful homemade lava lamp!

DISCOVERY BOTTLES
Materials:
clean, empty plastic bottle (water or soda)
rice
small objects like dice, tiny toys, beads, paper clips...

Directions:
a. Place the small objects in the bottle. It should fill about a quarter of the bottle or less.
b. Add rice, leaving a few inches empty at the top of the bottle.
c. Fill the lid with hot glue and twist it back onto the bottle. Give glue time to dry.
e. As you move the bottle around, the rice will shift to reveal the different surprises inside!

SNOW GLOBES
Materials:
clean, empty plastic bottle (water or soda)
water
corn syrup
glitter or small beads

Directions:
a. Fill the bottle halfway with water.
b. Fill the remainder of the bottle with corn syrup.
c. Add glitter.
d. Fill the lid with hot glue and twist it back onto the bottle. Give glue time to dry.
e. Shake the bottle. The corn syrup will make the glitter fall slowly for a fun effect.

source: stepbystepcc.com

Egg Carton Pumpkins

Recycle your cardboard or paper egg cartons to make these bright and cheerful pumpkins.

What You Need:

cardboard egg carton
orange craft paint (or orange marker)
black or yellow craft paint (or black marker)
green twist tie or piece of chenille stem
newspaper
scissors
craft glue
rice, beans, or candy to place inside the pumpkin

optional: green silk sleeves, or leaves cut from felt or construction paper

Craft Project Instructions:

1. Cut two cups from the bottom of an egg carton, then trim around the top edge of each cup to make it even and tidy.

2. Spread newspaper on your work surface, then turn the two cups upside down on the newspaper. Paint the cups orange and let dry.

3. Turn the cups over and partially fill one with a little rice, beans or something similar to add weight and stability to the pumpkin.

4. Apply glue to the rim of the bottom cup and put the top cup in place. If necessary, touch up the orange paint around the center line.

5. Use the tip of the scissors, or a pencil point, to poke a small hole in the top of the pumpkin.

6. Cut a length of chenille stem, or a twist tie, to use as the pumpkin's stem. Dip the end of the stem in a little glue, then insert into the hole at the top of the pumpkin.

7. Paint a face on the pumpkin to look like a Halloween jack o'lantern.

Variation:

If you wish, replace the rice or beans with a few candies to use the pumpkin as a party favor, place setting, or Halloween treat

Idea from: www.allfreecrafts.com