Archive for April 2009
We braved Costco this past weekend and my son of course wanted to try every sample available. The garbage can was never handy so I carefully folded the liners in my pocket and went on shopping. When the checkout lines were insane as usual I grabbed them and we played with them, then I got the idea to turn them into jelly fish! Here s how we did it.
- Gather your materials. You will need some cupcake liners, markers, tape, tissue paper, googly eyes, and a piece of blue construction paper.
- Start by folding your liner in half. Oh and yes these are the liners from Costco, but don’t worry they just had dried mango in them nothing gooey.
- Have your child color them with markers. It was interesting because my son was coloring really really carefully on these, instead of with his normal wild abandon.
- While they color the liners, cut the tissue paper into thin strips.
- Place the tissue paper on the back and tape down. We used tape because we need to glue the eyes on the front and glue on both sides is super messy especially when tissue paper bleeds. Double stick tape is great for this because the tissue will stay put immediately.
- Glue your jelly fish onto the paper.
- Now you can add the googly eyes *You can also decorate the construction paper with an under the sea theme. After Costco and a craft my son was done!
“Way Down Deep in the Deep Blue Sea” by Jan Peck is about a little boy swimming in the “deep” looking for treasure. Along the way he encounters different sea animals and greets and says good bye to each before swimming away on his treasure hunt. The cute kicker is that all along the little boy is really in his bath tub and the animals are just toys. I liked the twist and so did my son who then requested a laundry basket to play bath, funny how he didn’t actually want a bath… a mom can dream!
“Otto Goes To The Beach” by Todd Parr was a steal of a deal at the Goodwill last week! I got a hardcover in perfect condition for 70 cents. My bargin hunting aside, I really enjoy this book as did my son. Otto is a dog who goes to the beach but no one wants to do the same things as he does, even the fish swim the other way! In the end after feeling very sad Otto finds a new friend and all his misery is forgotten. I love Todd Parr books, I love the insanely bright colors, the cute simplistic illustrations and I love the messages they send. This book followed his other books perfectly and provided a great final message about not giving up finding a friend who will like all the same things you do!
I am so excited to announce that starting this coming Monday you will be able to find even more of our activities, crafts and book recommendations at FamilyEducation.com
I am their newest parent blogger and will feature all new projects , and a few old favorites, as well as have tips on crafting, and incorporating learning time into your day at home. I am honored to join a wonderful group of bloggers at FamilyEducation.com
Let’s face it most ( not all) of us doing crafts with our kids are moms so if you want something handmade you may have to do it with your child and still act surprised when they stuff it into a bag and hand it over on Mother’s Day. There is nothing wrong with that but this craft makes it so you can help them make something without ruining the surprise!
- Gather your materials. You will need some craft paper ( mailing sections of stores carry it for cheap, or you can use the opposite side of extra wrapping paper), a dish for paint, paint and a fun fly swatter. You may also need some rocks to hold down the paper if it’s windy.
- Cut a large piece of paper.
- Pour the paint into a dish – we are using the lid to my brownie pan.
- Dip your swatter in
- SWAT ! It can splatter so wear yucky clothes in case.
- Add a new color
- SWAT ! Don’t forget your helmet.
- Let dry.
- Wrap your gift, a gift for your mom or another mom you know and love!
These books are mommy books that I have reviewed in the past for other themes, more mama books are on the way later this week!
- Gather your materials . You will need a paper lunch bag, some paint, some scrap construction paper, 2 large googly eyes, glue,tape,scissors and newspaper.
- Start by handing your child the paper bag, with the flap side down ( that will be the back) and have them paint it.
- While they do that, cut out a fun mouth, some big eyes and some silly hair. Older kids can do this themselves!
- Glue the eyes on
- Glue the googly eyes on top
- Glue the mouth and hair on!
- Set the bag aside , rip the newspaper into strips and hand them to your child to crumple.
- When the bag is dry enough stuff the crumpled paper in!
- Fold and tape the bottom. I like to use tape because it’s flexible .
- Read your Monster !
Books!
“Twelve Terrible Things” by Marty Kelley is horrifying to me, yet my son loves this book. He must have slipped it in our library bag because I have no recollection of choosing this book, and I didn’t pre read it when we got home. By then it was too late, my son was hooked on the dark humor this book delivers. The book offers up 12 terrible things, like a scary clown, a goldfish on it’s way down the toilet and monsters under the bed . The illustrations are all from the reader’s view point so the scary things are looking right at you! I am easily scared , I can’t watch horror film trailers without getting nightmares. I screamed twice reading this , my son just wanted “more more!” . I really don’t recommend this book for young kids although some older ones who like scary things will love it.
“My Monster Mama Loves Me So” by Laura Leuck is more my kind of monster book for kids. Imaginative illustrations by Mark Buehner kept my little man pointing out spiders, bats and owls and he loved counting the extra eyes and arms on the monsters. The story is really sweet too. It’s all the things a mama monster does throughout the day with her little monster. It’s a sweet message about how love can be an action as well as a feeling!
While on the ferry my son found this brochure of local birds and refused to let go of it. I did what I do best and tried to think of a way to turn it into an activity the following day. Here is what we did and how we did it. I would like to thank Shawna and her son for sending me the song request !
- Gather your materials. First you need to go outside and gather some branches!
- Now gather the rest, you will need 2 pieces of construction paper, a bird brochure from a local travel kiosk (or a book about birds, anything with glossy pictures) some scissors, lots of glue . I had crayons in the picture too because I thought my son would want to draw some sky or leaves, he wasn’t interested.
- Start by cutting out the birds from the brochure, I had my son point to which ones he liked, I read him their names and then cut them out. Older kids could do this independently.
- Grab the glue. Draw a tree with the glue. I laid out the branches first as a guide.
- Add the branches to cover the glue
- Add more glue on the branches and around them.
- Add the bird cut outs.
- Let dry, yes it will take a while!
- Use your new bird guide when you bird watch in your backyard!
Song !
Sing a song of sixpence
a pocketful of rye
four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie.
When the pie was open
the birds began to sing
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
to set before a king?
The king was in his counting house
counting all his money.
The queen was in the parlour
eating bread with honey.
The maid was in the garden
hanging out the clothes
and down came a blackbird
and snatched off her nose.
You naughty, naughty bird
I need my little nose
to smell all the soapsuds
when I was the clothes.
I’ll get a sugar cookie
and hang it on the tree
if you will find my little nose
and bring it back to me.
21 Comments »
