Archive for April 2010
Did you know that today is Arbor Day? In celebration of trees and all the fantastic things that trees bring to us like fresh air, shade on a sunny day and piles of leaves to jump into every fall we are posting all our tree crafts so you can make a tree and celebrate . Check out the official Arbor Day Foundation website for more info.
Sun Print Tree (above)
Tree Books
Pablo’s Tree
Our Apple Tree
by Gorel Kristina Naslund is a straight forward yet beautiful book about a year in the life of an apple tree. I like that it starts in winter because so often apple tree books start in the fall with the harvest . The pictures are delightful and two little tree fairies follow along with you as the tree goes through it’s life cycle. My son had very little interest in the book, but it wasn’t the book, at 2 he just wasn’t able to sit for so much information. This book is perfect for 4-8 year olds.
A Tree for Emmy
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If you follow me on Twitter you may have seen my tweet on Sunday that we found a snake in our backyard. My husband was mowing and saw it. As soon as my son woke from nap, all three of us went searching, and found it again. I love finding wild life in my backyard ( well when it’s small and non venomous anyway), it makes learning about a specific animal so much more fun . We immediately went online to find the exact species, what it ate and how big it would get. Sadly after nap yesterday my son wasn’t as into making his own snake as I guessed he’d be ( or at all), although he liked the snake book we read . Oh well I can’t win them all!
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 toilet paper rolls, or a paper towel roll cut in two, some sticky back foam, some jingle bells, googly eyes ,glue, scissors , a knee high or leg of panty hose , and a pipe cleaner.
- Start by having your child cut the sticky back foam into shapes. We are using up scraps so they were already in smaller pieces, if you have large sheets you may want to make it easier for your child by cutting them into strips that are easier to handle.
- Put the rolls inside the panty hose, along with the jingle bells.
- Tie the end.
- Peel off the backing and add the shapes. You can even fit in a patterning lesson if you want !
- Add the tongue . I threaded the pipe cleaner through then twisted it into the right length with a v on the end.
- Add glue for the eyes.
- Add eyes. Let dry.
Books
The Snake Is Totally Tail
The Greedy Python
Snake (Watch it Grow)
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I can not explain how much fun these were to make, and then use at dinner. Yesterday I asked my readers on facebook if their kids have chores, and that question came out of this post since setting the table is one of my son’s responsibilities. Making these fun monogrammed napkin rings made his job even more fun and he excitedly set the table, and made a point to tell us all why we had the letter we had. Learning is never far away.
- Gather your materials. You will need some corrugated cardboard, magnetic letters, water colors, scissors and a hot glue gun ( adults only!).
- Start by having your child paint the cardboard with the watercolors. My son was so into this today, I think he liked the bumpy surface of the cardboard, and the sounds it made when he changed the force and speed with which he painted. Don’t put a time limit on this, but remember the younger the child, generally the shorter the time.
- Let dry ( won’t take long).
- Choose the letters you are using. Our well loved magnetic letters were short most of the vowels, so there was no A for Allie, instead I got M for Mommy, I like that name best anyway.
- When the cardboard is dry cut out into strips.
- I handed my son some scissors and the left over cardboard to have fun cutting while I used the now hot glue gun.
- Glue the cardboard strips into rings.
- Next he played with the extra letters.
- And I glue the letters we’d selected onto the rings. You will want to hold the letters on for a minute while the glue congeals. Even big kids should have an adult do the gluing. I burnt myself 3 times !
Now you have napkin rings, and place cards all in one!
Time flies and it’s that time of year again! These are our Mother’s Day Crafts from years past, we are busily thinking up new creative activities to celebrate moms. Feel free to print out or email this to your significant other too , as a gentle reminder that homemade gifts really are that special!
(pictured above)
Don’t forget to make your own wrapping paper too! We have two fun ways to do that:
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Road r !
Using words that are easily recognizable, and readily used by your child for letter recognition activities is important. Most all children can identify a road and what goes on it from very very young, so it’s a great choice! Add in a child who loves anything that drives and you have a huge hit! Also finding vehicle stickers is dead easy, they are every where. My son loved this craft, when he woke from nap he skipped his usual snuggles and went straight for the table where I had the craft ready.
- Gather your materials. You will need 2 pieces of construction paper ( one should be black) , vehicle stickers, scissors , glue and white or yellow chalk.
- Start by writing a large lowercase ( or upper) r on your green construction paper. If your child wants to decorate this go for it, it will mostly be covered by the road but if they are game , do it!
- Cut 3 rectangles out of the black paper. I included kid scissors in my picture because I was hoping my son would want to do some of the cutting but he just wanted to hurry to the stickers! If your child is able, encourage them to do some or all of the cutting.
- Have your child use the chalk to make road markings.
- Add glue to the r
- Add the road.
- Time for stickers! Not only does this add extra fun since for many kids stickers are treats ( I know I use them as treats for all sorts of things) but it also adds great fine motor practice. When they carefully peel the stickers off they are using those fine motor skills, so do not do this step for them!
- Let dry completely then show it off !
Books
Sputter, Sputter, Sput!
Road Builders
I’m a Truck 
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Traffic Light Craft
Outdoor Car Wash
Rainbow R
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