Free Art or Open Ended Art is crucial! Kids need to be able to have no boundaries and simply create. I get asked often how I schedule my son’s learning and really I don’t have a strict schedule.  We play and the learning comes from that most of the time- I throw in crafts every second day or so and we read all the time. Crayons, markers, paper and stickers are always available for easy creations. Today we didn’t make a craft we made the materials,  recycled crayons. It’s easy and fun. You may notice a change in my son from the making to the using, we popped out and got a hair cut, and sucker !

1. Gather your materials. You need orange crayons, a single black crayon, muffin tin and non stick spray.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 300.
3. Peel the paper off your crayons.
4. Break your orange crayons into little pieces, easily the favorite step for my son.
5. Pop them into the greased muffin tin.
6. Into the oven it took about 10 minutes to melt. While it melts, peel and break the black crayon into small bits.
7. Add small bits of the black crayons to the orange. I tried to make a face but it didn’t work- you could use shavings and place them as the crayons are cooling.
8. Pop back into the oven for a few minutes.
9. Swirl the wax and let cool.
10. Tip if the crayons aren’t releasing from the muffin tin , put them in the freezer for a few minutes and they will pop right off.
11. Now it’s time for fun – use the crayons for some free art! My son was excited to use the crayons HE made !
12. If you can’t tell that is a pumpkin and goblin eating a string cheese.  As per my son’s explanation! Have fun !

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/recycled-crayons-for-halloween.html/feed 12 http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/quick-easy-halloween-activities.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/quick-easy-halloween-activities.html#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:01:53 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=1794 Paper Plate Jack-o-lantern

This is a classic Halloween craft, the addition of cutting is a great way to get some fine motor and hand eye coordination hidden into the crafty fun. My son loved the cutting so much he said ” You do the sticky tape” when it came time to add the crepe paper to the craft. He was having fun , who am I to interrupt that? This easy Halloween craft can be adapted for tiny ones as well, simply have them finger paint!  After the craft don’t miss the simple fun game we played, and played and played!

1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, a marker, some orange paint, scissors, black party streamers or tissue paper, double stick tape, and some green paper.
2. Start by drawing a jack-o-lantern face on your plate.
3. Paint!  I like using a foam brush because it covers well!
4. Keep painting! Let dry.
5. While it’s drying, have your child cut some black streamers . Like I said this was my son’s favorite part, he cut and cut and cut!
6. Cut out the eyes and mouth.
7. Add double stick tape around the mouth and eyes.
8. Add the child cut streamers.
9. Do it yourself if your child is still cutting streamers, like mine.
10. Add your green stem and you are good to go.

Pumpkin Drop

Using a holiday item like a pumpkin bucket is a great way to make a game like this novel . At my son’s preschool today they were throwing bean bags into a similar bucket so I adapted it a little !  My son was nuts about this game .

1. Gather your materials. You will need some blocks with numbers ( or different colors, letters etc..) , a chair and a pumpkin bucket.
2. Set your child on the chair so they are kneeling. Make sure they are safe to sit like this, you can always just sit normally if they are tippy.
3. Hand your child blocks one or two at a time and ask them to identify the number on it, or the color, shape etc.. if they get it right they drop it in the bucket.
4. If they miss the bucket they try again.
5. My son shook the bucket full of wooden blocks once he dropped them all in, this was a high light ( for him) it’s really really loud.
6. Have fun!

Favorite Halloween Books

I was in a conference call yesterday and one of the questions asked was what Halloween books stood out for me this year. The following books are the books I think all families should have for Halloween!

Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin?by Karen Katz. This lift and flap book is the newest addition to our Karen Katz collection. My son adores these books. I read this in the check out line 3 times and he was asking for more before I could get my groceries in the fridge. I like this book because it’s a cute and gentle introduction to Halloween and all the creatures that go along with it. Also there are fun textures to many of the illustrations which help keep little hands busy!

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara is on my must buy list! A little girl moves into house and soon finds out it is haunted. Luckily she is a witch and knows just what to do. The ghosts in the story seem mischievous but never scary and even when she washes them in the washing machine, they are still smiling! My son loved this book, the text was the perfect length for a 3 year old, short but still descriptive.  I loved the simple  black and orange colors and had to look at the copyright twice because I was certain this was written sometime in the 30s, nope 2008. The simplicity of the book and colors is balanced so well with the little details like the litt;e girl’s constant companion , a white cat that puts on a black costume when the little witch pops on her hat. This detail had my son in stitches, “Cats don’t wear clothes , silly cat!” .  Absolutely a perfect Halloween book for children not yet ready to be scared for fun!

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex was recommended by Anya Becker who says : This book is a parody on Goodnight moon!  It is really cute and my son’s all time fave right now… he makes up read it about 20 times a day!

Edited to Add my review : We loved this book, as big Goodnight Moon fans we were all laughing reading this before bed. My almost 3 year old thought that this was the funniest book ever made and would correct the book often with the original text . Thanks Anya for the recommendation !

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/quick-easy-halloween-activities.html/feed 6 http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/natural-halloween-craft.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/natural-halloween-craft.html#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:01:10 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=1764 Black Bean and Lentil Wreath

I love wreaths, they are the perfect way to decorate and although I made a Halloween Wreath last week I wanted to share how my son  got in on the fun too. We actually made this one weeks ago. This Halloween craft was fun for both of us I love the organic look to it. If you don’t have a paper plate to use any cardboard cut into a circle will do!

1. Gather your materials. You will need dried black beans, dried orange lentils, a paper plate, orange ribbon, white glue, bowls to mix , a spoon and scissors.
2. Start by having your child mix the black beans and orange lentils. It was at this point that I got the idea for this sensory tub. My son loved this step.
3. While they play with the beans and lentils add glue, lots and lots of glue.
4. Add the beans and lentils. It was hard getting photos of this because I was helping him drizzle them on.
5. Keep going until all the glue is covered.
6. Let dry – I popped it outside in the sun to dry faster!
7. When it’s all dry cut out the middle.
8. Shake off any loose lentils and beans.
9. Add an orange ribbon.
10. Hang up !

Halloween Books from Carrie Anne

Carrie Anne is a monthly contributor to No Time For Flash Cards, she shares fantastic book reviews and today she is sharing her Halloween picks! Catch up with her on her blog Another Day , Another Thought…or two!

Dragon’s Halloween by Dav Pilkey. The kids love Dragon. Actually I love Dragon too. He’s such a lovable character. He has a few books out . The Halloween book has 3 mini Halloween stories. Dragon’s personality and natural innocence is so childlike , I think that’s why we all love him so. Dragon is written by the same author as Captain Underpants, which explains some of the humour.

Pumpkinheadby Eric Rohman. I love, love, love the artwork in this book, all printed from carvings. The story is cute too, about a boy with a pumpkin for a head. One day he looses his head and adventure follows. Same author / illustrator as My Friend Rabbit .

This is not a neat craft, have wet paper towels ready- put on an old shirt and have fun.  We have made this puffy paint a few times and I absolutely adore how it dries. It really dries puffy- although it takes a while to dry fully so put it somewhere high until it’s done.  I love doing art with this because it combines crafting with a great sensory experience. The glue and shaving cream make a really great squishy texture, just be warned, it flings really really easily, I found some all the way across the room this afternoon!

1. Gather your materials. You will need some shaving cream , white glue, some black paper, googly eyes, and a paper grocery bag or other large thick paper.
2. Start by drawing an outline of ghost on the paper bag. Set aside.
3. Mix together 3/4 cup of shaving cream with 1/4 cup of white glue.
4. Explore!
5. Add your gloopy mix to the paper ghost!
6. Explore some more.
7. While your child is exploring cut out a mouth, we did a zig zag per my son’s request, make any kind of mouth you want!
8. Add the mouth right on top
9. Add the googly eyes.
10. Let dry , depending on how thick your puffy paint is it may take hours.
11. Cut out when dry!

For more check out my FamilyEducation.com blog. All week long we are doing ghost crafts!

Books

A Halloween Happeningby Adrienne Adams is a curious book about a group of witches that are putting together a special party for the children on Halloween. The text is long but my son sat through the whole thing asking questions about the witches and the giant tower of pumpkins they built for the party. The book makes efforts to  explain that witches aren’t bad, just different.   I said that this book is curious because much of it had me scratching my head , the main event of the party are bat glider rides the witches take each child on. I wanted to think this was okay but all I could think was ” Don’t get in cars ( or gliders) with strangers!”.

Wobble, the witch cat by Mary Calhoun is a vintage story that is charming and much loved by my son. Wobble is a cat who belongs to Maggie a kind old witch , but Wobble hates riding on Maggie’s slippery broom. The other cats tease him and with Halloween coming up he decides to get rid of Maggie’s broom. When Maggie can’t find her magic broom, all she finds is a vacuum cleaner, but will it fly?  My son loves vacuum cleaners and thought it was hilarious that a witch would try to fly on one. I liked the  idea that witches sweep the sky so that the children can be safe under the stars on Halloween night.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro was a huge hit! It’s a reworking of the classic song ” There was an old lady who swallowed a fly” only this one swallows a whole bunch of Halloween creatures, like a goblin, ghost and of course a bat.  She continues to swallow bigger and bigger things much to my son’s amazement! He was giggling through the whole book and the end when the old lay belches he laughed hysterically. It was predictable but I have to admit was a really fun , silly read.

I love making something pretty out of stuff I already have. This Halloween wreath was a cinch to make and cost me nothing. Even if you have to buy the materials it’s easily under $5 ! Now that is my kind of holiday decor! As you can see below my son got involved too, although not making the craft so much as playing with it. Have fun and remember cute doesn’t always have to mean expensive!

1. Gather your materials. You will need scissors, Halloween garland , some black and orange ribbon, and a cardboard round. Our cardboard came from a frozen pizza ( Thank you Mr. Newman) but any sturdy cardboard will do. I didn’t use glue but if you want to hot glue would work great.
2. Start by cutting the middle of the round out.
3. Tie your garland on and start wrapping. Our garland is 8 feet long. Don’t be fooled my son isn’t wrapping it, well he tried but I did the craft.
4. Keep going until you are done , tie the end and tuck any left over garland. Beware of children stealing it and using your wreath as a hat.
5. Add a fun bow- just loop it through and tie it right on top!
6. Pop it outside and get in the spirit! Spend your extra money on more candy, cause we all know the first bag is for us!

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/halloween-wreath.html/feed 7 http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/halloween-kids-crafts.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/halloween-kids-crafts.html#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:19:56 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=1678

Here is our full list of Halloween crafts for kids we have done this year and last.

Candy Corn Magnet

Bat
Candy Corn
Halloween Silhouette
Easy Halloween Hair Tie
Frankenstein
Ghosts
Halloween Magnets
Haunted House
Pumpkin Collage
Pumpkin Luminaries
Pumpkin Play Dough
Pumpkin Prints
Pumpkin Stencils
Sandpaper Pumpkin
Spider Cookies
Spider S

I hope his list, which can also be found on our drop down menu under Crafts by Theme , will come in handy in the next week!

I love play dough but until last year hated making it. I had a play dough cook off and this was my favorite recipe that was submitted by Jana from This and That I added pumpkin pie spice to it and it was perfect!  It was a nice calm activity for my little man on a very rainy day!

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3 Tbs. oil
1 Tbs. alum
2 cups boiling water
food coloring

Here is how I had my little man help me make it today!

1. Gather your materials. You will need the ingredients – separated into individual bowls, pumpkin pie spice, food color is you want, a cutting board, and fall cookie cutters for playing after!
2. Start by pouring your flour into a large bowl, I don’t suggest having it at kid level until you are ready to mix… my camera batteries died and in the 2 minutes it took to get new ones there was a nice dusting of flour all over.
3. Pour in the salt.
4. The alum
5. The oil
6. The pumpkin pie spice – my son added so much but it turned out great.
7. Pour the boiling water in ( adults only please- the water needs to be boiling not just hot)
8. Mix.
9. Pop onto the cutting board and knead, add food color if you want.
10. Let cool a few minutes.
11. Play! The addition of seasonal cookie cutters make all the difference for us. Plain old playdough becomes extra fun with these $1 cookie cutters!  You can store it in the fridge for months in a sealed ziplock.

Toddler Halloween Books

Clifford’s First Halloween (Clifford the Small Red Puppy) by Norman Birdwell is a Halloween book that my son adores, I read it 4 times this afternoon alone. In all honesty I am sick of it but the person that matters still wants more. The story is about the big red dog’s very first Halloween as a puppy. Clifford and Emily Elizabeth find costumes, they trick or treat and try candy apples too. I think what my son relates to is that at almost 3 he doesn’t remember too much of Halloween , even though he knows what it is this year will be the first time he gets to do so many things. Like little Clifford, he is often too little for things, makes messes and has bigger people step in and fix it for him. He doesn’t know it yet but one day he will be more like the big Clifford than he knows.  This book doesn’t jump at me as a must read but I can’t ignore my son’s love when writing this review!

Peek-a-Boooo! by Marie Torres Cimarusti is a perfect toddler Halloween book. The premise is simple, each page has a well known Halloween character including a witch, skeleton, Frankenstein all hiding behind their hands playing peek-a-boo with the readers. The characters hands are flaps and when you lift them they reveal the character’s face – which is always sweet and happy , never scary.  At the end of the book there are more flaps to lift to reveal trick or treaters and the same Halloween characters hiding in their haunted house. My son loves this book too and  I think it’s a great completely gentle way to read about Halloween with toddlers.

Where Is Baby’s Pumpkin? by Karen Katz. This lift and flap book is the newest addition to our Karen Katz collection. My son adores these books. I read this in the check out line 3 times and he was asking for more before I could get my groceries in the fridge. I like this book because it’s a cute and gentle introduction to Halloween and all the creatures that go along with it. Also there are fun textures to many of the illustrations which help keep little hands busy! I love the sparkly ghost and the shiny bats are my son’s favorites!

The blue is really all one color- my reflection is wrecking a perfect picture!

My son is fighting the flu, and although his fever is gone he hasn’t asked to do any projects and I haven’t pushed. He has been watching far too much TV though which if the fever is still gone tomorrow will be ending. So today while he sat on the couch enjoying my lax rules about TV when we are sequestered in our house , I made this. I was so impressed with the results. My mom bought me this paper and I think she paid $7 for the pack of 12 in Canada, I would bet it’s cheaper in the states! This is not a craft for little ones but you can grab leaves or other flat objects and use sun print paper with young kids.  Here’s what I did:

1. Gather your materials. You will need sun print paper kit, some construction paper of any color, a pen or fine tip felt , fine tip scissors and patience !
2. Start by reading the instructions in your sun print paper kit. Pull out the frame that is included to make sure your paper cut out will fit. I did not do this and had to adjust later on.
3. Draw a spooky scene that can be cut out, I drew way too much but edited it down to a tree with an owl.
4. Check on your sick child who is overjoyed to be watching a 2nd episode of Dora.
5. Start cutting out your picture. It may take a while… I was thankful Dora was keeping my normally clingy sick son happy, cutting this was not easy.
6. Place the cut out in the frame provided before you open the sealed pouch of light sensitive paper.
7. Take the paper out, close the frame and place in sunlight.
8. You will see that we had a foggy foggy morning , I specifically wanted to try it on a day like today to see how it would work in overcast conditions.
9. It worked but  it took longer than the 2-3 minutes of sunlight suggested ( about 10) .
10. Rinse in a dish of water for a minute.
11. Let dry- colors get darker as it dries.
12. Frame and add some classy touches to your Halloween display!

Note to Readers

I am putting together an educational toy guide for the holidays and would love to include some reader suggested toys or games. My rules are : No characters, no weapons and keep the reviews short . I am aiming to have it done by the end of the month and up shortly after. I will as always link back to your blog in the post. If you are interested send me an email with  “Gift Guide” in the subject.

allie@notimeforflashcards.com

My son is almost 3 and not only very into Frankenstein , he is also in the bathroom all the time. Potty training has been pretty painless but it seems like we are always in the potty, so naturally I came up with a Halloween craft using a toilet paper roll!  You could use paint for better coverage, we are out of black paint so we used markers. What I love about this is that when you are done Frankenstein can stand all on his own !

1. Gather your materials. You will need a toilet paper roll, a black marker and/or  paint, green marker or paint, googly eyes, glue , 2 golf tees and scissors.
2. Start by drawing a line on the roll to mark where the hair will start.
3. Color the top part black , a trick I did with my son so he stayed in the lines , was to have him hold the other side and cover it with his hand while he colored. Worked great!
4. Color the other half green.
5. Add a mouth  with black marker.
6. Add glue for the eyes.
7. Add the googly eyes.
8. Poke  holes in the side for the golf tees. 
9. Have your child put the tees in.
10. Cut the black part with scissors, multiple times for make hair. This is a good chance for cutting practice since there is no need to be exact, simply make cute into the roll.
11. 
12. We added stitches along the smile after cutting with the black marker.  Enjoy!

]]> http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/frankenstein-craft.html/feed 12 http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/haunted-house-craft.html http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/10/haunted-house-craft.html#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:02:13 +0000 admin http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/?p=1454 Build Your Own Haunted House!

I have been itching to do another magnetic build your own craft after the huge response to the Build Your Own Robot . This seemed like the perfect opportunity since the foam pieces can be used like blocks to build a custom haunted house in time for Halloween.  I made this  craft, my son did none of it. Actually I lie, he cheered me on “Nice window mama!” while eating his morning oatmeal. He did how ever play with it, a lot!  This would make a fun independent  Halloween craft for a school age child too.

1. Gather you materials. You will need some sparkly sticky back foam in black, red and silver, magnets ( mine are also stick back), scissors , a marker and a cookie sheet or magnetic fridge.  ** Word about magnets. Magnets are not toys and should not be played with my little people who could swallow them. If you have a little person who eats things ( or could) please be sure to use large flat magnetic tape not these round magnets. I would be devestated if anyone was ever hurt from one of my crafts, especially a child.
2. Draw the shapes you will be using for the house on the backing of the foam. On the black I made a large rectangle for the house, 2 smaller squares for the 2 wings of the house, a small rectangle for the tower and a triangle for the roof. I made 2  slanted red squares for windows , a door and 2 tiny squares for the tower windows. I drew two long strips of silver, a ghost and a moon. Do not worry about making mistakes drawing, no one will ever see it.
3. Cut the pieces out. And piece it together for a trial run.
4. Put together the main house piece.
5. Now the wings with windows.
6. The tower
7. The moon and ghost ( add eyes with left over black foam)
8. Add the magnets.
9. Play !!

Books!

Wake the Dead by Monica A Harris is a fantastically “pun”ny book!  Based around the old saying ” You are going to wake the dead” this book takes that saying and runs with it.  Henry is a loud kid and is warned over and over that his noise will wake the dead.  Not going to happen right? Wrong! In this book the dead do wake and explore every bad pun around the word “dead” you can think of.  The thing is , it’s done is a fun and effective way. My son is too young for this book but an older child  could go hog wild looking up the origins of all these sayings, thinking up their own and using the context to try to figure out any they are unfamiliar with.  The illustrations by Susan Estelle Kwas are surprisingly expressive considering most of the subjects are skelletons, I love the clothes the “dead” are wearing too! Very cute and useful book!

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara is on my must buy list! A little girl moves into house and soon finds out it is haunted. Luckily she is a witch and knows just what to do. The ghosts in the story seem mischievous but never scary and even when she washes them in the washing machine, they are still smiling! My son loved this book, the text was the perfect length for a 3 year old, short but still descriptive.  I loved the simple  black and orange colors and had to look at the copywrite twice because I was certain this was written sometime in the 30s, nope 2008. The simplicity of the book and colors is balanced so well with the little details like the litt;e girl’s constant companion , a white cat that puts on a black costume when the little witch pops on her hat. This detail had my son in stitches, “Cats don’t wear clothes , silly cat!” .  Absolutely a perfect Halloween book for children not yet ready to be scared for fun!

The Costume Copycat by Maryann MacDonald is more about sibling rivalry than Halloween but brilliant none the less.  There are two sisters and each Halloween something happens to thrust the older sister into the spotlight leaving her little sister in her shadow feeling jealous and frustrated. Never is the older sister boastful or mean , it’s mostly just luck, or rather the younger sister’s bad luck that keeps her from shining. It’s hard to be the little sister ( trust me) especially when your older sibling is good at everything, and this book manages to get to the root of that emotion.  When the younger sister finally does feel like the spotlight is on her she remembers how she felt and shares her bounty with her sister.  Sweet book.