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Showing posts with label Infants and toddlers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Infants and toddlers. Show all posts
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Helpful Parenting Articles
Monday, March 12, 2007
Early teaching for accelerated learning
I have seen this premise acted out in real life. As I said before, babies and little children are sponges, soaking in their surroundings each day. As a parent, I can potentially create a child that others will label "smart" or "intelligent." This is accomplished by "educating" my child from the earliest days of infancy. (Please do realize that having a "smart" or "intelligent" child is not the reason for educating a child in this manner.)
I must admit my real-life illustration does not come from my house but rather exists in my brother's house. From the moment his daughter was born, he and his wife have read alphabet and counting books to her, pointing out the different numbers and letters. They constantly talked to her - in adult language, for the most part, although they would occasionally use baby-talk as well.
What were the results of this unintentional education? At 6 months, my niece was saying, "I love you." Oh, it wasn't perfectly enunciated, but it was certainly repeated often enough and clearly enough that there was no doubt as to the baby's verbal intentions. By age 2, she could recite her alphabet and count to 10. She also knew her full name and the name of both of her parents. Her vocabulary was also astounding, evidenced by the quirky adult words and phrases that issued from her lips. Today, she is 3. She has been speaking in complete sentences for quite some time now. The education that started at birth is continuing with obviously good results.
I realize that not every child is gifted with the same measure of native intelligence, but this post really isn't about native intelligence. It's about the results of teaching your child from birth. Don't wait until you feel your child can "understand" before you attempt to teach them something. Everything they learn is new to them anyway. With repetition comes understanding.
Do you have any anecdotes about something you taught your child at an early age?
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Letter S crafts and activities
It is once again time to post about the alphabet theme. Today's post is (quite obviously) about the letter S.
- Enchanted Learning is a site that I only recently found, and it looks to be a wonderful resource. TheirLetter S Alphabet Activities page includes a Letter S Printout, I Can Color S Words printout, I Can Draw S Words printout, a printable activity book for Words That Start with the Letter S, and much more. Their seasons activities includes illustrated rhymes such as "The North Wind Doth Blow" and "Winter". Their numerous Spring crafts include a Butterfly Wand craft and the cute yet easy Hand print Paper Lilies craft. The Summer crafts feature a cute Hand print Sun Paper Plate craft, Tissue Paper Flowers craft, and much more. The Fall/Autumn crafts page offers many crafts and activities including a simple-to-make Paper Scarecrow craft and a Leaf Rubbing craft. Their Winter crafts include a Snowman Puppet, a Real Crystal Snowflake (gorgeous!), a Hand print Poinsettia Paper Plate craft, and a Fireplace craft (to name a few). Some of the other S themes are Shapes, Sharks, Snow, Spiders, and Stories. (Whew! I told you they had a lot of ideas; I didn't even link to all of them!)
- About: Homeschooling is another resource that is new to me. There I found Recipes for the Letter S, Crafts for the Letter S (including an attractive and easy Snow globe craft), Letter S Activities, and Worksheets for Writing and Coloring the Letter S.
- Mrs. Jones' Room always offers great ideas, and the Letter S page is no exception. There you will find Activities, Songs and Poems, and four Sing Along Songs.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Celebrating President's Day
Unsure of the origins of Presidents' Day, I ran a search and found a very helpful site, InfoPlease, which gave very interesting and in-depth information. According to a portion of their information, the third Monday in February (this year it's the 19th) is the Federal holiday known as Washington's Birthday and was created to celebrate only George Washington's birthday, which is actually February 22. InfoPlease went on to state that whether you celebrate President's Day or Washington's Birthday may depend on where you live. Washington's Birthday is a federal holiday, but states are not obliged to observe such holidays. Consequently, while the majority of states celebrate Washington's Birthday, there are about a dozen that celebrate President's Day, and several more celebrate Lincoln's Birthday as a separate holiday.
Having passed on that interesting bit of trivia, here are some ideas for celebrating President's Day.
- Preschool Rainbow offers a Preschool Holiday Art and Craft Activities page which includes three activities related to President's Day. One is especially simple: let the child use different coins to create pencil rubbings. Discuss the president pictured on the coin.
- Perpetual Preschool has many activities for President's Day including a fun yet simple coin toss game (intended to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday but could modify for Washington's birthday or President's Day). The President's Day Art page includes ideas for making wigs, painting cherry trees, creating Lincoln cabins using 8 oz. milk cartons and a penny, and creating simple silhouettes.
- Enchanted Learning, a site I had not previously visited, features a Activities, Worksheets, and Crafts for President's Day page that is chock full of useful ideas such as their easy-to-make Lincoln's Hat craft, George Washington, I Can... A Printable Book, Abraham Lincoln: A Printable Book, Washington Monument printout, and Mt. Rushmore printout.
- Preschool Express by Jean Warren offers a President's Day Theme page which includes ideas for art, counting, movement, science, music, and snack time.
- Apples 4 the Teacher offers seven printable George Washington short stories and twelve printable Abraham Lincoln short stories.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Ideas worth sharing
After writing my own post on indoor fun, I found several other people who recently wrote on the topic of ways to enjoy your family. You will get tons of great ideas from these links!
During the month of January, Shannon of Mommy, Inc. shared her frugal ideas for enjoying your child. Her mini-series included thrifty ideas for reducing child care expenses, saving money on kids' clothes, saving money on a Disney vacation, and having fun with your kids while on a budget. Great job, Shannon!
Lindsey of Enjoy the Journey has a wonderful list of family valentine ideas to help you make Valentine's Day special for your family.
The Common Room has a very long list of frugal ideas for family fun.
I encourage you to take the time to enjoy your family every day.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Winter means fun indoors
Colder weather means the kids won't be outside as much as they usually are. Here are a few ideas for keeping them occupied indoors.
- Race around the house. My girls and I have been doing this for the past 2 days, and all three of them just love having me running with them. (Let me tell you, that is a sight to behold, and I'm definitely getting some much-needed exercise!)
- Have an indoor marshmallow roast. Put mini marshmallows on skewers and let your child roast them over a candle.
- Make a fort or tent out of sheets or blankets. Join your kids inside.
- Read to your child. If you already do this as part of your regular routine, think about letting him choose a couple more books than normal.
- Help your child put a puzzle together.
- Make homemade hot chocolate mix and enjoy a cup with your child.
- Work with your child on a special craft.
- Help your child make a special gift for someone.
- Line up all the chairs from the kitchen table and play train, letting your child be the engineer.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Letter R crafts and activities
Yes, I'm finally getting back to the alphabet theme. I took a little break from the alphabet because I don't want to bore anyone by doing the same thing all the time so I try to vary what I post.
- First School offers a Alphabet Letter R Preschool Activities and Crafts page where you will
find numerous ideas including Letter R Alphabet Letter Printables, a Noah's Ark and Rainbow lesson plan page which includes a craft, a heart theme Raccoon craft (see illustration at side), Raccoon coloring pages, Rabbit Paper Bag Puppet craft, Rabbit printable puzzle (a 4 stage puzzle for children 18 months-6 years) with lesson plan, The Tale of Peter Rabbit Activities, and more. - DLTK's Growing Together always has a lot to offer, and this time is no exception. Look at their Letter R crafts for kids page which includes the Robbie the Robot Rectangle Shapes craft, Rabbit Toilet Paper Roll craft, Rainbow (hand print) craft, Letter R Alphabet songs sung to familiar tunes, Letter R Games and Puzzles, Letter R mini book, and much more.
- From my friend Karen, a thrifty mommy and preschool director/teacher, come the following ideas for rainbow crafts.
Froot Loops Rainbow
Suitable for 2+ years
Supplies
- Froot Loops cereal
- Paper
- Glue
- Something with which to write
- Separate the Froot Loops according to color. This would be good color practice for a child who is still working on color recognition.
- Draw a rainbow on the paper.
- Help or supervise your child as they glue a different color of cereal on each band of the rainbow.
If you are an adventurous parent, you can use the same idea but, instead of cereal, substitute finger or poster paint.
clip art of letter R courtesy of fotosearch.com
raccoon craft illustration courtesy of First School.ws
Monday, January 29, 2007
Valentine's Day fun
It's a little late for some of these suggestions, but you can always file them away for next year if you like.
- Create a Valentine's Tree. A friend of mine purchased a white Christmas tree during the after-holiday clearance time. She decorated it with white lights, heart ornaments, and heart tinsel. (see photo above) The kids could hang any Valentines cards they received.
- Create a "Countdown to Valentines" calendar with a special Valentine themed activity for each day.
- Make a giant (non) Hershey's kiss. Melt a bag of chocolate chips. Use the kind of chocolate you like to eat: milk, semi-sweet, or dark. Set a greased funnel (small end down) on a sheet of parchment paper or a cookie sheet - somewhere from which it can easily be removed after the candy has cooled. Pour the melted chocolate into the funnel and let cool. Create your own variations by adding a spoonful of peanut butter as you are filling the funnel (makes a peanut butter kiss), adding nuts, or melting Andes mints along with the chocolate for a mint kiss. Let your imagination soar.
- Help your child create one-of-a-kind handmade old-fashioned Valentines (directions later in post if needed), or let them create a lovely yet simple 3D heart Paper craft.
- Make a special gift for someone in need of some TLC. (Think nursing home, shut-ins, singles, sick people, those who have recently lost a loved one; you get the idea.) These Valentine Tear and Paste Activities for Kids would be easy to make for this use.
Handmade Valentines Cards
Supplies:
- Construction paper - pink, red, white (any or all)
- Glue
- Stickers (scrap booking stickers are great, but any will work)
- Real lace or a heart-shaped paper doily
- Scissors
- Pen or markers
- Glitter pen or regular glitter (optional)
- Cut a large heart out of construction paper. (A nice idea is to cut out another smaller version in a different color to glue on top of the big heart.)
- Cut your paper doily so that you can glue it around the edge of your heart. You can also use real lace to glue around the edge.
- If you cut out a smaller heart, glue it on top of the large heart.
- Write a Valentine's message in the center.
- Add stickers, glitter, and other decorations as desired.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Letter Q crafts and activities
Before you start following all the links to resources and ideas I have found, take a moment to read this article explaining why learning the alphabet is so important for our children.
- School Express has an easy-to-make Alphabet hat for the letter Q. It has a picture of a quail.
- Everything Preschool has several useful pages including the Letter Q Songs and Music page, Letter Q Arts and Crafts page (which includes ideas for making queen crowns, a quill, and several different quilts), Letter Q Coloring Pages page, and the Letter Q Extras page that presents ideas for additional Q related activities such as snacks and field trips.
- As always, Preschool Express by Jean Warren features excellent ideas. Her Q Activities page includes instructions for Q art (q-tip designs, quarter rubbings, and such), Q games and movement, Q language (ideas for types of books to read as well as instructions for a Jeopardy-like game called "What's the Question"), and 8 original Q songs and rhymes.
- DLTK's Growing Together offers a Quetzal Craft made from a toilet paper roll. Additionally, the page provides information about the Quetzal, Guatemala's national bird. Also available is a Quetzal Paper Craft for young children to cut and paste. This craft has 2 templates from which to choose: color or B&W.
- For more information about the Quetzal bird, visit The Quetzal at Mexico Para Ninos (the page is in English).
clip art of the letter Q courtesy of fotosearch.com
Monday, January 22, 2007
Reading with your child
A book opens worlds of delight that you can find nowhere else. Watching a movie of a book is not the same as reading the book. A movie lets you sit passively while it does all the work for you, but a book engages the imagination as you actively create pictures in your mind of what is going on. Most young children of my acquaintance love to "read." Reading with a child is a great way for a parent to foster a life-long love of learning in his child. However, as Frank of The New Parent pointed out, not all books are created equal. We need to exercise discernment when choosing books for our children to read. Frank has a short list of his recommendations in his sidebar.
Here are some authors and books I recommend:
Dr. Suess - what child doesn't enjoy his zany stories? They often teach important lessons, too. Visit Seussville on the Internet for information and fun.
Laura Ingalls Wilder - when we were quite young, my siblings and I enjoyed listening as my mother read Little House on the Prairie and other books in the series. I was reading them on my own at age 5. Reading the books is quite different from watching the TV series!
Arleta Richardson - her book In Grandma's Attic, one book in The Grandma's Attic Series,
relates the often funny true stories about her grandmother's life as a young child. The series takes you from her childhood to her life as a married woman. "Here are marvelous tales--faithfully recalled for the delight of young and old alike, a touchstone to another day when life was simpler, perhaps, richer; when the treasures of family life and love were passed from generation to generation." I recently found her Letters from Grandma's Attic, a child's book with the stories told in letters that the child can remove from the envelopes pasted inside the book. All of my kids enjoy this one. The whole series is worth buying.
V. Gilbert Beers is a Christian author whose many children's books include both fiction and nonfiction genres. His works of fiction teach valuable lessons through a fun story. His nonfiction works include song books, devotionals, and Bibles for young children. A lot of my favorites are available through alibris.com.
- Along Thimblelane Trails - Selected Bible stories pair with related stories involving the imaginary Muffin family. Includes questions for discussion.
- Around the World with My Red Balloon - Two children tell of their dream to travel in their red balloon carrying the news of Jesus to the children of the world.
- The House in the Hole in the Side of the Tree - Grumpy Squire Squirrel discovers the value of being friendly to his forest neighbors.
- The Magic Merry-Go-Round - From the old woodcarver who makes merry-go-round horses Eric learns about the new life he can have from Jesus.
- Coco's Candy Shop - During their outing two children and their animal friends from the candy shop learn something about God from each person they meet.
- Cats and Bats and Things like That, and Other Wonderful Things about God's World - Describes some of God's gifts in nature, such as the bats' sonar, the changing colors of leaves, and the life contained in a seed.
The Best Nest by P. D. Eastman (a writer and illustrator) teaches a valuable lesson about contentment. Mr. and Mrs. Bird search for a place to build a new nest only to discover their old one is better.Other Eastman titles include:
- Are You My Mother? - A baby bird sets out to find his mother. But he doesn't know what his mother looks like--or even that she's a bird! Mother and child are ultimately reunited, but not before some pretty confusing situations.
- Go, Dog, Go - This lively story about dogs doing all sorts of things introduces readers to such concepts as colors, above and below, up and down, and size. Color illustrations accompany the text.
- Red, Stop! Green, Go! - With the beloved dogs from Eastman's classic "Go, Dog, Go!," toddlers can explore the world of color in this interactive adaptation of the original book. Includes flaps, wheels, and slides. Full color.
- What Time Is It? - It's 8:00 a.m. and Ted is waking up. Not Fred! He's going to snooze a little bit longer. Kids will love moving the hands on this sturdy clock book as they follow P.D. Eastman's dynamic dog duo throughout their day.
- The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary - A silly book with a serious purpose— to help children recognize, remember, and really enjoy using a basic vocabulary of 1350 words. Written and illustrated by P. D. Eastman— with help from the Cat (Dr. Seuss)— this decades-old dictionary pairs words with pictures that carry their meaning, making it simple enough even for non readers to understand. A wacky cast of characters reappears throughout the book, making this perhaps the only dictionary in the world that is actually "fun" to read!
Cat in the Hat Dictionary and Go, Dog, Go photos courtesy of Alibris.com
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Letter P crafts and activities
Here are links to activities, crafts, and work sheets to aid you as you teach the letter P.
- Mrs. Jones' Room is an excellent resource for kindergarten ideas. She has a Letter P page which has activities, songs and poems, and 3 sing-along songs.
- Preschool Express by Jean Warren is another great source for fun activities and
educational ideas. Her "P" activities page includes art, games, language, science, cooking projects, and songs and rhymes emphasizing that letter. - Alphabet Soup has a free printable alphabet coloring book. Each page features a letter from the alphabet and includes pictures of several objects that begin with the letter. You do have to print each page individually. (Click on the photo of the coloring page at the right to go to the page where you can print it.)
- Activity Village has a page full of ideas for alphabet games and number games using their Alphabet and Alphabet and Number Strips. They have a LOT of fun activities that your kids will enjoy.
- First-school also features a page for Alphabet Letter P preschool activities and crafts. I particularly like the following crafts from their site: Panda Paper Bag Puppet (circles theme), Hearts Penguin Craft (includes printable accessories for Valentine's Day and Christmas/Winter), and Pumpkin Theme Crafts.
- DLTK's Growing Together has a fun craft: a Styrofoam (air)Plane. Templates are included for both the cargo and jet plane versions.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Letter O crafts and activities
Thanks to my friend, Karen (of Thrifty Mommy fame), I will be posting links to crafts and activities for each letter of the alphabet. (I'm starting with O because that is the letter she will be doing next.) Use these ideas to help as you teach or reinforce the alphabet.
- Danielle's Place has instructions for making bird crafts, including one owl made from pine cones and one made from real feathers. ( Scroll down quite a way to find these.)
- First-School has individual pages dedicated to Octopus Theme Preschool Activities and Crafts, Owl Theme Preschool Activities and Crafts, and Letter O Coloring Pages, Worksheet, and Posters.
- Also from First-School comes this ostrich coloring page, otter craft, and ox paper bag puppet craft.
- Mrs. Jones' Room offers an original song "Ten Little O's in the Ocean" sung to the tune of "Ten Little Indians.' An audio player is included at the top so you can hear the tune. She also has a Letter Oo page which includes lesson ideas, activities, songs and poems, and 2 sing-alongs.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Inside activities
With the current rainy and cold weather, I thought I would share some links to indoor activities which will help keep your children occupied.
(All these ideas came from Family Education)
Activity
- Hide and Seek - here's a different version; hide a ticking clock and have the child find it by its sound
- Bean Bag Toss - make some bean bags for inside fun
- Hot or Cold - play this with small toys or edible treats for an exciting change
- Pillow throw - hit the moving target; PLAY THIS IN A PLACE WITH NO BREAKABLES
Creativity
- Let your runaway artist create his own mural - tie his crayons to his easel or create a place to tie them so that your child cannot write except where allowed
- Paper bag faces - your child gets to tear paper into pieces, stuff them into a bag, and create his own puppet face
- Froot Loop Sand - put that sugar-laden cereal to good use; your child will enjoy creating his own sand artwork on a sheet of paper
- Play with boxes - encourage your child's imagination and story making abilities
Kitchen time
- Light to dark - add food coloring to a glass of water, one drop at a time. Talk to your child about light and dark colors. (You could also mix colors and talk about how to create new colors.)
- Apple smile - your toddler or older child will enjoy creating an edible smile complete with teeth
- Alphabet sandwiches - using alphabet cereal, your child can write messages on a slice of bread spread with peanut butter
- Living room picnic - create happy memories with your child
- Kitchen helper - let your child help you put away silverware
Monday, January 15, 2007
Practical education means fun for children
I believe that children should be educated not only academically but also practically. This means that I intend to train my children how to live, not just how to learn. If you have little ones, you probably already realize that your children love to imitate you. Take advantage of that to train them early to clean the house, do laundry, and cook. They will think they are playing a game with you.
- A 12 month old is old enough to stand on a chair and "help" you wash dishes. Mine loved to play in the suds but would also help rinse the dishes I had washed. Don't try this if you are in a hurry or are already feeling impatient.
- Buy a child-sized broom and dustpan so they can help you sweep. My 4 year old is getting quite good at sweeping, and even my 18 month girl can push the dirt around. The same idea works for mopping and vacuuming. One of my girls' favorite toys is a cleaning cart that has a vacuum cleaner, broom, dustpan, scrub brush, mop bucket, and mop. (The grandparents bought it at Wal-Mart one Christmas.)
- My 4 year old daughter has shown an interest in doing laundry with me. She helps me sort the clothes as I direct and then sits on the dryer to pour in the detergent and other additives. As she pours them in, I explain why I use each one. I then let her pull out the knob to start the machine.
- An infant who plays with toys can learn to put them back. (I confess that I have been lax in this area, but it does work.) When you notice that your child is finished playing with a toy, put it in his hand and guide him as he puts it back where it belongs. As you do that, say something like, "Put your toy back," or, "Clean up your toys." Eventually, you won't have to guide your child. Just give the command.
- All my girls love to help me mix batter for pancakes. I let my 2 and year old girls pull apart egg shells that I have cracked when I need eggs in a recipe. They also get to dump in the ingredients after I measure them. My 4 year old sometimes helps me scramble eggs. I carefully tell them that if something is hot it will burn, and I reiterate it often. So far, no one has gotten burned because of being in the kitchen.
- Don't demand that your children do a great job. Sometimes, they won't even finish what they start. Don't ask them to do more than they are able. Keep house work fun, and they will want to keep doing it. Let them know how much you value their help and what a great contribution they are making to the family. This gives them a heady sense of worth and accomplishment. Even a little child likes to know that they have done something well.
both photos courtesy of fotosearch.com
Friday, January 12, 2007
The joy of painting
I think most little children love to paint, and because they are uninhibited by fear of failure, they often create beautiful artwork even when they just splash paint onto paper. We can easily channel this fun activity into an educational opportunity.
For instance, while a toddler is painting (I recommend letting them use the little Crayola watercolor boxes) say the names of the colors he is using and have him repeat them.
For an older child who already knows the color names, show how mixing 2 colors together produces a third color.
Explain what makes primary colors primary: they are colors that you cannot make by combining other colors but can combine to make any color other than white, black, or grey.
Help your child make a sunset scene, like the photo at the top of this post, by gradually mixing red and yellow (click the link for the instructions for creating the scene).
For the more advanced, I think you could use red and blue and white to create a sunrise scene similar to the sunset scene.
Let go of your inhibitions and have fun painting with your child. You just might learn something, too.
artwork courtesy of Ideas for Children's Art Lessons
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Automobile activities
Riding in the car with children need not be a trial of endurance; instead, it can be a fun and an educational time by taking the opportunity to play some family travel games for the road. Here are a few ideas to keep your children occupied.
- If your child recognizes letters, have him watch for those letters while looking out the window. Play a variation of "I Spy."
- The same idea works well with colors and numbers. You can even play along yourself to help your child recognize colors, numbers, and letters.
- Sing a silly song: "Old MacDonald" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" are two of my
children's favorites along with "Bicycle Built for Two" and "Surrey with the Fringe on Top." (Aren't those last two a blast from the long-forgotten past? My children learned them from the Veggie Tales Sing-Alongs: On the Road with Bob and Larry CD, and when I researched to find the links to the lyrics I discovered that the Veggie Tales CD features abbreviated versions of both songs.) NOTE: Please do not take these comments as an unqualified endorsement of the Veggie Tales products. - Bring books for reading and quiet entertainment.
- Purchase some of their favorite stories on CD. This is another activity that keeps the children quiet. My children love the Alice in Wonderland audio book I purchased at Dollar Tree. I want to get the Peter Pan audio book as well. My oldest girl was given a CD/book set of one of the Curious George books.
photo of Veggie Tales CD cover courtesy of BigIdea.com
clipart courtesy of fotosearch.com
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
10 Favorite Bible songs for children
Singing is a great activity that all kids seem to enjoy. My children love to sing little Sunday School choruses. Here are their top 10 favorites.
- I'm in the Lord's Army
- The B-I-B-L-E
- Deep and Wide
- Wide, Wide As the Ocean
- I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy
- Jesus Loves Me
- Jesus Loves the Little Children
- Behold, Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock, Knock, Knock
- Oh, Be Careful Little Eyes
- Only a Boy Named David (the lyrics provided are slightly different from the version we sing)
Hand print sheep
Here is a craft that children enjoy which can also be used for educational purposes. For example, our PeeWee Patch Club used this craft when the children learned about the shepherds coming to visit Baby Jesus. It would also work nicely with a science lesson on sheep or with a Bible Lesson about David or about Jesus being the Good Shepherd and our being His sheep. Perhaps your child could trace his own hand and work on his motor skills. You may purchase your own supplies or may buy a ready-made Baa Baa Hand Sheep kit from Guildcraft Arts and Crafts.
Targeted age:
- For the child to complete on his own: 6+
- With help: any
Materials List:
- white card stock
- black construction paper
- glue
- stuffing or cotton balls
- wiggle eyes (optional)
- self-adhesive magnetic tape (optional)
Directions:
- Trace your child's hand print (keep fingers spread apart) onto a piece of white card stock.
- Cut out the card stock hand print.
- Using the card stock hand print as a template, trace your child's hand print minus the thumb onto the construction paper.
- Cut out the thumb-less hand print.
- Glue the construction paper on top of the white card stock. The legs (fingers) should be black while the head (thumb) should be white.
- Glue the stuffing or cotton balls onto the palm of the hand print as pictured above.
- (Optional) Add 2 wiggle eyes and a nose - glue on an oval of black construction paper.
- (Optional) Cut a strip of magnetic tape and stick it on the back of the sheep.
photo courtesy of Guildcraft Arts and Crafts
Monday, January 8, 2007
Mosaic creations
I cannot remember where I got this idea, but I did this both with just my children and at one of their birthday parties. At the birthday party we made mosaic Winnie-the-Poohs.
Mosaic Butterflies
(or whatever object you wish)
Targeted ages:(or whatever object you wish)
1-5
Supplies List:
- clear contact paper
- black marker
- scissors
- gift tissue in several colors
Directions
- Create butterfly (or whatever you want) on a piece of paper and cut out. This is so you can make multiple mosaics of the same object; if you just want to make one, you can draw directly on the conatact paper.
- With a black marker, trace 1 copy of your object onto clear contact paper. Use enough contact paper to have made 2 objects if you folded it in half. (Do not peel off the paper backing yet.)
- Allow your child to tear gift tissue into small to medium sized pieces. I recommend using several different color of tissue, the brighter the better.
- Remove the paper backing from the tracing of your chosen object.
- Have your child cover the adhesive side of the object with the torn pieces of tissue.
- Remove the paper backing from the remaining contact paper and fold over, enclosing the tissue between the two layers.
- Cut out the object.
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