Gadgets

Multi-Coloured Snow

Materials:

Small pieces of sponge
Spring-type clothes pins
Shallow trays of tubs
Paints of various colours
Plain paper

Directions:
Help the children clip a piece of sponge onto a number of clothes pins. Have the children dip a sponge into a paint then lightly press the sponge onto the paper. The children can create a bunch of snowflakes on a page using one of different colours of pain (remind the children not to cross-dip the sponges), or they can cover the entire page to make a snowstorm. They can also draw a picture of their house, or the playground, etc., then use the sponges to make the pictures snowy.

Headbands

Materials:

Strips of heavy construction paper approx.. 4″ wide
Scissors
Glue and/or tape
Decorations (sequences, sparkles, stars, stickers, buttons, feathers, scrap paper, seam binding, etc.)

Directions:
Cut each strip to resemble a crown of some sort with zigzags or curves. Have the children decorate their crown with the decorations. When the children are finished and the decorations are firmly glued to the crown, fit the crown to the child’s head and tape or glue, overlapping as much left over paper as possible to make the crown snug and secure.
Top
Shamrock People

Materials:

White and green paper
Shamrock tracing pieces or cookie cutters
Glue
Coloured pencils, markers or crayons

Directions:
Have the children trace and cut out the shamrocks using the green paper. Help the younger children with theirs. Have the children glue the shamrock onto the paper and draw in a face. Then help them draw a body using the shamrock was a head. The children can make a whole family of shamrock people for even more fun. This is a great craft when combined with the Cereal Rainbows below.

Cereal Rainbows

Materials:

Fruit Loops of generic type cereal
Paper
Glue
Coloured pencils, markers, or crayons
Directions:
Help the younger children draw a rainbow shape on to the paper while the older children attempt to draw their own. Have the children glue the cereal inside the shape. The children can also use the colouing utensils to complete or enhance their artwork.

Easter Chicks

Materials:

Yellow, blue and orange construction paper or felt
Glue
Feathers, sparkles, sparkle glue, googly eyes
Crayons, markers, or coloured pencil

Directions:
This Chick will give the children practice with shapes (circles and triangles), and with tracing and cutting.

Cut out two sizes of circles, a smaller one for the head and a bigger one for the body. Glue the smaller circle (head) onto the larger circle (body).

Cut out two triangle pieces large enough to make chick wings. Glue the triangle wings onto the body.

Cut out two smaller triangle pieces from the orange paper or felt to make a beak for the chick. Glue on to the face circle.

Cut the blue paper into circles for the eyes and glue them on to the face. Or have the children draw the eyes on the chick. Googly eyes ad a touch of humour to the chick if you have them.

Alternative Decorating Ideas: Use feathers, sparkles, sparkle glue, or other materials to decorate your chick. You could also used wadded up pieces of tissue paper to decorate the wings and/or body.

My Size Butterflies

Materials:

Bristol board
Newspaper
Art paper for eyes, mouth, etc.
Tempera paints
Glue, tape or stapler
Hole punch
String/wool
Directions:

Take each piece of Bristol board and fold on an angle to make a triangle. Make sure the to cut off the excess of the fold does not match perfectly. Do this for each wing. Glue, tape or staple one side of the wing together to leave one side open. Stuff the open side of the wing with scrunched up newspaper. Glue, tape or staple the remaining side so the wing is now complete. Once the wings are done the children can paint them on both sides.

Make the butterfly body using another piece of Bristol board cut lengthwise. Glue and stuff as with the wings. Let the children pain the body a different colour than the wings to give the butterfly some character. Decorate the top of the body with scrap pieces of coloured paper to make the eyes, mouth, etc.

If you wish to hang the butterflies, punch a hole in the top corner of each wing. Insert enough string to hang in place.

Easter Egg Pins

Materials:

Plastic Spoon
Vasoline
Plaster of Paris
Pin Backs
Magnet
Ornament hooks
Directions:
Directions:
Coat plastic spoon with thin layer of vasoline. Mix Plaster of Paris according to directions. Pour mixture into spoon. Let set until soft, then put pin back into it. Push just enough to hold. Let completely dry and remove from spoon. Decorate as an easter egg.

Cotton Ball Lambs

Materials:

Black construction Paper
White chalk
Cotton Balls
Markers, googly eyes, construction paper, felt
Glue
Directions:
Have the child trace their hands on the black paper then cut out the tracing. Place the “hands” upside down so that the four fingers are the legs and the thumb is the head. Have the kids glue cotton balls to the body. Use the markers, googly eyes, felt, etc. to make the eyes.

Coffee Can Bank

Materials:

Empty can with a tight-fitting plastic top (like a coffee can)
Craft knife (to cut the slot in the plastic top)
Construction paper or fun foam
Scissors
Tape measure
Glue (hot glue is best, but white glue does work)
Photo of each child
Markers
Directions:
Using a sharp craft knife, make a small rectangular slot in the flexible plastic top large enough to fit any coin. An adult should do this part.
Cut a rectangle of paper (or foam) that will wrap around the can. Lay the sheet of paper (or foam) on a table. If you want to have the child’s picture on the bank, first position the picture where you think it will look good on the can and outline the picture with a pencil. Remove the picture and cut a hole smaller than the pencil lines you drew. Glue or tape the photo to the back of the paper (or foam). Let the child decorate the paper (or foam). Glue the wrapper to the can and allow to dry. If using white glue use elastics to hold the wrapper in place until it dries.

Spring Hat

Materials:

Coloured paper plates
Colored construction or tissue paper
Paint, markers, or crayons
Scissors
Glue
Optional – glitter, crepe paper or other ribbons
Directions:

Cut a slit through the center of the paper plate, leaving about an inch at the edges of the plate. Cut three more slits like you were cutting a pie. Bend the triangles formed by the cuts upwards, forming leaf-like shapes. Cut out some construction paper or tissue paper flowers for your hat. Any type of flower will do. Glue flowers to the triangles on the crown. Optional: Decorate it with glitter and/or staple two long ribbons of crepe paper to your beautiful hat.

Kewl Glasses

Materials:

Different colours of craft cellophane (available at your local craft or dollar store)
Poster board
Markers or crayons
Beads, buttons, sequins, yarn
Directions:
Trace a pair of child’s sunglasses onto the poster board. Cut out making sure to also cut out an area for the eyes and cut the cellophane to fit the area and glue to the back of the glasses. Bend the “arms” of the glasses to fit the face of each child. Reinforce the folds on the inside of the glasses with craft glue or tape. Let the children create their own glasses with the beads, buttons, sequins, yarn etc.

Recycled Photo Frame

Materials:

Lids from concentrated juice tins
Photos or pictures cut from magazines
Magnetic strips
Directions:

Save the lids from frozen juice containers to use as the picture frames. Help the children trace a circle around their picture or a picture from a magazine. Put three rows of magnetic tape on the back and the pictures are ready to be put on the refrigerator.

Duck Feet

Materials:

Large pieces of cardboard
Empty tissue boxes
Shoelaces or heavy string
Paint
Glue
Directions:
Draw an outline of a duck foot on the cardboard bigger than the tissue box, and cut it out. Trace enough feet for all the children and cut out. Now cut the tissue box into halves and glue them on top of and in the middle of the feet, with the open space upward. Punch holes on on the bottom each side of the box and through the cardboard feet to run shoelace through. This will be used to tie the duck feet to the children’s feet. Before placing the shoelace through the bottom of the feet, have the children paint their feet yellow or orange. Once the feet are dry, run shoelace through and help the children tie the feet in place. Let the fun begin.

Duck Hat

Materials:

Yellow baseball cap (Available at the Dollar store)
Orange felt
Scissors
2 large wiggle eyes
Hot glue gun and fabric glue sticks
Directions:

Cut out 2 pieces of orange felt to cover the brim of the hat making the duck bill. Glue one of the pieces completely to the top. Glue the other piece under the brim only on the side edges so that it will hang down under the brim of the hat and resemble a duck bill. Glue the 2 wiggle eyes just above the bill of the hat.

Jig Saw Puzzles

Materials:

Cardboard
Magazines
Scissors
Glue
Directions:
Have each child cut a simple picture from a magazine and try to cut it out. Help them glue the picture to the cardboard. Once the glue is dry, help them cut the picture out like a puzzle or just in squares. When they have finished, have them mix up their puzzle pieces then see it they can put the puzzle back together You could also let the children draw their own picture on the cardboard. Another great idea kids love is to draw on their own pre-cut puzzle like the ones available from compozapuzzle.com. They can use rubber stamps, crayons, heat transfers, or watercolours on them,

Puzzles are perfect for greeting cards, party invitations, classroom projects (language arts, mathematics . . . just plain ole arts).

Thank You Pop-up Cards

Materials:

Crayols Markers, Crayons
Scissors
Glue
Directions:
May 13, 2002 – May 18, 2002 is National National Etiquette Week. This is a great time to teach children about the value of Thank You Cards – not just for sending after they receive a gift, but anytime they want to say thank-you to someone who did something nice for them. The link below was created by the Crayola Co.. It features a sample Pop-Up Thank-You Card that you just print and let the children put together and decorate. This makes a great language arts craft as well as you help the children write a simple verse for their thank-you card.

This month’s theme is teaching children about the magic of the holidays.

When it comes to looking for ways to teach the children the real story about Christmas, the evolution of Santa Claus, the history of the Christmas tree, and Christmas traditions around the world, there is no better place to start than the HistoryChannel.com.

But this wonderful season offers child care providers and parents ample ideas for teaching arts, language skills, math concepts, and so on, as you’ll see below.

Geography

Using a simple map, the holiday season is a great time to teach the children about the world they live in. Point out that the native habitat of the reindeer is around the Arctic Circle, which includes Lapland. Help the children locate this area and label the geographic names of surrounding countries, oceans, and continents. Or you can look at the history of toys, and use a map to locate where certain toys are made around the world. Reading stories about how other people celebrate holidays around the world provides another opportunity to point out where the different countries are. Holiday greeting cards and stamps sent from various parts of the world present another opportunity to teach geography. Ask the children if they have relatives in other parts of the world. Talk with parents to see if they can provide stories from their culture, stamps from mail sent to them, etc. The opportunities are endless.

Social Skills

This holiday season is a great time to teach children the value of giving, even when they think they don’t have anything to give. Looking for simple gift ideas the children can make for their parents, a seniors group, or to be donated to the food bank Talk with the children about how they don’t have to have money to give nice gifts; they can give of themselves! you can use your arts and crafts time to create “Gift Coupons” the children could give such as shoveling snow from the sidewalk, washing the car, helping with the dishes, or some other task that might be appreciated. Start a can or penny drive, then plan a special filed trip so the children can see first hand where their donation goes and how it will help those less fortunate.

Language Skills

Talk to your librarian about unique books on the holidays that the children may not have read before. Conduct a simple letter writing session to Santa. Make Christmas cards with simple poems. Learn the words to new Christmas carols. Talk about the origins of Santa, Christmas trees, etc.

Arts & Crafts

Make hand/foot reindeer faces. Trace each child’s foot on brown construction paper. Trace their hands on red construction paper. Glue the hands (antlers) to the foot and help the children make a reindeer face on the brown paper.

Create a holiday riddle book. Ask the children if they know any holiday riddles or jokes. Write these down and copy one set of jokes for each child so they can put them in a book and decorate the book. Here are a few holiday riddles: What does Santa say when he works in his garden? (Hoe, hoe, hoe!) Why did the woman put bells on her scale? (She wanted to jingle all the weigh!) What song did the Christmas tree sing when Santa arrived? (Fir He’s a Jolly Good Fellow) What did the musical dog get for Christmas? (A trom-bone!)

Music, Drama and Creative Movement

Have the children pretend they are Christmas trees, first standing still as if frozen in the forest, then as a fully decorated tree with branches sagging from the weight of lights, ornaments, etc. Play songs like Oh Christmas Tree in the background.

Let the children take on the different characters of the season, Santa, an elf, a reindeer. Give them the space to pretend they are pulling a sleigh, climbing down a chimney, busy making toys, learning to laugh a Ho Ho Ho from their gut.

Play musical gift by having the children sitting in a circle with holiday music in the background. As the children pass the pretend gift around the circle, the child who is holding the gift when the music stops can tell everyone one nice gift they can give/do for someone else.

Cooking/Science/Math

Cooking: Christmas-cookies.com offers a great selection of cookie and desert recipes for Christmas. The children could use their baking for gifts, donations, or special deliveries to Women’s’ shelters, etc..

Science: Teach the children about holiday weather. Will it be a white Christmas? What cities in the United States stand the best chance of having a white Christmas? How snowflakes are made. The properties of ice. Your librarian can help you find books to help you with these projects.

Talk about the different foods reindeer would eat. Look outside at the animals that live in the cold outdoors. Talk about how they stay warm. Make a gift for the birds by tying a ribbon on a pine cone, wrapping the cone in peanutbutter and bird seed, then help the children hand the gifts(s) in the trees. Throw out some peanuts for the squirrels, etc.

Math: Set up a Christmas card center and count the number of cards you receive every day then display the new card number. Then count the total number of cards on the display and show this number as well. You could even introduce the concept of a simple graph adding a new section for the number of cards received.

Count the number of ornaments on the tree. Separate this into the number of each kind of ornament.

Start a can or penny drive and set the contributions up in rows of ten to help the children keep track of their work.

Compare the height and weight of reindeer to that of more common deer, horses, and cows.

Squeeze Paint

Materials:

Food coloring
1/3 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
small squeeze bottles
water

Procedure:
Combine dry ingredients in a jar. You can make an assortment of colors by adding food coloring to the mixture. Add water until it has made a thick consistency. Pour into empty squeeze bottles. Squeeze out designs onto construction paper, cardboard, paper plates. Put weights on the corners of your creations so that they won’t curl as they dry.

Soap Bubbles

Materials:

1 cup water
1/3 cup liquid detergent
1 tbsp.
Sugar or glycerin
Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Make wands with pipe cleaners, old coat hangers, Easter egg dippers, a paper roll or three straws tied together. Use the soap bubbles immediately after mixing together.

Pole Dyeing

Materials:

Paper Towels
Pencils
String
Paint (several colors)
Brushes
Newspaper

Directions:
For this activity, you’ll probably want to cover your work area with newspaper. Place the point of a pencil in the center of a sheet of paper towel. Gently (but tightly) wrap the paper towel around the pencil and tie a small piece of string around it to hold the paper tight. Some of the children may be able to wrap the paper towel themselves, while others will need your help to do the wrapping and tying. Taking turns, the children can use different colors of paint on different parts of their “pole”. Allow the paper towels to dry 30 minutes to an hour. Then take off the string and let the children open their paper towels to see the designs.

Rubbings

Materials:

Paper (thin paper works best)
Crayons
Pennies, leaves, paper clips, rubber bands, etc.
Directions:
Show the children how to place the object under the paper and color over it with crayons, making the outline of the shape appear. Let them try making rubbings with all of the objects. At the end, see if they can match the rubbings with the actual objects.

From: Mister Roger’s Plan & Play Book

Thumbprint Mural

Materials:

Stamp pads of different colors
Fine tipped markers or pencils
Butcher paper
Directions:
Cut a long sheet of butcher paper. Lay it on the table or the floor. Put markers, pencils and stamp pads around it. Using the markers or pencils, have the children help you draw small circles all over the paper. Then let the children ink their thumbs on the stamp pads and put all colors of thumbprints in the circles. Hang the Thumbprint Mural.

Variations:
Along The Lines: Draw lines on the paper and have the children put thumbprints along the lines.

Color Creatures: Draw features on the thumbprints to create “make-believe” creatures.

Creatures On The Go: Let the children draw cars, trucks, buses, and airplanes with a lot of windows. Have the children put thumbprint creatures in the windows.

Stick Masks

Materials

Bristol board
markers or coloured pencils
glue
large popsicle stick
yarn for hair or beards
Directions
Help the children draw a replica of their face on a piece of Bristol board and cut it out. Put the mask up to the child’s face and draw the approximate location of their eyes and mouth. Cut out the eyes. Let the children decorate the mask, either to look like themselves or as a fancy mask they would wear to a masquerade ball. Glue the masks to the popsicle stick. Have a parade of masks. Read a story about masks and get the children to participate with their creations, etc.

Paper Tube Person

Material

toilet roll tube
round disk made from heavier cardboard or Bristol board
markers or coloured pencils
glue
yarn for hair or beards
googly eyes
poster paint
Directions
Give each child a toilet roll tube and a round disk. Have them paint the tube with poister pain and let them dry. Decorate the tubes to resemble a person’s bady wearing colourful clothes. Draw facial features and hair on the discs and glue to the front of the tube. googly eyes and yarn for hair and beards will make the faces more interesting.

Rhythmic Gymnastic Ribbons

Here’s a craft that is actually a great sport as well. Can be incorporated into a fitness, reading or music program.

Materials

1/4″ to 1/2″ pieces of doweling or 1/4″ x 1″ board cut into 8″ strips
colourful ribbon cut into 3′ or longer pieces
glue
music to dance with
Directions
Give each child a piece of doweling or wood and a ribbon. Tie or glue the ribbon to the stick. Turn on the music and show the child how to swirl their ribbons around their bodies, over their heads, etc., as they dance to the music.

A preamble to this craft would be a book or a video from the library on rhythmic gymnastics. You could also incorporate other props such as balls that the children can roll along their arms, pass from one child to the other, bounce them as they stand on their toes or knees.

Caution: Keep an eye on the younger children to ensure they do not get the ribbon caught around their necks. Do not cut ribbons so long that they trail on the floor and possibly trip the other children.

Connect the Stars

Materials

plain white paper
foil stars or stars you help the children to trace and cut out
crayons or markers
glue
Directions
Read to the children about the stars in the sky and the constellations. Keep the book available as you help them glue or paste the stars on their paper to match one of the shapes in the sky (or they could just make up their own constellations, or for that matter they could put the stars on the page in the shape of the first letter in their name. Once the stars are in place, have the children connect them with the crayons, like a dot-to-dot drawing.

Salt Drawings

Materials

trays, shoe-box lids, baking pans
salt (can substitute with cornmeal, flour or sand)
popsicle sticks, small doweling or unsharpened pencils
Directions
Pour a thin layer of salt or whatever product you chose in a tray or box lid. Show the children how they can draw in the salt using the pencil or popsicle stick. After the children have finished drawing their picture, show them how to gently shake their container and draw pictures over and over again. This is a great opportunity to teach the children about salt and its properties like taste, texture, use.

Weird and Wacky Edible Art

Materials

marshmallows
raisins, cut fruit
pretzel sticks
paper plates
Directions
Have the children wash their hands before engaging in the edible art activity. Give each child a selection of large and small marshmallows and mixed cut fruit on a paper plate. Challenge them to create weird and wacky funny designs with the food poking it on to the pretzel sticks the younger children may need help with this). Have them put their creations on a dish to show the group before they eat them.

You might also have them assist you in making a simple dip in which to dunk their creations, such as sour cream and brown sugar, or you can just use prepared dips you can purchase at the store.

Star Light, Star Bright

Materials

construction paper
pencils
wax paper
yarn
glue
glitter
Directions
Draw a star on a sheet of construction paper. Make one for each child or have star cookie cutters available that the children can trace with a pencil onto the construction paper. Place a sheet of wax paper over the construction paper. Dip a piece of yarn in the glue and use it to outline the star design on the way paper. (Press the sheet of wax paper down so you can see the design clearly.) While the glue is still wet, sprinkle the yarn with glitter. Let the glue dry overnight. Peel the dried yarn off the wax paper and add a loop of yarn for hanging.

You could make several stars to use as Christmas tree decorations, hang in the window or to decorate packages. Try using other cookie cutter ideas or Christmas shapes for even more decorations.

Soapflake Snowman

What would winter be without snowmen? The craft below helps children explore new textures, develop their fine motor skills by using paint brushes and sponges, and pasting with one finger.

Materials

Pre-cut snowmen made from white construction paper
Blue and black construction paper
Pre-cut facial features and top hats
Nontoxic glue
Brushes and/or small sponges
1/2 warm water
1/2 cup soap flakes
Directions
Give a precut snowman to each child. Explain how you are going to cover the snowman with whipped soap flakes.

Prepare the soapflake mixture by mixing the warm water with the soapflakes to form a thick paint.

Help the children apply the soapflake mixture to the snowman shape with either their hands, a large brush, or a small sponge.

Once the snowmen are dry, let the children paste on eyes, a nose, mouth and a top hat. You can then paste the picture onto the blue or black construction paper or leave them as they are.

Paper Windows

This fun craft helps children develop their memory.

Materials

The sheets of coloured art or construction paper
Crayons and markers
Magazines
Nontoxic glue or tape
Scissors
Directions
Give each child one piece of paper and have them draw a number of boxes on the paper to act as windows.

Using the scissors, cut three sides of the box to make a window opening. Cut the openings in different ways for the windows open upwards, from the sides, or cut a large box down the middle so it opens up from both sides like a shutter.

Take a second sheet of paper and help the children tap or glue the paper together so the windows open up to display the new coloured paper.

Have the children cut out pictured from magazines to fit in the window and glue in place. Or, the children can draw pictures in the windows.

Another idea is to help the children draw boxes to make a house with a door and windows. Cut and paste accordingly.

Art Show

This fun craft idea can actually turn into a week-long project.

Materials

The sheets of coloured art or construction paper
Crayons and markers
Paints and brushes
Magazines
Odds and ends such as string, glitter, stars, etc.
Nontoxic glue or tape
Scissors
Directions
Give each child one piece of paper and allow them to choose from a variety of art projects like painting, drawing and colouring, making a collage from magazine pictures, etc. Encourage the children to take their time and do their best artwork as the pieces will be put on display for their art show for parents. Have each child sign their creation.

Work with the children to design a nice art show wall or bulletin board. A long strip of plain newsprint will work great for this project
as the children can decorate it as well. Once the art show area is designed, help the children display their artwork.

Take some time during reading or language arts to talk about art shows, and to make up invitations for parents come to the show.
The children can also cook some cookies or other delectables to serve the parents.

Victorian Valentine

his adorable craft of an old fashioned Victorian valentines says “May heart is in your hands.”

Materials:

Coloured paper (red, pink, etc.)
Pencils, markers, crayons
Scissors
Nontoxic glue
Doilies, cotton batting, foil, glitter
Directions:
Fold a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ paper in half. Have the children trace their open hand on the paper, keeping their baby finger lined up along the fold (so two hands get cut out together) using the pencil. Help the children trace their hands as needed. Cut out the hand outline. Next, cut out a hear shape from red or pink paper that is about the size of the child’s palm. Open the hand and paste the heart in the centre. Decorate the valentine with smaller hearts, doilies, foil, glitter, etc. Help the children write a valentine message in the middle of the heart….like “May heart is in your hands.” Have then print their name if they can, otherwise you can help them sign it.

Heart Prints

Materials:

White paper
Tempera paint (red and pink)
Heart-shaped cookie cutters (various sizes)
Shallow pans
Doilies, cotton batting, foil, glitter
Markers, crayons, coloured pencils
Directions:
On the art table place white paper and heart-shaped cookie cutters of various sizes. Mix pink and red tempera paint and pour into shallow pans. Have the children dip the cookie cutters into the paint then place the cookie cutter on the paper to make a print. When finished, the children can decorate the hearts, or write sayings in the hearts.

Peanut Buddies

This adorable craft of an old fashioned Victorian valentines says “May heart is in your hands.”

Materials:

Peanuts in the shell
Pencils, markers, crayons
Scissors
Nontoxic glue
Yarn, felt, roly eyes, beads
Magnetic strips
Directions:
Help the children decorate their peanuts using the roly eyes, beads or felt pieces for the eyes. An apple seed works great for a nose. The children can draw a mouth on their peanut using the markers or coloured pencils. Next, have the children decorate their peanut with decorations made from felt, such as a bow tie, buttons, two half circles glued to look like a vest, etc. Yarn could be used to make hair. As a option you might glue a magnetic strip to the back of the peanut for a refrigerator decoration.

Pinecone Feeder

Materials:

Pinecones
Wire or string
Peanut butter
Birdseed
Directions:
Place the bird seed in a tray. Tie a thin piece of wire or string around a pinecone and have the children spread peanut butter over their cone. Once covered, the children can roll their cone in the birdseed and hang it up outside for the birds to enjoy.

Eggshell Pictures

Materials:
Eggshells
Food colouring
Paper Towels
Paper
Liquid glue

Directions:
Gently wash out the egg shells. Mix the food colouring with water and have the children drop the shells in the colouring to tint them. Place the coloured shells onto the paper towel to dry. Have the children gently crumble the dried shells. Next have the children take the glue and make a design with it on their paper then sprinkle the broken shells on the glue to complete the design.

Painter’s Week

Materials:
Construction paper in a variety
of colours
Tempera paint mixed with dish soap
Shaving cream
Food colouring
Boxes of all sizes
Straws
Plastic spoons

Directions:
Children of all ages like to paint. This week’s Craft Tip involved a week of painting fun.

Straw Painting

Put a plastic spoon in each colour of paint. Allow the children to take spoonfuls of the paint and put it on their paper. Have them take their straws and gently blow the paint around.

Shaving Cream Painting

What could be more fun than playing with shaving cream? Simply let the children spray the shaving cream on their coloured paper and either use their finger or a plastic spoon to make a picture from the mound of fluff. Add a few drops of food colour and watch the fun begin. Best of all, cleaning up is a breeze.

Finger Painting

This timeless fun activity will have the children laughing as they use their hands and fingers to paint pictures on paper. They can even paint their hand and make a hand print to work around.

Window Painting

Who said you have to wait for a special occasion to paint the windows? Simply mix detergent with the paint so it will wash off easily, and let the children finger-paint their own section of window.

Box Painting

Boxes to make great boats, buildings, bricks, mailboxes, just about anything you can imagine. Gather up as many different size boxes as you can and let the children paint and decorate them to make a village, a windmill, whatever suits their fancy.

Colourful Button Flowers

Materials:
Construction paper in a variety
of colours
Buttons
Long pipe cleaners
Scissors or a paper cutter
Glue

Directions:
Help the children cut our medium size flowers from the construction paper. It might help if you trace or draw the flowers on the paper first. Glue a button in the middle of the flower. When the glue is dry, help the children to poke the pipe cleaner through one of the holes in the button and through the paper drawing it out the back of the flower. Poke the other end of the pipe cleaner through the second hole of the button and finish pulling the pipe cleaner all the way through to secure the button to the flower. Twist the pipe cleaner at the back of the flower and bend to make the stem of the flower.

Adapted from: Button Flowers, Squigley’s Arts and Crafts

Popcorn Art

Materials:
Popcorn
Coloured paper
Glue
Yarn, ribbon, crayons, etc. to decorate around the popcorn

Directions:
Pop a fair amount of popcorn. As it is popping, you can talk to the children about the sound, why it pops, the smell, taste, and how they like to eat their popcorn.

Give each child a piece of coloured paper and let them glue pieces of popcorn on the paper to make any design they like. (Of course, they can eat while they decorate.) Let them use the crayons, yarn, stickers, etc. to complete their picture.

Baby Dinosaur Footprints

Materials:
Coloured art paper
Foam meat trays
Dampened paper towel
Tempra paint

Directions:
This fun craft can be used to make simple art hangings or gift wrapping. Pour a small amount of different coloured paint into separate foam meat trays. Place pieces of dampened paper towel beside the trays for the children to wipe off their hands before they use a different paint colour. Have the children make a lose fist with their hand dipping the outside part of their fits into the paint, then pressing or dabbing their fists onto their coloured paper to make the baby dinosaur footprints. The children can use different coloured paints for the prints and even use their fingers to make toes etc. Allow the prints to dry before hanging as some of the paint may be quite thick and still runny on the children’s artwork.

Adapted from: Little Dinosaur Footprints, CWSR Child Care Support Service newsletter, July/Aug. /93, Cranbrook, BC.

Windsock

Materials:
White construction paper,
5″x17″
Coloured streamers or ribbon
cut to 2′ each
Markers, crayons
Glue, staples or tape
Hole punch
String

Directions:
Have the children decorate their construction paper with whatever designs they fancy for the main piece of the windsock. When finished, flip the paper over and glue the pieces of ribbon or tissue paper to the underside of the artwork to make the windsock tails. When the glue has dried, roll the construction paper into a cylinder with the artwork showing on the outside. Glue the sides of the paper together or use staples or tape to ensure the cylinder maintains its shape. Next, punch two holes on two sides of the cylinder near the top (opposite side of the streamers). Have the children thread the string through the holes to make a handle for their windsock. Tie the ends to each hole. Extra string can be attached to the handle to give the children more room to fly their windsocks outside or to hang them.

Adapted from: Floral Windsock, KidsandCrafts.com

M-O-M Bracelet

Materials:
Large coloured beads
Lettered beads that spell out MOM
Elastic thread

Directions:
Have the children put the beads into separate bowls according to their colours so they can choose to either make a colourful bracelet or choose beads in the colour they think their Mom will enjoy. Give each child a long piece of elastic thread and help them tie a bead on the end of the
thread to secure the threaded beads. Next have the children lay out their beads in front of them as they will be putting them on the bracelet. Help them to place the lettered beads in the middle of their sequenced beads. This gives you an opportunity to help them put the letters M-O-M in the middle of the bracelet. Have them thread the beads in the order they were laid out on the table. When they have finished, help them tie the ends of the elastic together to complete the bracelet. Cut off the extra elastic.

Paper Plate Sun

Materials:
Paper plates
Yellow construction paper
Yellow paint
Markers
Scissors
Glue
Googly eyes (optional)

Directions:
Have the children paint the back of the paper plate yellow. While the paint is drying help them to trace their hands on the yellow construction paper so each child has seven hands. Cut out the hands and glue them to the back of the paper plate to resemble the sun’s rays. Finally, have the children draw a face on the sun using the googly eyes and markers.

Adapted from: Enchanted Learning Software’s – Sun Paper Plate Craft

Winter Lacing Project

Materials:
Wool or ribbon
Single hole punch
Scissors
Pencil card stock
Poster board or construction paper

Directions:
This craft is from DLTK’s Craft Pages, an excellent art and craft resource for parents and child care providers.

Print snowflake template ( http://www.dltk-holidays.com/winter/mlacing.htm) of choice or make your own.
Trace onto a thick piece of cardboard (cardboard backs from paper pads or old boxes work well).
Cut out this template
Allow the children to trace the template onto a piece of card stock or poster board (or construction paper…or thicker card stock for lacing projects, or have an adult do this prior to craft time.
Allow the children to cut out their card stock shapes OR have an adult do this prior to craft time.
Allow the children to make holes around their shape (about an inch or two apart).
Provide the children with a length of wool or ribbon. You can wrap some scotch tape around the end of the wool to make it more like a shoe lace.
Have the child thread the wool through the holes.
Practice tying knots and/or bows to tie off in the center.
Let the children use glitter to further decorate their completed project.

Sugar Cube Art

Materials:
Sugar Cube
Heavy cardboard or paper places
Glue
Cardboard
Optional – Paint, cotton batten, other decorations

Directions:
Give each child a piece of heavy cardboard or paper plate to glue their artwork on. Place sugar cubes on the table. Have the children glue the cubes to together to make a winter scene such as igloos, winter forts, winter houses, etc.
To make the project more fun, let the children glue cotton batten on their cardboard to look like snow and sprinkle with small sparkles, or allow the children to pain their sugar cubes lightly. You can also add other decorations to make the winter scene complete.

Snowman Magnet

Materials:
Large white pompoms
Wiggly eyes
Red and black felt
Crayon tips (for the nose)
Popsicle stick
Adhesive Magnetic Strip
Markers
Glue
Scissors

Directions:
Give each child three white pompoms and help them glue them onto the popsicle stick. Cut out long strips of red felt, about 1/2″ wide for the scarf and have the children tie it around the snowman’s neck. Glue on the wiggle eyes. Cut out top hats with the black felt and while the children are gluing these in place cut our three small black felt buttons for each child and help them glue them on the snowman. Glue on a tip of a crayon for the nose. Using the markers, let the children draw a mouth on the snowman. Finally, glue a magnet strip to the back of the popsicle stick.

Paper Mustache

Materials:
Construction paper
Scissors
Crayons or markers
Tape
Mirror

Directions:
Let the children draw different mustaches on the paper then cut them out. If they are having difficulty you might have to draw them. Roll a small piece of tape so it is sticky on all sides then place the strip on the mustache. When completed the children can then stick their mustaches on their faces then glance in the mirror to see how silly they look. You could also make a beard, goofy eyebrows, etc. to complete the look.

Menu Making

Materials:
Construction paper
Crayons or markers
Magazines
Scissors
Glue

Directions:
Draw a blank menu on a large piece of construction. Include breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can make it fancy like a restaurant menu or with block outlines like the menu you post for the parents. Have the children look through the magazines
and cut out pictures of “good” food items that they can use for menu, such as eggs, milk, bread, fruit, etc. You can use a copy of the Federal Food Guide to talk to the children at the same time about good meal planning. Work with them to plan out what they would like to eat for each meal and snack and have them glue the pictures on the menu or draw pictures of the food they want to eat. For the children who can print, llow them to list the foods on the menu, or you can do it. Decorate the menu to be fun, then post it on the wall. Serve the foods on the menu the next day.

As an additional craft, you can help the children make up recipe cards for each item on the menu that takes preparation. You can post these beside the menu for added fun. Or you could choose a theme for the menu such as Mexican food day, or Meatless day, etc., and work the menu on a monthly or weekly basis to reinforce the value of good nutrition and meal planning. Other ideas include making designer tablecloths and dinner party decorations to go with your menu or theme.

Adapted from: Draw a Menu, Kitchen Time: 202 Activities for Entertaining Your Child While You Cook, by Steve and Ruth Bennett, Penguin Books

Popcorn & Cranberry Necklace

Materials:
Popcorn
Plastic Needle
Thread
Cranberries

Directions:
Pop at least three cups of popcorn and let cool. Have the children cut a piece of string long enough when folded in two to make a necklace then have them string the thread through their needle and tie a knot on the end (smaller children will need assistance). Show them how to stick the needle through a piece of popcorn and draw it down the treat close to the knot. Have the children continue stringing the popcorn alternating with some cranberries until they reach about 6″ from the end of their thread. Cut the needle off, then tie the thread in a knot at the end of the popcorn. Tie the ends together to make a necklace. The children can also make bracelets at the same time.

Spicy Air Fresheners

Materials:
Cheesecloth
Cinnamon sticks (broken), dried orange peel, clove
Small elastics
Yarn or ribbon

Directions:
Makes a great Christmas or Thanksgiving gift.

Cut out squares of cheesecloth big enough for the children to put the mix in and tie together. Put cinnamon stick pieces, cloves and dried orange peel in separate bowls. Let the children take some of each and place it in the middle of their cheesecloth square. Help thechildren gather the edges of the cloth together and secure with and elastic, leaving a nice ruffle at the top. Decorate with a ribbon or
yarn bow.

The spicy air freshener can be used as is or you can do up a decorative tag to attach to the ribbon with a note: “Place in small container of water and simmer.”

Fast Friends Puppet

Materials:

* Construction paper or cardboard
* Crayons, markers
* Goodly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners or other face decorating materials
* Scissors
* Rubber band
* Glue

Directions:
Cut a strip of construction paper about 12″ long. Strip should be the width of the child’s hand. Fold the strip in half. Next, fold the strip in quarters (fold the half in half). Open out the ends so that the fold goes into the child’s had and the flaps go up and down so that they flap together when the child squeezes the fold. Have the children caret a face using the end flaps. The face could be a replica of their face, or an animal face. Place the rubber band along the fold so the child can slip his fingers in and make the face talk by moving it up and down.

Batic Butterflies

Materials:

* Heavy paper towel
* Food colouring
* Eye dropper or cotton swab
* Scissors

Directions:
Cut out butterfly shapes from heavy paper towel. Let the children use eye droppers or a cotton swab to apply a mixture of food colouring and water to the towel to decorate their butterfly. Provide at least three colours so that the children can experiment with making different colours.

Mini Terrarium

Materials:

* 2 clear plastic cups
* Potting soil
* Large bucket or bowl
* Small garden trawl or scoop
* Transparent tape
* Radish or grass seed

Directions:
Place the soil in a large bucket and have the children pour a little bit of water on the soil to make it moist. Next, have the children scoop enough soil from the bucket to fill one half of one of the cups. Sprinkle the seeds lightly on top of the soil. Invert the remaining cup over the top of the seeded cup and tape the seams. Place in a warm, sunny spot and wait for the seeds to sprout. This makes a great little science project where the children can keep a journal of how their seeds grew each day. And, it’s a great way to teach children about how a terrarium is like a world of it’s own. The moisture from the soil is trapped inside the container and recycles itself constantly as it evaporates then dribbles back down the sides of the terrarium.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

Materials:

* Wax milk carton
* Bird feed
* String
* Hole punch

Directions:
Stand carton upright and cut a window low enough on the carton
for the birds to reach the food (i.e.: leaving a one inch lip at the bottom). Punch a hole on each side of the
top of the container where it folds closed. Attach a string to both holes. Hang the bird feeder in a quiet place where the children can watch the bird enjoy their treat. Have the children help you replenish the bird feed as need be. This is a great opportunity to teach the children about the different kinds of birds who visit the feeder or fly about their backyard.

The Value of Play

A child’s play is more than frolic and running around. Through play children learn to imitate animal noises, recognize alphabet letters and numbers, and understand about sharing and getting along with their peers. They develop their large muscle skills by running, walking, climbing or riding a bike; their small muscles skills by coloring, cutting, pasting and painting. And, this just scratches the surface.

A quality child care program, whether at a daycare centre, day home or at the child’s home, gives a child the opportunity to develop to his or her full potential. It provides equipment with which to learn, an environment that stimulates curiosity, and a nurturing caregiver who binds it all together. Play centers appeal to the multiple intelligences whereby children learn, allow the child to take control of his or her own learning, builds teamwork and social acceptance and encourages creativity.

Creating Play Centers

When creating play centers in your facility start by making a list of the various learning centers you think you’d like to have for the children. Perhaps you will want a dramatic center, a construction play center, a reading center, an art center, and a rest center. Remember that children learn through diverse modalities – music, art, movement, kinesthetic actions, and verbal activities to name just a few.

Then, identify locations within the room or space that would be suitable for the centers taking into account all of the aspects of the particular learning center. For example, a reading or book center should have space for shelves of books and a table to sit at.

Be Organized and Well Stocked

Make sure you have the necessary items for each center – things you’ll have to collect or purchase. Create a label for each center using the name for the center, for example “ART” with a picture of a paint brush or box of crayons. Organize the supplies within the center in a way that makes sense using shelves and boxes and ensuring there are tables, mats, chairs, or pillows, whatever makes the most sense for that particular center. Children play better when materials are close at hand, easy to identify and fast to put away.

Dramatic Center

When creating a drama center, have puppets, a tent, stuffed animals, dress-up clothes, and small furniture and doll houses. Make clean-up easy by providing bins, hooks, shelves or boxes labeled with pictures of the toys that go into the box so the children have an easy time cleaning up.

Children tend to go to the place they enjoy the most day after day. In light of this, rotate the toys in the centers as often as possible so the children are kept interested and challenged with new things. In the construction center, alternate building blocks, Lincoln logs, tinker toys, and manipulative toys with weaving cards and other activities that demand coordination.

Old Favorites Center

One of the most fun spaces for children is the place where the old favorites linger. Playdough, water wheels, soapsuds, flubber, finger paints and shaving cream all hold a special place in the hearts of children. If it squishes, splats, oozes or is wet, it’s bound to be a hit. Plastic smocks or old-button shirts are great for protecting clothing. This is one center you may want to do in the warm weather and keep it outside – for obvious reasons.

Quiet time requires a special place as well. A little corner where there are soft, cozy blankets and pillows under a canopy offers a safe and quiet place for the child who needs to remove himself from the fray for a few minutes.

Learning center ideas are plentiful and having several in your facility help you provide a valuable tool in the development of young children.

One of the best times of the day in a daycare facility is crafts time. Kids love the opportunity to create something new and fun. They get to use their imagination, they learn new things (especially colors and shapes), and they have something they made themselves to take home to mom. A well-equipped daycare facility has a good supply of basics to ensure that craft time isn’t short-changed for lack of materials.

The Basics

Start with a large plastic contain with a lid – one large enough to hold these basics:

· plain white drawing paper

· a few pads of construction paper

· good selection of felt and foam sheets in popular colors

· craft paints in black, white and the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow)

· crayons

· white craft glue

· glue sticks

· children’s blunt edge scissors

· a few paint brushes

· clean sponge

· extra things like pipe cleaners, small paper plates, wiggly eyes and craft sticks for special crafts that are fun to make.

Expanding the Treasures

It probably won’t be too long before you find yourself needing a second box to hold the extra items for your craft collection. You may want to purchase paints in more colors, Sharpie markers, colored pencils, and decorative scissors. Add some cookie cutters and you’ve just extended the possibilities endlessly. Now you’ll need glitter glues, craft jewels, beads and ribbon.

If you’re going to help your kids make Valentines Cards or special cards for their parents, then the additions to the treasure chest are multiple: colored toothpicks, pom-poms in different sizes and colors, feathers, and tissue paper. A bottle of textile medium converts ordinary craft paint into fabric paint, and sealer spray coats all of the painted items. Magnets are a great addition.

Many craft projects rely on stuff you’d normally throw away. Glass jars, tin cans and plastic containers, cardboard tubes from toilet paper rolls and paper towels, empty egg cartons, juice can lids; shoe boxes and flat pieces of cardboard are all materials waiting to be converted into magnificent pieces of art by the kids in your daycare.

Taking the kids on a trip to the back yard can yield some great items for crafting projects. Smooth rocks and pebbles provide a great canvas for paint and glue on items. Shells and dried flowers, sticks, twigs and acorns, pinecones and leaves are all items from nature that make wonderful crafts.

Crafts for Tiny Ones

If you are caring for tiny ones who aren’t quite nimble enough for coloring and cutting, there are some great crafts that work well for that age group. You’ll need to stock your craft box with play dough and macaroni, colorful feathers, raisins, stickers, balloons, rubber bands and tin foil, along with much of the same kinds of things you’d put in the box for older kids.

Try some of these fun crafts for little ones:

· Fancy birds are made by sticking colorful feathers into play dough. Some uncooked macaroni makes a beak and raisins serve as eyes.

· Sticker pictures can be a good way to teach hand-eye coordination, shapes and colors. Draw a simple shape using dots on a piece of paper. Encourage the children to stick stickers over the dots to form the shape.

· Make play money by cutting circles from cardboard and covering them with tinfoil. Put them in a bag and you’ve got a coin purse.

· To make a squishy octopus, partially blow up a balloon and draw a face on it. Then, tape eight lengths of fancy ribbon to the balloon to form the tentacles.

· Little ones love the sound of crinkly paper. To make a crinkly ball, scrunch up cellophane paper and stretch rubber bands over the top to form a ball.

· What little kids don’t love to get his hands into paint? Use water base paint to make colorful handprints on large pieces of paper. This craft is not only fun for the kids, but it’s a great keepsake for the mothers as well.

Don’t leave the newspaper on the table after reading it over your morning cup of tea. Ever considered using them in your classroom or with your children? It could be a welcome change in your list of teaching resources. The daily newspaper can enliven a classroom and instill enthusiasm for learning in the minds of the students, whose normal props are unchanging school textbooks.

Why do we read newspapers? The obvious reasons are that some read them for news and information, some for interesting facts and gossip, some for the comics and some for other reasons. Try using the same reasons as a tool to teach. .

For a start, try using the newspaper for:

Effective communication
Problem solving
Investigation
Critical thinking
Effective use of technology
Responsible citizenship
Career education
Aesthetics .
Instead of focusing on the content and the knowledge of the medium, newspapers could be used as a way of engaging students and working on outcomes that are vital to the whole curriculum.

Language arts

The language teacher might be interested in having the children analyze different newspapers and their articles, which is written in the most accessible, least biased and most objective language. They could learn vocabulary and reading skills by just studying newspapers.

History

The history teacher may not just use the events in the newspapers as they are reported for analysis. They could also show how the media influences our understanding of history.

Science

The science teacher may be interested in helping students understanding why ecological and environmental issues are hard to locate in the mainstream press.

Health/Physical Education

The health and physical education teacher may use the advertising techniques to create awareness among the students about the power of persuasion.

Music

The music teacher might be able to investigate the influence of music TV and popular radio on students’ musical taste and consumption.

Family Studies

Photographs and articles in the business could be used to generate discussions regarding the influence of media and how media interpret messages.

Besides discussing the news with the children, here are some activities that could help you:

Ask the child to circle all the words on a page of the newspaper that have to do with the sense of smell.
Get the children to find synonyms for the word ‘said’ from page 1 of the newspaper.
Make columns on a sheet of paper for vowels
Cut out words in the newspaper and glue them into the appropriate spaces. Do the same for prefix, suffix and root word.
Divide all of the headline words into syllables.
Give the children some of the photographs and have them write a report based on what they see or write a suitable caption for it.
Have the children pay attention to the advertisements and the places they appear in the newspaper. Get them to prepare an ad for a class newspaper.
Finally, encourage and guide the children to prepare their own newspaper with reports, articles, photographs features, and all! Introducing the newspaper at a young age serves to bridge the gap between classroom or home and the “real” world outside. Here’s wishing you luck for crossing this bridge!

Aside from unleasing the hidden Rembrants, the art centre benefits children in many ways.

It utilizes the muscles in the hands (small motor skills), which helps ready them for the tasks of writing and manipulating small objects like buttons and zippers.
It works on a child’s creativity and imagination skills and teaches them to see the beauty in life, art, and in themselves.

Setting Up An Art Centre

Before you go out to set up an awesome art centre, there are two items you should avoid: colouring books – which are frustrating to younger children who have trouble keeping within the lines and do little to draw on a child’s creativity and imagination, and markers, paints or glues that are not marked as non-toxic.

Always check the labels of the products you buy as many art supplies on the market contain toxins that can be absorbed into the skin or inhaled into the lungs.

So What Makes A Great Art Centre?

paint smocks
aprons or old T-shirts
tempra paints and paint brushes of assorted sizes
a paint easle
pie tins or empty baby food jars for mixing paints
safety scissors
hole puncher
tracing molds
glue sticks or water-based white glue
scotch tape
stapler
crayons
water-based markers
coloured pencils
contstruction paper, white paper, crepe paper, brown wrapping paper, paper bags
playdough
chalk board, chalk, brushes
yarn, string beads, popsicle sticks, tongue depressors sponges corkboard and pins for displaying art.

Praising The Child’s Work

It is important to keep in mind that art is in they eye of the beholder. You should always respect a child’s art for what it is, for the valiant effort each child put forth in producing the piece. When a child presents you with a finished work, ask him/her to tell you about it. Comment on the colour, the use of different materials. Avoid asking the child what the picture is. The child’s commentary will suffice. It is important not to compare one child’s artwork to that of another child’s, or to give suggestions on how to make the piece better.
What matters is that the child is satisfied with the results.

This centre will generate a lot of use from children. The housekeeping area is a stage for dramatic play, from acting out roles such as Mommy, Daddy or baby (understanding their experiences better through abstract thinking), to dressing up like Aunt Jeany (building small muscle skills such as buttoning that teach self-help and develop writing); or from cooking and cleaning to shopping and playing restaurant. Simple activities like washing dishes and sorting cups, plates and silverware teach object categories helpful with math.

Housekeeping Centre Materials

The housekeeping centre can be put together from simple furniture created out of cardboard boxes, like refrigerators and stoves, or can be purchased as plastic, ready-made equipment readily available at most toy and department stores.

A sturdy set of child-size table and chairs is a must.

Dress-up clothing can be obtained from your own closet or by taking the children on a trip to the second-hand or thrift store to pick out an array of old shirts, dresses, scarves, jewelry, hats, shoes, etc.

Kitchen supplies might include egg cartons, margarine containers, old measuring cups, utensils, empty cereal boxes, and so on.

Basic materials for a kitchen centre include:

a stove, refrigerator and sink
small tables and chairs
pots & pans utensils, plastic cups, bowls, plates, etc.
an ironing board & plastic iron
a broom & dustpan
dolls and a doll crib or cradle
plastic food items or empty food containers
a play phone
play dough, cookie cutters, rolling pins, oven mitts, place mats etc.
food coupons
play money
magazines, newspapers,
menus
pencils, note pads
dress-up items like shirts, skirts, dresses, pants, sweaters, blouses, hats, scarves, ties, belts, purses, shoes, jewelry, shawls, and
a full-length mylar mirror.