Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Bugs

Sorry I have kinda forgotten about the blog for a bit, but I am back now!
So our art projects this week include:

Bumble bee

I cut out a bee shaped body with a head. Then I cut out some black stripes and white wings. Had the toddlers glue it all together and draw a face. We even used a pipe cleaner for antennas.

Hand print Caterpillar

First I had the toddlers paint a leaf on their papers!

Then we used their hand prints to make the body. I painted a head at the front.

After they dried I drew a face and antenna.

Lady Bug

I cut out an eight shape but with the top circle just slightly smaller than the bottom. Cut out a red circle and cut it in half. The toddlers glued the red wings onto the body. They also got to glue on eyes, spots (little black puff balls) and antenna.

Sensory play

We even did some sensory play with whipped soap!

Just put 2Tbsp and about 1/4c water in your blender, food processes, or what have you and let it mix for about 2 min. if too thin let it mix longer. The toddlers had fun with this one!!

We also learned some new songs.

Five Little Dragonflies

One little dragonfly with four shiny wings (Hold up one finger, then 4)
Two little dragonflies learning how to sing (Hold up 2 fingers)
Three little dragonflies zipping up and down (Hold up 3 fingers, then move quickly)
Four little dragonflies resting on the ground (Hold up 4 fingers, then rest head on hands)
Five little dragonflies going home for lunch (Hold up 5 fingers, then “fly” fingers away)
Along came a frog and munch, munch, munch! (Clap hands once on each “munch”)

Beehive

Bee Hive (Put your hands together like a bee hive and say...)
This is my bee hive, but where are the bees,
Hidden inside where nobody sees,
One two three four five (Pop fingers up while counting)
They buzz away to the trees!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Jungle Animals

Our art projects this week include:

Lion

I just gave the kiddos some yellow and orange paint and let the go to town on a paper plate! After the paint dried I drew a lion face on them.

Hand print Elephant

Also another easy activity. I painted their hands brown (Because I didn't have grey) then we put their hand print onto the paper. after they were dry I drew an ear, eye, lines on the trunk and a tail. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Hungary Hippos

I cut out 2 hippo heads for each child. Then I folded the mouth part (I folded the top one up and the bottom one down) then glued the top portion of the head together, leaving the mouth part open.

After that I gave the kiddos some teeth I cut out of white paper and had them glue the teeth into the mouth. We glued eyes on and I drew a nose for each hippo.

Our wonderful books this week are:

Hippspotamus By Jeanne Willis
Bedtime In The Jungle By John Butler
If I Were A Jungle Animal By Amanda Ellery
"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said The Sloth By Eric Carle
What To Do If An Elephant Stands on your foot By Michelle Robinson
The Monkey With The Bright Blue Bottom By Steve Smallman
Tiny Little Fly By Michael Rosen

All from the wonderful library near us!

Friday, August 16, 2013

Bear Theme

Our art projects this week Include:

Paper Plate Panda Bear

I love crafts that are easy and cute! This one was both! I cut out a circle, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 ears, a nose and 2 eyes. The Toddlers glued them together, drew a mouth and Ta-da! Paper plate panda bears!

Teddy Bear Mask

I used the bear mask template I found here,and traced it onto the paper plates. I cut them out and gave the kiddos one each. They painted them with brown paint.

After they were dry I cut out the eyes and drew a nose and mouth! I think they are some cute Teddy Bears!!

Snowy "Paint" Polar bear

Here is another fun easy craft! It also uses another paper plate. To make the "paint" you take 2 tbsp glue and mix it with 4tbsp shaving cream. Lrt the kiddos paint it onto the paper plate. Then let them put in the eyes, a nose, and ears. As it dries the "paint" becomes flat.

TP Tube Brown Bear

I used the template I found here and traced it onto white paper. I cut it out and the kiddos painted it and their tp tube. After they dried we drew faces on them and glued the arms, legs, and head to the tp tube.

The local library had these wonderful books for us:
Black Bear North America's Black Bear By Stephen Swinburne
Teddy Bears' Mother Goose By Michael Hague
Polar Bears By Lesley A. DuTemple
Little Bear's Big Sweater by David Bedford
Baby Bear's Books By Jane Yolen
The Three Bears By Byron Barton
The Three Snow Bears By Jan Brett

Thursday, August 8, 2013

On the Farm Theme

This week our art projects were:

Paper plate Cow

I cut out an oval for the head and 2 ears for each cow, we used a paper plate for the body. Then we used black paper to cut out some spots. The toddlers had fun gluing the spots and head onto the body. I let Big sis draw her own face on her cow.

Sheep

I used the sheep I found here as a template and traced it onto white paper. Then I cut it out and drew on the eyes, mouth, nose and colored in the hooves. I then cut the cotton balls into quarters. We put glue on the body of the sheep with a paint brush to get it spread around pretty evenly. The kiddos then put the cotton balls onto the sheep! It's also a bit of fine motor practice picking up the cotton balls.

Pig in the mud

Such a fun and simple craft! I cut out a pig shape that I free handed on pink paper. I gave each child a background to glue their pig on. For the toddlers I just put a bunch of glue all over the paper. I let Big Sis glue hers on.

Then I gave them all brown paint (which I had to mix up, because the set I bought does not have brown, white, or black). They loved painting mud on their pigs!

Fine Motor

For fine motor we practiced stringing beads and tp rings.

We also played with rice. Which is also a good sensory activity!

We sang Old Mac Donald and a song I found here called The rooster.
The Rooster
(Tune: Pop Goes the Weasel)
The rooster crows at the break of day
to say the day is new
we all know just what he'll say
it's cock-a-doodle-doo!

The Rooster
(Tune: Pop! Goes The Weasel )
The rooster crows at the break of day.
To say the day is new.
We all know just what he'll say,
It's cock-a-doodle-doo! - See more at: http://childfun.com/index.php/alphabet/186-the-letter-r-activity-theme.html#sthash.5gOvHNFW.dpuf

The Rooster
(Tune: Pop! Goes The Weasel )
The rooster crows at the break of day.
To say the day is new.
We all know just what he'll say,
It's cock-a-doodle-doo! - See more at: http://childfun.com/index.php/activity-themes/alphabet/186-the-letter-r-activity-theme.html#sthash.RmKSFyc8.dpuf

Our books this week were:
Sheep In A Jeep By Nancy Shaw
Maisy's Morning On The Farm By Lucy Cousins
Biscuit's Day At The Farm By Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Find It On The Farm By Dee Phillips
Down On The Farm By Merrily Kutner
Farm Animals By Karen Wallace and Nicki Palin

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Trucks and Cars Theme

Our art projects this week are:

Tire track painting

We used black paper for the road and got some lighter colors of paint so hopefully it would show up when dry. We just used 3 trucks Little Mr. had and we all switched. They had fun driving each of the cars around on their paper!

Shape garbage truck

I cut out a large and a small rectangle and a triangle for each of the kids. Then they glued them onto a background paper. I then cut out 2 wheels for each child. After everything was glued on I gave them the crayons to decorate their garbage truck!

So simple and cute!!

Egg carton dump truck

This was a fun craft but because the smaller ones are only 2 I had to do the assembling before I let them at it. Construction of the dump truck is not too hard. You just take half of an egg carton and cut off the top and the flap that holds it closed.

Then you cut out the two middle cups. You then place the top and the cups you cut out onto the other part. Glue it together as best you can. I had to glue the bed part back on after they painted because I did not allow the glue to dry before painting but it was not a problem.

Then I let the kiddos paint their dump truck! We mixed up some "black" paint and painted the wheels then they painted the rest whatever color they wanted.