Turn, Turn, Turn Top - Little Kid Art Project

Turn, Turn, Turn Tops

Age: 18 Months - 8 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ lots more time playing with them!)

Theme: Color Mixing, Games

Books: White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker, Color Dance by Ann Jonas

Materials:

8” Round Cake Board (the cardboard base that bakeries use under their cakes)

Crayons*

Glass Beads (also called gems – they ones that are flat on one side)

Adults get to us a Hot Glue Gun

Prep: Set out the materials and plug in the hot glue gun safely out of reach

Activity: Each child gets a cake board and crayons. Decorate it any way you like! The ADULT then glues a glass bead to the center of the bottom. As soon as the glue cools, spin your top!

Notes/Tips: Ask you child what happened when their design was spinning. Challenge bigger kids to create a design that creates an optical illusion (like a spiral) or to experiment with the placement of the bead.

*The waxy surface of some cake boards resists crayon. If you want more vibrant colors try a student grade oil pastel (cray pas) or Crayola Construction Paper Crayons.  

Feed the Monster Game - Little Kid Project

Feed the Monster Game

Age: 18 Months - 8 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ lots more time playing with them!)

Theme: Monsters, Games

Books: Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems, Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

Materials:

12 x 18 Construction Paper

Crayons

Tape (We used packing tape but any tape will do)

Monster food (wadded paper, Ping-Pong balls, large bottle caps, etc)

Adults and big kids get to use Scissors (or pinking sheers)

Prep: At the bottom middle of the 12” side of the paper cut an arch for the monster’s ‘mouth’. You can decide on the size depending on the ‘food’ to be used. Ours were about 3” x 4”. 

Activity: Each child gets a 12 x 18 sheet with a precut mouth and crayons. Design your monster! How many eyes will it have? Does it have crazy fur? How about some lips around that mouth? When you are happy with the way your monster looks, (an adult can help) roll the monster into a cylinder, taping the edge together. Set your monster up and try to feed it by sliding food into its mouth (or dropping it into its head).

Notes/Tips: Bigger kids can do the cutting themselves – even making ‘hair’ at the top edge. Make more than one monster and use them for sorting or counting activities (ex: this monster only likes green food).

W is for...

 

Watercolor Ws

 

 

We have started doing letter days a few times a week. We aren't doing them in any particular order. Instead I ask Figlet what letter she wants to do and we talk about possible things that we could do with that letter the night before. The short planning time can be a challenge, but it keeps the lesson grounded in real life examples in our everyday. Here are a few pics from our W day.

 

 

 

 

WAFFLES!!!

 

 

A White Whale on the Wall

 

Watering the plants

 

 

And herself

 

Washing toys in the Watertable

We also took a walk, danced to the Wiggle Song (Yo Gabba Gabba's Hold Still), waved to our neighbor, and read Where's Walrus by Stephan Savage.

It was a Wet, Warm & Wonderful  W day!

Building a House - Little Kid Project

Building a House

 

Age: 24 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Houses, Homes, Construction

Books: A Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic & The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

 

Materials:

Heavy Construction Paper or Card Stock (for background)

Construction Paper (for roof, door, windows)

Craft Sticks

White Glue

Adults get to use Scissors

 

Prep: Precut roof, door & windows. For the roof make a 9” square from a standard (9 x 12) sheet of construction paper then fold into a triangle twice- this will create score lines to cut along for 4-1/2” right triangles. The remaining edge of the sheet can be cut for rectangular doors and windows of assorted sizes.

 

Activity: Each child gets a sheet of heavy paper, roof, a door, a few windows, several craft sticks and white glue. Let construction begin! Remember: houses come in all different shapes and sizes, so there is no right or wrong to the construction.   

 

Notes/Tips: Older kids can practice their scissor skills by cutting the pieces themselves. Craft sticks may slide while the glue is wet so it is best to let this project dry flat. To help portion glue put it in a tray or cup and apply with a paintbrush.

 

 

Magic Wands - Little Kid Art Project

Magic Wands

Age: 18 Months – 5+ Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Magic

Books: The Magic Rabbit by Annette LeBlanc Cate, Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Materials:

Adhesive Backed Felt or Craft Foam
Yarn & String Scraps
Chopsticks
Adults get to use Scissors

Prep: Fold felt/foam and cut doubled shapes for wand tops (roughly 1”). Leave the folded edge intact (this way the pieces are more easily folded closed). Cut yarn and string into various lengths 4” – 12”

Activity: Each child gets a chopstick, a felt/foam shape and several pieces of yarn/string. Take the backing off of the felt/foam and place the top of the chopstick in the middle of the sticky side (littlest artists will need help with this). Choose what types of yarn and string your magic will travel on best. Add them to the sticky side too. When you have enough magic strands, close the wand top. Practice your magic. (Don’t forget to change everyone back to their original form before dinner!)

Notes/Tips: Kids who are learning scissor skills can practice on the yarn & string. String cuts best when held taunt, so this is also an opportunity for teamwork. In a group setting, magic wands can be used as ‘talking sticks’, indicating whose turn it is to speak. Foam stickers also work as wand tops.

 

Sand Paper Castles - Little Kid Art Project

Life has been quite busy lately so I haven't been posting projects as regularly as we have been making them. One project that we did were sand paper castles. The project was a great success so I made sure to snap a few pics. About a week later I saw this Kiwi Crate post... I guess great minds think alike.

Theme: Summer, The Beach, Sand Castles

Book Ideas: A Beach Tail by Karen Lynn Williams, Hamsters to the Rescue by Ellen Stoll Walsh, The Sand Castle Contest by Robert Munsch (older kids)

Materials:
Heavy Grit Sandpaper (1 sheet should be enough for 4 - 6 kids)
Background Picture (we found this stock pic) or plain paper works too
Glue Stick
Adults and Big Kids get to use Scissors

Prep: If using one, print picture to use as background. Cut sandpaper into simple geometric shapes in a variety of sizes no greater than 3". Be sure to create a few semi-circles for bridges and narrow rectangles for towers.

Activity: Each kid gets a background, a glue stick and several castle pieces. Design your own castle! Does it have a draw bridge? A moat? Towers with high spires? Maybe there is more than one on your beach. Let your inner architect play!

Notes/Tips: Bigger kids can cut their own pieces. This can easily be a scrapbook page project used along with photos from your own day at the beach.

Paper Pig Puppet - Little Kid Project

 

Paper Pig Puppet

 
Age: 18 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Pigs

Books: Pigs to the Rescue by John Himmelman, Happy Pig Day by Mo Willems

 
Materials:
Pink Construction Paper
Extra Small Paper Bag (beverage size)
Crayons
Glue Sticks
Adults get to use Scissors

Prep: From the pink paper cut 2 triangle ears and an oval for a snout. For the hooves cut 4 rectangles about 1” x 2” then add a small notch at the end of each. For the tail use a circle about 1-1/2” cut into a spiral.

Activity: Each child gets a small bag, 2 ears, 4 hooves, a snout and a tail and a glue stick for putting it all together. Once assembled, trade the glue stick for crayons. Add eyes, nostrils, spots, clothes, mud, anything you like. Then it is time for a pig party!

Notes/Tips: Older kids can practice their scissor skills by cutting the pig pieces out themselves. Beverage size paper bags are just the right size for little hands, but you can use lunch size bags too, just make the pig pieces bigger.

 

Blast Off Rockets - Toddler Art Project

Blast Off Rockets

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years or older (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 15 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Rockets, Space, Imaginative play

Books: On the Launch Pad: A Counting Book About Rockets by Nancy Atterbury, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Materials:

Card Stock Weight Paper
Colored Cellophane (We used red but any color will do)
Glue Sticks
Small pictures of faces (I found them in old magazines and used a 1” round punch to cut them out)
Adults get to use Scissors or Exacto Knife and a Ruler

Prep: Cut the four primary pieces of the rocket out of card stock. Our rockets consisted of a 3” x 5” rectangle for the body, the side ‘wings’ are a 3” x 4” rectangle cut into 2 triangles, and the point was half of a 4” square, but you can cut them to whatever scale you like. Cut 3-5 strips of colored cellophane to be the jet, and several faces (human or animal) to act as passengers.

Activity: Each child gets a set of pieces: 1 large rectangle, 1 large triangle, 2 smaller triangles and colored cellophane. Using a glue stick, assemble the rocket (adding the jet last so it doesn’t take off before they are ready). Choose some passengers and add them onto the body of the rocket. Time to Blast Off!

 

Notes/Tips: Putting the 'passengers' out on a large paper plate will help them from ending up everywhere. Choosing passengers after the rocket is assembled will also give the glue a few moments to dry before playing. If you don't have any colored cellophane, party streamers make a fine jet too. Don’t forget to talk about the shapes - its a preliminary math skill.

 

Working on cutting skills with the scraps.

Thank You Streamers - Kid Craft

Thank You Streamers

A fun mail-able alternative to traditional thank you cards

Age: 18 Months and up (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 - 20 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Saying Thank You, Sending Mail

Materials:

Copy Paper
Crepe Paper Streamers
Glue Stick(s)
String
Crayons or Markers
Reinforcement Labels (little donut shaped stickers used to reinforce pages in ring binders)
Adults and big kids get to use Scissors and a Hole Punch

Prep: For children who are not yet handy with scissors, precut 5 – 10 shapes (hearts, word bubbles, diamonds, whatever you like) out of copy paper. I found roughly 2” to be a good size. Cut a 24” strip of streamer.

Activity: Each child gets pre-cut shapes, or paper to make their own and markers or crayons to decorate them. Encourage them to write things that they are thankful for, such as a gift they received or an activity they did with the person they are making it for. Put away the Crayons and marker and get out the glue stick. Glue the shapes down the length of the streamer. Place a reinforcement label at the top then punch the hole through it. Add a string for hanging.

Notes/Tips: If you don’t have the labels (or even if you do), you can fold and glue the top of the streamer into a double layer to strengthen it.

Have fun embellishing! I have done this with two different age groups since the winter holiday break. The little ones added stickers and the older ones added snowflakes.

Banners fold flattest (best for mailing) back and forth accordion style

If doing this project with toddlers or pre-school kids I suggest reading Thank You Bear by Greg Foley too!