The Very Lonely Firefly

For our study on "Investigating Light," one of the books we read was The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle. 

After reading the book, we made fingerprint fireflies. Using yellow paint, we made fingerprints on black construction paper. Then, after it dried, we drew in the details. Here is an example of the one I made.

We also took a piece of cardboard and poked holes in it. Then, we turned off the lights and shined a flashlight through the holes to make it look like fireflies lighting up.

The kids really enjoyed this unit, especially when we turned off the lights to make shadows and paint with glow in the dark paint!

Potato Printing and String Painting

Potato Printing 

I'm sure you've heard of this and probably have done it as a kid. I decided to try it out with Snugglepuppy. He thought it was pretty great. Here are some pics of what we did. I cut the potato in half and carved some lines and dots into the cut surface. Then used them as stampers to print on the paper.

I decided to try mixing some colors with a toothpick, so of course Snugglepuppy wanted one too.

The we decided since we already had a mess, we would try some string painting. 

String Painting

We each got a medium length piece of yarn and dipped it in the paint. Then, we pulled it across the paper to make lines and patterns. Snugglepuppy decided he wanted to form his string into letters. You can see his P below.

What are some other types of painting you have tried with your little ones? I am thinking about trying some edible paint with baby Ladybug.

Marble Painting

We did marble painting this week as we have started a new study on balls. This is a pic of one we did in class. We  laid the paper in the bottom of a box, put some paint in the middle and the marbles. Then the kids shook the box to roll the marbles around and paint a picture.

I also did this activity at home with my son.

Before

During

After

Bean Letters

Here is our art project from today, bean letters. Each child got a letter (printed from a word processor document) and glued beans to the letter. Then we glued them to cardboard to make them more sturdy.

Short and simple one today. What are you doing to start teaching literacy to your class?

Macaroni Art

Here is some of macaroni art projects we made last week.

We glued the macaroni on the first day, then waited for it to dry. The next day, we painted our pictures.

This is great for working on fine motor skills. By using glue bottles, children have to squeeze just the right amount out at one time while controlling where the glue goes. Also, while we allowed the children to make anything they wanted, you could give a topic for them to create or they could try to write their names with it. 

Also, you can experiment more with this activity by adding salt to the paint for example to give it a rough texture. Or come up with your own ideas!

Have fun and MACARONI on!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 31

Over the weekend, we went to some yard sales and my parents came to visit. Snugglepuppy swung on his swing, shot his new water squirter, and did his outdoor scavenger hunt using this printable. Here are some of the things we found on the scavenger hunt:

Spider Web

Helicopter Seed

Moss

Pine Cone

Natural Letter (I)

Pine Tree

And one that wasn't on the list, but Snugglepuppy thought was cool, a seed.

I got all this for $5 at yard sales and a foldable stepper for $25!

Day 31:

Today, grandma and grandpa ate breakfast with us and then went home. We had to run to Walmart for a few things and both kids were very good on the trip. Snugglepuppy played on his own while I cleaned house and Ladybug slept, then we got into some art. He painted and drew with crayons. He started getting really fussy and so had a very late nap. After that, he only had time to eat dinner before bed. That was it for today, nothing too exciting.

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 5

Day 5:
We had a lot going on today including taking Squeaker to the doctor for her 2 month check-up, the internet installation people came, and I had a few chores to take care of, so we didn't do too much in the way of learning.

Snugglepuppy colored with crayons and then we looked at his Highlights magazine. From it, we cut out an accordian book and folded it up. He also played some of his games on the iPad.

We did make it to the park for a little while and Snugglepuppy made some new older friends. They played "lava monster" with his ball and included him in the play even though he didn't actively participate. They danced with him as well.

When daddy got home, we had our Pizza Pizza Party in the basement. These usually consist of eating pizza and watching TV, playing Wii, or just letting Snugglepuppy play down there.

Snugglepuppy has regressed a little in his potty training over the last couple of days. He has refused to sit on the potty at all, but tonight he wanted to put on the big boy underpants and he stayed in them for quite awhile until it was time to go upstairs for bed. We asked if he had to go and he said yes and at least peed in the potty. He still isn't using it to poop (he wants his diaper on for that) but at least it's something!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 4

Day 4:

Today was a very rainy day. We decided to make some multi-media artwork. First we got out the crayons and markers, then added some paint. Snugglepuppy creatively used many methods of painting including finger painting, brush painting, and stamping. I was surprised at how he was able to describe and label what he was painting. I dictated what he said on the paper. 

We did some gross motor in the basement where Snugglepuppy jumped on the trampoline, played in the ball pit, and played some baseball. That didn't last long though so we came upstairs and looked at some of the library books we got yesterday. 

Then we worked on the alphabet a little using the iPad and some magnetic letters. I showed him a letter on the ABC app and he had to find the correct magnetic letter to match. 

Then he stacked up the letters and made us each an "ABC Sandwich."

It was not a bad day despite the fact that we weren't able to go out at all.

Creepy Crawly Critter Creations

We did an insect study this week. We talked about parts of an insect and then the students used popsicle sticks and other art materials to create their own insect/critter. Here is how they turned out.

Fun with Wiggle Eyes

My students LOVE wiggle eyes. As you can see, they clearly love gluing them to popsicle sticks along with pompoms. They were making these at such a fast rate the other day, we didn't get to write their names on all of these and so I decided to use them to make a board to post in the classroom. They are so cute!

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Tutorial Tuesday: Fall Centerpieces using Bag Painting

This week's guest blogger is Tina from Mamas Like Me.  Her blog is packed full of all kinds of activities that she does with her children including crafts, letter and writing activities, math, science, recipes, and much more. Please stop by and get some wonderful ideas!

I saw the idea for finger-painting in a bag over at Open Hands and figured I'd give it a try with this activity. The bags made it easier (and less messy) for us to paint both sides of these Fall leaves - and I love how the colors blended. 

 For this activity, we used:

 Red, Orange, and Yellow paint 

Leaf shapes cut out of card stock 

(I highly recommend the card stock rather than regular construction paper) 

Ziplock bags 

Glitter Glue 

Ribbon 

A branch from outside 

1. To prep for this, I cut leaf shapes out of card stock for each child.

2. Then, I put one leaf into each bag, along with a squirt of red, orange, and yellow paint, and a few drops of water to help it mix. Make sure there is some paint on both sides of the leaf. Try to get as much air out of the bag as possible when sealing it.

3. Next the kids had fun squishing the paint around and covered their leaves.

4. (Now, for the messy part!) I took the leaves out of each bag and replaced them with another leaf so each child got to do more than one.

5. When the kids were done covering their leaves, I offered them the option of just finger-painting with the paint in the bag. Some of them wanted to continue squishing with the paint and some were finished :)

6. Once the leaves dried, we used glitter pens to write each child's first initial on their leaves. (I love getting letters into an activity).

7. After the glitter dried, we hole-punched each leaf and tied it with ribbon.

8. Then, we went outside and found a branch to hang our leaves on and make our own Fall tree inside.

Doesn't it make an adorable centerpiece? You could also use these for garland or hang them in a window.

Tina is a former Elementary School teacher turned SAHM to three active boys (with one more on the way)! She blogs at Mamas Like Me where she shares kids activities, recipes, tips on frugal living, and reflections on life as ‘Mommy’.