Apology

To the readers of this blog, I owe you an apology.  I do not know to whom this letter will go out to.  My blog (Google+) was tampered with and the viewers dropped from the thousands to two without prior notification.  Also the teacher I was following dropped, nonetheless I am posting this message.

I promised a big reveal with the 2.5 month recycling project in 2015.  It really was a beautiful mural that the kids participated in; and I am sure whoever visited the day care center evidenced this work put into this project.  All the parts to this mural was documented in this blog.  The only thing missing was the culminating pictures to this end of the year project. Events occurred in my life in which I had to leave the field of childcare, as holding this job could not sustain my day to day living.  Rent sky-rocketed here in Seattle and left me no choice but to abandon this field.  

I found a flyer at a college for a summer course in central processing which was a precursor for those pursing a surgical technician course.  This course was only for two months with a very short externship.  I jumped in and completed the course and took the four (4) hour exam.  Since the externship was not long, a friend who worked in the field knew the manager at a hospital and a volunteer position was opened for me so that I could gain more experience.  I now work at Swedish Medical Center in Ballard.  I love this job, and if you read the short blurb I have on Linkedin.com you will know the reason why.

Again to you, I apologized that I did not keep my word in posting the final project.  My goal in having the blog was to eventually make a book because at times it is hard for new teachers to come up with ideas for crafts every day.  To have a central place (a dedicated book) without scouring the Internet every year was a means for me to introduce crafts already tried, especially the ones that were exciting and successful.

Shark--Under the Water (part 11)

Hi all. We are coming to the close of our underwater project.  I'm sorry to say that I forgot to take photos of the process in creating the lone shark that will be guarding the treasure chest. Three boys took part in that venture; but on this day, two of the boys were in another activity after school. So all you see is one stuffing the shark.

I must tell you that the boys sketched out the shark and painted it. There was no help from us (except for the stapling).  Oh, I take that back.  One of the boys did ask me the previous day to cut out the teeth for them. I apologize again for not remembering to take pictures.  Poor excuse, but I was involved with another project.





















There are three of five panels that will be going up on the wall tomorrow. Yea!!!  The water bottle fish have to go on panel four and the octopus is needed to fill out the last panel.  Hurray!  We should be totally done by Wednesday (if not sooner for the reveal).

Supplies:
1. large white paper (2)
2. picture of shark
3. pencils
4. scissors
5. tape
6. stapler
7. black Sharpie/marker
8. newspaper
9. paint
10. paint brushes
11. small bowls for paint

Directions:
1. line up large white paper, tape together so they don't move
2. sketch out picture of shark
3. cut out sketch of shark keeping both sheets of paper together
4. staple around shark, leaving openings for the paper stuffing
5. lay newspaper on table
6. pour paint in small bowls, and paint shark
7. let shark dry
8. stuff shark with strips of balled-up newspaper
9. staple openings closed
10. draw gills and eye with Sharpie

Duration:
This took the boys three days:  day 1 for sketching; day 2 for painting and drying; day 3 for stuffing

Ladder--Under the Sea (part 10)

We are coming to the close of our epic display...FINALLY!  I think the next post, I will just write the other details of what went into the display rather than have a post for each element. There was a bag of corks in the storage room that my partner wanted to use to make a ladder.  This was another no fuss project that took little time.

These three boys divide up the corks into equal batches. The ladder wasn't going to be big or long.

The texture of the corks didn't allow the paint to saturate it. No problem.  The ladder was going to be submerged under water.

The boys figured out a way to connect the pieces into a whole.

Supplies:

1. corks

2. paint

3. yarn

4. scissors

5. tape

6. bowls

7. newspaper

8. hot glue gun

Directions:

1. place newspaper on table

2. pour paint into bowls

3. paint corks

4. let dry

5. to join ladder, place yarn on one side of cork and tape around; leave a length of yarn in between corks

6. hot glue onto ship

Treasure Chest--Under the Sea (part 9)

Since these next crafts are accessories, you will see the completed chest when it is in the final stage of mounting.  The kids in this last week have endured since February 23 on this project. I commend them for lasting so long.  As you will see, only a few kids are now participating in the finishing details. Here, two boys are working on the treasure chest.

There's no pulling teeth for painting anything. All hands on deck are staining the ship.

This was a no fuss project; remember it's all in the details!

Supplies:

1. paint stirrers (free at your Home Depot, or paint store)

2. newspaper

3. brown paint

4. bowls

5. paint brushes

6. hot glue gun

7. small craft sticks (design on outside of chest)

Directions:

1. lay out newspaper on table

2. pour brown paint into small bowls

3. cover paint stirrers with brown paint

4. let dry

5. construct chest with hot glue

Duration:

This was a two day project: a day for drying, day two for designing and hot gluing chest together)

Sunken Ship--Under the Water (part 8)

This is our inspiration for the ship.  It is a window display from the store Anthropologie.  You should check out their fabulous displays for yourself.  I promise the entire reveal for this big project is coming in a few days.  We already have two panels up.  Our class is working on that third panel this week.  One of my co-workers who works with the older group wants to contribute an octopus. Our display is not massive like the above photo, but it is still impressive.  Kudos to these kinder and first graders (with a little help from our older kids).

You can tell by the pictures that it was not an easy task cutting the cardboard.  And I must confess, we did not have the sharpest scissors.

This is my future engineer.  I loved that Siena had that I'm going to cut this attitude.

Once cut, the "boards" are ready for paint.

The cardboard got only one coat of paint.

The boards are laid out to dry overnight.

We have begun to assemble the pieces with brads, making holes with the small Exacto knife.

Here's our engineer again. The little one was determined that she was going to complete as much of this sunken ship as possible.

One of our boys was just as determined to figure out where to place the hole in the ship.

Here is the kids' ship.  I know it leaves something to be desire; but it will undergo a final transformation because of needing to be mounted on the wall. We have to appreciate all the effort put in by the kids. Don't despair.  The end is in sight!

Supplies:
1. tall cardboard box
2. scissors
3. paint
4. paint brushes
5. paper bowls for paint
6. medium-sized brads
7. small Exacto knife
8. newspaper

Directions:
1. divide cardboard into pieces with pencil
2. with scissors, cut out the pieces
3. lay out newspaper
4. pour out paint into paper bowls
5. paint ship (we chose white; pick color that you want)
6. let pieces dry
7. arrange pieces into shape of ship ( I know, it doesn't look like much right now)
8. with Exacto knife, punch holes and connect pieces with long - medium brads

Duration:
This took three days.  The cardboard was hard to cut for these little ones; yet they persevered. That took one day.  Then there was drying time for the pieces. My partner monitored the kids with the Exacto knife and helped find the holes for the brads (cardboard is pretty thick) on the third day.

Clay Barnacles--Under the Water (part 7)

 

I promise the end is almost there for all the different crafts that will compose this big mural.  At least with my post "Jellyfish", you got to see a glimpse of the coming layout.  Hang in there (I'm really speaking to myself)--the end is in sight.

We have two types of barnacles.  You saw the post with the egg carton casings.  I couldn't pass this one up because it was a craft I did two years ago.  The pictures from that time are so bad, but I will add them because this blog is in part a catalog of the majority of past craft projects. The inspiration came from http://www.designsponge.com/2012/07/diy-project-paper-clay-barnacles.html.  Making these without painting them looks really like the real thing.

You see several of the components of this project on the table.  A few of the older girls are on the second table.  We got to the end of this project and you know what? I totally forgot about the camera. These are the only photos I took.

I don't know what it is, but these two definitely like working with this goop.

I definitely loved the the outcome of this textured piece!

These are what the kindergartners (now 2nd graders) did when we were at our old location.

These barnacles were framing the top of a bulletin board that was labeled This is a Bug's World. The bugs are a future post.

Had to crop out the bugs.

Supplies:

1. (2) medium size bowls

2. electric mixer

3. roll of toilet paper

4. joint compound (visit your paint store)

5. 3/4 cup flour

6. 3/4 cup Elmer's white glue

7. water balloons

8. plastic wrap

9. rubber bands

10. tweezers

Directions:

1. separate sheets of toilet paper and place in bowl of water to soak

2. squeeze water out of the toilet paper and tear into small pieces and place in second bowl

3. add joint compound, 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup white glue in bowl with torn toilet paper

4. use mixer (carefully) to blend the substances together; paste should be a smooth consistency

5. have kids blow up balloons

6. take two spoonfuls of clay and flatten it like a hamburger paddy

7. place the round part of the balloon on the paddy and manipulate the paste upward (halfway toward the mouth of the balloon

8. tear off enough plastic wrap to cover the balloon; bring the ends of the that plastic wrap around the balloon; twist the plastic wrap around the balloon so that it forms a tight "skin"; this will help produce the lines and hold the shape

9. on following day, unwrap carefully. The shape should hold. Let the barnacle dry completely, then the balloon can be popped and removed with tweezers, if necessary.

Duration:

This takes one day to make, but may take up to a week because of drying time

Jellyfish--Under the Water (part 6)

http://miwa.metm.org/PET_project/albatross.html

You have to admit these are GORGEOUS!!  Creativity abounds among us human beings!  Now, down to earth.  There is no way that we can emulate these--we don't have the tools, nor the time. I have to admit, when I saw these jellyfish for the first time, I could not figure out how in the world a plastic bottle could be transformed into beautiful creations. I spent a long time searching the Internet to find something reasonable that we could follow. I FINALLY found it! Your kids will simply love

this blog http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/jellyfish-with-plastic-bottles?ref=trending because they get to play with items that are taboo for them--fire and box cutter/Exacto knife.

I wish you could see the faces of the kids as they were doing this craft. Talk about SERIOUS. This is our little ninja.  He chose the biggest water bottle to work with. I had to stay close to him because I didn't want his hoodie to catch on fire.  He, as with the others, were very focused.

I'm so glad that some of the other kids such a big help to the little ones. Here one is helping put the tentacles on the jellyfish.

The older kids were having a hard time trying to put jellyfish "legs" on with just the heat from the candle.  They opted to use the hot glue gun.

Below are the variation of jellyfish the kids produced.

 Aren't these lovely?  

The jellyfish are resting on their heads.

This is a preview of the beginning stages of the layout we are developing.  Yep, you got a sneak peek.

Supplies:
1. water bottles
2. Sharpies
3. box cutter or Exacto knife
4. matches
5. candle
6. scissors

Directions:
1. color water bottle bottom
2. make slit with box cutter and cut bottom of water bottle off with scissors
3. light candle
4. hold the bottle bottle while rotating the bottom so flame can "manipulate" the cut edge

Duration:
Project takes one day