A Fox's Tale

It was all the rage with the older kids that came in the morning, but it drove me crazy.  For days I was asked to play the same song over and over and hear the various choral tones.  Definitely I had to get with it.  Eventually, I was reduced to having the song run for weeks in my already crowded brain. Alas, I resorted to learning the fame dance and howling just like the kids.  And if you live in Seattle, you know that the Seahawks rule and reign ( at least, according to these kids).  Judge for yourselves. Even a favorite of mine, Dancing with the Stars got in on the act.

With such inspiration, I thought the kinder and first graders would love to do their own rendition dance, along with costumes.  Well, although the young set tried their best to master the dance, it just didn't work out.  Thanks to a post on  http://baby-jungle.com/diy-egg-carton-giraffe-mask/, I opted to have the children make a fox mask (which still resembles the giraffe) because, of course, the new dopplers I bought just had to be used.  Sorry there are no pictures with the children wearing the masks.  As these are from last year, I didn't have the view to document the steps. This  was the only picture that wasn't too fuzzy.

Supplies:  

1. egg carton

2. scissors

3. brown and white paint

4. elastic strap

5. construction paper

Directions:

1. separate top of egg carton from bottom

2. cut two ears from bottom of carton

3. on top of carton, draw a pair of eyes

4. cut a u-shape in center for the nose and mouth

5. paint the masks and ears

6. hot glue the ears to front of masks

7. make hole on sides of mask for elastic strap

8. cut additional set of ears for the sides of the mask and hot glue them above holes

For your entertainment, here are the different versions of "What Does the Fox Say".

Designed for the Table

Two years ago, I saw recycled bottles wrapped in yarn on the Pinterest site.    I'm so amazed at the creativity of people.  I decided to get rid of a lot of yarn from my stash at home and have a yarn fest. In California where I am from originally, we can take bottles to a recycling center and get a nominal payment for it.  Here in Seattle, I have yet to run into such a center. Bottles are usually collected by a truck that comes every week. Well, you guessed right.  I raided that blue bin and took 20 beer bottles.  I put the bottles in a solution of vinegar and water to get rid of the smell and to make the labels to come off easier.

The first attempt at these bottles was very simplistic.  I thought the older kids did a very good job at this. Some of the children went outside to bring out some twigs.  Then I had a bright idea for myself.

I showed a my friend, Carla, the pictures from this craft and told her why don't we wrapped some bottles and sell them for the holiday season.  She agreed and I brought all the surplus materials from my house to hers.  I wrapped my simple bottle, just as the older kids had done.  When I saw my friend the next day, I realized I had wrapped my last bottle.  What her bottle was was a work of art.  I told her I had not seen anything like her bottles on Pinterest. Therefore, I was inspired to have the kinder/first graders do a rendition that mimic my friends bottles.  Take a look for yourselves and see which you like better.

Just so you can see the comparisons, these are Carla's creations.  The bottles got transferred onto a different level.  These became texturized and dimensional.

                     

                                          

                      

  

Supplies:

1. spray adhesive

2. yarn

Directions:

1. spray part of the bottle, starting from the mouth of the bottle

2. wrap yarn around bottle, spraying adhesive when needed

Caution:

For your friends and acquaintances that are of the Muslim faith, use bottles that you not been used with alcoholic beverages.  You will indeed offend them (I learned this the hard way).

A Love of the Abstract

I loved to read when I was young.  I had a reading list from the local library that had all the classic books. By the time high school rounded around, I had read several American and Russian classics: War and Peace, The Brothers Karamasov, Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, and Dr. Zhivago. Those were some thick tomes! My mom and I love Russian dance, ice-skating, in  addition to those Faberge eggs.

I also had the opportunity to live in Moscow from 1991-1997 and learned quite a bit about these people who we had considered as enemies.  Why do I mention these Russian artists? Well, I came across a blog http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/kandinsky-concentric-circles.html that had mentioned Vassily Kandinsky. I had never heard of him, but I loved the inspiration for the craft that came from his work.

Mr. Kandinsky was said to be an early abstract painter; and his concentric circles seemed like the best option for the children to learn about color; and also this was a good way to use up all those broken pieces of crayon.

Note:  

This craft will take three days.  The kids did two circles a day so that their little fingers wouldn't tire out.  I would also like to try his other styles.  They are all very intriguing.  Next time, I would like to use oil pastels with water color wash so that it would mimic more the artist's style.  

Supplies: 

1.  white construction paper

2.  crayons

Directions:

1.  fold paper into six equal parts

2.  starting from center of paper, have children

     make circles

A Tame Garden

I think that an early project for a lot of classrooms is having the child learn about a plant's life cycle through the planting of a seed in a plastic bag.  I was thrilled to see a sophisticated version of a self-sustained mini-garden by using bottles. Unfortunately, my kitchen does not face in the right direction to catch a lot of sun rays.  Once those warm months come back around, I could try this project on my balcony.   I chose a milder version for the kinder and first graders.  We used plastic bottles!

Some of the seeds from the three pumpkins, along with a few left over herb seeds were used.  So sorry for the lack of pictures.  That's a crucial element to blogging and I forgot.  I'm still getting used to the idea of documenting steps along the process.

Most of the children took their tender, young plants home. I used liter bottles and eyeballed around the circumference with a sharpie.  I then made another marking two inches below the first marking.  Then I sliced an opening with an Exacto knife so that the children could cut the circumference of the bottle with scissors.

I didn't have have screen material as suggested on http://www.designsponge.com/2010/05/we-like-it-wild-bottle-gardens.html. I had some remnants of tulle and cut those into 2.5" squares. I cut a few warp strings on each square so that a knotted string could pass through the hole.  This part I did so that the kids wouldn't cut too big of a hole in the netting. They just had to examine the tulle, find the hole and pass the string through it and down the neck of the bottle. Children love water and dirt, so they ran to fill the bottom half of the bottle with water and came to fill the top half with dirt.  That was it. You never have to water the plant; the string does the all "drinking" for the plant.  The kids were eagerly watching every day for that one little sprout to appear. And it (they) did!

Supplies:
1. water bottle
2. dirt
3. seeds, or small plants
4. marker
5. exacto knife
6. string
7. netting, or screen

Directions:
1. Mark the water bottle
2. Cut bottle according to markings
3. Cut netting into squares and place a small hole bit enough to pass a knotted string
4. Knot a length of string at one end
5. Pass the string through the netting into the neck of the bottle with string dangling
6. Fill bottom of bottle with water
7. Fill top of bottle with dirt and place inverted onto bottle's bottom

Paper Strip Pumpkins

It cannot be denied that fall is such a beautiful time of the year.  The collage of colors melding reds, yellows and greens is simply stunning.  This is the time of year where we layer clothing and take in everything homemade: cooking, crafts, sitting in front of the fire place, etc. Thanksgiving is next week and I wanted to revisit our paper strip pumpkins from two years ago.  I followed the version of on www.marthastewart.com for the first three pictures seen here. There is a step-by-step video on here site.  The green pumpkins with glossimer ribbon are the Martha Stewart ones that included the string to prevent them from being lop-sided gourds.

This time around, I wanted to try making the pumpkins without the string inside, and adding words to the pumpkin with the children could write what they were thankful for.  They were given strips for the additional members in their family so that they could also participate in their giving of thanks. Which version do you prefer?

I think they turned out great!   It looks like we have a pumpkin patch in the classroom, right? This craft took two days.  The kids wrote and cut out the leaf on the first day.  The second day they assembled the body of the pumpkin.  Depending on your home's color scheme, these pumpkins will add a festive ambiance. What do you think?

Supplies:

1. colored paper 
2. markers
3. brads (2)
4. make leaf template
5. hole punch

Directions:
1. cut paper in 1" strips
2. have child write what s/he is thankful for on one strip (optional)
3. trace and cut out leaf template
4. align 16-20 strips, punch hole at top of strips .5" from top, and place brad
5. punch hole in leaf, align bottom of strips,  punch hole .5" from end
6. place leaf and strips together with brad
7. fan the strips out in a circular fashion

Note:
If you want to add fonts to your pumpkin as I did, type your message
beforehand on the computer and format your page to print, then cut out the strips.

CD Spinner

I can't think of a bigger hit with the kids than this project.   Three weeks after this activity, a few children were coming back to design more and more spinners!  Just look at the variety.  Since I have a few students that like to half-finish coloring crafts quickly, I had a friendly competition with prizes for those who followed very simple directions:  no white spaces and must use at least three different colors.  Just look at the variety!

If you allow the kids to use glitter on the disc cover, that puts the spinner into another dimension--inter-galactical!

Supplies:
1. CDs
2. CD cover template (make by tracing CD with its center)
3. marbles
4. hot glue gun
5. hot glue stik
6. scissors
7. white computer paper (or construction paper, but it is heavier)
8. glue stick

Directions:

1. let kids color the template
2. cut template out
3. glue template on CD
4. hot glue rim of cap to top of CD
5. hot glue marble to center of CDs bottom
6. glitter (optional)

Caution:
Let the glue dry before allowing to spin CD with glitter, or else you will have to clean up wet glue in addition to glitter off floor and table

About Me

At School Making Crafts describes my work life on a daily basis.  I have been working for a before and after school day care program for almost four years.  Our kids get out of school, have a snack, have an outdoor time, and do a craft/project.  That 30-40 minutes is precious because the children get to create or do something something that is not academic; yet involves learning on both social and cognitive levels.

Children love activities that are engaging and fun.  During these past three years of doing crafts, I realized there  were hardly any repetition of projects.  Entering this new school year I now have the luxury of repeating projects.  The kids who I had while in kindergarten will be going into third grade so I don't run the risk of hearing, "We already did this project".  My only problem--where are the instructions to all those crafts?!

To eliminate this problem for the future, I thought it would be a good idea to chronicle the crafts (whether successes or failures) so that they can all be in one place.

I am new to the blog sphere and will be learning how to navigate bit by bit.  I moved from Los Angeles to Seattle five years ago to have a change of life and scenery.  As I turned 60 this year, I am hoping that each succeeding year will be more fulfilling and rewarding.

I hope you find this hodgepodge of things borrowed, things new, informative and useful for your own day care, classroom or home.



Happy Crafting!