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

Sea Flowers--Under the Water (part 4)

Are you waiting with bated breath on how all these individual crafts are going to come together?  Me too!  This project came about from another project, which I will tell you about in the next post. One of the older girls was playing around with the top of a water bottle and decided to cut several slits and hold it over the fire.  Because of her experimentation, this became a project for the little ones.

During this massive endeavor, the children were allowed to use fire, which I know Smokey the Bear would probably faint at; but they were under watchful eyes.  I wish I could show you the seriousness that the kids held in their faces--probably because of hearing "don't play with matches."  There were no oohs; all the faces were somber (maybe they were afraid of burning themselves?).

These were brave children.  Not one said they didn't want to do the project.

This young one loved the smell of the candles.  It had a scent that reminded her of her dad.

These are awaiting placement on the wall...

as are these.

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

Directions:
1. color water bottle from mouth to where the bottle rounds
2. with box cutter, make long slit
3. with scissors, have kids cut around bottle neck
4. have kids make long slits to bottom cap around circumference of bottle
5. light candle
6. holding top of bottle, rotate the bottle top as the flame "manipulates" the petals

Duration:
Craft takes no more than 45 minutes

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 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