Day: October 6, 2015

Arts and Crats

Solo Cup Robots and Aliens

tinyhandsbigideas
WP_20150930_11_32_01_Pro
Left: Babs did this one independently Middle: worked on this one together Right: My example

I originally bought a package of Solo Cups for something different to build with and it turned out to be a great activity. Since them I have used them for many different activities. Solo cup robots or aliens made a great addition to our Halloween decorations. When doing art projects like this I always make an example that is not to elaborate. This give Babs an idea of what we are working on. Not making it to elaborate leaves room for her imagination to be included. I poked a hole in the letter O on each side of the cup. An adult can do this with a knife or you can help your child do it with a single hole punch. Then they are able to thread the pipe cleaners through the cup for the arms. We used colored pom poms for the hair and nose and different size eyes. Regular Elmer’s School Glue worked perfect to get everything to stick.

WP_20150930_10_57_16_Pro WP_20150930_11_00_32_Pro     WP_20150930_11_10_44_Pro WP_20150930_11_13_21_Pro

After making our robots/aliens we still had some materials so we decided to make a spaceship out of paper plates.WP_20150930_11_29_16_ProMaterials Needed

Solo Cups

Colored Pom Poms

Pipe Cleaners

Eyes

Markers

Glue

Hole punch

Hint: All of these materials can be purchased at the Dollar Store. To make our art materials last longer I only put out a little bit of each material. Then when they are gone we are done creating. 🙂 It also creates an easy stopping point because Babs would do arts and crafts all day!

Uncategorized

Fall Themed Story Time Activities

tinyhandsbigideas

Below I have included some simple activities that we have been doing to go along with our Fall Themed Story Time. Hope you enjoy!

Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

This book is all about different Fall activities and is a great way to introduce what Fall is all about. We like to visWP_20150928_17_50_58_Proit the pumpkin patch and cider mill every year and we read this book before we go. One of the activities we do at home is collecting some different colored leaves before they get raked up. 🙂 We call this our Fall Sensory Bucket. Hang onto those leave because we will be using them for an art project later. Being outside collecting leaves give us the chance to talk about the different colors, the wind and how it blows leaves off the trees. We try to go out on a windy day so Babs can actually see this happen. We also talk about what it feels like outside in the fall. It sounds simple but she had a blast talking and collecting different colored leaves.

Materials Needed

Book: Let It Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

Clear container with lid

A place to collect leaves (backyard or park)

The Leaves are Falling One by One by Steven Metzger Illustrated by Miriam Sagasti

We sing this book to the tune of The Ants Go Marching. You can find it on YouTube if you are unsure of the tune. 🙂 I cut out 10 leaves from Fall colored construction paper. As we sing the book/song I have her put one more leaf in a bucket and I dump them on her during the “leaves are falling” part. We also created our own motions for the words; falling, flying, and hurrah. This helps get Babs involved because it is a long book.

Materials Needed

Book: The Leaves are Falling One by One by Steven Metzger Illustrated by Miriam Sagasti

Construction paper leaves (made ahead of time)

small bucket or container

One Windy Day by Tammi Salzano Illustrated by Hannah Wood

This book is not specifically about Fall (but there are some pretty fall leaves in the book). It is a simple book that works on language concepts that are often difficult for toddlers to understand such as; over, under, near, far, high, low, etc. It is about a mailman and how the wind blows all the mail in different directions. When we read this book I give Babs and envelope and she moves the envelope in the different directions as we read it. When we first started I also imitated the actions with an envelope so she could learn and understand them. I also turned one of our box fans on to mimic the wind in the book. She loves the wind in her face and thinks this part if extremely funny!

Materials Needed

Book: One Windy Day by Tammi Salzano Illustrated by Hannah Wood

envelope

box fan (optional)