cows go moo and ducks go quack

Valentine's Stained Glass

2012-02-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

This craft junky mama saved all pink and red tissue paper from christmas and tore it up for a fun Valentine's Day project that helped make our living room/payroom look extra festive. I've seen this idea on some of my favorite blogs: Artful Parent, Pink and Green Mama, and Paint Cut Paste. All you need a glue stick, torn tissue paper, and a window in need of some pizazz. My kiddos were all about the project in the beginning, but by the end, my mom and I were filling in all the holes with wiggly kids cheering us on. Now we have a beautiful decoration for this February that was free! By the way, I am told all that is needed to take it down is soap, water, and a tad of elbow grease. =)

Living Room Obstacle Course

2012-01-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

You can jump over a stream, climb a mountain, and roll around in a field of dandelions if you just pretend. That's just what we did this week. With all the rain and gloominess, we opted to spend Family Day indoors and made a living room obstacle course. There was a whole lot of giggles and much rearranging of furniture. What fun!

Packing Foam "Snow" Box

2012-01-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

Last week I blogged about foam sculptures the girls and I made, but with so much left over, I knew we had to do something else fun with it. Finally, I got sick of telling the girls to get out of the box that our swing came in which was holding all the foam...and so I just invited them to get in, shred the foam and play about like it was real "snow". The gardener was coming with his leaf blower the next day anyhow...

And my, my! What crazy joy ensued. Jumping and rolling, laughing and throwing...What fun sensory play.

And then came the time consuming activity of picking all the foam balls out of their beautiful manes. =)

Paper Snowflakes

2012-01-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

We made snow to adorn our enryway and for the girls' bedroom. It was great cutting practice and lots of fun to see the reveal. Charlotte is getting really good at being persistent and even better at not being so hard on herself. Mommy did some helping with holding and cutting when there were too many folds. It was chaotic (we even got a phone call during all the crafting), but the kids were so engrossed that the chaos just added to the happy, energetic tone that comes with all things relating to kids. When they were all done, we even spent a few minutes talking about how all of them are beautiful in their own ways---like the members of our family. =)

It took some practice, but Charlotte (5) really made progress with manipulating the paper while cutting. She made some beautiful designs all by herself!

Penny is still learning how to use the scissors, so she did a lot of practicing, but enjoyed bring let loose with the scissors! Here she is telling me how her snowflake is going to be the best! =0

It was a great family activity and required no prep time. An oldie and a goodie indeed. And clean up was just as easy--just pushed all the scraps into the trash and did a quick sweep. Mom-approved. =)

"Painting" with Magazine scraps

2012-01-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

A while back, Charlotte and I made Magazine People and enjoyed the fun of cutting out parts of pictures to make a new picture. With that project, we cut out parts of people to put together a new person. This time, we drew a picture (scene of a house complete with grass, birds, a tree and a sun) and then used cut up magazine scraps to provide the "color" for each item drawn. We actually didn't finish the project because it was more ambitious than I expected...but it was a great project to do while Charlotte and I shot the breeze about our days. I am learning that the key to getting elementary kids to talk is to engross them in something they love that requires little thought. Of course, for my Charlotte, this is art. =) It was also fun to challenge her to think of items as colors. We enjoyed some base laughter at the sight of a house made of a hamburger bun and a tree of zuchinni. =)

Painted Martian Rocks

2012-01-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we spent a lot of time in the backyard and Charlotte told me that she wished rocks were prettier. LOL, "How would you change them?" I asked. So we began to collect rocks, wash them, and to beautify them via paint. " Do you think rocks look like this on another planet?" I probed. "Yes, and we need a guide (we had just gone to the zoo)! She wanted to make a picture for each of the rocks so that people could identify them when they are out looking for them. I'm all for simple, creative fun and these have been few and far between since school (booooooo!) started. (top-rock painting, guide to the right).

Painted and Ripped Foam Sculpture

2012-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Mommy got a garden swing. For a crafty family, one of the perks of getting a large item delivered to your home is of course: packing material! Here is my oldest hard at work on the packing foam that protected the top of my beautiful comfy Chocolate Glider. She is using roller paints and do-a-dots. We then ripped up the foam, created ripped slats in each of the pieces and built a tall sculpture. We wrote names, swirled a lot, and made simple flowers. What a fun way to use trash. Here are some other ways we've used trash: This and That Collaging, Box Neighborhood, Bag People, and Grocery Bag Skirt. And, some fun ways we have used roll on painters and do-a-dots: Spring Garden Collage and Name Writing Practice.

Pottery and A New Year's Resolution: You are the potter, I am the clay

2012-01-04T21:10:00.000-08:00

With the coming of the New Year, we broke out the new Imaginarium pottery wheel my sweet artist Charlotte got for Christmas from her grandma. She had been begging to try it ever since the wrapping paper was torn off it, so one evening before dinner we gave it a go. I cherrish these moments I can spend alone with my growing girl, when she can be given my undivided attention.

Once we dug in, we quickly learned that this project was neither easy nor quick and that dinner would have to wait because there was no putting this one off once I saw the joy this fun new experience brought her. We molded and molded with difficulty, trying to make smooth edges and designs with the tools given in the box. This was definetly a hand's on project! The box said 5 and up...though this mom of 29 had to call in reinforcements (Dad) to get a final good mold.

But Charlotte got the opportunity to help which I think she really enjoyed. The top was the hardest to smooth out as the machine slowed down as we hit the bumps over and over.

But after many tries from our trio (Mom, Dad, and Charlotte), we got a small bowl with small designs. This is something that takes practice for sure! I was reminded of Jeremiah 18:6 and the popular worship song Change My Heart when it proclaims, "You are the Potter, I am the clay." We are stubborn like the clay, but should become soft and pliable in order to become the wonderful, beautiful creation we are intended to be. I talked with Charlotte about how we can pray for guidance as we follow Christ's teachings so that we can slowly but surely be a bright light in this dark world. It is so hard to resist temptations to live selfishly but when we do, we can shine. It makes me so happy to see my little Charlotte begin to do small acts of kindness on her own like helping her sister with tasks like put her socks on or reliquishing her rights to play with her favored toys so that her friends or her sister my enjoy them. It is my prayer that in 2012 she will continue to be like soft clay and be molded according to His Will. And that I may become a better parent as well, putting my kids' needs above my own and make their need to learn how to treat others with love and to grow as a family first. Because, I know, just like this sweet little bowl which was painted with love and made beautiful, I can too shine in those acts of kindness and love toward my family...stubborn though I can be with all my rough spots.

Gingerbread men art

2011-12-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

This week we made gingerbread men (or women!) of our likeness. Yes, this is one of those store-bought projects, but before I am judged for being lazy they do allow for some creativity and are lots of fun. We made curly hair, cute outfits for each of them, and even affixed appropriate grins on them. Before I could snap a picture of Penny's, it was gone...so judging by that, they were delicious too! If you have been following our goings on all year long, you can tell we have been going much more simple I can testify: simple crafts are still fun and festive! Most importantly, we have been making memories and not opting for more simply for more---sometimes less is more indeed!

Christmas nails

2011-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

My husband's cousin did this with her kids, posted it on facebook, and I was immediately envious. Off to Walmart I was getting green nailpolish. Alternating red and green, I painted my girls' nails so that they could feel festive everywhere they went. What girly joy for the holiday. And it is simple and simple is what I love.

Simple Popsicle Stick Snowflake decorations

2011-12-19T15:33:00.000-08:00

This year we decorated for Christmas amidst organizing the garage and the playroom. So, the tree went up and that's about it. We have been enjoying Christmas music, crafting, and a very simple holiday. Here is one way we spruced up my fireplace: popsicle stick snowflakes (idea from here)--complete with glue laden glitter! They are beautiful and made for some fun Christmas memories minus the stress of pulling out all the boxes of decorations. As my mom reminded me: not every Christmas has to be the same. =) This year is just as pretty though, I think, with child-made cheer.

Organized toys/spaces and Playdough writing

2011-12-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

We have been busy around here as can be seen from how long it has been since I last blogged. We've been pearing down our possessions to make way for birthday and Christmas presents and for a clean start in the new year. One of the curious results, I have found with all the donations to Salvation Army, has been MORE play and not less. My kids have been find things to do (rather than me giving them projects all the time) while I organize. Also, they have better access to what they do have and are not overwhelmed by all the STUFF. Additionally, they are more able to help with clean up time which makes for, I think, better parenting and easier parenting as well. Here is one of Charlotte's recent creations at her new "art center" (no more easel---just a table and chairs with a box full of goodies). She has been "writing" with crafted letters from playdough. Mirror image, true, but she's getting there! =)

Spin Art and Sin Making a Mess

2011-11-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in Sunday School, we continued to talk about behavior that hurts others and hurts our God. I asked the kids to drop small amounts of liquid watercolors onto a plate and told them the droplets were like the bad things we do. Then we placed the plate onto an old-fashioned Lazy Susan, affixed a plate on top to avoid the mess and gave it a whirl. With the splattering of all the brilliant colors, we discussed how sin can affect every area of one's life and even spread onto others (yes, the paint escaped and landed on some of the kids!) We made a mess and so can the sins that we nurse. If we allow sins to be no big deal, we tell ourselves in small ways that we are "liars," "cheats," "bad friends, " etc...But unlike these beautiful works of art, this behavior leaves a huge mess of our lives. Let us strive to stay clean. Fun art though! Charlotte, surprise, surprise, had the project that turned out the best (without making a mess no less). What fun and we were able to talk about an important life lesson. 2 for 1s are fab indeed.

Fingerprinting Turkey Feathers and Lives

2011-11-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

A recent Sunday School lesson: "Whatever your hans find to do, do it unto God." This one is a little high level indeed, but it amounted to fingerprinting turkey feathers and lives. The kiddos talked about how people put their fingerprints on you (influence you) so you have to be careful who you hang out with. Also, we do the same to others, so: are we a good influence or a bad influence? Then of course with Thanksgiving around the corner, they painted fingerprints and made them into a turkey. Charlotte got a little carried away (top)! Kids love to finger paint.

Hot Crayon Rocks

2011-11-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

I just loved this idea on a cute blog 5 Orange Potatoes so much I knew I had to try it with Charlotte. I am such a fan of creative ideas to bring art into the home using stuff you already have. Charlotte especially is always intrigued with using everyday objects in a new way. Since this artful project requires HOT rocks though, I knew I had to wait until Penelope was taking a long nap. (My Penny is prone to hurting herself.) The idea is to heat up rocks in the oven and then decorate them with crayons. The crayon wax just melts over the rocks in bright colors in a way that is addicting. Daddy and I even got in on the fun! It reminds me of when we did the same thing on an electric warmer last year around Thanksgiving. Below: a piano and self portrait. =)

Leaf People

2011-11-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

So after all the hubaloo of Halloween, we have a brief intermission until Christmas ramps up (though you wouldn't know that from the way the stores look already). After seeing this idea on maybe websites (I guess this is a common craft!)--Paper Crafts for Children, The Crafty Crow, This Little Project, Texas Granola Mom, Mrs. Karen's Class, and Blissyfully Domestic, Charlotte and I made some leaf people using the beautiful array of colors available during the fall season. Hunting for diversity on nature walks is half the fun!

These leaf people are man and wife apparently. My favorite part is the grass skirt on the mama, though the flamboyant hat and cute faces tie for second place.

And here is my little artist in action, carefully choosing each item and arranging them after a hard day at school. Art is such a great outlet for her. =)

Mummy juices

2011-10-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

This super cute idea from Family Fun Blog my friend brought to our Halloween shindig. Just masking tape and googly eyes added to the much adored juice box make this wonderfully mummy treat for Halloween. One (not pictured) was even made into a monster with one eye and a silly tongue. So simple and such fun for little kiddos. What fun memories.

TP Mummies

2011-10-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

At my girls' Halloween party, we played the traditional "design a bridal gown with tp" with a twist--we made mummies! It was similar to last year when we made mummies from sheets, but for some reason the tp was easier to manuever. Our two mummies made their bodies straight as a board and held still as we wrapped, wrapped, wrapped. What fun! Here is my beloved oldest mummy. The breakaway, much like when you bury someone in the sand, is always the best part!!

Gross sensory play for Halloween: Bugs in noodles

2011-10-31T08:33:00.000-07:00

I got this fun Halloween idea from a friend with two boys and decided it would be perfect to try for my messy girl in honor of Halloween. We cooked up a few packages of ramen and put them in a huge bowl. Then, I hid some plastic bugs inside we had from an awesome early math game called Busy Bugs. Penny got to digging and loved every minute of it.

At first, she was just picking the bugs out carefully. But before I knew it, she was elbow deep in it, enjoying the squishy texture and reveling in exclaiming,"ewwwwwwww!" We counted colors, talked about types of bugs, and yes, eventually about a half of a package ended up being eaten. What's gross to me seems to be just pure pleasure to my Pennypie. Ha!

Map for Trick or Treating

2011-10-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

This is the creation of my lovely older daughter. She made a map for Trick or Treating. This map making stuff is really great for story telling. Her imagination was running wild and so was her mouth as she made each house (btw, they are a little Seussy huh?) Can you tell she is excited to go from home to house on Monday?

Chalking in the Rain

2011-10-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

We had a few days of storming around here (sandwiched between hundred degree weather), so we took advantage of the change and broke out the rainboots (more on the search for said rainboots on another post). Penny splashed in the puddles for a bit and then I gave her some chalk to enjoy the bright colors they make when wet. We've done this before by dipping them in water, but in the rain is something else! Penelope especially enjoyed watching her drawings slowly disappear with the droplets of water that fell slowly (and at one point, violently) from the sky.

Below is a priceless preschooler's version of a rainbow. Too sweet.

Sparkly Ice Art

2011-10-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

We've been doing some "Spring Cleaning" in fall this year. Yesterday I cleaned the ice machine and organized my cupboards a bit better. And then, as I looked at the ice I had to take out of the machine and a box of food coloring that was almost empty, I remembered seeing the idea of making colorful ice sculptures on The Chocolate Muffin Tree and Artful Parent which is a neat variation on Salty Watercolors which we did a while back. This simple art activity only takes a few minutes and simple ingredients but yet produces such a BEAUTIFUL product! All is needed is ice, salt, and either watercolors or food coloring (put together in that order). Because of the simplistic nature of the project, Charlotte and Penelope enjoyed the fact that they got to "take charge" of the art making process. Here's Charlotte deciding how much salt to sprinkle (this determines how much the colors added later sparkle).

Then the kids drenched their salt-laden ice with food coloring. Like most girls, my girls love things that sparkle. So they ooed and aahhed as they added the colors. They admired the shimmer quality of the ice and then moved onto another part of the pan in order to add beauty to their shared canvas.

Charlotte even made the project "hands-on"--something usually reserved for my Pennypie. And, after only a few minutes, the girls polished off the remainder of the food coloring I had in the cupboard and we used the ice in a productive way. Also: Daddy got to finish getting ready in peace before we headed off for a family day of sightseeing. Before we did that though, they were able to show off their gorgeous creation...

Cut It Yourself Pumpkin and Problem Solving

2011-10-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

We are on a mission at the Curry House: to Halloweenify our place with art. Here is Charlotte's "Cut Pumpkin" which is now the centerpiece. It might not be impressive to the average visitor to our home, but I am quite proud of this endeavor because Charlotte completed this multistep project all by herself. She drew the parts including the pumpkin and the facial features, cut them out, and glued them together to make the above Jack O Lantern which I know I'll treasure for a long time.

It was wonderful to watch Charlotte decide what her project would look like and how she would execute its artistic design. I particularly enjoyed that she didn't make the stereotypical toothy grin so characteristic of Jack O Lanterns that will soon be lit up on porches across the country. Instead, he had an angry, tight bite completely from Charlotte's imagination.

And then came problem solving. When Charlotte failed to cut out a perfectly symmetrical circle for her pumpkin, she became unhinged. What I am learning about 5 year olds (or at least my particular 5 year old) is that they are (or maybe she is just)incredibly perfectionistic and emotional. She quickly began to cut more and more as is easy to do when one is trying to make a perfect circle. I simply couldn't talk my stubborn daughter into stopping the insanity. I just sat back and admired her ability to manipulate those scissors to meet her goals. And then it happened. Finally, she let her scissors slip and she cut a huge chunk out of her circle inadvertantly. And what a fit did she pitch afterwards! So after the tears subsided, she asked me to help and I asked her what she could do to fix her project with the tools she has. Amazingly, she decided on her own to glue it back together onto a backdrop. Mama was proud.

Crazy Hopscotch: hopscotch with an artsy, silly twist

2011-10-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

This was a game I invented as a kid and so I decided to share the fun with Charlotte. Apparently our love of crazy hopscotch is hereditary. In this fun game, crazy rules are made for each square/shape--and the rules are only as confined as your imagination. Some of Charlotte's sqaures: act like a snake, count to 11, eat a banana, smell a flower, jump over the river... Her hopscotch ran around my car and down the driveway. I remember making them circling my house. Something tells me this will be an activity we'll return to over and over.

Directed Drawing: White Crayon on Black Paper Halloween Drawings

2011-10-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

While I made dinner one night this week, Charlotte made her own Halloween scene. She was given just a white crayon and black construction paper and the open-ended task of making a Hallween scene. She drew her and her friends Trick-or-Treating from house to house and a giant spider overwhelming everything to gobble up the neighborhood. Scary indeed! How creative Kindergartners can be!

By the way, this endeavor also gobbled up 15 minutes of time and had her mind working to add funny or scary details (I know this because she kept commenting on their respective qualities with vigor.) If I could come up with a fun and engaging creative project for each dinner prep period, what a peaceful family we would be! That's a tall order, but I'm up for the challenge considering how well this turned out.... Mmm, now for what we'll do tonight...

Dream kids houses and "Snug House, Bug House"

2011-10-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

A friend of us gave us some of her husband's old contracting plans and when we read Snug House, Bug House this afternoon, I thought it might be fun to plan dream houses with the girls using them as blank slates. In the book, very imaginary bugs build a house of their dreams out of a tennis ball and create distinct rooms for each of their interests (reading, music, even a room for "being crazy"). So my girls set out to make their own dream houses, complete with rooms dedicated to what ever came to mind: puppies with long ears, heart pumpkins, a place for sniffing flowers, for playing with good friends... I helped with some of the drawing and let the girls run wild with their imagination. With the help of a Melisa and Doug Write-A-Mat, Charlotte even got some practice writing, labeling some of the rooms for individuals she thought would most like the special room. The lovely finished project is below...

Hopping on Tub Stickies

2011-09-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Penny arranged her tub stickies on our kitchen floor and played her own version of hopscotch. We have seen similar products made for this purpose at Lakeshore Learning for much more money and coveted them. These were $4 at Target and served the same purpose. Penelope took much care to arrange and rearrange her game and we tried hopping on one foot, both feet, hopping while quacking like a duck, etc. She probably would have had a bit more range of motion if she wasn't dressed in Belle's finest, but such is the life of a three year old girl. The best part: I tossed them in with her tub toys to be washed and we were able to reuse them again and not have another toy to store. =)

Fingerpainting on different surfaces: Foil and Wax Paper color mixing

2011-09-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Fingerpainting is definetly Penny's favorite kind of art (sans painting herself or her sister). Who doesn't like intentional messiness? The other day Penelope had the opportunity to mix colors on foil and wax paper. We talked about two subjects: how the different colors mixed to make new colors and how the two surfaces looked/felt like. She watched as her finger made a beautiful web of colors as she swirled with glee. Amazingly, she only used one finger and didn't get the paint anywhere else. GO FIGURE!

Sand Writing on our homemade light table

2011-09-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

Since Kinder has started and Baby Evie was born, my oldest and I have had very little quality time alone to play and create. I guess this is what it is to have 3 kids! But when Penny and Eve Marie (my two youngest) slept extra long for their naps, I jumped at the opportunity to bring out an activity I had been saving: a DYI homemade light table. I have seen this idea on The Imagination Tree, Happy Hooligans, and Play at Home Mom (as well as probably others that I can't even remember at this time) quite a while ago (not much time to peruse blogs these days; my google reader is probably overflowing). The concept for a light table in case you have never seen one is simple: put something on top of a surface that allows a light to stream through and "light up" the object chosen. This afternoon, we used sand to practice writing a bit. I made our light box with a wardrobe "under the bed" storage box and some easel paper (taped firmly on the sides with a lamp sans the shade inside). Charlotte seemed so engrossed in the activity it seemed almost theraputic--it reminded me of last Thanksgiving when we enjoyed crayon drawing on an electric warmer (and it is just as addicting!) We are definetly doing this again! I had brought out other ideas to try, but she just couldn't get enough of this very first medium. Too fun indeed.

"This and That" Collaging

2011-09-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

My girls love to collage with scrappy stuff. I really think this is the perfect toddler activity as there is no "wrong" and "right" way to do the activity and a fun time is made out of what is basically trash. Here is the beginning stages of Penelope's recent creation, utilizing straws, foil, wax paper, and some netting. She seemed to be really thinking about how to execute her artistic skills this time. This recent project also consisted of a LOT of cutting and not so much gluing (so not much actually made its way to the page!) but the effort isn't lost as she is getting lots of scissor practice which strengthens those fingers for writing. Before I know it, my little feisty girl will be writing her name like her big sister Charlotte.

Scrunched up Foil Printing

2011-09-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

Ever since my latest baby girl was born three weeks ago (hence my lack of blogging), we have had some lovely family and friends bring by main dishes and baked goods ever couple of days. As a result, there has been lots of scrunched up foil in the kitchen and the frugal mama inside of me hates throwing away such gems I know will serve some use for activities for my older girls. Penny used some of the foil this morning to create some unique printing with some paint. Meanwhile, Mama was able to load the dishwasher in order to return borrowed dished that held the aformentioned meals. Here are some shots I took of the fun:

Secret Agent Manuevers through a ribbon web of "lazers"

2011-09-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

A while back Charlotte enjoyed finding her way through a web of yarn in our living room and had a blast. And then recently, I saw a post on a blog (All For the Boys) where a family turned their hallway into a similar web. The twist: the task this crafty mama had her kids do was to avoid triggering each "lazer" like a secret agent. Given that my kids enjoy Special Agent Oso from time to time, I gave this a try. It was a great easy activity to try after all the craziness that has been going on since our newest little girl was born a week ago (hence my lack of blogging). And, since it was Daddy's birthday, this web of ribbons doubled as decorations. =) (The bar is lowered when one has given birth only a few days prior to hubby's bday). Anyway, the girls seemed to revel in the attention and I loved giving it to them...even if our new Evie Marie only allowed it for a second before calling to me. =) But my "big girls" grew up before my eyes and even before I picked up the baby for a nursing session, they asked for some ribbon and tape and continued the web. And oh what a tangled web we wove. =) What a great indoor activity when avoiding 108 degree heat! I've got to remember this for later when it is storming...

Boxes into Houses

2011-08-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

When one gets a large appliance, making a playhouse is necessary (even if you already have 4 play tents)! The first step is to make a window and jump in (some marker fun inside is obligatory). Then, we added some details...Each box makes a unique playhouse. This one has shingles and a chimney, a Christmas tree (from a paper towel holder with slits holding zig zag strips of cardboard complete with a makeshift tree stand)...

...and a personalized door (adorned with some random letters by Pennypie).

Then came the additions: a bedroom, hallway, and a garden (the garden isn't pictured as playtime rendered the drawings destroyed...) What fun boxes can be! Even without super decorative drawings, this lovely activity ate up a few hours. Then came the vacuuming...and lots of it.=)

"Yucky Soup" from cooking scraps

2011-08-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

What to do with all those veggie scraps?...Well, we had some on the cutting board as preparations were underway for dinner (meatloaf). Charlotte and Penny took off with them and made some "yucky soup" concoctions busying themselves as more was cut up. They enjoyed the stirring and careful "measurements"--and Mommy the quick clean up (dumped right after). What a great way to pretend play cook alongside the growups? Love it! The finished products...

Stomper shoes from shoe boxes

2011-08-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

We had some empty shoe boxes left over from back to school shopping so this morning my girls and I made stomper shoes from them, an idea I got from Family Fun Magazine (they used tissue boxes, but I thought cut shoe boxes would be more sturdy). The girls weren't interested in making dino feet as the magazine suggests, but instead creatively decided we should make a rattlesnake on one with our family running away to the other foot covered in hearts (safety). Sure! These stompers made for a fun morning activity full of active play. Stomp, stomp, stomping around as Mommy wheezes on the couch after just one attempt of doing something in this hot weather 9 months preggo was the scene that dominated the early hours around here. Something tells me they didn't notice. =)

Liquid Density Experimentation

2011-08-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

We knew we needed to try liquid density experimentation as seen on Irresistible Ideas for Play-Based Learning when we had so much fun with our baking soda experiment. Hands-on science can be so much fun. So, I brought out a bunch of different kinds of liquid and semi-liquid materials to squeeze into our beloved vase so we could find out the "heaviness" of each item as compared to the others "in the mix."

The squeezing was half the fun. It was difficult to get them to make observations in between squeezing the next liquid in--they just loved making their disgusting concoction. Somehow I am not surprised. My mind flashed back to when I--as a child--would get out Nestle Quick and just about anything else I could get my hands on and mix, mix, mix...leaving the kitchen a mess, mess, mess. What fun. I can hardly blame them. I had to giggle when they excitedly would look inside and press their faces to the vase to see what was floating, what had sunk to the bottom and what had mixed together with all the other liquids. Their observations were indeed the only thing that was delicious to Mommy. When I had to pour the contents of that vase down the sink, I was glad to be rid of it. Wheeeew! They loved every minute of it though.

Marker Art and Water Balloon Color Mixing

2011-08-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

This is the aftermath of the wonderful summery outside project we tried this afternoon as featured on the ever-creative No Time for Flashcards: Marker Art and Water Balloon Color Mixing.

The idea is to use markers to cover your paper or canvas and then splash water balloons on top of them. Then all is left is to explore the color mixing that takes place as the marker drawings bleed into one another. In the process, glorious wet fun can be had by all!!

My girls--who are 2 and 4--prefered to step on the water balloons because their aim as well as power wasn't quite where it needed to be to soak their pictures. (We learned this after the first four or five water balloons rolled under the car and the girls whined with dissappointment.) Once we came we came up with this new "method" however, the squeezing and inevitable explosion of water on their legs did produce delight!!

And then, we were left to talk about the color mixing. Note: it seems to work best with primary color mixing. Fun all around though! Definetly my kind of science!

Shaving Cream sensory play at the water table: foamy sculptures, painting with it, and shaving cream science

2011-08-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

We decided to get really messy (or deceptively messy) yesterday evening in the backyard to add some flavor to our water play for this 100+ degree heat. Daddy didn't like the cheap brand of shaving cream I bought him at the Dollar Store, so we used it in the water table as Teach Preschool suggested. What irrisistible sensory play squirts of this lovely foaming soap inspired...

The first stage was squishing it in those small hands...smiles began to appear at once of course.

And then, they became a bit more bold and started smearing it on the table and on themselves...=)

Then, Charlotte self-started foamy sculpture making. I was reminded of when we looked at the clouds and imagined them as figures as all kids should do. Charlotte squish-made many dinosaurs, fairies, "wormy people,"and even Superman.

It was very serious business to her indeed.

Penny was occupied, apparently, with making a space suit entirely of shaving cream. Ha! Why am I not surprised? =) She REALLY loved this "project"...Shh, don't let her know it is soap. She might not be so pleased with getting so "messy."

Then, there was even an impromptu science experiment: what happens to shaving cream when it comes in contact with water? Our pool quickly became our science center...and the kids ooohed and aaahed as the shaving cream dissolved in our beloved molded kiddie pool.

Then, some shaving cream painting. Our lemon tree was smeared with this lovely "art material" and finger drawings were made in the foam too.

And of course, for the grand finale: sisterly fighting fun!

Pendulum Painting with a homemade funnel

2011-07-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

Pendulum Painting is one of those things I have had on my to-do list with the girls for some time. I saw a great post about it about a year ago on Teacher Tom. Needless to say, it produced lots of smiles and interest. Also, surprisingly: not much mess. We even got in some conversation about gravity and movement. Yay for sciency art!

First we hung some ribbon from our ceiling fan (so we could move it around) and attached it to a homemade funnel made from several sheets of printer paper. I covered the table with some paper and we got to swinging and exploring!

I quickly learned that tempera needs to be watered down. Lots of fun indeed. I think we might try this again with a cup and a chair and other contraptions next time. Perhaps then we can perfect the process and produce more overlapping eternity-like symbols. Nonetheless, fun had by all again!

Mud Prints

2011-07-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

A while back, some of my favorite blogs celebrated International Mud Day with kiddos in their care. We missed the boat either because of being busy or my lack of courage...or both. Nevertheless, I love the idea of kids getting dirty and playing with the lovely squishy stuff we call mud. Well, today my messy Penny forced my hand and turned on the hose without my knowledge (I was busy packing away outgrown shoes for the new baby while I thought the kids were enjoying popsicles in the playroom). Before I knew it, I heard the hiss of the water throughout the house, raced outside, and saw this glorious, messy scene. What's a mom to do, but rush and get the camera?

At least they had fun, right? Most of this was good old-fashioned sensory exploration, but some of it turned out to be super artful. I was informed these are mud prints of a butterfly and rainbow respectively.

Here are some aformentioned lovely sites that chronicle other muddy fun: Teacher Tom, Teach Preschool, Imagination Tree, Let the Children Play, The Artful Parent, and The Chocolate Muffin Tree.

Now it is time to clean up. What first: the art-covered "easels" or bathtime?

Beach Art: seaweed writing, sand molds, dam building, beach wands, sand mermaid, and castles for sand crabs

2011-07-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

I went through my pictures and noticed I hadn't posted about our trip to our family spot at the beach. Given Mama's state, this might be the only one this year, but it was certainly nice to visit the spot where Malibu Creek meets Malibu Beach (there is an awesome stream that kiddos can play in safely on their own in addition to the normal fun at the beach. Plus: it isn't crowded!) Here is Eugene and Charlotte coming back from looking at the creek. We also have been to Manhattan with my mom, but my camera was out of batteries, so I we didn't capture the classics--our sand mermaid Gramma and awesome castles for sand crabs and even a ladybug!

We did lots of fun things. Here is our seaweed writing: "family" pictured -- we also did "Charlotte" and "love," but they washed away pretty quickly before I could snap a photo. It took a while for my little princess to get over the "ickiness" of the beach plant, but she certainly enjoyed pointing out lettes and sounding out the words.

Charlotte and Penny also made sand molds. These were the best and/or ones that weren't immediately destroyed! The first is a butterfly and the second is a sand (snow)man. The girls enjoyed hunting in the stream for items to make pictures. Super cute.

Always creative, Charlotte also worked on her own dam to plug up the stream. This took some doing, but with a little bamboo, some rocks, and some gumption: she had the idea. Maybe next time we will gather lots of sticks and try and make a more realistic one. Ha! Penelope just loved sprinkling sand on her legs while the water tickled her sides. =)

When they started relaxing on the log found near where we set up, I figured it was time to go. =) But, we have some beach momentos: these sea star beach wands (idea from Disney's Family Fun magazine) made with found items--a feather, some seashells, and sand on cardboard and skewers.

Good day had by all I say. It was even worth having to vacuum my car again. =)

Chalk Dust Art

2011-07-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Here's another fun thing to do with chalk: print an item into the sand or onto the concrete and grate chalk over it for a fun design. We tried all kinds of things with lots of success! The reveal is the best part! Charlotte calls it "chalk magic"--indeed. It is certainly fun to discover something fun to do with an old art medium or toy. This one is going to be a mainstay for sure; I can tell.

Tabernacle "Tent Church"

2011-07-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

This Sunday at church we made the Bible come alive with a kid-made tabernacle "tent church". I told the story about how Moses was wandering in the desert waiting to go into the promised land and this tent church helped the Israelistes worship the Lord "on the go". The kids had a lot of fun building our own abbrieviated version. I wish I could include all the pictures, but most of them had other kids in them... =) Here is Penny arranging flowers in the courtyard (chairs with blanket "tapestry" and "curtain". She is standing in front of our box "tent" adorned with our jewlery and tablecloth "curtains" tied with our golden "ropes" (yarn). Inside our tent, we put a table, gold (boxes covered with shiny paper), a box "chest" with the 10 commandments (papers shaped as one would expect with them written on them in preschool language), the special (play food) bread, and candles.

Afterwards, the kids sat looking at the tent and we reviewed what was used in the tabernacle and then we discussed how people worship in homes, store fronts, huts, and beautiful buildings. Where we worship is not as important as the fact that we give glory to God and study His Word.

"This was fun Mom!" I hope so Baby Girl.

Flower necklaces, crowns, and bracelets

2011-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Every girl (I think) should have the experience of carefully lacing flowers together to make necklaces, crowns, and bracelets. It takes a lot of concentration to not brake the stem completely as you poke a hole at the end of each in order lace the next bloom through, but the pay off is great. They are so sweet, whimsical, and reminiscent of fairies. I remember as a little girl loving making these with my cousins and my little sister and they are still some of the fondest memories I have from my childhood. Recently, my sister paid the girls and I a visit, so we went to our favorite park and made some together, wowing my very girly four year old. Full circle indeed! In the past we've made a simpler version of these crowns, but she really seemed to appreciate the chain version. Charlotte seems to enjoy the activity as much as I did. She isn't quite at the point where she can make the holes herself, but she is all about hunting for the perfect flowers and designing this unique jewlery before asking for help with assembly. Such sweet, girly fun art.

Puppet Show Box

2011-07-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

My girls have been gone a few days at Gramma and Grampa's while I have been recovering from a minor, but painful surgery...so we made sure to have an artful reunion. This evening, after hugs and nighttime routine, we put on a puppet show with my old Rainbow Bright dolls.

Just a decorated box with a hole cut in the front of it = awesome theater!

Penelope and I enjoyed coloring the curtains and very appropriate rainbow striped stage (her idea)...

Charlotte was busy coloring a "scrap" piece of cardboard for Mommy's popcorn (her idea). Genius! She knows her mama all too well...

Then we lined up the dolls for our show. This is Charlotte in the moment. She's announcing the actors. She even used her echo microphone which I didn't clear picture of in between giggles. She wasn't into posing, so an action photo was all I could snap. =)

This evening we had a meet and greet of all the characters, a brief circus (each character got a chance to ride a My Little Pony jumping "super high") and then they all decided to take a nap. What will be in store for these sweet dolls tomorrow? =) Who would guess a box and markers could inspire such spontaneous fun? What a nice homecoming. =)

Character Play

2011-07-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

Just an evening at the Curry House. Here are my girls involved in character play with their awesome Daddy. Jesse and Woody are ridin' Bullseye to their heart's content. Mama is trying out her Prospector voice to complete the Round-up Gang. They keep trying to add parts of the story to their "show" and don't know they're saddling up for being good readers and writers in the process. =0 My kids just love creative dramatic play. Can you see it on their faces?! =) Yeeeee-haaa!

Secret Chalk Drawings

2011-07-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte and I made "Secret Chalk Drawings" at our favorite park before it got WAY TOO HOT to be outside. We simply covered a block area with chalk, covered it with some sand (ours was a bit wet, which added some texture), and then revealed a picture with some finger drawing...what fun! Yay for summer! And yay for activities that don't require lots of moving on the part of a very preggo Mommy. =)

We had some fun experimenting. Here is "X marks the spot"...

A simple heart...

And finally: a flower. We are definetly doing this again!

Painting with Ice

2011-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

This week has been perfect for painting with ice--something I have noticed a lot of preschools do in class during the hot months. So I filled our star/flower ice tray with some water and food coloring, let it sit in the freezer for a day, and pulled it out for some fun afternoon painting. The girls were interested from the start, touching the ice, and experimenting with finger painting as well as painting directly with the ice. They loved the mess and the cool touch of the ice. It definetly was a recipe for silliness! They made so much art and had a ball!

Going Wild with Toilet Paper

2011-06-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Daddy had an unexpected meeting and Mama was worn out (nearing the end of pregnancy here). So, I thought of something super simple: letting children play with a roll of toilet paper. After all, toilet paper is cheap and easy to clean up too! So, a little worried that they might duplicate the experience in the house later on their own (or later as middle schoolers on someone else's house!) but even more interested in doing something fun, we were off to teepee our backyard.

At first, the girls looked at me cautiously wondering what to do, but then Mama showed them to flip the toilet paper up for maximum effect. Soon the backyard had many toilet paper trails. Penelope (2 1/2) shockingly didn't want much to do with the mess. Ironically, this is the child that usually feeds on the enjoyment of a good mess made. Perhaps it was because I gave her permission? Or maybe she knew intuitively that it wouldn't make too much of a mess. =) Penny moved instead to our dirt mound and was content on letting Mama and Charlotte cover the backyard with white. After a few minutes of trail-making, Charlotte began to feed the toilet paper through the yard equipment, tried to make a dress from it, and even gathered it all up in our baby swimming pool for some soft throwing fun. Not a bad evening indeed. Ah, the freedom of summer.

Going to Town on a Paint Kit

2011-06-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

My girls had a blast painting with a paint kit the other afternoon. They painted in and outside of the lines, each enjoying the freedom of being let go to create (no glue to spill, no starch to drink, no dry leaves to throw). Mama was able to do the dishes and both girls were occupied (and quite happy I might add) doing what they wished with their little sets. I guess not everything has to have a new technique or twist. Maybe a little pre-designed art is healthy once in a while. You can tell these were crowd pleasers at the very least. Maybe I need to keep more of them in my arsenal to get things done around here. Ha!

Blot Art, Looking at the Clouds, and It Looked Like Spilt Milk

2011-06-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Let's Explore It had a great literature-based project I have been wanting to do with my kiddos for a while and we finally found the time to do their blot art suggested. However, we did things a little differently: instead of using cotton balls and simply just white tempera, we pressed together all the colors of the rainbow in delight.

We began by breaking out one of our favorite children's books It Looked Like Split Milk, got the paint out, and arranged blankets out on the front lawn for cloud viewing.

In the book, children are invited to use their imagination to think about what each of the shapes look like. So, one afternoon, we did the same with some paint blot art and by peering at the clouds with some guessing about what each blob resembled.

First the girls went to town, splattering paint on their papers as they wished. Then, they folded up their papers (hamburger or hotdog style, their choice), pressed firmly...and revealed their beautiful blot art.

Then came the imaginative part: the brain-crunching business of deciding what each painting resembles. Finally after some deliberations, we decided we had (in order) a bird jumping on a trampoline, a bright elephant with no body, and Mickey with blue hands (from painting no doubt)! The guessing is by far the best part!

Then came some cuddling on the front lawn and the classic pointing to clouds and talking about their shapes. What fun!

Flower Popsicle Stick Puppets

2011-06-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Today we made Flower Popsicle Stick Girls. Charlotte made smiley faces on popsicle sticks and added flowers for dresses, hair, and hats. The jacaranda flowers from our neighborhood were the inspiration ("They look like hats Mama!"), but we used all kinds of flowers from our front yard. Charlotte used her imagination experimenting with using the flowers upsidedown, right side up, tying them together, and cutting holes in them to poke the popsicle person through. Here are two of the puppets that survived the fun. What pretty, fragrant, nature puppets. What's not to like?

Rose Petal Perfume

2011-06-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our garden is beautiful, so we decided to take full advantage and make some Rose Petal Perfume just like family from The Imagination Tree. All we needed was some beautiful, aromatic petals, water or oil, a nice day for garden exploration, and some imagination.

First step: gather the ingredients! The girls meticulously chose their favorite colorful petals that have adorned the ground beneath our mammoth bushes (no need to pick flowers if they are littered all over the yard anyway)! Both Penny and Charlotte enjoyed crating a variety in their cups full of vivid red, pink, white, and muted pink cast off petals.

Then, the mixing began! We tried the concoction with oil and with water and didn't really see (or smell) much of a difference. The vigorous stiring took a good deal of time and love...Once they were finished, they sure were proud!

Charlotte made a few different versions of course. And the hilarious part: when she was finished, she dumped the fluid in her hair. I'm still not sure if this was an indication of the extent of her pride or an application of the story we read recently at church, the annointing of Jesus in Mark 14:3. HA! That got a big laugh from me. What a wonderful day of imagination.

Fizzy Paint

2011-06-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today we tried something super messy! It is called fizzy paint and boy is it! Here are the ingredients for Quirky Mama's great idea: 1 box of baking soda, 1/2 cup cornstarch, food coloring, and warm (almost hot water). We tweaked this a bit by adding vinegar now and again so that it was even more fizzy. We also worked inside rather than on the sidewalk. Perhaps that will be something we will try in the future.

The kids loved the fizz action and couldn't help but paint themselves with the concoction. Penelope loved to giggle when she felt the bubbles.

My girls also enjoyed making splatter art with the fizzy paint, watching the paint bubble with each drop. Charlotte was really in the zone here. Penny preferred to help Charlotte rather than work on her own. She loves her big sis so much.

Charlotte made some beautiful designs as we listened to the sizzling and jazz playing on our stereo. She was enjoying swirling, dabbing, mixing colors, and creating with the bright bubbly paint.

After helping her big sis for a bit and splashing some paint on her own paper, Penny kept pleading for, "More bubbles Mommy!" So I decided to really make a mess and pour in the vinegar for a big surprise. We did this more than a dozen times. Ha! Then, Penny wanted to stick her hands straight into the paint (of course!) and make some handprint art...

Charlotte had more ideas...She asked for some more paper and began her brushing, splattering, circling, and fanning her brush onto her paper once again swaying to the music as she worked. Mmm: art, music, and science = lots of fun. What a hit this was!

Taking Mommy to a Little Girl's Beauty Shop

2011-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

We made one lazy morning busy with a container of hairbows and a comb. The girls opened their own beauty shop and Mommy was the client. Looks can be deceiving: this hairdo required much twisting, careful coordination, and hard work. Fine motor practice was the name of the game and pretend play was the mask. What girly fun indeed. Look at this masterpiece accomplished with love and much thoughtfulness.

Marshmellow and Toothpick creations

2011-05-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

An idea originally from Skip to my Lou, we recently made fun creative 3-D objects out of marshmellows and toothpicks in the Curry house. Yum! After some experimenting with how to push each toothpick into the marshmellows, my kids were pros at this kitchen art activity. Each structure was delicately created with love and then eaten with enthusiasm (of course!)-- what a fun way to have a snack in the afternoon!

Charlotte made a delicious rocket ship...

And Penelope made a yummy diamond...

Some "lollipop marshmellows":

And finally a toothbrush: Ha!!

Outdoor Green Color Match

2011-05-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our house is a mess due to painting rooms in order to get ready for our new bundle of joy. So, I decided to do something outside with my girls before bringing Charlotte to school today. I saw this idea a while back on Frugal Family Fun and picked up some green paint swatches while we were at the paint store in order to do a scavenger hunt for varying colors of green in nature. Here the girls are with their swatches discussing the differences. Penny was really into this part. =)

Charlotte took some of the classification very seriously indeed. Here she is in a few pictures debating which green fits the best.

We were amazed at how many different shades of green God has blessed this natural earth with! The challenge of finding at least one item that matched each Dutch Boy paint swatch shade was a little difficult, but we sure gave it the college try...or the preschool try with a little help from Mama. =)

Marble Painting with a carafe

2011-05-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Brick by Brick featured a neat twist on painting with marbles using a pitcher instead of a box a while back. Since we've been avoiding unnecessary purchases in the Curry house, I put the idea on the backburner since we have (had) a prized glass pitcher (not a good mix with painting by centrifigal force). But, unlucky for me (but lucky for the girls!), the pitcher found its demise recently by collecting a hairline fracture somehow. I found these neat carafes at Walmart for a little over two dollars and instantly thought of this idea. They are plastic and a good replacement for our kid-centered life these days.

The idea for the activity is simple: curl a piece of paper inside the carafe or pitcher, put marbles in the center with some paint, and get to shaking and rolling! =)

My girls weren't really a fan of the fact that they couldn't see their paintings in the making, so we nixed the idea of using paper and went bold with painting inside the carafe. I used to think that Hungry Hungry Hippos was the loudest ways to play with a child. Not the case: as the marbls bounced off the sides and spinned to make art, Charlotte found herself covering her ears and watching from the sidelines. Penny loved the noise! Surprise, surprise. We even got the chance to talk about centrifigal force and Charlotte even connected the activity to our recent Spinning Penny activity from Steve Spangler's Science. Music to my ears.

And, here are the lovely (physical) outcomes of their fun...

Balloon Faces, Spinning Pennies, and Wiggly Helium Balloon Science

2011-05-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

We had some science fun around here starting with some helium, a few balloons, and some pennies. Steve Spangler's Science had this wonderful idea where you put a penny in a helium-filled balloon and then hold it between your fingers and watch it spin for practically an eternity. But that was just our starting point...

Well, as the book goes, if you give a mouse a cookie, he has all kinds of unending ideas for what comes next. And that pretty much describes what happened. I gave some artsy girls balloons and naturally they wanted to put faces on them...Naturally.

Then, finally, when the artsy stuff was out of their system, we tried the experiment. The Spinning Penny experiment was a success. I have to wonder if the name of the activity caught her attention. We held our penny-filled helium balloons and with a flick of our wrists, the pennies went flying. Like the Energizer bunny, they seemed to keep going and going and going...Penelope was entranced.

Then, something even more wonderful started. We flung our balloons up in the air (of course!) We watched them struggle to float and then wiggle to the floor. What delight this game brought, over and over. The wiggling action seemed to have really brought out some giggles and energy. So naturally we had to put some music on and add some silly wiggly dancing to our fun. Naturally.

Art with Spices

2011-05-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

I saw another wonderful sensory experience the other day on My Kids Make and I knew we just had to do it. This time it was Art with Spices. I started with about 10 basic spices that would have different looks, textures, smells, and tastes. I was hoping the kiddos would be interested in playing with their food as they worked! I think in the end, the girls made their artwork with pepper, salt, rosemary, garlic salt, sugar, cinnamon, oregano, steak seasoning, and tarragon.

We decided on making trees given the color scheme we were working with. First, we applied some glue for the tops of trees. Mommy did the glue part in hopes of not mixing glue with the spices still in the bottles! =) Penny enjoyed the shake action that most of the spices allowed for with their holey tops.

Charlotte, on the other hand, took her time, smelling and sometime tasting all the options. She was not a fan. I should say however that she never got to the sugar. Ha!

Penny tried two items I believe before stopping on the garlic salt. She decided it was yummy enough to want more and more and more and more...

Then, there was lots of sprinkling fun. Charlotte loved the rosemary ("It does look like a real life tree right Mama?") while Penny was interested in trying all the options (seemingly more interested in getting as much on her paper as possible, it was hard to get her to wait for the glue...)

Here are the finished mastepieces (yes, one is upsidedown). Our puffy clouds, once white, seemed to have gotten dark and ready for rain as the kids moved around their papers...I left their papers on the kitchen table to dry and hours later my kitchen smelled like a delicious meal was being made. Aromatherapy art. Ha!

Balloon Painting (a Rose Garden)

2011-05-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my girls and I had fun painting with balloons, a delightfully silly idea I got from Childcareland and Homemade Mamas. The girls enjoyed the novelty of it at first, reticently blotting and smeering images on their papers...

I started added more colors to their palettes and the experimenting started. It was trial and error: color mixing (green and red) and coloring mixing/swirling (green, red, and pink).

Charlotte really enjoyed the look of swirling the colors together and decided the colors looked a bit like roses (they did!) and so she started printing with the balloons carefully constructing a marvelous rose garden...

Meanwhile, my messy Penny was busy, busy, busy with her palette-- fingering the colors at first which inevitably led to hand smeering and of course clapping splatters of paint all over my white kitchen...She did produce wonderful giggles, which made the mess worth it...I think.

And back to Charlotte: deciding now to connect her roses with greenery with finger printing, she was definetly concentrating on the artistry of it all. It was funny to realize how different their personalities and ages was affecting their art: one technique and yet, two very different outputs. Charlotte's all about creation, while Penny is content just having a good time. Ha! Fun had by all indeed.

Impromptu Grocery Bag Tied Skirt

2011-05-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, we made use of all the grocery bags Mommy has been saving (over saving?) and made an impromptu little skirt. I just tied three bags together and then tied them around her waist. Then, I tied bags around the newly made belt, smoothing them down as I went---nothing super fancy. But, it isn't hard to impress a 2 1/2 year old! Penelope was the ultimate bag lady, as Mommy unloaded our booty from Walmart. Penny was so proud of her skirt she wanted to pose for a picture. Then, of course, there was twirling...

Musical Snap Painting with Rubberbands

2011-05-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Every child should have a chance to create art with musical snap painting! Wow, what mess; what fun. I've seen versions of this idea on a number of blogs, most notably from Teacher Tom, Irresistible Ideas for Play-based Learning, and Beansprouts Preschool. All you need is some paint, rubberbands, and something to wrap rubberbands around. I used the small boxes butter comes in and some braid rubberbands. I cut a rectagular windows from the tops of the boxes and slid folded paper into the boxes so Penny and Charlotte's art could be saved for little notes. Color by color, I applied paint to the rubberbands and let them strum away, creating music and splats with each snap. Here is joy captured...

And once the girls were finished with their "musical snapping", I slipped out the "canvases" for little notes to be sent later. They look a bit like the Pollock-inspired art we did last year. How lovely and what joyful smiles this artful project helped create.

Plastic Eggs as paint rollers and paint stampers

2011-05-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks now of Easter being over, we still have some stragglers from this wonderful holiday left around the house. So, following Ohdeedoh's fun idea, we just used some leftover plastic eggs for painting. It's never to late to have fun painting in a new way! They roll, they make good stampers (some are hotdog and some are hamburger cut), and they are a fun way to extend one of our favorite holidays. I think the girls enjoyed the open-ended activity and thrived on not being told what to do or how to create. Fun afternoon activity as we waited for Daddy to come home.

Water Bottle Flower Window Sun Catchers

2011-05-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

This week, we made these lovely Water Bottle Flower Window Sun Catchers. An idea from The Chocolate Muffin Tree, I was attracted to this craft because we always have water bottles on hand and because of its simplicity: just cut the top off and split the bottle according to the indents on the bottom of the bottle. Viola: a flower! I got the markers out and we had an easy project for the fam. Because Charlotte is so very into patterns, on many of the "petals," she made alternating patterns. On others, she tried her best to color with all her might. Now, for the taping to the windows to bring Spring into our home...=)

Happy Mother's Day PEN Flower Bouquet

2011-05-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

Just a little something for Mother's Day. My girls gave them to me early after a long day at a church event. The greatest surprise: the flowers are pens! Just wrap a pen to synthetic flowers with florest tape and then create a pot complete with a leaf note. What a wonderful, sweet, useful gift! Happy Mother's Day!

Hunting for circles in magazines

2011-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

I just hate throwing away magazines. When my husband and I are done perusing magazines, I set them aside for the kids to practice cutting and to do little art projects. Recently, we made a Magazine Person, another time we cut numbers out to paste in the letter "N", once we cut out stuff she likes for a special collage, and another time we used a magazine page as a different kind of texture for a paper collage. A few days ago, we hunted for circles (see above). I was surprised at how creative Charlotte was in finding circles in anything and everything. I think it will be fun to do this again with another shape and perhaps make a book.

Teacher Appreciation Card

2011-05-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

Without my camera, I have been lost on how to record Charlotte and Penelope's recent activities. But, here are is a sweet scanned in item. It is Teacher Appreciation Week and we've celebrated with bringing a garden-fresh boquet of flowers, cut oranges to share, and now something homemade.

This morning, we made Teacher Appreciation cards for Charlotte's teacher and teacher's aid. I saw this sweet idea made for Mother's Day (also a good idea!) on Brilliant Beginnings and substitited torn paper for egg shells leftover from Easter. Charlotte loved pressing down on the egg shells so that they were flat against the glue-laden heart on the card and organizing them so the colors were diversely distributed. I bet you can spot pieces of our favorite eggs from from the Easter blog post. =)

And the inside of the card...I wrote down some things she had to say about her teacher:

I hope her teachers love these cards as much as I do!

Artful Bathing

2011-04-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Since I left my camera at a relative's home during Eastertime, I thought I might take the chance to blog about one of my girls' favorite toys: Alex Toys' Dress Dolls. The dolls and clothes are all made out of foam, so they stick to the wall when they are wet. These simple, inexpensive toys have occupied Charlotte while I was nursing Penny, allowed us to talk about cool vs. hot weather clothing, helped the girls learn how to cooperate, and now they are telling simple stories in the tub together. The greatest part is that we have had this toy for well over two years and it continues to be a treasured toy in our home. Alex has done it again!

Pre-writing image-based storybooks

2011-04-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Mornings around the Curry House are permeated by requests for more food (my kids are big eaters before noon, not so much afterwards) and lots of drawing. Our copy paper was disappearing like crazy (at times leaving my poor husband scrambling to be able to print important documents). My solution: 4 x 6 note pads from Staples. After only a few days of using them, Charlotte began making her own pre-writing image-based storybooks.

They remind me a bit of the story mobiles we made a while back in church. Here are some of said stories grouped together. Let it be known she wasn't quite finished yet...

Here is a lovely story about ballet...

And one about going to the Descanso Gardens (a recent trip)...

I love that her mind is working to put together a story and then how carefully she thinks about beginning, middle, and end. She is very particular about this! And at the end, she always wants me to bind these stories for closure (simple staples work). I think after a bit of doing this, Charlotte might want to graduate to bigger, more elaborate versions!

X is for Xylophone, Xrays, X relay, X pretzels

2011-04-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Our playgroup is almost finished with its letter-based activities. If you have been following along, we did them out of order...so K is actually this Friday. X, however, has not been blogged about. What a beautiful afternoon it was we enjoyed!

The highlight was this vivid XYLOPHONE, an idea from Meet the Dubiens. Soft tinkling on glasses filled with various amounts of water with their differences highlighted by food coloring makes for a gorgeous and fun activity! I admit I cringed each time, afraid they'd break, but the kids were gentle and had a blast.

And a friend of mine brought a real XYLOPHONE for the kiddos to play with. One really neat thing about this one is that you can move the notes around. Here's a shot of Charlotte in concentration, trying to play a tune. Pretty much everything sounds glorious on this soft, delicate instrument.

The kids also made a colorful XYLOPHONE, arranging the pieces from smallest to largest. My friend who hosted was brilliant and cut the pieces differently...so none of the kids could cheat and look at their neighbor's art to see what order they go in. Anything with glue Penny adores, so this was a hit.

The host just happened to be a X-RAY technician, which was pretty cool. We talked about this at home and watched "Dry Bones" on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns2dkT2sIug. And then one with real x-rays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN9s5vs07WM&feature=related. We couldn't get enough! And a cartoon one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnhJ3IkLQ7s&feature=related. We used our imaginations about silly things that could be found on an x-ray. An apple in their hand or chest cavity respectively perhaps...

At playgroup, we put together this awesome foam skeleton as an extension activity Charlotte got for her birthday.

The host even made X pretzels! I wish I had photos, but unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of this either. Here is a link to the idea though from Just Keep Smiling.

At home, we did an X RELAY. No pictures, sorry. Here are the directions from A to Z Teacher Stuff:

Materials:

4 yardsticks
2 pieces of colored construction paper (could be scrap paper)

Plan:

Divide the class into 2 teams.
About five feet from each team, place a piece of colored construction paper. You may want to tape the paper to the floor so it will not move.
Lay a pair of yardsticks on each piece of paper.
At the signal, the first team member runs to the sticks, makes an X out of them, then runs to tag the next player.
The second player takes the sticks apart. The relay continues as team members "make and break the X."

Pretty full week I must say, especially when studying the letter X.

What is Resurrection Like Mama?

2011-04-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

As any mother knows, the questions just keep coming with preschoolers. We've had lots of talk of resurrection before, during, and after Easter around the Curry home. "What is resurrection like Mama?" is the main thrust. First, we started with heaven talk and being with Jesus, etc. But what really seemed to stick was a metaphor: it is sort of like how a catapillar turns into a butterfly. Life is completely different. Life is beautiful now, but it will be transcendentally beautiful with Christ. This conversation prompted art, but of course! Now looking at the finished product, it seems the black and white should be for the catapillar (our life on earth) and the butterfly should be in the radiant color...but perhaps she had some reason for this. "I just like it that way Mama," was the reply I got. Fine with me, I'm just pleased she was really thinking about theology in a meaningful way. Heady stuff indeed, especially for a four year old. =)

E is for Easter Eggstravangaza: trying fun dying methods and some playgroup hunting fun

2011-04-23T10:01:00.000-07:00

We got fancy this year with our eggs! Here are our favorite methods for dying eggs and how to do them. 1st: Marblizing with Shaving Cream, 2nd: Glue Resist and Rubber Bands Combined, 3rd: Dye-Glue-Glitter. But wait! We did many more methods; these are just the best. Read on.

One of the first methods we tried was egg rolling, an idea we adapted from Tinker Lab (they used wooded eggs). We did this a long time ago on a larger scale with marbles, golf balls, and other things. It was lots of fun, so I thought it would be fun to bring this activity back with a holiday twist.

Penny loved the action of using the turkey bayster in our baking soda project so much that I broke out the medicine drops for a little extra fun. She dripped each desired color onto her egg and watched it trail down for a fun effect.

Then, we wanted to see what all the rave was about and used rubber band resist for a few eggs, an idea that is everywhere but is simply beautiful on Sandy Toes and Popsicles. We used braid rubber bands to ensure they wouldn't slip off. It would be really fun to do an adult version of these! On a side note, Charlotte (in a classic preschool moment) literally put the rubber bands around an egg at first in an attempt to follow directions. Hilarious! When she began to wrap the eggs, I realized what a practice in dexterity she was getting! It took a while for her to get it, but what happiness when she did! I love it when they are proud of themselves. =)

Following the lead of Tot School lead, we returned to one of our favorite cheap and messy projects with Shaving Cream and Food Coloring! We did this first the classic way last year and made many cards. This year we tried it with eggs. We put shaving cream in a pan with some dye and vinegar and rolled 'em around to our heart's content. This was a favorite of Penny and Charlotte both. And it topped our list in results too!

Then we made some beautiful glitter eggs, mixing glitter with the dye and using a paint brush to apply. Charlotte calls these "Silly Sparklers" and has a face to go with it...but of course.

Penny seemed to agree that this new name was perfect for this method. Lots of giggles ensued. I looked away for one minute and Penny put all the glitter on her egg. I guess the jokes on me because her egg got #3 on our list. Quite stunning!

Here is our basket of new technique eggs. And there are still so many more to do (which will be saved for next year probably...I've had my fill of vinegar and eggs...) Google the following other techniques if you are up for it: melted crayon eggs, naturally dyed eggs, tie dye eggs, confetti (inside and out) eggs and tissue-bleeding eggs. Maybe next year!!

Late that night, Mommy started on yet another egg project for our E is for Easter Egg playgroup: Egg Brownies! This was a cute project from Alisa Burke (the original uses cake, but I'm not a cake person)...I must warn this one was not without its fuss and mistakes! I started out wanting to do lots of designs and I wanted to put them on skewers with a pretty bow. Let's just say that didn't work out. Instead, I stuck to a simple, but pretty darn adorable (and yummy) design!

I made three boxes of brownies (only two survived the pretty process) and smashed the brownies while hot. Then, when they were still hot but cool enough to touch, I used a clean plastic egg to mold the brownies into an egg shape. I flattened the bottom once I realized the skewers just wouldn't work and I decorated the tops with strawberry frosting and sprinkles. The basket and fake grass made them look festive, but they looked disappointingly like cupcakes! But, they are brownies I swear! Dense, but yummy brownies nonetheless. I will say that they were a hit and got takers the minute I put them out! =)

We had lots of fun in our playgroup hunting for eggs too! Plastic with chocolate-free this time. Penny is scolding me here for attempting to "share" her candy. Love that Penelope! The kids gorged on gummy worms, stuck stickers everywhere, tinkered with tiny toys, and relished each surprise. And Easter is not yet over!! I love this joyous time (the work is worth it!!)

Fabric-covered Plastic Easter Eggs

2011-04-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

We have really been stocking up on tons of fabric odds and ends. So, when I saw this artful Easter activity on Alisa Burke, I knew my kids would love it and it would requre very little planning. I just picked up some plastic eggs which we are ROLLING in ;)...and gave the kids glue and small scraps. The result: small dexterity practice necessary for writing and other work requiring manipulation of fingers and sweet little fabric eggs. Plus, we are regiving life to these plastic eggs in honor of Earth Day! Yay!

Easter Scavenger Hunt

2011-04-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

The last few days I have been getting the feeling that my girls have been having a whole lot of fun with eggs and not much emphasis has been placed on the real meaning of Easter. Don't get me wrong; I love eggs and candy, but I love Jesus all the more. So this evening, my girls and I had an Easter scavenger hunt which was adapted from I Can Teach My Child. I wrote out a five hints of where to find these items ("These leaves like the palms used to praise Jesus can be found where we snuggle every morning, This wooded cross can be found where we watch Dora and Mickey play, This bandaid which couldn't even fix Jesus' owies can be found where we get mail, This rock like the stone covering the tomb where Jesus was buried can be found where we keep the cheese, This rose symbolizing the new life we get in Jesus can be found where we brush teeth each evening"). Then, I taped these items accordingly. The result: a fun evening activity and a simple way to talk about the story of Christ...and His gift of eternal, renewed life...and that is sweeter than any candy.

Jesus Entered Jerusalem with Hosanna and Palms

2011-04-20T14:15:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we read the Palm Sunday reading from our children's Bible and talked about how people worshipped Jesus by waving palm leaves and putting their coats in the road. I brought in some real palm branches and we reenacted the scene. Kids always respond to dramatic play. Then, we places the palms under a white sheet of paper and rubbed peeled crayons over them. To make the image clear, they then traced the palm picture. After that a wash a watercolors made this picture of palms extra joy-filled. And of course, the watercolors resisted the crayon. Beautiful!

Color Mixing with Plastic Eggs

2011-04-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Found another sweet Easter Project on Teach Preschool. This one involves science, color mixing to be exact. We tackled this fun activity to run the clock out at night...=) We start with a tub filled with a little water, koolaid, and some plastic eggs. Note: Teach Preschool used food coloring, but we wanted to make ours yummy!

We put the lemonade (yellow) in one egg, mixed around...Then, we added cherry (red) koolaid powder into another egg and stirred...

The result was orange (as you know)!! YUMMY orange! =) Penny couldn't help herself...her head went straight in before Mommy could run to get some cups! What a fun, delicious way to put science into Easter celebrations!

Fill in the Details Magazine Person Puzzle

2011-04-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Done with all those parenting magazine and hate to just throw them out? Last night, my girls made pictures of people out of magazine cut-outs. They began by cutting out eyes, a nose, a mouth, hair, clothes, interesting accessories such as glasses, etc... This was good scissor practice of course. The girls also enjoyed the hunt. Finding the perfect eyes or neat hairdo was on their mind. Penny needed considerable help with this part, but she loved picking out items pictures. I found it especially interesting that my kids chose almost entirely from advertisement photos because they were the most eye-catching.

I could see Penny was improving with her scissor grip and enjoying the cause-effect that two year olds love. I wonder how long it will be before she can cut out items on her own. For now, there was lots of practice slits, and tearing...I helped with the cutting out of selected items. After they had a good amount of pieces for their magazine puzzle person, I gave them a white piece of paper to start assembling...

At first, there was some confusion. The eyes were different sizes or the hair was just too big for the picture...

After putting together a person, they added some details (see first photo). Charlotte drew a supurb butterfly, high heels (so funny!), grass, limbs, a hen laying an egg (don't really know where that came from?!), and some fluffy clouds "showing a chance of rain" (they've been studying weather in preschool).

Penny giggled as she thought about what to draw and Daddy helped with this part (see turtle, ground, balloons, crude birds). Penelope licked her lips and did her best with a butterfly (wonderful pink blob under ground). This is such an easy project to return to with different themes; I love that it encourages imagination, puzzle skills, and scissor manipulation with strengthens little fingers for dexterity. No bad for impromptu art. =)

Speckled Painting with Plastic Eggs

2011-04-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Ever notice that plastic eggs have holes in them? Yesterday my girls and I discovered they make GREAT paint shakers! I saw this activity on Teach Preschool and I knew instantly I wanted to try it with my girls because it is so perfect for the Easter season, requires things moms all have at their disposal right about now, perfect for nearly any age, and can last as long as you wish.

The idea is so simple and genius I wish I had thought of it myself! Open up a plastic egg and put some tempera paint and liquid starch in the largest portion of the egg. If you don't have liquid starch, water will work (but not as well I found). I imagine liquid watercolors would work wonderfully as well, but we didn't try that. My girls really enjoyed shaking the egg to speckle-up their egg-shaped paper. We passed the colors back and forth, refilling as necessary, so it turned into a sharing activity too!

Something else happened too...which I sort of suspected would with my youngest. Here Penelope is eyeing the paint, being told no, and then discovering a new way to make a bigger (therefore, more fun) mess...

After some slippery tries, she was able to crack open the egg and and really enjoy the sensory experience (Penny's expertise I am finding...)

Her face says it all: What joy! And this is indeed what Easter is about right?! I decided to reward her efforts at working on the egg by letting her squeeze and play with the liquidy paint a bit. How can you stop play that makes them so happy?!

Here's her singing, "Itsy Bitsy, Messy Spider." She may the smartest one after all. Ha!

And here's Charlotte, happy to follow the rules, covering her egg as much as possible...stopping only to ask for a new pastel color. What a fun activity!

A is for Apple Tree, Aliens, Absorb, Airplane, Animals with Stamp Coloring, Arrow Walk, Aluminum Art, Ark, Alphabet Hunt, and Alice and Wonderland

2011-04-12T11:23:00.000-07:00

A stands for a lot! This week we were very artful and full of learning with our A activities. Believe it or not, I still wasn't able to get all the activities I had planned in. Oh well, for another time. We need to get back to Easter celebratory fun for sure!

This APPLE TREE project kept us busy while Daddy was out having bonding time with Grampa alone. First, we made the apples out of Cherrios by painting them carefully. The kids started out by picking up each piece of cereal and they quickly learned it was much easier (and less messy!) to just lightly stab the "o"s with their paint-filled brush. We put the apples aside to dry and then began on the leaves.

To make the leaves of the apple tree, we gathered some leaves from outside and used stamp pads to make realistic prints. Charlotte really played around with the technique to get the best stamps...pressing hard, smoothing the leaf out on the paper, using key fingers, etc...

She finally decided on pressing on the leaf and then carefully smoothing it out. Penny tried a few times and then got back to snacking on her after-dinner carrots. =)

Once we were satisfied with how many leaves were on our tree, we made the trunk by stamping hands and arms. Of course, this was a hit with both the girls. Surprisingly, I was able to keep this part under control and they made little mess, going to the bathroom to rinse now and then.

Finally, to complete the project, we took out our apples set aside from earlier and glued them as desired...

In playgroup, we made these lovely ALIEN headbands, an idea which I found on No Time For Flashcards. Simply make a band that fits your child's head. Add some construction paper circles for highlight and glue on as many eyes as you want. These eyes can come from the antennae or be on the headband. The antennae can be twisted or fling out wildly. It is up to you and your child's imagination! The kids loved the open-ended character of this project and so did I.

Before nap, we set up a fun science experiment, highlighting the concept of ABSORPTION, a simple and fun activity I found on one of my favorite blogs Irresistible Ideas for Play-Based Learning. We set up two cups with one slightly higher than the other. Then, we put APPLE cider in the first cup (just to go with the "A" theme) and connected the two cups with a paper towel...

A few hours later, it was clear that the apple cider was ABSORBED completely by the towel and "walked" from one cup to the other. Charlotte learned that absorption is when "something sucks up liquid". She is getting more and more interested in these fun experiments. We might have a scientist on our hands (she reminds me first she wants to be a ballerina, then a farmer, then perhaps a scientist...)!

Later in the week, we made AIRPLANES out of paper towel holders, a cute idea from Mommy Teacher 123. We, carefully cut slits for the wings (we did two sets for balance) and then, we made a compartment for dolls (a little addition I knew my girls would love). With a few decorations made with markers, these babies were ready for flight!

There was lots of interest in playing with these easy crafts. Charlotte even requested some fabric to glue onto her airplane. The girls took their dollhouse people for many trips, varied and interesting (San Diego, the forest, and "far, far, really far away where you can't see."

I can't take any credit for the next project; my little artsy girl Charlotte came up with it on her own one morning when I got out the stamps and markers, letting her go to town with whatever she wanted to create. The result: ANIMALS drawn and colored in with stamps! My favorite is the giraffe, a monkey, a zebra, an alligator, a flamingo, a parrot, and even a meerkat (one of her favorite stops at our local zoo). She was really creative with this unique technique! She drew each of the animals and then used her small stamp pads to color in the animals.

For a nice change of pace, the weather has been a little nicer around here...so we took advantage of the sun and did some dice walkin', following ARROWS to give us directions. This idea is from The Guerrilla Art Kit, but you can download the template from Disney's Family Fun website.

At church, we made ALUMINUM ART storms to illustrate the story of Jesus Calming the Storm. I blogged about that experience here. The foil made lovely shiny lightening bolts and provided a new material to work with as I told this very powerful story in which Christ showed us His power over even the weather, giving us reasonable assurance we can come to Him anytime we are afraid and pray for protection and courage to get through the situation.

We completed the week with a simple classic ALPHABET hunt (a is for apple, b is for Barbie, c is for cookie cutter...) from Love That Max and family movie night, in which ALICE and Wonderland was enjoyed by all. What a nice way to end a busy week!

Jesus Calmed the Storm: Boats, Water Play, and Stormy Art

2011-04-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

Today in Children's Church, we had lots of hand's on activities to illustrate the pericope of Jesus calming the storm. First, we started with a basic picture of the storm elements: clouds (cotton balls), rain (glitter, construction paper drops), lightening (made with foil), and thunder (I shook aluminum foil for sound effects). As the kids worked dilligently to create their storm picture, I read the story for our classroom Bible. We talked about what might have made the disciples afraid of the storm and how they might have responded when Jesus told the storm to stop. Naturally, that led to a discussion of what makes us afraid (spiders, smoke alarm beeps, Mommy leaving) and how we can pray at any time for Jesus to protect us.

After a brief prayer in which we asked God to remind us to pray for help when we are dealing with a situation that makes us afraid and to help us know and believe that God is in control of our lives, we made lovely sail boats and stick people that hold on to the boats. Note: the sails are made of foam with a straw weaved through it to hold it up on a sponge. The person is made of a few pipecleaners, wrapping paper (for clothes) and a wood disk for its head.

We then made a storm cloud (paper, cotton balls glued for the clouds, construction paper randrops, and string to hold it and the raindrops. Each child had the opportunity to hold the storm cloud and shout, "Stop!" as Jesus did, showing us that He is in control of all things. I giggled especially when I was reinforcing the lesson at this time, asking Jordan (age 3), "Who is the most powerful person?" His response, "Ace!" (affectionate name for his grandfather). In fact, I was looking for Jesus...

Below the cloud, was a tub of shallow water filled with the boats and the children furiously worked to blow air with their straws so that their boats would move as they would in a storm. many of them were knocked over and lots of bubbles made the effect realistic! Many giggles here! The kids loved taking turns directing the storm to stop and then to jump back into the making of the storm.

*Crafts taken from Big Book of Bible Crafts and Bible Crafts and More respectively.

As an extension of this activity, we played a little Jesus Says, "freeze!" (tag). Here are Charlotte and Penelope taking their turn as Jesus as the other children danced to "I'm a Little Lovebug" and "I am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N" as well as "Shine, Jesus Shine."

What an active, fun morning we had at church today. The kids left with the reminder: You can pray for courage and for God to protect you at any time. Remember how powerful Jesus was when He calmed the storm!

Fabric-covered cardboard eggs and talk of "New Life"

2011-04-09T23:50:00.000-07:00

Contrary to my pastor husband's wishes that we follow the stations of the cross in teaching the story of Jesus' life in the proper order, we have begun the celebration of Easter with crafts galore. Here is a super easy (and not messy!) craft I saw on El Hada de Papel via my favorite craft-sharing group, The Crafty Crow. With a few tweeks, we made it our own and began the rather hairy business of explaining the meaning of Easter to our girls with talk of New Life.

First, we started with egg-shaped cut pieces of cardboard for a sturdy surface. I thought that the kids would get less frustrated this way (no bending, ripping) and cardboard comes in abundance around here so we might as well recycle and reuse!

Then, I got out my trusty fabric box (cut up old clothes that are no longer wearable find their home here) and made thin pieces (some straight, some curvy) for the kids to glue straight onto their "eggs." El Hada de Papel used yarn instead, but the end product looks very similar. We also used these wonderful glue bottles that have a brush built in on its tip, a lovely gift from a good friend that has made glue less messy around here (small amounts always used!). Both girls designed their eggs with little or no help, so Daddy and I were able to discuss how an egg is a symbol of New Life, something we get with Jesus' resurrection and the promise of our own one day.

Once completed, all that was necessary was to snip the sides. Daddy helped Penelope and Charlotte tackled this part on her own much to my surprise. And now, we have beautiful eggs adorning our Spring fireplace, reminding us of the fast-approaching day we celebrate our Lord's victory over evil, proof of His nature and loving message, and the promise of New Life in the future. Amen and amen; I love Easter!

Patterning with Fingerfoods

2011-04-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

My little Charlotte eats at a snail's pace, taking one bite in between stories, jokes, and giggles. Here is one "activity" that goes well with most lunch/snacks of the fingerfood variety: patterning with your food. Giving permssion to play with your food just once a day with a fun math twist might keeps both mom and child happy. In between bites, Charlotte is constructing a two hotdog, one carrot, two hotdog, one carrot... pattern as she nibbles on her food after school and before nap. And all the while, she tells me different possibilities and talks about her day! =)

DIY Find It! Game

2011-04-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

Before preschool messed with our schedule, we used to go to Borders' Preschool and Toddler Reading Time and I would peruse the kid section, occasionally buying some toys and games (that's the point of the program right?!) Anyway, there was this game I always thought was clever called Find It! that I just loved. I then set out to make my own with the girls and after way too many times of seeing the game, I finally did it.

It's pretty simple. First, get a soda bottle or something similar such as a jar and fill it with a filler (we used sand, a friend of mine used small rocks, other tiny fillers can be used of course). Then, hunt around for small toys (finally they have a home!!) and stick them in. Shake, roll, shake some more. Glue the top on and let your child roll it on its side and "discover" all the fun things inside.

I was amazed at the popularity of the DIY toy. It has been so popular Charlotte even showcased it at her preschool during her presentation about what she likes (it made the list along with princess and fairy costumes as well as playdates with friends and family!).

Penny loves rolling the bottle slowly and exclaiming loudly when she sees something "peeking" and then gets that concentrated look as she very carefully rattles the bottle to make it reveal itself...

"Mommy, a stingray!" Yup, she's a beach lover indeed. Can't wait until it gets a little warmer...but we're still donning turtlenecks now and then.

"Get the dino Mommy!" and "Ooooooooh, pretty!" This little gem has been a great way to get my little munchkins to express their thoughts and sit still after rough housing. Thanks Find It for the idea!

Having a very happy unbirthday everyday!

2011-04-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Penny and I have been taking advantage of the two hours Charlotte is in school and I've been intentionally making sure there is time to play with her with educational toys as I did with her big sis. Here is a shot of her putting away one toy to take out another. Te new toy is yet again from Lakeshore Learning: Counting Cakes. She is getting pretty good at taking out and putting away her toys. With any luck, this trend will continue...

I'm not really sure why, but this toy has been a hit for nearly every kid who has come over for a playdate, so I thought I would blog a little about it. The concept is simple: each colored cake has a given number of holes in the top for plastic candles and a corresponding number printed on the side prominently.

Penny adores counting the candles and arranging them carefully and of course, singing "Happy Birthday" to no one in particular.

Then, of course, she needs to blow out the candles. This time she was 5. According to her, "No Charley not 5, Penny going 5." Jealousy perhaps?

And play starts again... What a simple, sweet toy that teaches counting, fine motor skills, language development, and free play!

Beaded and Weaved Yarn Heart Thank Yous

2011-04-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

We are rich with scrapbooks full of paintings, drawings, and crafts made by my little growing artists, so I love to take advantage of the opportunity to make something for someone else to take home. The kids love to give something they have worked on as well; I can tell it gives them a great deal of pride to give at a time when they don't have the ability to buy things or write notes expressing their love to others. So, Mama took lots of pictures (for the memories saved on this blog) and happily directed them in this craft of Beaded and Weaved Yarn Heart Thank Yous from the inventful Maryann Kohl in the book Preschool Art.

First, I cut shapes out of cardboard with little indents to hold the yarn. A big one for big sister and a small one for the smaller artist. They were excited to get started after their usual free play time outside (yes, Charlotte always dresses for the occasion!)

Then, I cut long pieces of varigated rainbow yarn out for each of my munchkins to string beads and bells of their choice on, taping the end of the yarn for easy stringing.

Then, with some direction, the girls began stringing! Penelope (2) really surprised me with how much she could do on her own! Talk about practicing fine motor skills...they were quiet with concentration. So cute indeed.

Then, came the fun part: the wrapping of the beaded yarn onto the heart-shaped cardboard. They chose one or two beads for each revolution, sliding them into the desired place. This step required more help on my part. I helped holding the cardboard and directed them to empty notches on the cardboard. Finally, Daddy even needed to jump in (one-on-one help kept attention and helped avoid frustration.) Once they were finished, they had beautiful (and cheap!) little thank yous to give on their own. One cannot deny the pride they have in giving to others...especially when it comes to their art. =)

Construction Track Painting

2011-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick way to let your kid get loose and have fun with art: paint with the wheels of cars, trains, buses, and any other play vehicles you can get your hands on. We did this a while back at church for a Fourth of July "God Bless America" flag last year, but this year Charlotte played with neon paints on black paper for a new sensory experience.

I noticed how she really enjoyed watching a construction site a few days ago, as the brightly colored vehicles moved back and forth to do their business, so this was a fun way to extend that happenstance field trip. What messy, playful, and undirected fun!

Drawing our own BAD CASE OF THE STRIPES and finding comfort in our own identity

2011-03-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today Charlotte and I did some art on a tracing of her body after reading David Shannon's very imaginative Bad Case of the Stripes. In the book, the main character Camilla Cream is stricken with a variety of illnesses including (as the name would imply) a bad case of the stripes. Her skin changes from one thing to the next and puzzles doctors and professionals. It is only until she admits who she really is (a girl who likes lima beans) that she is cured of her feathers, roots, and tails. Of course, the moral of the story is to not be afraid of being yourself, even if you think others won't approve, or you will be the one who suffers. The funny thing is that we read this book weeks ago and she keeps talking about it. Apparently, it made an impression...So, I thought, maybe it is time for a literature-based project especially since this book so obviously lends itself to art.

Charlotte and I traced her body on butcher paper and then drew a variety of colorful items that might appear on her (in the book world) if she were trying to just please others...

We started with the stripes on her hands as featured in the book. Then, maybe a bad case of rings, Dora the Explorer, or the ocean...

Or a bad case of necklaces, polka dots, or Spongebob Squarepants...

Or a bad case of squares, a beautiful rose garden, or lots of cars...

As I write this, I can't help but wonder what adults--what I might have a "bad case of" from time to time. In other words, how do I do myself harm by trying to be someone that I am not? Who do I try to be and in what situations? What a wonderful lesson David Shannon has given Charlotte and I in this captivating book full of vivid illustrations. This book made an impression on more than just Charlotte.