Anemone Ocean Craft

The children had a great time with our anemone ocean craft. While this is often done with toothpicks, it is safer with straws for the preschoolers, and I think the colors look much better.

There is SO much learning going on. It is much more than just a craft/art project. Advanced learning objectives discussed farther down.

Salt dough is 1 part salt, 1 part water and 2 parts flour. 

For EACH child, we used: 

1/2 C water

1/2 C salt

1     C flour

This was probably twice as much as needed for the anemone craft, but it allowed for more possibilities for creation and the probability of losing some to the floor.

Such a clean start...

The children put the 1/2 C water into their bowls, then chose 1-2 colors to place in their water. They squeezed out 2-3 drops each. Then mixed.

We worked on the concept of full and leveling.

After mixing in the bowl, they dumped out on the table.

A sensory explosion.

Rainy day with the doors and windows open, not the best environment for doing this, so it did need some additional flour. They didn't really believe me that it would get un-sticky. 

But it did.

They played with it for a while before I gave them the straws and scissors. I knew it would be a more hands-off activity once those came out, and I wanted them to really get the feel of the dough and the opportunity to manipulate it.

The straws have a tendency to fly everywhere when snipped, so it was a treasure hunt in the art room with pieces flying everywhere. 

They played with the dough for quite a while, stamping circles and making holes in it with the straws. In the last five minutes, I had them form it into a ball and place the straw pieces into it as an anemone. 

To dry, I left them for the rest of the day on the table, then I put them onto the top of our craft supply carts, which have a perforated metal plate, allowing air circulation to the bottom for more rapid drying. 

Last Year's

We were in no hurry for them to dry, so we just left them there for a week. If we had needed them dry quicker, I would have put them in the oven overnight on the lowest setting.

ADVANCED LEARNING

The first thing we did was taste all the ingredients and discuss the taste and texture, working adjectives. Mr. G thought the flour tasted like Cheerios. We spelled out SALT, FLOUR, WATER, STIR, MIX, DROP

Before starting, we discussed proportions and whole vs. half.  We discussed how our foot was the same size as our forearm. They have the same proportion, they are equal in size. 

I took two same sized pieces of paper and ripped one in two, and we discussed how the two together EQUALED, were the SAME as the one piece. Each small piece was 1 part of 2 that made a whole piece.

1/2 + 1/2 = 1

Disregarding liquid vs. solid measurements, we just used the same cups. So we looked at the measuring cups and the 1/2 and 1 on them and discussed how it took 2 of the 1/2 cups ADDED together to EQUAL the 1 cup. We spelled out the word CUP.

When we put the liquid food coloring into the water, we observed how the coloring laid in the water. Could we get the color back out? No? Then they mixed them up. We discussed whether or not they could get the food coloring back out now. No? Well then they had more than a MIXTURE, two things mixed together, they had a SOLUTION, two things mixed together than became one thing.

When they dumped their salt in, we discussed again. They could still see the salt and we discussed different ways they could get it back out and that it wasn't a SOLUTION, because you could still see the salt, so it was only a MIXTURE. [I didn't get into the fact that some of the salt dissolved and it was actually both. They ARE preschoolers...]

As they mixed it all together, we once again discussed mixtures and solutions and which one we were making.

Tags: homeschool, homeschooling, preschool, gifted, advanced, child, children, art, craft, salt dough, recipe, fine motor, sensory, cutting, scissor, skill, math, reading, language, science, theme, unit, ocean, sea, sculpt re, beach, summer

Rice/Salt "Sand" Art

Someone asked what craft activities could be done with baby food jars. This is a great one for the summer, a beach theme, ocean theme or rainbow theme.

Here's a sneak peak inside my baby food jar bin. We are STOCKED! This heavy bin is holding a gate up on one side, so I couldn't get it any wider. I have a few hundred in there, generously donated by my friend Kimber.

Sand is not friendly to my vacuum or plumbing, so we try to do that OUTSIDE. Plus, the pretty, very fine, CLEAN and sanitized white sand that holds color well that I would like for these types of projects, is VERY expensive at the pet store/aquarium shop. So instead, we use rice or salt.

I had a variety of rice and salt already colored, so I decided to use up what we all ready had available.

The salt is very uniform in size. To make it look more like sand, you can add Kosher or other larger grain salt to the finer stuff  for a greater variety to the texture.

The rice I place into my coffee/spice grinder...

Give it a whirl with a few shakes...and it comes out multi-textured and multi-shaded in color.

I set out the colored rice and salt in small containers.

They were given the sticker box to decorate their baby food jars on the outside.

Then they filled their jars using baby formula scoops, which are the perfect size. For this and a lot of things.

They LOVED this activity and were VERY proud of the results.

Since they are glass, I asked the parents to be observant of how they were handled by the children. I also did not have time to seal the lids on with hot glue or super glue, so that was left to the parents as well.

I went to Miss B's 5 yo birthday party last weekend and mom had them sitting in the kitchen window, a pretty rainbow against the sky.

Since this was a spur of the moment craft,
to have pics to show someone, I went back and spray painted the lids with a spray paint for metal. The red I had was clogged, so they got black and hammered silver. Normal paint will not stick to these slick lids, it needs to be for metal.

Tags: rice, salt, sand, art, craft, layered, layers, preschool, pre-k, child, care, daycare, child, children's, rainbow, beach, ocean, theme, unit, summer, fine motor, color, colors,

Seahorse Paper Plate Craft w/template

I couldn't find a good seahorse template for this craft, so I made one. It works on a normal size paper plate. I printed it out on cardstock for them to trace around.  Be warned, it isn't easy getting it to form to the contours of the plate, so this is one you'll have to help even older preschools with holding to trace.

The line is also fairly difficult to cut, so we used teacher-assist scissors.

The children chose the color of paint and painted both sides on consecutive days. On the afternoon of the second day, we embellished. It was one of the children's ideas to do the glitter on the tails. I offered sequins for the body, but they wanted to do finger painting instead.

Really, the opportunities for embellishment are endless and completely open to whatever resources you have on hand and the artistic direction of your students/child. 

These looked really cute hanging up.

SKILLS
Art: artistic expression, painting, cut, paste, multi media, 3D art
Science: discussion of why the seahorse tail is curled
Fine Motor: trace, cutting curves, paste, paint, placing embellishments
Tags: ocean, sea, theme, unit, preschool, daycare, child, care, art, craft, seahorse, paper, plate, trace, cut, glue, paste, paint, sequins, glitter, finger, template, printable, free, kid, kids

Starfish Texture Craft w/Template

The children enjoyed making these cute starfish crafts.

I created this TEMPLATE  available for FREE at TPT.

for them to trace and cut out from tan construction paper or cardstock.

 Then they painted it with glue.

added Rice Crispies,

pressed them into the glue some, and allowed it to dry.

Easy Peasy.

Then they glued it to cardstock and cut out and added the header. The background could be painted, colored, or collaged. We just had done that with other projects for this theme and went simple on this one.

SKILLS

Art: unusual media, trace, cut, glue, paint, color tan

Math: star shape, lines of symmetry, 5

Social: sharing resources, following directions

Science: animal camoflauge

Other ideas for the  TEMPLATE:

• Trace and cut out from sandpaper. Use cut out as an ocean scene embellishment or for a rubbing craft.
• Trace and cut out from sparkly gold cardstock to use as a hanging ornament for an under the sea theme
• Trace and cut, cut in half  under side arms and place onto a paper bag as a puppet, add google eyes
• For an ocean theme, cut out in quantity and add numbers, letters, sea animal pictures, sight words, etc. Laminate and use for sorting or games either as table work or on the floor. Stomp the Starfish.

The orginal for this craft is at All Kids Network that I found via Pinterest. They used pastina pasta, the small star shaped one, but I could not find it easily locally so I changed to Rice Crispies. I also wanted to use a template that was easier to cut out in quantity and was a little more symmetrical for my purposes than theirs, so I created my own.Tags: ocean, sea, theme, craft, unit, art, cut, paste, glue, puppet, template, starfish, animal, math, science, s, childcare, child, care, daycare, preschool, kindergarten, printable

Crab Handprints with Rubbing

These are just TOO darling for our OCEAN theme.

Yes, he wanted a sad crab with a frowny face.

The one I saw had colored paper for the background, which I'm pretty sure wasn't cut by the child, losing a whole host of process art experiences. So, as usual, I changed it up to add more learning elements to the craft.

First we folded our papers in THIRDS. Since these are two-year-olds, I didn't worry about them getting it exact and doing major comparisons. We just quickly went over the general idea of thirds and that we were going to draw sand on the bottom third and ocean and sky on the top two-thirds.

For older children, I would have them be a little more precise in folding their thirds, and color the bottom tan, the middle a darker blue for the ocean and the top third a light blue for the sky.

Then they each chose a piece of sandpaper to put under the 1/3 side of their papers to start rubbing over.

This is a HARD concept for this age. So, we do it every couple of weeks. It's good to keep them on their toes, and realizing that rules can be situational, especially when it comes to art.

"In this case, for these reasons, we do it this way this time."

• Yes, we usually hold our crayons upright, but not this time. This time we lay them down and push them over the paper. [This is not something they see adults do.]

• Yes, we are not supposed to take the papers off the crayons, but this time we will. We have to have the papers off the crayons to use their sides rather than their tips.

When done with the tan third, we opened them up and draped the tan side over the edge of the table. For the blue side, we didn't use the sand paper underneath.

Once done with the rubbing, the children chose the color of their crabs and we painted their hands for making the hand prints. It helped to turn the paper to align with the child's hand. Sounds simple, but they wanted to have their papers directly in front of them and turn their hands sideways. They really couldn't get the right angle that way, so I had to convince them to let me turn their papers instead.

G chose a traditional red crab. The girls chose purple crabs. I assured them there really are bright purple crabs. Once the paint had dried, we added some google eyes. The children had to find two SMALL eyes that were the SAME size.

Then they were instructed to draw a yellow circle in the sky for the sun and color it in, if they so chose. They did. These are concepts we are just starting, drawing shapes and coloring in. I liked the opportunity to keep the skill request small and easy and relevant to the project. They did a VERY good job.

They each chose a cotton ball and pulled it part. After deciding where their cloud would be, they laid down glue, 

and carefully placed their cotton fluffs upon it.

They chose what they wanted for the mouth among the craft supplies. H chose a gold braid, and G chose a purple yarn. 

A left early. It's Friday. 

We really work on proper scissor hold from the time they begin teacher-assist cutting around 18 months. This hold is the PERFECT one for preschoolers. The index finger pointing out gives them much greater control over their line.

Thumb up! Scissors steady! Move your paper! 

[or whatever you're cutting]

They had to decided if they wanted a happy or sad crab. H didn't have much choice, because the gold braid wouldn't form on just glue. 

Again with the glue. They LOVE to glue.

Then they carefully placed and held down their mouth pieces for a few.

Fini!

This is a great piece to work on positional statments, so we did.

• What is the crab ON?   [beach/sand]
• What is BEHIND the crab?   [ocean, sky]
• What is ON the crab?   [eyes, mouth, legs]
• What is UP in the sky? or What is IN the sky?   [cloud, sun]
• What is DOWN on the beach?   [crab, shells]
• What could be IN the ocean?   [open discussion]
• What is UNDER the cloud?   [crab]
• What is NEXT TO the sun?   [cloud]

I wish I would have bought the shell hanging that I saw at the Salvation Army the last time I was there. I just thought it was too big to store for this theme. I didn't think about taking it apart for the little shells. If it's there the next time I go, I'll grab it so we have some little shells to use as accents on projects like this one. Unfortunately, I only had big ones on hand.

I got this idea off Pinterest via Daily Dose of Sugar Mama, who no longer has her original link id for the site she got it from.

SKILLS
Art: artistic expression, rubbing, painting, printing, cut, paste, drawing, mixed media, colors
Math: counting eyes and legs, thirds, top/bottom, big/small, same/different, up/down, on/off rectangle, circle
Science: crab anatomy, habitat, sky/ocean/beach discussion
Social: waiting turns, sharing resources, requesting peer assistance
Fine Motor: drawing, painting, rubbing, cut, paste, picking out google eyes, pulling cotton, placing items
Tags: ocean, sea, beach, crab, animals, habitat, science, theme, unit, craft, art, painting, rubbing, preschool, child care, childcare, daycare, kindergarten, handprinthomeschool, handprint

3D Fish from 2L Bottle

These are SO COOL!

These can look VERY amazing, link at the bottom, but I like these process art ones by my 2-year-old students even better.  

A little Rainbow Fish theme today.

Don't let the length of the post and the number of instructions intimidate you. The basic fish goes together in just a few minutes once you know what you're doing. I had to figure out a bunch of stuff, so I wanted to make sure my instructions were detailed. 

First off, you have to pick the right bottle. 

ONLY the one on the left will work.

The shaft of the bottle must be smooth with no contour.

Lesson learned the hard way trying make one of the other ones work. It didn't. Ever.

Using a utility or snap blade knife, cut off the bottom just at the top of the ridges.

Add the bottom to your painting supplies for flower or sand dollar stamping or use to freeze large ice cubes in the shape of flowers for a punch bowl. I do both. With the same ones. Depending on the need at the time.

Flatten and staple. Important...press down firmly and ensure that the staples staple properly.

A double stapling in the middle is best and more secure, since you will be popping the plastic in and out around them.

Cut top and bottom at an angle to create the fins.

[If you are not the visual/creative type, I've created a template for this part.]

 

 Cut the bottom curvy for a tail.

Cut a curve up to toward the staples, staying back about 1 inch to finish the tail, and from there curve down to the top edge of the fin to create the body.

From the top it looks like this.

Pop the plastic back out to 3D.

 

Hold it up and see about where it centers for hanging level. Using a hole punch, add holes to either side of the fish for hanging. It's much easier to do at this stage than later.

  

For the scales, I found it easiest to use crepe paper streamer. I flattened a TP tube, folded it in half, and used it to wrap the crepe paper around.

 It was very easy to just pull it off when I had as much on there as I wanted.

 Snip both folded edges...

 and round off one end.

Make sure to supply just a few scales of the same size and shape made out of FOIL for a Rainbow Fish effect.

The children got to pick the colors of the scales we used. I created them and placed them in the center of the table for them to freely pick from.

I gave them some watered down school glue in cups and they picked a big brush and went at placing the scales on their "fish" decoupage style.

These were 2-3 year olds, so the nicely layered, overlapping scales that an older child might achieve were not apparent. I was surprised at their diligence in getting their entire fish covered. It was a lot of work for little ones, and I didn't have one pre-made to encourage them with. Once covered, I re-defined the edges with scissors. 

And re-opened the hanging holes.

To make the eyes, we traced around a bottle cap, cut it out, teacher-assisted as needed, and glued it on. The children then got to pick circles out of the foam shapes to add on top.

The mouth is created from condiment cups. We snagged these during a BK run over the weekend. Arby's, Wendy's and other restaurants have them, as well as hospitals, doctor's and dentist offices, usually. 

I found it impossible to cut the mouth off the bottle using either scissors or my snap knife. I ended up using my serrated bread knife and cutting just at the base of the top, a little over a 1/2 inch below the bottom ridge of the top.

 I found that I needed to turn it and do each quarter edge separately in order to keep it even across the top. Once I get the top off, I can refine the hole as needed with scissors to make it big enough for the condiment cup to fit into. 

Don't worry about the edges of the hole being perfect. The condiment cup has a lip that covers up any imperfections, and it will form to the shape you create, so even a perfect circle isn't necessary. Just try not to get it too big. 

Now that I know what I'm doing, I'm doing this step in the first stages when I initially cut and form the fish. 

  

The children chose the color of paint and painted the inside and outer rim of their cups.

I didn't GLUE the cups into the mouth openings. These children are young enough that they routinely flatten their fish, and I have to get in there and pop the plastic out. It's easier to do if I can get the cup out and go in through the mouth. If they lose their mouths, those are easily replaced.

 We added them to our under the sea scene in our classroom.

This is an original idea from Filth Wizardry that I found via Pinterest. I felt that their instructions left much to be desired, and think my stapling technique is superior to their taping technique for overall stability and design, but the fish she created herself are AMAZING! Check them out to see just how beautiful these creations can be. A very unique, creative idea that I can't thank Filth Wizardry enough for sharing!

 Tags: pop, soda, bottle, fish, ocean, sea, theme, unit, preschool, kindergarten, daycare, childcare, child, care, cut, paste, glue, mod podge, decoupage, 3D, 2-liter, scene, decoration, party