Sunday, September 24, 2006

homemade stickers

From Today's Parent magazine:

http://www.todaysparent.com/craftsactivities/craftcorner/article.jsp?content=20060801_162642_1668&page=1

Saturday, September 23, 2006

recipes: playdough

From Today's Parent magazine


http://www.todaysparent.com/craftsactivities/craftcorner/article.jsp?content=985109

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Cardboard box: bus

Materials:

  • large, rectangular cardboard box (like bulk diaper box) with windows, top and bottom cut out by an adult with box cutters (leaving four walls of the box)
  • some of: streamers, sparkles, markers, crayons, paint, stickers, glue
  • construction paper (cut big black circles for wheels, little yellow or orange circles for flashing lights)
  • glue stick / white glue

Instructions:

  • decorate box with wheels, flashing lights, brake lights, etc
  • child stands in box and lifts off floor with arms to "drive" bus around the house

Monday, September 18, 2006

Cardboard box: spaceship

Adapted from Andrea Gordon's post.

Materials:

  • appliance sized cardboard box (from appliance store) with windows and door cut out by an adult with box cutters
  • bike-helmets
  • tin-foil
  • some of: streamers, sparkles, markers, crayons, paint, stickers, glue

Instructions:
  • adorn bike-helmet with tin-foil to make space helmets
  • decorate cardboard box in theme of space-ship with above materials
  • have child wear "helmet" into space-ship and count-down for blast-off!!

Or, you could simply purchase a cardboard rocket-ship playhouse. [h/t: BoingBoing]

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Cardboard box: house

Materials:

  • large card-board box with window flaps and door flaps cut open by an adult with a box-cutter (cut the corners off the flaps to make it less pointy and to make it easier for little hands to open the flaps)
  • some of: markers, pencil crayons, crayons, paint, stickers
  • some of: material scraps, tin foil, glitter, construction paper
  • glue stick or white glue for older children

Instructions:
  • show how the box can be used as a house (doors, windows etc)
  • decorate as desired with materials described above

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Binoculars

Materials:

  • two toilet paper rolls
  • tape
  • optional: hole-punch, yarn or string
  • optional: crayons, markers, paint, stickers

Instructions:
  • tape together the two toilet paper rolls, side by side
  • optional: punch two holes at one end of the binoculars (one on each side), tie length of yarn / string to make a neck strap (supervise pre-schoolers at play to ensure they don't choke themselves!)
  • optional: decorate with materials mentioned above

Friday, September 15, 2006

crafty recipes

details can be found at: http://www.twinslist.org/toddler.htm#crafts

for:

  • yuk!
  • pet tornado
  • chalk
  • spray chalk
  • watercolour paints
  • watercolour wands
  • almost oilpaint
  • sawdust dough
  • coffee dough
  • bathtub fingerpaints
  • puffy dough paint
  • goop
  • plastic suncatchers
  • balloon animals
  • soap shapes
  • peanut butter dough
  • silly putty
  • chalk
  • spary chalk
  • watercolour paints
  • sticker glue
  • claydough
  • no cook claydough
  • stovetop claydough
  • edible peanut butter claydough
  • koolaid claydough

Thursday, September 14, 2006

origami: paper hat

Materials:

  • old newspaper or rectangle of old wrapping paper if making to fit a child's head, letter sized paper for fitting a doll's head
  • some of paint, markers, stickers, crayons, felt pieces, feathers, foam stickers
  • optional: glue stick or glue if using felt pieces or feathers
Instructions:
  • fold paper as per instructions here
  • decorate as desired with above materials
  • wear with points forward to be archer
  • wear with points to the sides to be a pirate

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Paper Chains

Materials:

  • strips of paper (about 3 cm by 20 cm) (multi-coloured construction paper makes a pretty chain)
  • glue stick (or white glue / rubber cement for older children)
Instructions:
  • form a ring with one paper strip, glue the ends together
  • insert a second paper strip into the first ring, form a ring and glue the ends together
  • repeat for as long a chain as desired

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Lunch bag puppets

Materials:

  • brown lunch bag with flat rectangular bottom
  • some of: markers, construction paper, crayons, pencils, glitter, feathers, craft shapes for decorating
  • glue stick (or white glue / rubber cement for older children)
Instructions:
  • place the lunch bag so that the folded bottom is up at the top -- this will be the "face" of the puppet (with the fold of the bag as the mouth)
  • decorate the face and body as desired
  • insert hand and operate!

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Mosaics

Materials:

  • outline drawing (from colouring book, printed from internet or hand-drawn)
  • glue stick (or white glue for older children)
  • an assortment of small pieces of paper (from magazines, construction paper, junk mail etc)
  • scissors (optional)

Instructions:

  • rip up (or cut up) pieces of paper and glue them into the outline drawing

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Bracelets / super-hero bands

Materials:

  • paper towel tube / toilet paper tube pre-cut in ~4cm widths and slit vertically (trim corners so that they're not sharp)
  • any of crayons, markers, paint, stickers, adhesive foam shapes
  • coloured paper shapes (optional)
  • glue stick (or glue) if using coloured paper above

Instructions:
  • decorate cardboard tube "bracelet" / "super-hero band" as desired

Sunday, September 03, 2006

supplies: free materials

summarized from: http://www.kiddiecampus.com/artcook.htm#artdevelop

Alteration Shops: fabric scraps, spools

Appliance Stores: styrofoam packing material, cardboard boxes

Beaches: shells, rocks

Building Contractors: floor samples, tile samples, paneling samples, wood scraps, knobs

Carpet & Floor Stores: carpet samples / remnants, tile / tile samples

Copy Shops: Computer paper, Colored and white scrap paper, Misprinted paper, Ends of paper rolls

Department Stores,: display material, discarded stationery, boxes, catalogs

Fabric Store / Yarn Shops: samples of yarn and fabric, colour samples, buttons, spools, catalogs, remnants, broken packages of yarn

Flower Shops / nurseries: discarded cellophane, coloured aluminum foil, etc. dried plants and flowers

Framing stores: matte board scraps

Paint and Wallpaper Stores : wallpaper samples, colour swatches, books

Photography Stores: Empty film canisters, matte board scraps

Schools: old textbooks and workbooks to cut up

Supermarkets: boxes, paper bags, containers, fruit boxes

Around the Home:

Tubes from paper towels and toilet paper, catalogs magazines and newspapers, fabric scraps, empty food containers, shoe boxes

Saturday, September 02, 2006

theory: stages of art-development

adapted from: http://www.kiddiecampus.com/artcook.htm#artdevelop

1. Manipulative - pre-school
  • manipulation of materials (paint, clay, chalk, markers, glue etc)
  • random scribbles
  • pound, squeeze and tear clay
  • paint thickly over entire paper
  • children are not yet making representations (see point 4 below)

2. Design or Patterning
  • typically develops by age 4
  • experimentation with materials
  • beginning to master implements (pen, brush, chalk, scissors, glue etc)
  • children discover line shapes (straight, curved, open, closed, etc.)
  • dots and spaces are used

3. Naming or Symbolic

  • often during age 4
  • creating pictures or models of things
  • voluntarily telling what they made and often tell stories involving their work
  • there may not be a clear and sustained objective in mind as they begin to work
    (frequently begin making one thing and then identify it as something else)
4. Representation
  • typically develops by age 5 or 6, sometimes earlier
  • children's art resembles the objects represented
  • at first many details are missing and objects do not represent reality

Friday, September 01, 2006

recipies

http://www.kiddiecampus.com/artcook.htm#Artrecipes

Dough - cooked and uncooked
Finger paint - cooked and uncooked
Slime / silly putty
Soap paint