The Most Fun You Can Have With a Salad Spinner

Check out our cool salad spinner art.

All you need is a salad spinner, paint, and a bowl or something round to make a circle shape out of paper.

Put your paper circle into the basket of the salad spinner

Add drops of paint....or if you're a two year old artist, giant GLOBS of paint!!

Put the lid on the spinner and SPIN

Pop off the lid and check out your super cool art work

PUMPKIN PATCH MARBLE CRAFT

Looking for a last minute Halloween craft for the kids to do before the big day? Why not try this pumpkin patch marble craft. It's super easy, sorta messy(if you loose your marbles!!) and turns out really cute.

Oh and I would feel better just saying that little ones think marbles are candy so just keep an eye on little marble tasters. This is a great craft for a preschooler!!

YOU WILL NEED...

* a pan with sides

* white and orange paper ( I use cardstock so it doesn't bend and get soggy) 

* green paint

* glue

* marbles

* a cup and spoon

Cut out some orange pumpkins

Put some marbles in a cup with a small amount of green paint.

Then plop the painted marbles onto the paper using the spoon.

For the fun part....roll the marbles all around in the pan and watch as they create a twisty, twirly, viney pumpkin patch. Be prepared for marbles to escape from the pan and roll across the floor if little ones get carried away with rolling. haha

Once the kids have rolled to their little hearts content get them to glue their pumpkins on the patch.

PUMPKIN FACE STICKERS

I came across these wonderful facial feature pumpkin stickers at DISNEY'S FAMILY FUN WEBSITE.

When you get to the site click on "View full size and print" and from there you will print two pages. The one picutured below and another with noses and mouths.

I used Avery Sticker Project paper.

Since I needed stickers for smaller pumpkins I clicked on the"paper saving option" in my printing set up. By doing so I printed all smaller facial features on one

 8.5 x 11 sheet of sticker paper. Cut out the stickers and let the kids decorate their pumpkins with NO MESS!!

SUMMER IS HERE..LETS GET MESSY PART III

EASY  PEASY  FINGERPAINT

2 cups cold water

2 cups white flour

food colouring

Pour water into a large bowl. While stirring slowly add the flour. Once flour and water are mixed add into smaller bowls and add food colouring, now....


 .....PAINT

SUMMER IS HERE.....LETS GET MESSY Part II

DIY WATER TABLE

Don't have a fancy outdoor water table for your little one?? No worries. Make one yourself. It's really a no brainer but I thought I would share.

Take a plastic bin with enough play space for one or two children. Fill with water, fill with toys and listen to those shrieks of enjoyment. Clean up is a breeze, empty the water and store the toys inside the bin.

Get cReATiVe.....

* add a drop or two of food colouring to the water....green for swamp water, blue for the ocean. Plastic animals can be added to the "habitat"

* add some dish soap

*add different objects to test for sinking or floating like rocks and corks

*throw in some stuff from the kitchen like a sponge, funnel, turkey baster or strainer.

SUMMER IS HERE....LETS GET MESSY Part I

OoBLeCk ReCIPe

"Oobleck is a non-newtonian fluid. That is, it acts like a liquid when being poured, but like a solid when a force is acting on it. You can grab it and then it will ooze out of your hands. Make enough Oobleck and you can even walk on it"!

"Oobleck gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck where a gooey green substance, Oobleck, fell from the sky and wreaked havoc in the kingdom".

MATERIALS

2 cups corn starch

1 cup water

a bowl

 food colouring (optional)

MIX EVERYTHING TOGETHER IN A BOWL....THEN PLAY

This stuff is great cause it washes off easily with water and is non toxic for curious little tasters!!

WARNING: Adults will have fun playing in this too

DIY KIDS BUSY BOOK - TIPS FOR TOTS TUESDAY

Last week I was busy making my daughter her very own busy book. I've seen these made a lot with fabric and felt but I thought I would put my Cricut to use to make Ashtyn a cardstock busy book. I saw another cardstock busy book on one of the blogs I follow but it was a while ago and for the life of me I can't remember which one it was. If it was you then let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.


I laminated the pieces and pages for durability and used velcro so the pieces stick and can be moved around easily. I started with a few simple pages and will make more as Ashtyn grows.   

I'll be sure to post my new creations as I go.

Here's what I've done so far.

On the back of each page I included a poem or song to coordinate with the theme of the page.

TIPS FOR TOTS TUESDAY - December 15th

We made these Santa Baby Candle Holders one year for the parent gifts at preschool and the kids and parents loved them. All you need is a clean baby jar, red tissue paper cut up into squares, a strip of black paper for Santa's belt and a tab off of a pop can for Santa's belt buckle. Cover the jar with white glue and have your child(ren) cover the jar with the red tissue paper. Run the black paper through the holes on the pop tab then glue to the middle of the jar. Cover again with a final layer of white glue and let dry. Pop a tea light in and voila!!

Here's another cute idea I found on a wonderful blog I love to visit called A Little Tipsy. I'm thinking I'm going to have to try this one out for sure. What a wonderful keepsake to be brought out each year and very symbolic since it's something the family creates together. Michelle's handprint tutorial with pictures can be found here

My Book Choices this week are Jan Brett's:

GINGERBREAD BABY- That sassy cookie! When Matti opens the oven door just a little too soon, out pops a gingerbread baby instead of the gingerbread boy he was expecting. Eluding all efforts to catch him, the flat, becandied baby is chased around the village and into the countryside. He mercilessly taunts Matti's parents, a cat, the milk and cheese man, goats, villagers, a fox, and more. In a less traumatic twist on the classic Gingerbread Boy story, this Gingerbread Baby even outfoxes the fox. Sure he's bratty, but he doesn't deserve the gruesome end the Gingerbread Boy usually comes to. Matti makes sure this naughty but appealing little one ends up right where he belongs. Amazon.com

THE MITTEN- A Ukrainian boy named Nicki wants his grandmother Baba to knit snow-white mittens for him. She warns her grandson that a white mitten will be hard to find if he loses it in the snow, but of course he promptly does just that! What happens next is the surprising part, as a mole takes refuge in the lost mitten, then a rabbit, then a hedgehog, an owl, a badger, and a fox. If you think the mitten might be a wee bit stretched out at this point, just wait: "Then a big bear sniffed at the mitten. The animals were packed in tight, but the bear didn't care. He crawled in anyway." When a tiny mouse squeezes in, her whiskers tickle the bear's nose. He sneezes, and "Aaaaa-aaaaa-ca-chew!" all the animals fly out of their crocheted cave. As the mitten sails through the air, Nicki spots it, reclaims it, and takes it home to show his smiling Baba.

Amazon.com

Be sure to check out Jan Brett's Website for free printable colouring pages, activites and more. I used this valuable resource a lot when I was teaching preschool. We even put on a play for the parents and used the free printable animal masks.