Building Healthy Habits Early, Art

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St. Patrick’s Day – Making Green

21 Feb

What better occasion to play with colors than on St. Patrick’s Day, a day celebrated around the world and not just in Ireland? I happen to be Irish so the holiday ties right into many aspects of family life and learning.

There are a few legends around the official color of the holiday, one being that the official color was once blue. Green makes sense for a lot of reasons. It is the color of the shamrock, for example, and represents the lush landscape of the “emerald isle”, a name for which Ireland is known.

So, today’s activity is quite simple: Making the color green. In this activity we work on sensory (colors), basic concepts (colors), practical life (pouring) and fine motor skills (using a syringe).

Start with a tray and three jars. Two jars filled part way with water and a third jar either empty or with a little water.

Grab yellow and blue food coloring or paint to add color to the jars with water. My 2.5 year old helped me color the water in these jars.

Then I showed him the syringe and how to use it. Syringes are a tough fine motor skill to grasp at this young an age.

Begin by having your child take a little water from the blue colored water.

Then a little water from the yellow jar.

My little guy got a little impatient with the syringe so he ended up picking up the jars and pouring the water, which I totally expected.

Thanks for visiting!
Marnie

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Posted in Activities, Art, Basic Concepts, Fine Motor Skills, Holidays, Homeschool, Montessori, Practical Life, Preschool, Sensory, Toddler

Homemade Puff Paint – Kids Sensory Activity

13 Feb

This sensory activity was a blast. One part shaving cream, one part glue, add a little color and you’re golden!

Your child can help mix the ingredients (and you can throw in a little math lesson while you are at it!).

We added a little blue and a little green coloring to give us two options.

We used brushes…

…and jumbo Popsicle sticks.

They scooped, dolloped, made zig zags, made letters, flung and got pretty messy.

We experimented with adding objects, like feathers, for example. Honestly, I don’t think the experience needs anything added!

The hardest part was explaining to the boys that we had to let their masterpieces dry overnight.

I had lofty plans to create something ingenious and gorgeous with the result…

…but once I saw my boys had another plan, I let my ideas fly out the window. Watching them explore the textures of the puff paint (as it turns out some of the paint under the puffs hadn’t dried yet) and rip pieces from the painting was wonderful. I can’t wait to try it again with them.

Thanks for visiting!
Marnie

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Posted in Activities, Art, Basic Concepts, Homeschool, Preschool, Science, Sensory, Toddler

Heart Crayons – Preschool Valentine’s Day

08 Feb

We made super cute heart shaped crayons last night.

Here is what you need:

Crayons (we used old bits and pieces)
Heart mold (silicone works best)

My one year old testing the molds.

Here is how you do it:

Preheat over to 250 degrees
Break up crayons and fill your heart molds
Place molds into oven for around 20 minutes or until the crayons melt
Let cool ( I let them cool overnight)
Pop out of mold (silicone molds makes this part easy)

Each crayon will turn out differently. Love the uniqueness!

Voila! Fun surprise for your kids or easy Valentines gift for classmates.

Thanks for visiting!
Marnie

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Posted in Activities, Art, Basic Concepts, Holidays, Infant, Preschool, Seasonal, Sensory, Toddler

Valentine Puppet – Preschool Activity

01 Feb

We had a bunch of cardboard sitting around to recycle one day. My son and I grabbed it and began to draw hearts on it. I decided to continue that activity, pulled out red paint, a brush and red popsicle sticks. Then I searched for some family photos to add a bit more sentiment to the “puppet”. Plus it is a great way for my boys to continue to get to know our family and other people very special to us that live far away.