Summer Art 2012: Play date #3

Hooray!  Summer art play date number three was today!  I thought that rain might cancel it, but it turned out that there was only about five minutes of “mist” and that was it.  So far we have had no cancelled play dates, which is amazing!  Today we made bug catcher necklaces and Fruit Loop rainbows and we played with play dough and water beads in shaving cream.

Bug Catcher Necklaces

When I saw this idea, I knew that the kids would love it.  The idea came from this post and then I later saw it in Disney Family Fun Magazine, but it took me a while to find the right toy capsules to make them. I finally ended up buying 25 from a vendor on Atomic Mall and they were listed under “Empty Vending Capsles” (example here).  To prep this, I poked holes in the tops of each capsule with a push pin, then drilled one big hole in the middle that two strands of my beading cord would fit snugly through.  I also cut the cord to length so that they were ready to go for the kids.  The kids beaded their cords, then we put the two ends through the drilled hole and knotted them together (so the knot is inside the capsule when it is closed) and put the capsule together.  After the kids made them, these were quickly filled with pill bugs, slugs, and other crawly insects!

Fruit Loop Rainbows

This was a super easy craft.  I got the idea here.  I printed out some clip art of a rainbow and then had it photocopied onto blue paper.  Then I set them out with a big bowl of Fruit Loops, some glue, and some cotton balls.   Much eating ensued!  And a few fun rainbows came out of the fray.

Water Beads and Shaving Cream

I had a bunch of water beads left from our first play date.  Instead of putting them out and letting the kids smash them to bits again, I decided to try a new tact.  I put the water beads in our sensory bin and them squirted a whole can of shaving cream on top.  The kids really enjoyed this, especially the little ones.  They kept coming over and putting their hands in to play, then running over to the water bucket to rinse them off, then coming back and starting over again.  Super fun and cute!

Play Dough
Finally, we had our ubiquitous play dough again! Always a hit and I made a new batch so it was extra fresh and squishy! Recipe here.

Crafts of Christmas Past

In need of a little Christmas craft inspiration?  Here are some of our projects from years past.  New stuff to come soon!!

• Cinnamon Ornaments
• Pine Cone Ornaments
• Snow Globes
• Advent Calendar
• Toddler Painted Glass Ornaments
• Collage Stockings

Father’s Day Gifts

Sorry that I didn’t post this earlier, but both Grandpas read my blog and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise!  For Father’s Day, I took inspiration from Fun Hand Print Art and we made some hand print fish on can hugs!  All of the Daddies in my girls’ life drink beer and regularly use a can holder to drink from.  So, there you go.  We did ours on can hugs that were on sale at Michael’s for $0.66.  It was a great deal and I just couldn’t pass it up.  I had recently bought some acrylic paint for another project (coming soon) and we used that.  Acrylic paint isn’t exactly perfectly washable, so I was a little stressed during the making and didn’t take any pictures.  That and I was the one who was painting hands and trying to get them in the correct spot and I’m not sure how I would have made them and taken pictures at the same time.  A hint: if trying to get your infant to open her balled fists for a project, it is helpful to put her to sleep first. Here’s the finished product.

Learning Numbers

After Clara and I made her birthday countdown calendar, I realized that she does not know any numbers yet.  Yes, she knows how to count, but she does not know the numerals at all.  I decided that that should be fixed.  She does, after all, know almost all of the letters.  So, I made a  ”matching” game similar to this one at Pink and Green Mama’s blog. We match the numbers on the stones (one bag from Dollar Tree was enough for the entire alphabet and the numbers 1-10.  I bought  two bags just in case and the second bag will be showing up in a later post!) and discuss which numbers they are.  Then we count the groups of stickers and place the correct number stone on the group.  This is a work in progress, but I feel like her future teachers (especially in the math area) may appreciate this.  I’ve been focusing on letters and reading and ignoring math.  I guess that’s just what happens when you’re an English teacher.  But I’m trying to be better.

Dot Spots

(Okay, so Mommy may have done the last one)

I saw these cool dot markers at my local toy store over a year ago.  I didn’t buy them because as soon as I saw them I thought, “Bingo Dobbers!” and resolved to steal some from the store of bingo dobbers that my parents keep at the lake.  I did, last summer (thanks, guys!), and then promptly forgot about them after putting them in our art box.  But, I unearthed them yesterday to a great hoopla!  Clara called her art “Dot Spots” and absolutely loved doing this.  We may do it again this afternoon because they are totally easy to set up (butcher paper taped to the table, dobbers out, done) and she enjoyed herself so much.  The bingo dobbers are not washable (we didn’t have any issues, though as they are somewhat self regulating) and do say “Keep out of reach of children” on them, by which I decided it meant to supervise your child so that they don’t huff or eat them.  So, if you’re squeamish about those sorts of things, you may want to go with the Do A Dot ones.