Valentine Craft - the Heart Hug

Today we made a fun craft that the kids could take home to give lots of loving hugs out to their families for valentine's day!

Here is the final product:

                                     
Start with pans of red and pink (red mixed with white since I didn't have pink) paint.  I use washable so easy to clean off the kids. I threw a heart shaped sponge in each pan.

Then I cut out a heart shape on construction paper and used that to trace all the hearts on white poster board.

Let the kids sponge paint the white heart as much as they want to with whatever color they choose.  Then add two googly eyes to the top.

Once the hearts are dry, I sat the kids down and gave them strips of red paper. They folded them back and forth accordion style and glued a precut red heart on the end of each so it looked like they were arms with a heart hand.  Then we used glue sticks to glue the "arms" on to the big heart they had made.  They used my purple sharpie to draw a mouth.  I wish I had pictures of them folding the paper strips but I forgot to take them.  So hopefully you can see the arms well enough in the finished product picture here:

                                       

HAVE FUN!!!

Easy Valentine's Day Craft and Gift

This week my preschoolers will be making a Valentine's Day gift for their family.  It is fairly quick and super easy, but best of all it is a craft that shows each child own creativity.
Heart Magnet:

I love to keep the kids using their natural creativity.  The more they can do on their own the better. So I supplied the foam heart and let the kids come up with how to decorate it.

 First, cut out a heart shape on paper or cardboard.  Use that as the template to trace onto the pink foam (or red, purple, whatever color you like).  I am going to have my preschoolers write I (heart) U on the front of their heart.  It will look sweet in their young handwriting, and it's also good practice for their writing.  But before I give the hearts to the kids I glued a magnet onto the back. I use a hot glue gun so that the magnet doesn't fall off.

Next comes a supply of all kinds of fun things.  Red sequins, little puff balls, different shapes and colors of shiny "jewels".  And small foam heart stickers (I forgot to get those in the photo, sorry)

 

Let the kids be creative and glue the different items any way they want. It is a simple craft that comes from their heart and it will become a great keepsake on their parents refrigerators for many years to come. 

WINTER - Mittens, Frozen Paint, Snow and Puffy Snowmen

This winter we did some new fun crafts.  Although we had frozen paint last year, this year we used the FROZEN PAINT TO DECORATE MITTENS:

I poured ordinary washable tempera paint into ice cube trays, I put foil over it and pushed through popsicle sticks.  I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of the frozen paint, but if you look in my archives you'll see how it is done.
We used the paint to decorate one mitten, then folded the mittens together so that they matched!

 I punched a hole and tied a piece of yarn through the holes to keep the mittens together.

SNOW!!
I found a great recipe for play snow at www.1stgradefantabulous.blogspot.com.  Super simple, mixing white hair conditioner and baking soda.  The kids had a great time playing in the snow with small animals and even making snowballs!

  

PUFFY SNOWMEN:

First I read the story, Snowmen At Night - It is a fun story that shows what snowmen do at night and by the end of the book the snowmen are a little moved about.  The snowmen we make will look like that.

I mix shaving cream and glue.  No exact measurements just stir it until seems thick.  The glue will keep the shaving cream from evaporating.

 It is easiest for the kids to put the "snow" on the paper with a craft stick.  They put 3 circles (or however they want) and then they stick on the eyes, nose, hat, arms, etc.  Because there is glue in the shaving cream the paper items will stick easily.

The end result is great.  There is a "puffiness" to the snowman almost like real snow.  After a week or so it will get a little less puffy, but still very cool. 

Thanksgiving Crafts for Preschoolers

Since Thanksgiving is during Autumn and we have been talking about fall leaves, etc.  I like the kids to make a GRATITUDE TREE:

I have the child lie their arm down on a brown piece of paper and I trace around their arm and hand.  This becomes the "tree".  Then to keep it a simple craft I give them pre-made fall themed foam stickers.  They can decorate the tree however they would like.  

 Then they dictate to me what they are thankful for and I write each item on each branch.  It can be family members, a certain food, a certain toy, etc.  These are a great keepsake to look back on in the future.

TURKEY CENTERPIECES:

Simple materials - pinecone, feathers, paper, googly eyes.  The children glue together the precut pieces to make the face, then glue on feathers to the pine cone.  A cute thankgsiving turkey to put on the table for the big feast!