How's about some fiesta fun?

Cinco de Mayo is tomorrow and me being in Los Angeles there will be oodles of fiestas to attend. We however are bucking tradition and are going to enjoy our Cinco de Mayo at the Harley Davidson in Glendale but I am sure if you are local you should check out Olvera Street. For scrumdilly-do I'm gonna show ya how to make individual piñatas for your kidlets. These are great party favors since each wee one gets to keep what's inside and also, this way, each wee one gets the same amount of stuff. No head injuries involved!


What you need:
*brown paper lunch bags (though any color will do)
*oodles of tissue paper
*scissors
*glue or glue stick
*other collage bits if ya like
*pipe cleaners
*markers
*string

scrumdilly-do it:

Have your wee ones decorate one side of a lunch sack using all the tissue they could want. Orientate the bag so that the opening is at the top and make sure to kidlets leave about three inches of empty space so that you can tie the bag off. You may want to draw a line for them to stay below.



They can also glue on other collage items and/or draw with markers, etc. Once they are done, write their name on the bottom if you have a large group because these puppies will need to dry. This is a great activity to do at the beginning of a party. Once they're dry, add the goodies for take home and pass them out as the kids leave. Items to put inside could include fruit snacks, candy neckalces, crayons, stickers, finger puppets, superballs, small rubber toys and whatever you would like to add.



Once the items are inside the bag, gather up the open end and blow into it so that it puffs up. Secure with a pipe cleaner and you're done!



You can tie them outside to hang in the breeze or have your wee ones decorate all sides and make pretty paper wind socks out of them. Aren't they nifty?

Penguin inspired collage

So, have ya hunted through yer casa for penguin colored supplies? The easiest project to do is to make a penguin inspired colalge. This is one all kidlets can make. It is pure creativity. Check it out!



What you need:
*black or white paper or white paper plates
*glue
*black, white & yellow crayons, chalk, paint, and/or markers
*odds and ends in the penguin colors like felt, fabric scraps, tissue, pipe cleaners, glitter, etc.

scrumdilly-do it!

Set out yer splat mats, cover up any must cover clothing, roll up sleeves and have a go!


If your wee ones lile a lot of paint nd glue, go for some sturdier paper. Paper plates are awesome for this. Set their collages somewhere safe fro drying. Once they are dry you can transfrom them into many things! Refrigerator art isn't the only thing. Frame them, hang them, cut them up for more fun. Let your kidlets guide you and have fun!

Chalky Birds

Okay, so, Penguin Day was yesterday and I am late with some penguin inspired projects. I am so sorry for that and I have some projects about to be done but for now I leave you with Chalky Penguins! The nifty thing about penguin inspired art is that you don't need too many colors and in looking for what you have on hand you just may come up with something completely original and super duper fun! To start all you have to do is go on an art supply scavenger hunt and search your household for black, white and yellow. The possibilities are endless! You could even send your kidelts on the hunt with guidelines, of course! Fabric scraps, paper, newspaper, paint, crayons, dried pasta, rice, black beans, pip cleaners, tissue...see what I mean. Today's project utilizes those fun and chunky bits of sidewalk chalk that are laying about. I don't know aboutany of you but when we have a new box of sidewalk chalk in this place, the blues and pinks and greens get snatched up right quick but the whites and yellows usually sadly linger in the bottom of the tub. Pull them out, shake them off and have a go at some Penguin drawing.

What you need:
*chalk (any color will do but white & yellow are perfect for penguins)
*black paper

scrumdilly-do it!

lay out black paper
lay out chalk

Have a field Day!

If you are super industrious you can make your own sidewalk chalk. If you're feeling click happy you can check out my newest kaboodle list!

Loose change

It's raining outside this morning and I think perhaps a nice indoor, quiet, no mess art activity would be great for today. Still have a pile of nice shiny coins from earlier this week? Do they still smell like ketchup? Well, dump out your coin purse, jar or whathaveyou and have your wee ones make some coin rubbings! You could do this on regular printer paper and cut for cards or you can try this using large sweeps of paper to make custom gift wrap or you may even want to do this with tracing paper and turn their art into suncatchers of a sort. The thinner the paper the better the rub!

what you need:
*crayons from the bottom of the box sans paper
*thin paper like printer or notebook in light colors
*coins of all kinds
*splat mat, plastic tray, cookie sheet or cardboard
*masking tape or your favorite sticky stuff
*play-doh (optional)

scrumdilly-do it!

The easy way would be to toss a handful of coins onto the tray or cookiesheet, place paper over and rub. This is great for kidlets 7 and up. Wee-er ones (say 4-7)may get frustrated with the coins moving all over the place. For them I would add a small ball of play-doh to one side of each coin and have your kidlet pres the mdown onto theur work surface.

The dough should stick just enough to act as an anchor. Place sheet over the coins and tape down the top edge.

Place crayon lenghtwise onto paper and rub, rub, rub away!

Coins, colors and paper can all be shifted and moved about to produce a super nifty picture!

When that gets old, your kidlets may enjoy pressing their coins into the dough to see the imprints they leave. Play the compare and contrast game, sort the coins by likeness, make charts, have fun!

Don't forget to check out my book list and my fun list, they;re all about fun with coins! Happy Friday folks!

Science fun with Ketchup!

What? This is a messy fun activity to do with your wee ones who know not to put pennies in their mouths! You can read all about the science of it here. What could be more fun than being allowed to play with ketchup? If you're lucky, your wee ones will be entertained for maybe thirty minutes. It depends on how many pennies you have, your kidlet and their tolerance for mess and/or ketchup. You can also use taco sauce, lemon juice or vinegar but I think ketchup has the most mess factor which usually equals fun in any wee one's book.

What you need:
*old grungy pennies
*paper towels
*ketchup
*a clean space or splat mat
*cover ups for the kidlets
*a plastic tray, placemat or cookie sheet
*old toohbrush
*soap and water

scrumdilly-do it!


Wash your pennies first so you won't freak out when your kidlets start snacking on their fingers. I like to put all the pennies in a container with a lid, add warm soapy water, seal and shake. Rinse until all soap is gone and viola, clean coins. Kidlets may even like doing this part.

Squirt a bunch of ketchup onto your work surface, add pennies and let them sit for at least 2 minutes to get the vinegar in the ketchup to start working on the copper oxide. Hand yer wee ones a toothbrush and let them scrub scrub scrub away. Toss the pennies back into the washing container, rinse and you're done!



Viola! Clean pennies! If you can get your wee ones into it, and they can read dates, have them sort the pennies by year and make a chart or graph. I've entertained other kidlets by having them use the coins as "blocks". They built some pretty interesting structures with pennies and other found objects. Ooh, don't forget this puzzle for your whole family! Have fun and happy washing!

Afikomen envie!

If you have less time and/or supplies, here's an Afikomen envelope project that you can do with what you have on hand!

What you need:

*large manila envelopes

*crayons and pens

*adhesive of your choice

*scissors (whichever style is age appropriate for your kidlet)

*magazines that kidlest can cut up

scrumdilly-do it:

Lay out your supplies and have your wee ones go on an alphabet treasure hunt! Write out the letters that spell AFIKOMEN on a sheet of paper. Pass out the scissors and magazines and let them have a go at it! 

Once they have cut their letters out they can arrange them on their envelope and glue when ready. They can then add any other razzle dazzle they like. 

Viola! A custom made Afikomen envelope!

The cool thing about this project is utilizing your wee ones hand eye coordination, small motor skills and letter recognition! Don't need to stop at Afikomen. Kidlets can make their very own artists portfolio and hunt out the letters to their name to glue to the front! Kidlets who can recognize letters if not read them can do this also! They will love it and it will give you at least 20 minutes of "you" time! Don't forget to add your pictures to scrumdilly-did!

It's Afikomen time!

Okay, not yet but soon and what better way to protect that piece o' Matzoh than to make a super special envelope/bag for it? I have two styles in the works for you and hope you can use them as a jumping off point for your kidlets. Paper is perfect for the younger kids while sewing would be grand for the older (loose weave burlap can be stitched with a plastic needle!) or perhaps, they can decorate a piece of fabric and you stitch it all together for them.

Afikomen envie number one is made from two sheets of construction paper. You can use any kind of paper you want but this is what I had on hand. It is super easy, can be made quickly and your wee ones will have a glorious time glue glue glueing all kinds of extra bling to their envie. This project allows for creativity, lettering & language skills and small motor skills as they weave their "binding" in and out of the holes they have punched. Good practice for all that hand eye coordination.

What you need:

*2 sheets of paper or construction paper for each envie

*crayons, pens and markers

*glue

*a hole punch

*yarn or pipe cleaners

*extra bits and baubles like glitter, jewels, scrap paper, tissue, etc.

scrumdilly-do it:

Holding the 2 sheets of paper together have your kidlet punch holes around three sides. Using yarn or a pipe cleaner, your kidlet can then weave in and out of the holes to seal the edges together. I used a pipe cleaner for each side which was super easy to just twist off.

Now your wee ones can decorate to their hearts' content. Have them write out the word AFIKOMEN to practice their lettering and all that fun literacy stuff. Set aside to dry.

On the big day, wrap the Afikomen in a cloth or napkin and slip inside the envie and hide. Viola! No crumbs behind those drapes!

More Passover stuff can be found on my Kaboodle list. Plague finger puppets anyone?

Make a Kiddush Cup!

Or rather...decorate a cup! To keep your wee ones busy before Seder time, why not have them decorate their very kiddush cups? You can use any type of plastic cup of your choosing, they come in so many styles. This way you can either go the goblet route or the tumbler route. Me, I went for what was easiest to find. Introducing my kiddush cup!

It is still a little sticky from all the glue but it will dry pretty soon. These cups are pretty much good for one use only so have yer wee ones make a bunch!

What you need:

*plastic cups

*good old fashioned white glue

*paintbrushes and sponge brushes

*tissue paper

*plastic jewels and stickers

scrumdilly-do it:

Gather your supplies and set up shop in a glue friendly are. Use a splat mat if you are overprotective of your furniture. Kidlets can get very creative with glue and you never know hwere it will end up! Have your wee ones tear up pieces of tissue paper to have ready for when their cups are all sticky with glue. Get ready to bedazzle!

There are many ways a kidlet can go about doing this and I would encourage you to let them do it their way. They can "paint" their cups with glue first using a sponge tip brush to cover more are in a single swoop or they can hold the tissue over the cup and paint the glue over the paper, either way works, yay!

Once the tissue is all over the place, your kidlets can add other bling to their cups using stickers or plastic jewels. Once they are done set cups aside to dry and then behold their magnificence! See? Super easy and fun to make! Share pictures of your cups over at scrumdilly-did! Thanks!

More scrumdilly-do pics can be found here and more Passover fun can be found here.

Making GREEN with shaving cream!

Have a blast with this fun science-y activity of color mixing! It can be goopy messy so make sure yer kidlets appreciate a mess and wear not so special clothing. This is best done outside and is perfect for warm weather when you can bring out the hose or squirt bottles for clean up! If you can't do it outside, keep your mixing masterpieces in their plastic baggies and at the kitchen or play table or have your wee ones each use their own cookie sheet or tray. Shaving cream on its own is easily cleaned up. Shaving cream with color may stain so be sure you want to do all this before you start and remember, a little goes a long way! click here to see a larger version of the picture!

Clockwise from the top you too can scrumdilly-do it:

*Gather your supplies, unscented shaving cream (not gel), plastic sealable baggies and food color in yellow & blue or liquid watecolor in yellow & blue. (You can of course use any colors you like but here, we're making green! Oh and you can always find natural shaving cream like Tom's of Maine which has a minty scent. The regular stuff however can be found at your local dollar store.)

*Squirt some shaving cream into a baggie

*Add a drop or two of the two colors, one color on each side of the baggie so your kidlets can see the separate colors. Seal the baggie with as little air as possible so your kidlets can mush it all up.

*Agitate the baggies so the colors get mixed.

*See how there will be patches of yellow melding into the blue making green. Let your wee ones decide how many drops of each color they want. Use poster board or paper to create a graph. Let your wee ones math it out and explore!

*Sometimes the colors leak through, if your wee ones freak out wash hands and all will be well. Though blue is harder to get out than yellow!

*Snip a corner off the baggie and have your kidlets squeeze out the foamy goodness onto a clean washable surface or splat mat. (A plastic tablecloth will work fine and if your table is in need of a good cleaning shaving cream does a great job! Just ask any grade school teacher!)

*Mound it up in your hands for shaping fun. Show it off! Take pictures! Document! Go back to the charts and graphs and see what else your wee ones can write down.

*Most of all enjoy it and squish squish squish away! Once the food color is mixed in with the cream it shouldn't stain your wee one's hands or skin. It disolves easily with water and if they choose to make a painting with it the colors from the cream will stain their paper but the cream will eventually disolve.

Have fun! Check out these other shaving cream activities:
*Marble Prints

*Shaving cream writing

*Shaving cream clouds

*Shaving cream science

*Puff paint

*Tub time paint

Wee Valentine Trinket Boxes

 Who wouldn't want a tiny trinket box full of lurve! This project is easy, addicting & adaptable for all ages. Take a peek!

What you need:

*empty matchboxes any size

*glue or gluestick

*paper, fabric or artwork

*markers, crayons and paint & paintbrush

*bits and baubles like buttons, stickers, charms & sweets

*scissors

Gather your supplies and have yer kidlets paint both parts of the matchbox. We paint the slipcover so that if and when you glue a paper or fabric cover the words and colors won;t show through. If your children are under 3 they can just paint away...larger matchboxes would be better. Set the boxes aside to dry:

If you are covering the matchbox with paper, you will need your gluestick, paper, a pencil & scissors. You can use other types of adhesive but a gluestick is the cleanest and most kid friendly kind. Take this moment to do a little math with your kidlets. Ask them how much paper do they think they will need to cover their box? Allow them to use the ruler to measure. A good age for ruler learning is 3 years old. I have witnessed it myself and it is pretty nifty:

Mark your paper, draw the line and cut away! Now you will have a strip to wrap around the box. Origami paper is a pretty good size for this project as you won't have to trim too much of the paper. Go to town with the gluestick and wrap it around the box:

Trim you excess paper but allow for a little bit of overlap. Once you have your box wrapped, set aside so the glue can dry. I use a clothespin to hold it down:

Now it is tme to decorate the outside. I wrapped a length of ribbon around my box using white craft glue that has been "painted" on the backside. Your kidlets may want to be-glitter their boxes are maybe adorn with stickers and other fun baubles:

While the outside of the box is drying, have your wee ones (over the age of 3) gather tiny materials to put inside. These can include candy conversation hearts, stickers, paper punched shapes, tiny toys and/or teeny drawings and secret messages:

See? Super fun! You can use these boxes for all sorts of niftiness! They can be tiny tooth catch-alls for the toothfairy, a secret place to hide notes of adoration for your children, a storage box for fortune cookie fortunes or a great gift box to present to friends and family when filled with other handmade goodies! Older kids and teens can get fancier by stitching away on scraps of fabric, ironing on to some sort of stabilizer so the threads won't unravel. I use Yes! paste on my fabric boxes so that there are no clumps or glue stains. Do you have a jar full of old mismatched costume jewelry? Use a pair of pliers to twist off clip on earring backs and glue onto the box with super strong E-6000! Younger kids can paint directly onto the boxes and or glue feathers and pom-pons to the outside or you can have them paint on regular paper and use strips of that for the outside. So many possibilities! If you decide to make one or two, send me a picture and I'll feature it right here on the Do!

Container painting!

It's fun! All ya need is:

*empty oatmeal container (or any container with a lid)
*paper that will fit inside your container
*tempera or acrylic paint
*roundish objects like superballs, corks, pom-pons, etc.
*tape

Gather your supplies. I let the kids choose 3 colors of paint. Acrylic has the best vibrancy unless you can get your hands on some Biocolor which is AWESOME! Tape paper to the inside of your container and add a couple of drops of paint...

Add your items, these will act as paintbrushes replace the lid and shake, shake, shake!

Dump out yer objects, wash to reuse or let them dry and be their own art.

Pull out the paper and let dry. I tape it to a window. Display on the fridge, frame or use as giftwrap. So much fun. Let your kidlets experiment with different types and sizes of objects and colors of paint. Have fun!

Make a Time Capsule!

If you are an oatmeal family, chances are you often find yourself with an empty container or two. You have used those containers for storage, drums, buildings, and perhaps science projects, but have you made a time capsule yet? January is the perfect month for Time Capsule making. You and yer kidlets can accumulate some great good stuff from the previous year to tuck away and bury until next year. You can make it a family tradition! Here's a nifty how to guide with pictures and everything!



To start, you will need to gather your supplies:
*Empty oatmeal container
*glue, gluestick, and/or tape
*markers, crayons & paint
*nifty printed papers, giftwrap, constructionpaper or magazine pages
*ribbon & other collage items for that extra bit of pizazz



Remove the paper label from your oatmeal container and have your kidlets decorate the outside. If using regular sized paper, you will need two sheets to cover. Have the kids decorate the paper first before wrapping the container. Allow their creations to dry and make sure they know there may be overlap if using two sheets.



Now, while waiting for the niftiness to dry, gather your materials to tuck away inside. My container contains some of the following:

*nifty handmade postcards from friends
*a favorite xmas gift
*a favorite robot toy
*something I made
*a valentine I cherish
*a wee notebook full of swap notes I wrote to myself

The ideas are only limited to size. Include photographs, report cards, artwork, letters, stories, softies...you get the picture. Get old fashionned and make an audio tape of your kids talking aobut their favorite bits of the year or make a mix cd full of your favorite tunes from the year.See? Too many ideas!



Once your time Capsule is dry and ready, tuck all the goodies inside, add the date somewhere and seal. I used packing tape.



Now, where oh where are you going to "bury" it? YOu can tuck it away in a closet or the attic. If you choose to actually bury it, make sure you wrap it up in a plastic bag and have the kids create a map to the treasure!

Another spin on the Time Capsule for older kids would be to have them write themselves a letter about the year. Gather some smallish flat items like a favorite cd, artwork and photographs and put them into an envelope with their name on the front. Seal and hold onto it for 5 or more years. When they reach 16 or 18 or 21 mail them their time capsules for their birthdays. It is a gift more fun and precious than you can ever know!

Happy Hat Day!

And an honorable mention the late, more than great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. You humble me.

To add a little smile to your day and an activity or two just in case you need something to do, here are a few ideas for National Hat Day!

For nifty books with swell illustrations you can check this list I put together for you. For some nifty linkeroos and craft supplies, you can check out my Kaboodle page!

Last year, Mr. A-go-go & I made our hats out of newspaper and coffee filters, respectively. This year my hat was made from giftwrap and the Mister's from a brown paper grocery bag. You don't have to go out and get any supplies, use what you have, it's fun!

For the giftwrap hat, all you need is a large sheet of paper, masking tape and craft supplies.

To start, you plop the sheet of paper on top of your kidlets head. Use your hand to pseudo-shape a crown on yer wee one's head and then wrap a band of masking tape all the way around to secure. Take hat off head and roll excess paper into the crown to create the brim...tape into place with packing tape or colorful duct tape or whatever yer kidlet desires.

Now, let the decorating begin! I wasn't into a short crown so I taped together two pieces of black construction paper front to back but only tapeing at the sides to create a sort of tube. I then plopped the tube over my crwon and taped down for securiy. After adding a papercut feather and a packing tape button brooch I was ready for Hat Day!