Arting it up for Thanksgiving...

the Old School way...

Come on, you remember doing this, don;t ya? Whether or not you like it, think it is art or just plain silly I tell ya, kidlets LOVE doing this. It's a nifty trick, turning your hand into a turkey. This project could probably give you some much needed kitchen/clean up time, just make sure your wee ones can handle scissors before leaving them alone!

What you need:
*yours and/or your kidlets hands
*markers, crayons, pencils, etc.
*kid friendly scissors
*construction paper, scrap paper, magazine pages
*tape and/or glue
*feathers, ribbon, fabric, tissue, etc.

scrumdilly-do it!

Set your wee ones down with all their materials. Really, the supply list you could use for this is endless. Help them or have them trace their hands. Cut out hand shapes. You may want to do this for younger wee ones and while you are at it, cut out enough hands as there are dinner guests, you can turn these turkeys into place holders or table decorations!

Next up, decoration time, color, glue, tape and bedazzle your turkeys. When you're done, give them a name and put on a show and tell. Most of all, have fun! Let your kidlets get creative, let them go wild with the masking tape. If they want a pink turkey, let them have a pink turkey, the goal for this is to give them all the freedom they want to turn their hand print into something else. Who knows what they will come up with!While you're at it, read them a fun book. I'm sorry I didn't get this up sooner but two of my favorite Turkey stories are Twas' the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey and Pete's Chicken by Harriet Ziefert with pictures by Laura Rader.Happy Turkey Day! Don't forget to ask your wee ones what they are most thankful for and while you are at it, don't forget to ask yourself!

Boredom Buster: Fireworks Painting

This is super fun and super easy and the results are always exciting! I'm sure most of you have done this when you were a kidlet but back then we turned our pictures into butterflies.

What you need:

*red, white and blue paint (of course any colors are great)

*large sheets of white or blue paper. The heavier the stock, the better.

*squirt bottles for the paint or paper cupcake liners

*glitter

scrumdilly-do it!

Gather your supplies and work on a washable surface.

 

Fold your paper in half and start adding paint to one side ONLY! Kids can squeeze the paint onto the paper (which will allow for some great mess making opportunities) or if using the cupcake liners, simply have them push from the bottom making the liners turn inside out. Then they can "paint" with the liner or they can drip, drab and dip to their hearts' content.

Next up, fold the paper over to the other side and rub, rub , rub away.

Open and add glitter and viola! You've got fireworks! Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

fiesta2, originally uploaded by khushdude.

Here's a list of nifty links for you to peruse:

*The history of Cinco de Mayo

*A nifty book list to you from me

*kaboodle gets festive

*macaras fun

*Sombrero cookies

*kiddie approved sangria

*Fiesta part done Martha's way

*Mexican fried ice-cream

Check out khushdude's flickr page for more amazing photos!

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

A wee bit o' green fun!

Make today a day of green. I'll try to post some pictures later but we're off for a bike ride in 4 minutes so I must type fast! Yikes! Here's a list of green fun you and yer family can try!

*Have a green breakfast! Add a drop or two of food color to your kidlet's milk.

*Make green milkshakes

*Hand your wee one a disposable camera and go on a green scavenger hunt!

*Mix green. Give your kidlet's some yellow and blue paint and have them make their own green! Use different shades of blue and yellow and have some white and black out for them also. Expirement and chart their creations!

*Collect green paint chips from the paint store and make a collage. Or, gather all the green craft materials you have and create something green!

*Serve an all green lunch or dinner. Have the wee ones come up with ideas!

*Make green cupcakes! Check out this zucchini cupcake recipe!

Most of all have fun! I'll post some pics when I get back! Happy Day!