paper plate lions

How cute are these lions? Our paper plate lions are a preschool craft project that gathers the kiddos into a group to work on skills such as cutting, glueing, and following instructions. I want to add that this is not an everyday deal that I do in my classroom. Most of the time we are mixing paint and creating our own art experiences. Sometimes we gather around so I can quickly assess who may need encouragment or who may need a new challenge. We never push and if a child has other plans or really does not want to do the project then that's okay. There a multitude of other ways to see where they are at. A craft such as this is cute and is a fun take home for parents to display. I mean, who wouldn't want a three-eyed lion on their fridge?

Paper plates are a fun and inexpensive resource for kiddo to create with. They are sturdy enough to hold ALL the paint, and have an interesting texture to them. Childre ncan cut them to create other tings, and they are happy to have paint, glue, crayon, marker, pencil, and even play dough spread over them.

Here we have a blue lion, a pink lions, a four-eyed lion, and a classic one or two in the mix. Once the paint dried, the kiddos added mouths or mustaches or design using the much coveted sharpie.

Sometimes though, I have to admit, it;s the paint messy brushes I swoon over.

making twirly art {using what you have}

I think it is safe to say that I am not the only preschool teacher who holds onto odd bits of scrap paper and other flotsam and jetsam I come across.  In my classroom one of the children's favorite activities to use the salad spinner to make art. Sometimes we use coffee filters in our spinner but with some prep time, I find that the centers of paper plates work best for durability. After I cut out all those circles I am left with a pile of paper plate rims that have just enough curl and twirl in them that I came up with this project that the children call twirlies.

All you need is a paper plate rim, any size, paint, and glitter. When the art is going to be super messy, I will lay put a sheet of wax paper for the children to use as an art mat. Wax paper is great for sticky gooey art projects because you can move the whole shebang to a safe place for drying and the art (mostly) won't stick to the paper. The wax paper also keeps any glue or paint from drip dropping all over your tabletops or, in our case, windowsills.

 

My kiddos absolutely adore glitter...and paint...and sweeping up with the dustpan. I keep the dustpan on our counter between the refrigerator and microwave and each kiddo in my class knows where it is stored and freely uses it to clean up the riff-raff that falls on our floor. They also return it to its spot when they finish. I think this young lady spent more time engaged in sweeping up than she did sprinkling glitter all over her twirlie. The finished twirlies were hung on our art wire across our room and/or under our windowsills, the children chose where they wished for them to be hung and were quite proud of their creations.

art up a paper plate or two

 I did this project for my April Bed but with a little planning, you can totally have your kiddos whip up a pretty installation as well!

Materials

*sturdy paper plates in two sizes

*acrylic paint in three colors plus white

*paintbrushes and water

*metallic marker 

*double-sided foam tape

Have your kiddo pick out two colors of paint plus one additional shade that matches one of the colors. I used two shades of pink and one of yellow. Set out three plates and have your kiddo paint the center of each one in each color.

Next, grab another plate and add a squirt of color and a squirt of white and have your kiddo mix the paint up. Do one up for each color. If yer up for another round of painting, repeat the second step but add a bit more white. Take a moment to teach you kiddo about tints. Set aside to dry.

Once dry, have your kiddo paint a picture or pattern to each plate using the white paint. Give them a skinny brush and limit the amount of paint they use. Set aside to dry.

 

Now it is time to have your kiddo doodle a bit on top of the white paint. Once they are finished, it is time for the installation.

Depending on how long you want your installation to hang, you have a few choices for implementation. You can glue paper clips to the back of some of the plates and hang them using small nails, or you can use a mounting putty or double-stick foam tape (it takes a while to press all the plates into place. You can see one of my plates falling in the photo below). I went the route of putty for the base layer and double-stick tape for the second layer. Arrange the larger plates in a scatter across your wall surface making sure to keep a few close to each other so that you may later the smaller plates on top.

Enjoy!

Hooray for Hat Day 2008!

Yay! It's Hat Day! Here's a nifty hat you can make from around the house supplies!
What you need:
*paper plates
*paint, crayons or markers (or colored plates)
*scissors
*scrap paper in long strips
*pipe cleaners (optional)
*tape, white glue
*stapler or hole punch
*ribbon, string, yarn or twine

scrumdilly-do it!

Set out your supplies on a splat mat or other mess friendly surface. Each kidlet should get one paper plate to transform. If your plates are white, have your wee ones paint, color or draw on them to fancy 'em up a bit. I painted mine. Do this to both sides so make sure to allow time for side one to dry.Have your wee ones pick a side to be the top of their hat. (You may want them to do this before they paint as the top of the plate will make for a better surface to stick things on. At least, it will keep the glue from dripping everywhere!) They are going to fancy it up with long paper strips that have been cut or torn by your or them. They may dribble glue all over the top and then add their paper scraps or they may use tape to secure them. It all depends on what type of sticky your kidlet prefers. As your wee ones fancy up their hats, have them think TALL. Bend one end of a strip of paper and adhere to the plate then let it loop a little before securing the other end or maybe don't secure it at all. If you are using pipe cleaners, make sure the tape is out. Pipe cleaners are not exactly glue friendly and that can be frustrating for your wee ones. If your wee ones are not so wee, you can up the ante on this project and have them do a sort of weave to decorate. You will need to cut a bunch of slits in the plate using an exacto knife or blade. NEVER let your wee ones near an exacto blade! Do this as soon as their plates have dried and with your wee ones far away from your sides. Then, your kidlets can slip the paper into the slits to anchor each side. Once all their bits of pipe cleaners and paper are arranged, flip the plate over and secure with tape. This is a little more hands on but it allows for some good moments of hand to eye coordination, problem solving and small motor skills.Once their hats are all fancied up, set aside so that the glue may dry if glue was used. Otherwise, you can either staple two strings of ribbon, yarn or twine, one to either side of the plate or you can punch a hole in each side and knot a stand of ribbon on each side. It is all up to you and your wee ones.Place a hat on top of a head and tie under the chin and viola! Fancy hats! If the hat is slip, slip, slipping about, tape a small square of foam or felt to the center of the bottom of the plate. This will help a wee bit with all the sliding. Make sure to take pictures! Not every kidlet likes the feel of something tied under their chin!

Happy Hat Day!