buttons and banks

 

painting our own cloudy sky

 

We've spent a lot of time reading Little Cloud by Eric Carle, and so our classroom is overflowing with all sorts of cloud activities and projects. The only thing missing was an actual sky full of clouds which we got for a spit second before the wind blew the clouds south. To create our own cloudy sky, we went the Michelangelo route and decided to surprise tomorrow's class...

Our train table (we call it our building table) is just the right height for little arms to reach from underneath. I covered the underside with blue paper and masking tape and set out a tray of white paint and little sponges for the children to create their own clouds with.

It got a bit crowded but the children really held their own, negotiating for space and a turn at the sponges. They kept at if for maybe fifteen minutes before the lure of our shipping boxes called them to create am arching band.

I can't wait to see how tomorrow's class reacts to the surprise!

diy paper rainbow clouds

Back during the spring, we had a week of rainbow fun. One of our projects was these paper rainbow clouds.  We used white paper and crepe paper streamers. The children really had a blast!

Materials:
*sturdy white paper
*crepe paper streamers in rainbow colors
*pens
*scissors
*glue sticks

Step 1: Hand out white paper to your kiddos and have them draw a cloud on it. I used 11" X 17" paper cut in half. Each child got a half sheet to draw their cloud on. I encouraged them to draw the cloud as big as they could. Each child had a different approach to cloud drawing as mentioned in this post.

Step 2: Cut around cloud shape for each kiddo if they are on the younger side. The children in my class are three and not many are confident with their scissors skills. I always ask before cutting. One of the children decided to make a rainbow instead and cut it all out on his own. It was awesome. I wish I caught a picture before he put it in his bag to take home. You can see him beginning to draw it in the third picture from the top there.

Step 3: Set out crepe paper, scissors, and glue sticks and have your kiddos add their streamers. The children used scissors to cut their streamers and glue sticks to adhere them to the paper. We had them glue their streamers to the side that had their cloud drawing on it though not everyone did that. It was all good. We talked a lot about rainbow order but it wasn't necessary for the project.

Step 4: Next, add a second sheet of white paper to the back of each rainbowed cloud. Before using your glue stick to adhere the back on, glue a loop of yarn to the top for easier hanging.Carefully trim with scissors taking care to not cut the streamers off (I speak from experience...d' oh!).

diy fluffy beaded clouds

I have to admit that this was one of my favorite projects from our cloud study. They came out so cool and the children really focused on the shape of their clouds calling out the name of the cloud they were making.....stratus! thunder! daddy! It was fantastic! Here's what you need:

*cotton or poly fiberfill
*pipecleaners
*pony beads and/or cut pieces of straws
*glue

Step 1: Have kiddo pull off a fluff of the fiberfill. They will shape their cloud by gently pulling and tugging at the fibers. The children in my class are three so there was a lot of not-so-gentle pulling and a lot more of squashing but it all works out, it does!

Step 2: Depending on the age of your kiddos they can make their pipe cleaner hanger or you can. I made the hangers for my class by bending the top of a pipe cleaner into a hook shape then twisting it back onto itself to create a circle. Add a blob of glue to the straight end of the pipe cleaner and insert it into the fluffy cloud mass.

Step 3: It's beading time! I demonstrated how to wrap the pipe cleaner around your finger to create a twisty bit that could then be beaded. I really wanted the children to bead their beads slowly and with more fine motor work and function than usual so I added the twisty bit. Doing so made for more thought out selection of beads (believe it or not) and the children took more time to work. Sure, some of the pipe cleaners got straightened during the process but it was all good. Older kiddos could think of a pattern for their beads even.**

Step 4: Add a blob of glue to the top of each beaded pipe cleaner and have your kiddo insert it into their cloud. Hang to dry or set aside to dry then hang in a happy place and enjoy!

**I set out beads for the children to string onto their pipe cleaners. At another center we had been cutting paper straws to add to our St. Patrick's Day sensory bin and a few of the children wanted to use the straw pieces as beads so another method was born. Don't ya love that?

clouds on the sticky easel

I installed a sticky easel in our classroom months ago and the children love sticking things to it. I can get pretty themey with classroom fun and so of course I set up some cloud play on our sticky easel. Here's what you need:

*plain paper or white board backed easel

*clear contact paper

*marker

*basket full of white and/or fluffy stuff such as cotton balls, make up pads, coffee filters, pipe 

cleaners, etc.

Draw an assortment of clouds on your paper or white boards. Carefully measure, cut, and peel your clear contact paper and tape it to your board sticky-side out. Pop a basket or bowl of items for sticking, step back and enjoy! 

cloud cookies in the classroom

I picked up two cloud cookie cutters through Amazon that we had been using at the play dough table for awhile. After a thorough scrub down, I brought them home and used them on a batch of store bought sugar cookie dough (NTS make your own dough next time) and brought them into school for the kiddos to decorate. Each child was given a small resealable bag that had a small spoonful of unsalted butter already inside. Spoons were brought out and each kiddo got to scoop a spoonful or two of powdered sugar and a drop or two of food color of their choice. In some cases, two colors were mixed...magic! We snipped off one corner of each bag and the children squeezed their frosting out onto their cookies. They were given plastic knives to spread the frosting and a smattering of large confetti sprinkles to decorate with. All kinds of fine motor action going on! The children love cooking and preparing food in the classroom and enjoy eating what they prepare even more!

beaded play dough clouds

Our children created these awesome beaded play dough clouds from two different types of homemade dough (I was inspired by this lovely cloud from love from ginger). I had originally whipped up a batch of this cornstarch clay but when they wanted to make more and we had run out of the clay, they used our regular old classroom dough with satisfying results. We used these cookie cutters and your average pony beads. Everything was left to air-dry for a few days (a few of our fluffier clouds took a week or so).

 

The children also made a few clouds without beads. They used the tips of our paintbrushes to punch holes near the top of their clouds. Once their clouds had hardened they painted them with classroom tempera paint and added a hefty dose of glitter. We love glitter! I threaded the clouds with blue embroidery floss and then we taped them to our window frame in the classroom to enjoy.

stormy collage art

 

This is what happens when I set out paper plates, cotton balls, glue, liquid watercolor, and eye-droppers. I also added a shake or two of glitter to the paint. The kiddos loved this process. The green tongs up there were actually a part of our pom-pom sorting activity but one of the kiddos decided to use them on the cotton balls and then their glue bottle which prompted the other children to clamor for their own tongs of course. It was fun all around and the art looks fantastic up on our wall! 

rainbow cloud sorting

I made these rainbow clouds using an extra large cloud punch and craft foam. The colorful bowls are a favorite thrift score. We use them for all sorts of classroom fun; color sorting, dramatic play, and paint vessels to name a few. A diy note and tip for you...craft foam does not play well with a paper punch. When punching, use a sheet of paper (I  think I used a magazine page) under the foam. This will trick the punch into thinking it is punching plain old paper and not the too-pliable craft foam. I also glued a handful of cloud shapes to blank blocks. These were used at the play dough table and were a hit! Enjoy!

sewing cloud pillows

Sewing cloud pillows with kiddos is not much different than sewing mittens. The children first drew their pattern. I had a few hesitant cloud artists so we talked about clouds and what shapes they were made of. Did they have angles or curves? Clouds were drawn as blobs, squiggles, and/or circle. I explained I would cut around their cloud shape to create their pattern. For those that were more scissors adept they cut their own cloud shape out. Next they pinned their pattern to the felt and I cut it our for them. Cutting out two layers of felt in a cloud shape is pretty tricky so this should be done by an adult. The children selected their embroidery thread and once I threaded their needle they got to stitching. Use a contrasting thread so the kiddos can see where they are sewing. We try to focus inserting the needle always from the same side so they can poke up or poke down.

Once they finished the curvy parts of the stitching they removed their pins (they LOVE this part, the pin cushion is fascinating to them and they will often pull out the pins and replace them over and over again) they pulled and gathered bits of fiberfill and stuffed them into their clouds-to-be. After their clouds were suitably stuffed they got back to sewing! Ta-da!

clouds in a jar

*small clear lidded jar

*1-2 drops of food color or liquid water color

*water in a pitcher

*1 tablespoon baby oil

*clear glitter

Place a drop or two of color into your jar.  You only want the color to tint the water, not saturate it with color. Next have your kiddo pour water into their jar. The water will turn blue and the children will be delighted. You can pre-measure the oil or have your kiddo pour about a tablespoon of oil into their jar as well (we used a capful of oil). Hand them a shaker of glitter and let them go wild. Add the lid, shake and enjoy! The glitter gathers around the oil creating small cloudy shapes in the blue water. It's really cool!

We also made clouds by adding color to the water and adding a cotton ball that had been pulled at (to stretch it out). Cool!

painting cloudscapes

The children in my class love to paint and we always have paint and paper on the easel ready for them. When we set up tabletop provocations we use a better quality paper primed for whichever type of paint we are going to use. When using watercolors I use watercolor paper that has been trimmed of perforations if needed. For our cloudscapes, the children drew their clouds with fat white crayons and then painted with a variety of blues and greys which had been watered down at different levels. Some of the children drew fat circles for their clouds while others scribbled circles across their paper. We had a selection of cloud photos on the table for inspiration. When using watercolors with the children we carefully explain the importance if treating the paintbrush and paper gently as well as keeping the rinse water clean so as not to muddy the colors. When the children want to do color mixing we switch out the paintbrushes and paper  and sometimes even the paint though eyedroppers make for great tools on color mixing watercolors!