This was such a fun party. The theme was Dia de los Muertos and we did the sugar skull faces on the kids and grown ups too.
Everyone loves owls and we had a lot of fun making these from recycled materials. I found a picture of an owl on interest that used egg carton cups for the eyes so we started with that used the rest of the cardboard egg carton to made them unique. So many different ways to create an owl all using the same materials.
This was another project that I found the inspiration on Pinterest. We have been collecting the bread clips since early summer. Finally we had enough of them to schedule this project. The idea of aliens and monsters fits right in October. I also found some wood pieces that kids used to help create their project. As always wiggle eyes are a real plus in creating a project.
We learned a bit of history, talked about Columbus, and created a picture of Columbus'I ships coming to America. Most of the kids didn't know anything about Columbus and the idea of him sailing over 500 years ago went over their heads. We were able to pull a couple of books and look up the information about him and his ships. This is another project where we were able to incorporate recycled materials and donated items.
Watercolors are always fun to do because of the oh wow factor. I sometimes worry a bit when I get the much younger children in the class How they'll do but as usual they had a fantastic time creating this project. They even learned how to shade the edges of the leaves and scribe in the veins. Initially I had planned to have them trace their leaves onto the paper but decided that it would be better if I did that part and they did the painting part. We went over having a Clear water brush and cup and a color painting brush. First I had them paint one leaf with water then get a bit of the color and trace around the outside at. Sometimes they didn't do the same leaf that they had put water on requiring a quick fix to help the paint spread. It didn't take long before everybody had it figured out. Palette knives were in short supply last night so we used a number of other items like Spoon handle's and scissor edges scribe our leaves. What a great job they did.
This project was just a little complicated but everybody was able to complete it with very little difficulty. We began with quart milk cartons and cut the bottoms off. I cut all of the lengths of tissue paper in advance and had the kids cut their own fringes from the long strips. They first had to glue squarish pieces across the bottom of the carton. We then added layer after layer of fringes until we got up to the top. We opened the top of the carton and punched holes on both sides to insert a cord as a hanger. Most of the kids continued their fringe up to the very top of the cart. We then added a bit of streamers to the bottom and sent them home to fill it with prizes or candies or whatever they wanted. We had a discussion about how to break the piñata to have the items fall out. We also had a discussion about Mexican Independence Day.
This is just such a fun project. It was our end of the summer time and the kids really went after it. First they drew their idea of what a beach scene would look like. Then we gave out paint mixed with Very fine sand and had them use pallet knives to spread it onto their designs. For some it was a bit of a reach in the beginning, for others they took right to it. In order to make it even more fun, I set out a box of seashells that had been donated for the program and let them sort through and glue them to their completed picture. Some chose to add them to the design while others just added them around the border to frame their pictures. Great job by all.
This is an adaptable project that just works better each time I bring it out. I used the plastic lids from tomato boxes as they had notches along the edges to use as pins to start the weaving. We talked about warp and woof and how we were going to do the project. Everyone got a long piece to set their warp and a needle and shorter pieces to do the weaving. A lot of "over and under" was mumbled as they got the piece going and could not wait to add the beads into the design. Some got a lot, some got just a few. All were removed from the frame and tied to hang complete with beaded fringe at the bottom.
This was an expanded project from one I did before with the summer group. We used a boutique kleenex box and 2 paper towel tubes to make the structure for the castle. I supplied paper and glue while they did all the imagination part. I also put out tp tubes to make either a knight with foil armor or princess. What a great variety we got by the end of the time. There were drawbridges, turrets, and a pair of the prettiest princesses yet with paper dresses and crowns. Another fantastic recyling project.
This was such a fun project for us to do and was the sample for my group doing it at camp. The kids had to thread ribbons through holes that I drilled in toilet paper tubes to make the legs for their marionette complete with bead feet. They also had to thread strings through a sample cup and the tube in order to attach the head and let it move. We added self stick eyes, yarn manes for the horses and tails for both horses and dogs. The strings were attached to rings from the wedding department so that the animals could prance and run. This was such a fun project to do and easy enough for all the participants.
A freind gave me a bag of blue jeans for an art project and this one just grew into being. I had lots of felt and thought the kids could cut it up and make flowers to attach to the bags. I also had a large donation of buttons to add to the mix and plenty of squeeze bottles of fabric paint. They cut flowers and so much more--stars, houses, what looks like a dragon, cute stuff and slitted it so the brads would go through. Many fashion statements were worn out the door and the group seemed really pleased with this project.
After a great project at camp, I decided to try the mixed media page with this group too. We used peel and stick shapes and covered them with tissue paper instead of cutting out our own shapes but it worked out well. Once things were glued down well we added glitter tempera paint to accent the project. Idea was to be able to cover a book but I think it is going for something else.
It was a week for learning new things, combining things and generally playing with lots of materials to create our projects. We started by learning to do tape sculptures using our hand to form a bunny. Sticky fun but they turned out really well--even on the few kids who wrapped the tape so tight I thought we'd have them encased forever.
Masks are always fun to make because they take on a life of their own. I was given a large pile of squarish plastic tubs and thought they would make great fish. We started with a sheet of yellow paper and instructions to make eyes in a variety of ways. I also showed them how to make puffy lips and let them do their fish "their way." It always works. some added streamers for fins, most just worked on the face and had lots of opinions on the shape of things. It used up some of my stash of odd paper pieces but not a lot.
This group is in love with the slice and dice moves. We set up our own slice and dice table with 3 dicers, 3 cutting boards, and a number of small knives. Little did we know that the slice and dice activity would be as popular (or more) than making the food projects. Thanks to neighbors for loaning us crinkle cutters this week. Pickles, cucumber and celery are so much more interesting if the edge is all crinkly. The pictures tell it all although the scrap crust cinnamon mountains were a real hit.
The group competed to make the best veggie skeleton then voted on each others and awarded most colorful, most variety and most unique. It was fun to see the skeleton families--including pets. Most of the skeletons didn't make it past judging as we are a hungry group. The egg critters were also fun and didn't last long. I got to take a couple home but from the egg monster with a carrot center to the egg under trees with 4 baby eggs to the bunny egg we had fun with our food. We used a few cookbooks for kids from the library: The international cookbook for kids, The kids' multicultural cookbook: food around the world, and a couple of mine including Pizza Art.
We started the week with a discussion of kitchen safety and what would make food look better we started by making chef's hats. Of course several of the hats fell over the kids' faces which just made everyone laugh. We quickly whipped out pizza dough from a packet and formed it into themed personal pizzas. The kids put on lots of veggies and lots of cheese. Got to grate their own and even used my revolving grater. The themes were the beach, a forest and the park.
We did a fairy or elf first using chenille stems, pony beads, a clay bead I made, and wire ribbon for wings and clothes. The guys wanted swords so created them from wood sticks and aluminum tape. Several of the elves were totally dressed in aluminum tape armor by the time they were completed. I saw sword fighting going on and then the creations got to climb aboard the dragons we made next.
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| fluid migration and color mixing |
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| borax crystals |
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| epson salt crystals |
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| making goop or oobleck |
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| clay landform and sand |
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| erupting volcano |
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| Paper casting using white envelopes |
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| snowball fight |
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| space ship from tomato container |
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| imploding a can |
