Lets Get Painting!!

Cali asks almost on a daily basis to paint. I found 9 paint rollers (as seen above) at a thrift shop for $1.91, AWESOME DEAL to say the least! In that same goodie bag came books of stickers and a Disney scrapbooking kit!

We are painting on paper bags for an upcoming activity! Paint a couple of your paper bags and put them to the side until next week. Cali really enjoyed the roller, I think she REALLY REALLY enjoyed it actually. Keep scrolling to see what I mean :o)

I can't even say how I just love her facial expression after seeing her painted hand she made. Have your tot paint their own hand, show them with gesture. Then go on to show them how to use both hands to push the paint onto the paper, and finally pull up to reveal the artwork made!

Cali is always drawing this face, we are definetly framing this artwork!!!

Cali's finished artwork!

Green Link Caterpillar

The supplies that you will need, also a stapler can replace the glue.

Cut out about 10 strips of paper that are about an inch wide, and 6 inches long. Use the scrap piece left to make the face.

Form one of the links and use glue or a stapler to secure it.
Form the next link into a circle connected to the first loop.
Continue until you are satisfied with the link.

Cut a circle from the paper that was left over and made the head for the caterpillar. Use markers and crayons to add eyes and a mouth.

You could also attach some yarn to the caterpillars head and another on his end to make it a puppet!

Lanterns

All the supplies you might want to use.

Cut off one strip off of the short end of the construction paper.

Fold a rectangular piece of construction paper in half, making it long and thin.

Make several cuts along the folded side. let your tot add some artwork. Also dont cut all the way to the edge of the opposite side.

Unfold the paper and bring the short side together. You can use staples, glue, or tape to make it secure.

Staple, glue, or tape the strap on, this will be the lanterns handle.

*Make 3+ and run yarn through the handles and hang up, since we will be moving in August we did not hang ours, but we will make new ones and hang them after we get settled*

Our Mother's Day Craft

Instead of going out and buying cards for all the lovely mother's in your life, why not sit with your tot and hand-make each card. I of course did all the tracing and cutting, Cali was in charge of the glue :o)

We decided to make a single flower and then add a quote having to-do with mother's. I didn't really follow any type of pattern, I just knew what I wanted our flower to look like and drew it out a couple times to get the perfect pattern.

Since we also used solid colors, this is a great way to introduce or talk about colors with your tot. Cali loves purple and blue, and she can distinguish between those so far, aswell as red.

Birdhouse Painting

I got this bird house from Joann's for $1.

One of Cali's many interest is birds.

Anytime we are outside she is constantly looking for birds and chasing them.

Start by placing the colors of paint on a paper plate.

We choose bright spring colors to welcome Springtime.

Next have your child paint, each time they choose a color let them know what color they are using.

Of course the colors are going to get mixed together! Now you can show/tell them how we can make certain colors when you mix 2 of the colors together.

Blue + Yellow = Green

Red + Yellow = Orange

Blue + Red = Purple

When finished painting, place your birdhouse outside to dry.

Cali's finished birdhouse.

Foam Necklace

What you will need:

Foam shapes

String

First Cali and I separated the shapes by color.

Next we said the shapes we saw, circles, stars, hearts, etc.

We spent about 20 minutes doing this.

Next it was time to make the necklace.

I made a knot at the end of the string and let Cali begin her magic.

She had the best time making he "necky" as she calls them.

I actually crocheted a "necky" for her by request last night.

Here is her finished necklace.

Cali 31 months old

Frigde ABC Magnets

 

Fridge magnets are probably the easiest activity you can do with your child. Cali can spend up to 30 minutes rearranging the letters and making sounds. When she plays she does say the letters/sounds of the alphabet, but I don't correct her if she has the wrong letter, in time she will visually learn the ABC's. We do group the colors together so she can see the difference. You can get your fridge magnets at your local Wal-mart for $1

The Tot Car

What you will need:

Art Box

Wooden Car Kit

(Found at Joann's for $1.99)

Cali loves cars, tractors, fishings, football, soccer, etc. So when I told her we were going to build our very own car she was more than excited! I opened the package and let her explore with the pieces for about 10 minutes. After the 10 mintues I directed her by using hand gestures on how to make the car. I didn't want to actaully "show" her how to put the pieces together, because I think it is very important for her to learn by gesture on how to make/build anything.

I knew she could do it! And I praised her for listening and watching my hands on how to put the wheels together!

Next I simply said "Where do the wheels go?" Of course she knew, so she placed them in the correct holes. (You will want a hammer close by to make sure the wheels are good and tight)

Next, she colored her car! I wrote her name on it, we practiced C..A..L..I. I love the way she actually says her name, its "Talvee." On this car we also drew shapes, and talked about colors. Purple is by far her favorite!

Cali very proud of her new car!!

Animal Face Plates

What you wil need:

Paper Plates

Colored Construction Paper

Art Box

Scissors

Glue

I told Cali that it was craft time, and she came to check out when I had in store for her on this day. She was excited to hear we were making animals! She is such an animal lover!

Get your paper plates, we made 2 animals. First turn the plate over, you want to use the back so the face will "pop" out. Have an animal in mind, and start talking about the color of the animal and give your child that color or crayon. We did a pig, so I can gave Cali a pink crayon. As she was coloring we talked about what sounds a pig makes, and where you can find pigs!

Next give you child a darker colored crayon for the eyes. I told Cali that the pigs eyes where circles that we colored in. (Circles are Cali's favorite)

Next draw with a dark crayon on the construction paper the shapes you will use for the ears, nose and mouth. As I drew the shapes, Cali told me what they were. She loves her shapes! As I was drawing the mouth, she said that I was making a moon! How awesome is it to see your child do a comparsion before your eyes! I was pretty amazed she put them together!

Glue your shapes to complete the face!

Look at how awesome her pig is! It is now frigde art, and dont forget the put their name, age, and date on the back!

Cali the pig!

We had so much fun, we decided we had to make another one. Cali said she wanted to make a dog. Follow all the steps again, and complete the face.

Cali the dog!



Take Every Moment To Teach Your Tot

Any chance I get I take the opportunity to teach or have Cali learn something new. One of the best places is the grocery store. There are so many new smells, textures, colors, shapes, etc that tots can benefit from. On this day we talked about sizes and colors of fruits and veggies! We also did some smelling too!