Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

We did this activity go along with our letter M theme which you can see here Art Journal I recently found out about art journals and thought it would be a wonderful experience with the kids for preschool.  There are so many possibilities with art journals and it is a nice way to express yourself with another person through art.  This activity can look many different ways for many different people.  Art is open, as is journaling. We will be adding 1 entry a week to our art journal.  The themes, topics, or prompts may be random or may go along with a theme we are learning about for the week. Memories with Mommy After our meat eater drawing I didn't want to journal about meat eaters.  It was to redundant.  Therefore I went with another important 'm' topic, Memories with Mommy.   To start this off I had Little Dragon close his eyes and picture me (mommy) and him together.  I asked him to think of the things we have done toget...

Learning about another country is fun especially when you get to make a costume!  Ancient Egyptians dressed differently then we do here in America and recognizing the difference for was part of our lesson.  The first piece of the costume was the headdress.   Materials paper print outs of the top and sides of the headdress markers stapler scissors Color the headdress in common Egyptian color schemes. Cut out the 3 different pieces Staple them together Put it on!  Egyptian necklace Egyptians like things big and gold.  So of course we had to make something to adorn ourselves with that was big and golden.  Materials cardboard tri color noodles yellow paint glitter paint paint brush glue twine pencil I cut a frozen pizza piece of cardboard in half for the perfect semi circle shape.  Little Dragon and Toothless then mixed the yellow and glitter paint to  make a wonderful gold c...

I loved the idea of this craft as soon as I saw it.  I was looking for coloring pages and found a great picture of an alligator. I was looking at the picture and noticed the detail for the hard back scales and thought how fun would it be to do a textured painting for alligators? I found a paint set at Wal-Mart at the beginning of summer for only $10.  Inside were many different paint rollers, shaped sponges, and paint trays.  It was perfect.  The rollers varied in texture too!  Some were smooth others were squared or zig-zag.  I knew the rollers would be perfect for this activity! The Dragons have also been itching to paint with these materials and were tickled to see the tools we were using for this weeks art.  It took a couple tries before The Dragons got the hang of rolling the roller in the paint instead of dipping it.  As the boys painted I set out 1 of our alligator props for a visual of the scales.  Then we hung ...

Bible Verse: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord -Joshua 24:15 I like this verse and have seen it hung in many homes.  I don't have the means to buy a grand piece of art with the verse on it so the study of this verse was the perfect opportunity to create our own art piece! Materials:  5 small craft sticks  painting sharpie glue sticks paint utensils (brushes, rollers, sponges)  card stock paper I knew I wanted the back ground to be a painting, nothing specific, just brush strokes.  I gave the boys materials and said 'Paint!'.   They didn't need any further encouragement.  These boys are not entertained for long periods of time with paint.  Soon their papers were covered in colors and they were ready to move on.   Once the paint dried I gave them each 5 craft sticks and asked them to make a house.  In the beginning this was a bit of a challenge but they both were able to make a house, up...

Creation Day 4 On this day God created the sun, moon, and placed the stars in the sky. Our activity this week made a great addition to our classroom decorations.  Materials:  Black construction paper cut in half horizontally Pictures of stars, sun, and moon tape yarn paint I drew a sun, a moon, and three stars on yellow construction paper and the dragons painted them The Dragons took their time with the project.  They really enjoyed painting these shapes.  They explained the reason for every color to each other while they were painting.  It was adorable.  Once the paint was dry The Dragons cut out their shapes and we taped them onto the yarn pieces.  For some reason they though these would be great hats.  I told them they were meant to be hung up but they insisted.  So on top of the heads they went!  They loved them!  They were great hats for a bit. When they finished playing we hung t...

This is a darling craft!  I loved them when I saw them on pintrest and knew it would be part of our alligator theme. They also look like the letter A when you open the clothes pin. Double whammy!  Materials:  clothespin green paint glitter red paint googly eyes glue I gave The Dragons their clothespins and asked that they paint the outside green.   And the mouth red We did this craft after school so Doll Dragon could join.  The Dragons have missed working together.  While the paint was still wet we added some glitter.  I don't use glitter often and thought both Dragons would enjoy adding some to their craft, which they did.   Last The Dragons glued on their googly eyes.  The Dragons added their own eyes a bit forward on the snout so they look more like frogs to me.  I do not like crafting things that are just going to take up space and I will end up throwing away.  These fit perf...

We did two crafts this week for our construction theme.  Movable Digger  We have never used the pins that allow for craft pieces to move in our preschool before.  When I found this craft I was very excited!  I was unable to download the craft or save it as a printable so I drew my own and copied it for our use.  Materials:  movable digger printable turning pins paint (we used black and yellow only) scissors paint brushes This craft is good for: scissor practice counting practice pencil holding skills I set out the paint for the Dragons and asked that they use both colors for their pictures.   Little Dragon did a wonderful job painting in the lines It was adorable watching the boys paint and talk together calmly The cutting was a bit difficult but that is because it took awhile for the paint to dry so the paper was wet and tearing.  Both boys were very proud of their work and loved their digge...

Art Journal I recently found out about art journals and thought it would be a wonderful experience with the kids for preschool.  There are so many possibilities with art journals and it is a nice way to express yourself with another person through art.  This activity can look many different ways for many different people.  Art is open, as is journaling. We will be adding 1 entry a week to our art journal.  The themes, topics, or prompts may be random or may go along with a theme we are learning about for the week. Journal Entry #1: Laugh We used water colors for this entry.   Before starting Little Dragon and I made silly faces together until we laughed. Child's prompt:  Make a goofy painting Can you paint something that will make me laugh?  Adult prompt:  Try letting go of your stress on your paper so you can spend more time laughing When is the last time you laughed until you cried?  How ...