L is for Homemade Lunch Bag

Do you want a fun craft that has a purpose? Think about taking a pair of old jeans and repurposing them into a nifty lunch bag. This activity requires sewing so it’s the perfect opportunity for older children to learn how to use a sewing machine. For preschoolers, this craft is partially for adult construction, but the kiddos can do some decorating.

What You Need:

Old pair of jeans

Scissors

Ribbon or cording

Sewing machine

Decorative appliqué and/or buttons

Fabric markers and or puffy paints

What to Do:

1. Cut a 12-16-inch section from the leg of a pair of jeans.
2. Turn the piece inside out and sew the bottom pieces together with a sewing machine creating a 1/2-inch seam.
3. Fold over a 1/2-inch strip around the top of the bag and sew it down to make a casing. Leave about two-inches open to pass the ribbon.
4. Through the opening in the casing, pass the ribbon. The two ends can be tied into a knot.
5. Turn the bag to the right side. Finish sewing the casing that was left open.
6. Time to decorate. Your child can use a variety of materials to decorate the denim lunch sack. Iron on appliqué patches, sew on decorative buttons, or draw with fabric pens and puffy paints. The ideas are endless!
7. Make sure to personalize this lunch bag with your child's name.

This denim lunch bag is eco-friendly as it can be tossed in the washing machine when dirty. How cool is that?

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

Stop by tomorrow to see what I have for the letter M,
Tania

K is for Kitchen Cord Organizer Gift Craft (toilet tube art)

Do you have the problem with appliance cords being too long and unruly on the kitchen counter?  With these cute organizers you can thread the excess cord inside for a tidy workspace. Decorate empty toilet paper tubes in a variety of ways; paint them or spread glue and cover with pieces of torn tissue paper.  When using the tissue paper, brush a thin layer of glue over the top so all the paper will stick—this is like a decoupage craft.  Stand the tube on end and let it dry thoroughly.  Your child can now add bright stickers.

When presenting this gift (maybe for Mother's Day coming soon), write this verse on paper and roll it up and insert into the cord organizer.

Here’s a cord organizer to use each day,
Slip a cord inside and neat it will stay! 

Photo courtesy of FreeImages

 

Have a great day and see you next Monday with the letter L.

Tania

 

 

I is for Interlocking Bag Books

You are your baby’s first teacher!  Dr. Jean Piaget, upon whose theories many of the foundations of Early Childhood education have been built, said “ that young children are explorers and it is the job of the adults around them to provide the experiences and materials to stimulate their development.”  Parents promote education from the beginning, using everyday life experiences to expand the child’s mind as well as the body.  Toys are stimuli in the world of learning.  When a young child plays—he learns.  Unfortunately in a world of inflation, it is difficult for us parents to provide every toy available on today’s market.

Think homemade! The use of bright colors, soft textures and tinkling sounds have made these play things appealing to the little ones.  For the parent, making these toys provide a sense of gratification and a gift of love, while keeping within your toy budget.

Interlocking Bag Books:

1. Sew together (by hand or machine) several zipper top closing plastic bags along the bottom edge.
2. Cut cardboard to fit inside each bag.
3. Glue magazine pictures or real life photos on the cardboard.  Then slip each page into the plastic sleeve.
4. Change these pictures often for variety.
5. Easy to clean with a damp sponge.
6. Sit with your baby and together turn the pages.  Talk to your baby as you look at the pictures.  It helps to develop important language skills.

Photo courtesy of Morguefile

Hope you enjoy this "I" craft for babies, please visit again to see what I have for the letter "J"
Tania

H is for Health Website

Children ask all kinds of questions about their body that caregivers and parents have a hard time answering. Things like, “Why do I have to brush my teeth?” “What is a birthmark?” “What is a belly button?” These are just a sample of the questions that Kid’s Health.org website can answer.  http://www.kidshealth.org

It evens answers some of the rare questions like “Why do I blow wind” and “What’s a wart?”  This interactive website includes articles on some of the most common and bizarre questions children come up with, as well as games, quizzes, videos and puzzles to entertain them while doing research about how the body works.

Older children should have no trouble navigating this colorful, kid-friendly site. Maybe pick a subject weekly and have the children do research. Log onto this site and click on the For Kids section.  There are a variety of tabs on the left for different health subjects.

Caregivers will need to start discussions with younger children and this is a marvelous site to obtain all the information you need to answer questions about the body.

Click on the For Parents section to find instruction sheets for First Aid and Safety. Think about printing out these pages and start your own “first aid” resource book.

Overall, this is a “super” site to visit.

Moving right along to the next letter. Tomorrow is the letter I,

Tania

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

G is for Game

Continuing on the Sea Life theme, let's play a movement game together.

THE "SEA SAYS"

There is a lot of ocean motion under the sea.  Play "the sea says" just like Simon Says.  Here's a list of the different sea creatures and how they move.

1.  Wiggle like an eel.

2.  Walk sideways like a crab.

3.  Jiggle like a jellyfish.

4.  Crawl with arms and legs like an octopus.

5.  Fly like a seagull.

6.  Bark like a seal.

Think of other motions as you play this game!

This post is short, but there will be more fun tomorrow with the letter H.

Tania

Crab craft photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

F for Fish Crafts

Children love sea life themes. Here are crafts to make while studying the ocean and fish.

Make mobiles to hang in your room by drawing different shaped fish on pieces of cardboard.  Cut these out and paint them in bright colors.  Add detailed patterns with black markers.  Punch a hole at the tops and thread the fish with ribbons, yarn or string onto a clothes hanger at different lengths.  Hang this from the ceiling. 

Create baggie fish to hang or decorate the walls.  Crumple a sheet of colorful tissue paper.  Use a black marker to make designs that replica scales, an eye, and so on.  Glue on sequins or faux jewels, anything that can be glued on for sparkle.  Now, stuff the paper fish into a plastic sandwich bag.  Gather the opening and secure it closed with the twist tie about three inches from the body to form a tail fin.

Design magic fish pictures with the use of a white crayon.  Draw fish shapes (or other sea creatures) using the white crayon on white paper.  The shapes will be almost invisible.  Have the kids brush a water diluted food color wash over the entire paper.  (Mix food color drops into a small bowl of water until you have a vibrant color)  Voila, magical fish!!

Enjoy! See you tomorrow with the letter G.

Tania

Jellyfish craft photo courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved

E is for Eat This, Not That

If you need help deciphering which nutritional choices are best for your children, check out the handy guide Eat This, Not That! For Kids!, the kid’s version of the best selling adult book. It points out the healthier options found in fast-food and family restaurants, grocery store aisles, even your child’s cafeteria. The book offers helpful meal suggestions, label-and menu-reading strategies and a listing of the 20 worst kids’ foods in the country. In addition to that, most spreads in the book open up to two food options, one on the left page and one on the right, and it tells you point blank to “Eat This, Not That.” The choices often are surprising.  For example, if you go to Dunkin’ Donuts, encourage your child to order the ham, egg and cheese English muffin sandwich instead of the seemingly healthier banana walnut muffin.  You’ll save almost 200 calories and 11 grams of fat!

This book is authored by David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding (Rodale Books) and can be found in local bookstores and on Amazon.com.  This may be a good book to use when planning menus for your group and a wonderful resource book for parents to browse through.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

See you same time tomorrow,
Tania

D is for Drums

Drums are a favorite of children when playing musical instruments. I wrote an entire book for teachers and parents on making musical instruments, so I'm including one of my favorites -- the snare drum made with a cookie tin. I'm sure you have most of the materials you need at home. Try this craft with your kids -- it's a great art project and a way to practice making sounds and rhythm.

SNARE DRUM:

You will need:

*Metal cookie/candy tin

*Metal paper clips (about 20)

*Cardboard circle (cut slightly larger than the diameter of the tin)

*Thick packaging tape

*Adhesive stickers, including musical notes

*Drum sticks (unsharpened pencils or chopsticks)

Remove the lid from an empty cookie tin.  Decorate the outside with colorful adhesive stickers (or paint a solid color with acrylic paints).  Paint the cardboard circle, too, if you wish.  Have the kids turn the cookie tin upside down and spread paper clips evenly on the recessed bottom of the tin.  Place the cardboard circle over the bottom (the cardboard should not touch the paper clips).  Secure this circle to the bottom with thick tape, bringing the tape up the sides.  The children can use drumsticks to tap this snare drum.

Encourage the kids to think of other materials to use inside this drum besides paper clips to see what other sounds may be produced.

Sing this song as you play your drum---(tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Play it loud,

Play it soft,

Rhythm everywhere.

Play it slow,

Play it fast,

Music is in the air!

If you would like to purchase a book on making homemade instruments, check out my website http://www.taniacowling.com to view "Shake, Tap, and Play a Merry Tune" available through my website for $8.00.

Until tomorrow,
Tania

B -- Birthday Party Theme Ideas

Picking a party theme is the trick to a successful event, as the theme provides the uniqueness and personality of the party. The best way to pick a theme is to go to the expert—your child. Use the child’s interests and passions as the motif of your celebration. Once you have decided on the theme, this stimulates the ideas for invitations, decorations, food, games, and party favors. There are several types of parties where your theme idea may fit in. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

The movie party is designed around a child’s favorite film. It could be an animated cartoon, a silly comedy, or a child-rated action movie. How about some of the new favorites like, Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland, and, Marmaduke or classics like The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King? You can gather the children and take them to the movies or show the classic DVDs at home. It’s easy to find accessories to use at this type event at your local party store.

An activity party focuses on a fun interest your child likes to do. Think about an arts and crafts party, swim party, cooking party, sports, action heroes, dancing, or magic (anything Harry Potter these days) as the theme.

Create a fantasy party where you turn your home or party place into a jungle, pirate’s den, under the sea, farm, outer space, or a princess’ castle. All you need is a handful of materials and a great imagination to make these magical scenes come alive.

What about having a special guest as your theme focus? Invite a clown, magician, puppeteer or storyteller, balloon twisters, face painters, or even a beautician to do little girl makeovers at your event. Think about asking a friend to dress up like a character of your theme. The special guest can entertain the children while you focus on the food and favors.

An outing party is when you take the party guests to a special place like the zoo or aquarium. Think about theater productions, the circus, a children’s museum, amusement park or even a fun restaurant.

The event party can be fun as you creatively feature a homemade event such as a carnival, home camping party, at home water park, bike and trike party, go green and plant a garden, Olympics obstacle course, or even a roller skating party on your patio or sidewalk.

Hope this post gives you some ideas for your child's party this year!

See you tomorrow with the letter C.....

Tania

A is for Alphabet

As we being our 2014 A to Z challenge, I'm sticking to the traditional alphabet as my first post. As a teacher and mother, I loved to use alphabet letters as themes for art, music, games, and even treats. Today, I'm going to share two alphabet art ideas with you. Try them with your kids -- hope you enjoy the projects as much as my family did.

Melted Alphabet Letters

With this alphabet letter art craft, cut large block letters from sandpaper. Have the children color very heavily with crayons directly on top of the rough side of the sandpaper. Place the letters on a cookie sheet and into a 300-degree oven for 4-5 minutes or until the crayon melts. The alphabet letters will emerge in vivid colors.

Create Letter Characters

Give each child a block letter and colored markers. Invite them to 'dress up' the letter by drawing in facial features, hair, and designs. You can even give the children scraps of fabric for them to dress up the alphabet letter with clothes. Challenge the children to give their letter a name, such as "Billy B" or "Tara" T.

These two alphabet art ideas will make learning the letters fun for preschoolers. These craft ideas are perfect for preschool classes, home-based day care, and for parents. Make everyday a learning day with creative art activities.

See you all tomorrow with the letter B!

Tania

Photo courtesy of Tania Cowling