Tutorial: Monster Page Corner Bookmark

From Sabrina at NeverlandNook.

Like many of you out there, I am a self confessed addict to Pinterest!!! I just can't help it, so I decided to "Pinterest Challenge" myself. I decided to start with an easy challenge and so I chose the Monster Page Corner Bookmark. This is something you can just do for fun or with your kids! They would love it!

Supplies:

• Paper (I used double sided paper - 1 side had a pattern)
• Glue Stick
• Pencil
• Scissor
• Ruler

First I drew the pattern on the non-decorative side of the paper. Each small square is 2.5" x 2.5".

Next I cut the pattern out along with a 2.5" x 2.5" square from the paper.

 

Glue the square piece so that you see the pattern because next you will fold the triangle pieces over and across the square and glue them together.

 

Next you will want to draw out a pattern by teeth. The triangle should be 2.5" x 2.5" x 3.5" to fit in the square. Draw teeth however you would like! It's fun to create different characters!

 

Once you've glued the teeth in, cut out some circles for eyeball(s).

 

Glue them on and Ta Da!!!!! You have the perfect Monster Page Corner Bookmark!!!

So gather up some different shades of green paper and a variety of circles and let the kids make-up a slew of green toothy monsters to mail their bookworm friends for St. Patty's.  Thanks Neverland Nook for sharing this fun tutorial.

You can find Neverland Nook online at these different locations:  Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook & Twitter. 

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Tutorial: Shake an Egg

From Lauren at crocheting4baby.


Have you heard of Laurie Berkner?

She sings songs for kids that we just love here in our home. She makes kids music enjoyable, instead of annoying. I must say I can listen to her music non stop while playing with Bug and not get sick of it. She has 5 CDs {i believe} plus a The Best Of CD and I can't tell you which is my fave. I love them all!

On her CD "Whaddaya Think of That?" there is a song called I Know A Chicken, it's also on The Best Of CD.

The song is so much fun and she tells you different ways to shake an egg. If you don't have a shaky egg you can just shake your body, but we made some shaky eggs from old plastic eggs we had in our play food cart since Easter.

What you will need:

• Plastic Eggs {one per kid, or as many as you'd like}
• Small items to put inside the egg to make noise. We used yeast, rice & small noodles. We wanted to make ours soft and loud shakers. Other ideas are oatmeal, cornmeal, sprinkles, beads...
• Crazy glue
• Tape

First you are going to want to tape the inside where the holes are {if any} so there are no leaks.

Then fill half an egg about 3/4 of the way. Place glue around the edges and let it dry. {don't glue your fingers to the egg} If you are lazy and impatient like I am you can just wrap some packing tape around the egg so it doesn't open easily. You might not want to do that meathod with younger ones who will try to open it. Bug was a good listener and didn't even attempt it.

Give it to your little one, turn on some Laurie Berkner and shake an egg!

See more of Lauren's toddler friendly activities on her blog, Tutus & Tea Parties, follow her on facebook and see her crocheted offerings in her Etsy shop:  

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Tutorial: Show Off Your Shamrocks

From Peggy at ComfyCozyKeepsakes.

I’m Irish. 1/4 Irish tossed in with 1/4 Polish and 1/2 German. I LOVE my heritage – all 3 of them. I also   LOVE to decorate for holidays. I have a bin for each and I can tell you right now that my St. Patrick’s Day bin is too small for my liking.

That means it’s time to make some more decorations!!

This is one of the easiest craft projects ever!


Materials needed:

• Shamrock clip art. Copy a simple and FREE file on line or draw your own. 
• 2 sheets of paper or card stock. Card stock works better. 
• Scissors 
• Yarn – white 
• Green Felt or Craft Foam. I like the “natural” look of felt over foam. 
• Tape 

You probably don’t even need directions do you? OK, if you are truly “crafting challenged”, read on:

1.  Copy or trace the Shamrock shape onto the paper/card stock. Cut them out. I used 2 sizes of shamrocks on mine.

2.  Trace shamrocks onto Felt or Foam. Cut them out.

3.  Cut TWO very small holes, evenly spaced, at the top and bottom of shamrocks. 

4.  Cut Yarn to desired length for windows or doors. 

 5.  Slip yarn through holes in shamrocks. Tie a knot at the bottom so the shamrock doesn't slip off.

 

6.  Hang with tape on windows or doors. TA DA!


Keep up with ComfyCozyKeepsakes on facebook.

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Toddler Sensory Activity

From Christine of Belly Bear Baby Gear

 

If you are the proud parent or family member of a toddler, you know all too well that they are constantly exploring the world around them using their senses. Particularly their senses of touch and taste! With this quick and easy activity, you will be able to allow your toddlers to safely have a new tactile experience.



All you will need are a few common household items: a ziploc bag (any size), food coloring, duct tape and good old fashioned foam shaving cream.
Once you have gathered all the necessary ingredients it is time to begin!

Squirt enough shaving cream into the ziploc bag to fill one corner of the bag. A little bit goes a long way. Too much shaving cream will make the bag too fluffy. Then add 2-3 drops of food coloring.

Here's where the fun begins. Seal the bag attempting to force as much air as possible out as you completely close the ziploc bag. Now it's your turn to enjoy this experience before your children. Gently massage the shaving cream and food coloring in the bag to create a cohesive color. If you feel like sharing, you can involve your children in this step as well :)

     

Your bag is now ready to adhere to a flat surface. For this application I used the duct tape to hang these bags to my refrigerator. One of my children's favorite places to play. This also works well on a child's sized table. You may choose to only attach the bag with duct tape a the top or duct tape all four sides. Be aware that if you only duct tape the top, chances are your resourceful toddler will quickly have this activity removed from the surface you have taped it to!

If you have preschool age children and are feeling brave, this activity can also been done without the bag (toddlers will eat the mixture without the bag) on a table top or in a tray. This will be messy, but the amount of fun your child will have makes the clean up worth it. If doing this activity without the plastic bag I would recommend using liquid water color paint rather than food coloring to avoid staining. 

   

As a side note, shaving cream does an amazing job of cleaning children's marker and crayon markings off of table tops. If you find yourself with a table covered with stray marks, give your preschooler some shaving cream and let them go to town. You will be amazed at how the marks disappear when it is time to wipe the shaving cream off with a damp sponge.

*As always, never leave your child unattended with this activity. Toddler teeth are always looking for something new to bite and they will most certainly chew right through the bag posing a health hazard to themselves.

Enjoy this experience with your toddler. Watch how the shaving cream mushes and moves as they manipulate the bag.

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Snowman in a Baggie

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

Here in my part of Maryland, we've had more 60-degree days this winter than we’ve had inches of snow, and it’s making me homesick for the winters of my childhood in Northern New York State. My son is missing the snow, too, and he hasn't really had a chance to make a snowman.

So, I was excited to find this cute snowman craft on Pinterest (where all my good ideas come from lately!). Whether you’ve had enough snow or are still waiting for flakes to fall, these are an easy way to pass some time, and they last long enough to be played with for a couple of days.

You’ll need:
Can of shaving cream
Zip-top baggie
Black construction paper or craft foam
Orange craft foam Glitter (optional)

Cut enough “coal” pieces for each snowman’s eyes and mouth or ask the kids to cut them. I used a circle punch to make my coal pieces and then ran them through a Xyron sticker maker, but you can also use sticky-back foam or glue to hold your eyes on. Cut triangle “carrots” from the craft foam, one for each snowman.

Give each kid a baggie. Attach the eyes and mouth pieces onto the front. Inside, put the carrot nose and some glitter, if using. Squirt a generous dollop of shaving cream into the bag and seal, squeezing out some of the air. I taped the bags shut with packing tape.

Now, get to squishing! See if the kids can line up their snowman’s nose in the proper place on the snowman’s face. Little kids and adults will love the way the shaving cream feels as they squish the bag. The shaving cream will break down after several days, but you can expect to get a couple of days of play out of this guy.

Here’s my son’s finished snowman:

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Valentine's Day is for the Birds! - Bird feeder tutorial.

Today we have a guest post from Mia4Art!!

A fun craft for my preschooler: Valentine Bird Feeder

Materials: cardboard, shortening, pen, scissors, glue gun or glue, bird seed & ribbon

Cut out two rectangular pieces of cardboard. Place three points on each piece of cardboard in order for your preschooler to create a heart line drawing. The two points at the top form the letter V.

I instructed my daughter to make the letter C and backward C to connect the V to the bottom dot. A pen or crayon would be best for this.

After cutting out this heart, help your preschooler use this heart to trace onto second piece of cardboard.
After tracing, cut out second heart.

 

 

After cutting the two hearts out for your preschooler, fold the ribbon in half and place at top of heart about an inch down. Put glue over the heart and part of the ribbon. Place the second heart ontop like a sandwich.

Your preschooler will enjoy spreading the shortening on both sides of their heart! "Spread the Love!"

After spreading the shortening, have your preschooler dip their cardboard hearts into a plate of birdseed. Using their fingers they can sprinkle any areas that are empty.

Lastly, go outside and select a winter tree to share the warmth of Valentine's Day!
My daugher loves peeking outside of her window to check to see if any birds have come to visit!

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Cardboard artwork with the kids

Today we have a guest post from Amber of AmberParis.

She is sharing a fun activie to do with your kids and all you need is cardboard and lots of glue!

start with lots of cardboard…one large piece to serve as the base/canvas and many many smaller scraps cut/ripped down. I cut a lot of strips with a paper cutter and also cut several piles of squares, circles and triangles. I also gathered some various thin wood odds and bits to incorporate. and some empty ribbon spools.

add a big container of homemade paste…we mixed some elmer’s into ours to give it a bit of extra hold.

we looked at some of louise nevelson’s work prior to this project, but I didn’t give the kids any instructions beyond letting them know they had to put paste down EACH time they added something new to the piece…my 3yo had trouble remembering this step…but in the end, the paste was a sculptural element in its own right!

once your kids are happy with their piece and/or tire of art making, set the art works somewhere safe to dry for several days.it took nearly a week for ours to dry, but the paste was also inches-thick in areas!

now it’s time to shop for spray paint! my kids only got to “shop” through my selection of colors in my studio, but a trip to the hardware store to choose from the many colors out there would be fun!

 

give the pieces a good coat or two of spray paint and then allow to dry thoroughly. we loved ours so much, we framed them to hang in our living room!

 

When Amber is not having loads of fun with her kids she is sewing and making fun felt play food! She sells the yummy enough to eat felt food in her etsy shop.

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Curling up with a good book

Today we have Posies and Petals guest posting with us!

Winter is a great time to curl up with a great book. I relish that quality time with my kids and recently we've had quite alot of it. So I asked Will to bring me his two favorite books, I wasn't surprised that he couldn't stop at two. First he brought me these two....

  

then these....

 

and lastly this one.

They are all fantastic books that I have enjoyed in my classroom as well as my living room. Today we spent a little extra time with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. We made a tree and used our letter magnets to retell the story. First Will and I, then Will and his dad, then lastly Will told the story to his sister Caroline, who sat and watched in amazement.

Then we just happened to have some animal crackers shaped like letters, so we acted it out again over snack! I love when things work out like that. Tomorrow, we will look for number magnets to act out Chicka Chicka 123.

What are your favorite books right now? For yourself and your kids? I always love hearing new titles!

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