Shape D for Dinosaur Preschool Craft

My 3-year-old has become obsessed with dinosaurs and dinosaur books at the library. I have to admit that he's the first of my boys to really like dinosaurs so I'm doing my best to learn right along with him.

As part of our Dinosaur theme, we've been working with the letter 'D', practicing it's sound, finding it in books, and making it with our bodies and other materials.  The other day, we used the letter 'D' to make a shape dinosaur and the kids had a great time with it.

 

 If your kids enjoy making crafts, this is a great way to expose them to new materials and work on the hand muscles that are so important for them as they're learning to write and cut.

To make our dinosaurs, we used:
green and yellow construction paper
scissors
glue sticks
markers


Before beginning, I cut out the shapes we would need for each dinosaur:
1 Large green letter D
1 long green rectangle
4 short green rectangles
1 large green triangle
4 medium yellow triangles
1 yellow oval

The kids helped me identify each of the shapes and colors before we began.  I also had a completed dinosaur for them to look at as they completed their projects, but I did not tell them how to do it.  Many of our art projects are completely open-ended and allow the kids to just enjoy the process.  In this activity, I wanted to see if the kids could problem-solve and figure out how to create their dinosaur.  As they worked, we talked about each of the pieces and the parts of the body.  Which piece looks like it could be the long neck (the long rectangle)?  Can you find 4 pieces that look like the legs (the shorter rectangles)?  Where should they go?  Where do we need to put the oval for the head?  How many triangles do we have for the dinosaur's scales?  Let's count them together.

My toddler had a great time making his even though it looked nothing like an actual dinosaur.  He still had the exposure to language and the benefit of using a glue stick and experimenting to see what happened when he glued things together.

This was a great introduction as we're learning about how dinosaurs are similar and different to us and other animals that we see today.  In the next week, I'll be sharing some of the other activities we did as we explored this theme.

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Dear Mom with Angel Babies that I Offended

Dear Mom with Angel Babies that I Offended,

This morning I woke up to my husband telling me about the snow storm that was coming.  It was going to be bad.  There was going to be almost a foot of snow, a layer of ice, and some sleet thrown in for good measure - and it was going to come just in time for my 20-week ultrasound.  So, even though we both took the day off, even though we found childcare for the kids, and even though our families were dying to know what this baby was, we were not going to see our little peanut.  I was frustrated and sad knowing that the likelihood of rescheduling any time this week or next (due to vacation plans) was slim at best.  And, I wanted to whine to someone that would understand.

I made a mistake.  I turned to a Facebook group for Moms with lots of kids thinking they would understand my disappointment, but instead my whining offended you.  I know you were mad and you said some ugly things.  I don't know what those things were because you either deleted them or the moderator did, but I saw the responses of those who jumped in to defend me.  I deleted the whole post because I hate confrontation and I know that it must have been really bad because a few moments later you wrote me a message to apologize.

But, I wasn't mad.  You were right.  Even though I didn't see your post, I know that you have suffered loss.  In fact, you told me later that you've lost eight babies in six years.  I don't know what that pain is like.  I can't even begin to imagine.  Last year, my niece delivered a baby at 5 months and he only managed to take his first few breaths before he joined the angels.  I mourned with her.  My heart broke for her, but still I didn't know her pain, not the way you do.

I do know that you would give anything to see your baby's ultrasound, even if it took a few extra weeks.  You'd gladly take the morning sickness, the aches and pains, the sleepless nights.  You'd give anything for the pain of childbirth and gladly walk the floors all night with a colicky baby.  You'd take years of the terrible twos and you'd probably smile right through the exhaustion.

I say this because I hope you'll know that we don't mean to be insensitive when we talk about how sick we are or how tiring this parenting thing is.  We would never purposely hurt you with our baby announcements or bump pictures.  I know that there are others like me who have never experienced a miscarriage or lost a child.  We don't always know what to say in these situations because we're scared to say the wrong thing.  We feel for you and we want to help - we just don't know how.  I hope this is a step in the right direction when I say "I'm sorry" and thank you for reminding me how lucky I am. 

To all moms who have lost a child, I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say that I am so, so sorry for your loss.  I wish I could wrap each one of you in a big hug and tell you how special and loved you are.

 

DIY Lego Crayon Party Favors

About two years ago, I promised myself that I would never again make those party favor bags filled with plastic toys that are inevitably thrown away 10 minutes after their friends get home. I know this because I'm usually the mom picking up broken pieces of those toys and tossing them before anyone can see!  I started by making DIY Mickey Mouse Shirts and Mickey Mouse Rice Krispee treats for my youngest son's Very Mickey first birthday party and then making capes for my 5-year-old's Superhero Party.

When it came time for my 8-year-old's Lego Party, I wanted to make something that the kids could use and I just loved these Lego crayons.  You can buy sets of Lego crayons on Etsy for as low as $4 for a set of 6 or $45 for a 30 sets of 5.  I'm certainly not against buying these if you're short on time, but as a frugal Mama, I'm much more likely to save some money and DIY!


I found this LEGO Minifigure Mold on Amazon on sale for $7 and used our old broken crayons, which we had a TON of, to make our party favors.

To make our Lego crayons, I pulled out all of our broken crayons and my Daycare kids helped me remove the wrappers and sort them by color in our muffin tin.


Then, we took each color and broke them into smaller pieces (my older kids particularly loved this part) and put them into the molds.


I baked them in a 300 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until they were completely melted.  (Oven times and temps can vary.  If you find that this is too hot for your oven, reduce the temp to 250 or 275).  Since I was making several batches of these, I found myself sticking them in while cooking lunch and dinner or baking cookies, so we made them at all different temperatures.  Just be sure to keep an eye on them and pull them out as soon as they're melted.

Once they were melted, I let them cool for a few minutes on the counter until they were easy to move to the freezer without wax spilling out.  After about 10 minutes in the freezer, they popped right out and we were ready for the next batch.



I ended up making 30 sets of 5 crayons for our party favors for $7.  We put them in plastic goodie bags (that we already had) and gave them to the kids with a free Lego man print-out.  They were a big hit with the kids and now I have the mold in case one of my other boys decides he wants a Lego party in the future!

For more great Lego Party ideas, you can follow our 

Lego Pinterest Board.

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Marshmallow Snowflake Busy Bag Winter Activity for Fine-Motor Skills

The snow is finally melting and we're starting to think Spring here, but I have just one more snow-themed activity that I wanted to share with you. This activity was a hit with my Daycare kids and could easily be adapted for any age. These busy bags also make a great activity to toss in your purse and take with you when you're running errands or headed out to eat with older kids.

One of the best parts of this activity is that it literally uses two materials that you probably already have in your kitchen:
Toothpicks
Marshmallows
Ribbon (optional)

To make a busy bag, just toss a handful of each into a Ziplock bag and hand them to your child.  If you wanted to get fancy, you could take pictures of various sculptures and snowflakes that they could create, but this works just as well by letting their imagination run.

For my Daycare kids, I gave them each a handful of toothpicks and a handful of marshmallows to build with.  I showed them how to create snowflakes and we talked about how snowflakes have 6 sides, but that every snowflake is completely unique.

I had two main goals with this activity:

1) To build fine motor skills - it takes a lot of concentration to get those little marshmallows on the toothpicks and it builds tiny muscles as they're working.  These muscles will be important as just learn to write.

2) To let the kids be creative in their interpretation of what a snowflake might look like.

My 2-year-old decided he didn't want to build a snowflake at all and ended up creating a helicopter propeller.

My toddler used his toothpick to carefully pick up his marshmallows and eat them.  He is currently 19 months and was under constant supervision the whole time.  He loved this activity and we often give him toothpicks to pick up finger foods.  As always, you know what is appropriate for your toddler and what they can handle.

 

These made adorable decorations for us to hang in the windows as we were watching the snow fall, but I'm glad that it's  melting now and I hope we the only snowflakes we see for the rest of winter are the marshmallow kind!

If you are looking for more marshmallow or snow-inspired crafts, you might enjoy:

Tie-Dye Snowflakes

Marshmallow Math and Igloos 

Marshmallow Painting

Marshmallow Snowball Names

Sensory Snow Play

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Yes, We Love Each Other. NO, We Do NOT Celebrate Valentine's Day!

I don't consider myself a scrooge or The Grinch. In general, I love holidays! I love decorating. I love crafting and baking with the kids. I love traditions, but I really, REALLY, do NOT like Valentine's Day!  It seems it's become one of the most competitive holidays so that a day meant to celebrate love turns into a day where so many people feel unloved and unappreciated...

Tie-Dye Snowflakes: Winter Craft for Kids

I wasn't going to post this craft because it's already February and, as far as I'm concerned, it's time to start thinking Spring. Unfortunately, the weather outside does not seem to agree with me. We currently have over a foot of snow and it just keeps coming!  In honor of our February blizzard, I have two more snowflake crafts to keep the kids busy.

We've used this art technique before and it is always a huge hit with my preschool kids.  It also works great for the older kids because it can be as complex as they want it to be.

 

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Hidden Valentine Messages- Preschool Art Project

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and I feel like we haven't done nearly the amount of Valentine's Day crafts that we normally do. The kids have been really excited about play dough and sensory play so we've been doing much more of that than traditional crafting. They've also been doing a lot more pretend play with dress-up.

The Daycare Kids loved this activity because they thought they were sending secret messages to their parents.  In this project, we included writing skills with letter and name recognition, practiced fine-motor skills important for writing, and used science investigation to discover the interaction between wax and watercolors.  Plus, we had a lot of fun and got to use one of the kids' favorite art mediums.

 

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