Craftivity Corner

Allison McDonald
Creative crafts, book suggestions, and tips to make time for learning in your busy day.

archives

October 30, 2009
Ghost Week Finale !
Cool ghost projects are everywhere this week! Check out some of the awesome crafts I found! I love these pumpkin ghosts from Mommyfootprint.com . These ghost treat wrappers are simply adorable from Make and Takes How awesome are these luminaries? Wow! Check out Ten Kids and A dog for the how to. Wax paper and glitter ghosts from Ramblings of a crazy woman are spooky good! Happy Halloween !
Arts and Crafts, Halloween, Preschoolers
October 29, 2009
Ghost Week Day 4 !
Have we scared you yet? This next project is fun any time for year just draw different pictures and use different color paints. Magic Ghosts 1. Gather your materials. You will need some white paper, white crayons , a sponge roller or plain old sponge and orange paint. 2. Start by drawing some ghosts on your paper with your white crayon. It's going to be hard to see, for now. Try to press as hard as you can without breaking the crayon. 3. Paint over your drawings with the orange paint and be amazed! Tomorrow I will be linking to even more wonderful ghost projects from around the blogosphere...
Arts and Crafts, Halloween
October 28, 2009
Ghost Week Day 3 !
I hope you like our spooky ghosts we've made so far! Today's ghosts are perfect for toddlers , but older children will love them too. 1. Gather your materials. You will need a sponge ( or a few), a plate, some white paint, black paper glue and googly eyes. 2. Start by cutting your sponge into the shape of a ghost. If it's rugged do not fret, mine was and it turned out cute! 3.Dip your sponge in the paint. 4. Print it on your paper. 5. Add glue for eyes. 6. Add the googly eyes and let dry.
Halloween . Arts and Crafts
October 27, 2009
Ghost Week Day 2 !
Ghost week continues with my favorite ghost project! My son liked this too -- well, the dumping of the glitter anyway! 1. Gather your materials. You will need black paper, glue, googley eyes, and fine glitter. 2. Start by making an outline of a ghost ( or a few) with your glue. 3. Add glitter! 4. Shake off the excess ( I put it right back into the cup to use again). 5. Add glue for the eyes 6. Add the eyes. Let set a few minutes. 7. Add a small glue mouth. 8. Add glitter for the mouth. 9. Shake off the excess and let dry.
Arts and Crafts, Halloween, Toddlers and Preschoolers
October 25, 2009
Ghost Week !
This week it's all about ghosts! I decided to dedicate a whole week to making different kinds of ghost projects in honor of Halloween this weekend. Classic Cotton Ball Ghost! 1. Gather your materials. You will need some orange construction paper, cotton balls, 2 large googly eyes,a marker, 1 small piece of black scrap paper, and glue. 2. Draw an outline of a ghost on the paper. 3. Add lots of glue. 4. Separate your cotton balls a bit. 5. Add them on! 6. Cut a small mouth from the black paper. 6. Add your googly eyes and mouth. Let dry. Tomorrow's ghosts is not as soft... and much...
Arts and Crafts, Toddlers and Preschoolers
October 22, 2009
Berenstain Bears!
I love the Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain, and am so excited that my son loves these books too. The messages are classic and wholesome but they talk straight to kids, not down to them. Here are 4 books that seem to be read over and over again at our house! Don't Pollute This is a long book for toddlers, I often skip parts of the text but we look at every page. The message is fantastic. Older preschoolers would be just fine with it's length. Papa Bear doesn't think things are too bad in the environment but when Brother and Sister Bear visit a local professor they are quickly...
Children's Book Recommendations
October 21, 2009
Fall Wreath
Activities that have a physically active as well as a sit down fine motor component gives you more bang for your buck! This leaf wreath starts with a hunt for leaves outside before you move inside to get your crafty on! 1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, scissors, glue ,a container to collect leaves and ribbon. 2. Head out side and gather a variety of fallen leaves. 3. Come inside and dry them if you need too, spread them out and if you want you can sort and classify them at this point too. 4. While they dry, cut the center of the paper plate out and add glue. 5. Add...
Arts and Crafts, Fall, Preschoolers and Toddlers
October 19, 2009
Before it gets too cold, get outside!
I am savoring the days left before the rains come here in the Pacific North West. I know that some places have already gotten snow but I hope most of you can still use this easy and fun game outside with your kids. 1. Gather your materials. You will need some sidewalk chalk and either a patio or sidewalk. 2. Write the numbers 1-10 on the ground. 3. Together with your child gather things in your backyard to match with the numbers. We found 2 trucks. 4.Keep going!
Early Learning, Outside Fun
October 18, 2009
Halloween Wand or Centerpiece...you decide!
We made a magic wand a while back on No Time For Flash Cards and my son has been asking for a new wand. So with these pre-cut pumpkin doilies we picked up at the dollar store and some left over ribbon we made a pretty cool little wand. If you like, it could be used for a Halloween decoration too. Pop it in a flower pot ( if you live someone dry... we do not) or stick it in your autumn centerpiece! 1. Gather your materials. You will need a wood dowel, 2 pumpkin doilies or paper cut out in the shape of pumpkin, a black marker, double stick tape and some orange and black ribbon. 2. Start by...
Arts and Crafts, Halloween
October 15, 2009
Pumpkin Links Galore!
This time of year blogs are packed with awesome pumpkin projects, here are some fun ones I have found! This pumpkin is adorable, for the full instructions pop over to Charmed and Dangerous. I love these cupcakes and liners from Judy in Her Natural Habitat. A perfect solution for toddlers who aren't into carving and touching the mushy insides of a pumpkin from Zakka Life These plastic bottle pumpkins from FavesCraftsblog may be tricky for little ones but wow are they cool! How cool is this toilet roll pumpkin from High Country Mom Squad
Halloween
October 15, 2009
Cereal Bracelet
Counting, eating and beading oh my ! After nap today we made these super simple, bracelets that do double duty as snack and easy math activity! 1. Gather your materials. You will need a pipe cleaner and some cheerios. Pretty easy eh? 2. Thread the cereal onto the pipe cleaner. We counted out the cereal as we did it. If you are using colored cereal you can also use this time to make a pattern! 3. Twist the ends together.I then wrap the ends around the bracelet so no one gets poked. 4. Wear it proudly!
Arts and Crafts, Toddlers
October 14, 2009
Halloween Place mat
I hope you aren't sick of all the Halloween crafts, we are riding a wave of inspiration and excitement about the upcoming holiday. I like making these place mats to use with play dough, they are fun, protect your tables and homemade! 1. Gather your materials. You will need 1 piece of paper towel, some markers, fun stickers , contact paper and scissors. 2. Color your paper towel with markers, my son used black and orange naturally. 3. Add your stickers. 4. When the decorating is done, press the paper towel face down on the contact paper. I cut a piece 2 times the size of the paper towel....
Arts and Crafts, Halloween
October 13, 2009
DIY Trick or Treat Bag
Do you get catalogs in the mail that are filled with adorable things but know that you can't justify spending that much on something your child will use once? Instead I put together this fun craft and was so excited with the results. 1. Gather your materials. You will need a large paper gift bag, some Halloween cookie cutters ( or talent for drawing) , a black maker, orange, black and white crayons. 2. Start by writing Trick or Treat, or your child's name in marker. 3. Next, trace the cookie cutters if you have them , for the design. If your child is able to have them trace, or better yet...
Halloween . Arts and Crafts
October 11, 2009
Collage Pumpkin
Today is Columbus day in the US and Thanksgiving in Canada . So I thought I would post a project geared more towards kids that are home from school today and probably declaring they are bored by 10am. This will keep them busy and is a beautiful decoration when it's done. My son helped me with it but the first few steps would be too challenging for most preschoolers. 1. Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper (any color), a marker, scissors, 3-4 magazines, and glue. 2. Draw or have your child draw a pumpkin on the paper. I used purple paper since it doesn't matter what...
Arts and Crafts, Preschoolers, School Age Kids
October 9, 2009
Halloween Reads!
Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting was a little scary. I randomly grabbed all the Halloween books at my library earlier this week and although this book didn't seem that special from the cover, inside it's a great read. Readers get to see Halloween from the perspective of a family of cats under the porch . They see all sorts of scary creatures. If you look closely though there are clues that these are just people in costumes. My son was a little scared of the detailed pictures but it was the perfect way to open a dialogue about how he may see some scary costumes on Halloween, but that's...
Children's Book Recommendations
October 7, 2009
Easy Autumn Links!
I have been wracking my brain for a Frankenstein craft and this from Filth Wizardry fits the bill! How cute are these, and really much easier than you'd expect to make! Pop over to Moments of Mommyhood for the tutorial I gasped when I saw this Owl at Preschool Playbook! Count your favorite Halloween objects with teachmama !
Arts and Crafts, Toddlers and Preschoolers
October 6, 2009
No Bones About It!
Easy to find materials, fun and frugal is the theme this week and Halloween is my inspiration. This skeleton is easy to make and most everyone has the materials needed, so what's stopping you? 1. Gather your materials. You will need some q-tips, glue, black and white paper ,a marker and scissors. Googly eyes are optional. 2. Start by drawing a skull on the white paper with a marker. 3. Cut out and glue on. 4. Add the glue for the bones. 5. Cut the q-tips you are using for ribs in half. 6. Stick the q-tips on. Make sure the cotton end has lots of glue, it will help the sticks to stay on...
Arts and Crafts, Preschoolers
October 6, 2009
Halloween Game
Teaching counting, number recognition and one to one correspondence doesn't happen overnight. Why not find ways to accomplish these skills in a frugal and fun Halloween themed way?! 1. Gather your materials.You will need a file folder some paper ( I am using business cards they are the perfect size!), a marker, some contact paper and 2 exactly the same sheets of stickers. You can also use a plastic bag to hold the 2nd set of cards. 2. Lay out the paper inside your file folder. 3. Number the cards 1-5 and add the appropriate stickers. Remember to make 2 exactly the same for each number. 4....
Early Learning, Toddlers and Preschoolers
October 5, 2009
Simple Spider
I am challenging myself to create super simple Halloween crafts. Not only are these crafts easy and fast to make, but they use few materials, so they are frugal too! This spider was a cinch! 1. Gather your materials. You will need a paper plate, a black crayon, a red crayon, scissors and a glue stick. 2. Color the plate with the black crayon, leaving some white for the eyes. 3. Add 2 red eyes in the space. 4. Cut the middle out carefully , you will be using both parts of the plate. 5. Cut the ring in two around the circumference. 6. Cut into 8 legs. 7. Glue onto the back of the...
Arts and Crafts, Halloween, Toddlers and Preschoolers
October 2, 2009
Pom Pom Painting
This is a deceptively simple project. It may seem like all your child is doing is painting with a pom pom but really they are exploring touch, pressure and giving their fine motor skills a work out holding the pom pom to paint. 1. Gather your materials. You will need some paint, a dish, some pom poms and paper. 2. Pour a tiny amount of paint into your dish. My goal was to get my son to be careful, and gentle with the paint. 3. Dip your pom poms in a small amount of paint, no need for too much. 4. Paint away—the effect is really very pretty. I hope you liked painting week, I...
Arts and Crafts, Toddlers and Preschoolers