Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In my four year old classroom each year, the leprechauns visit us for Saint Patrick's Day. They turn over chairs and toys, spill gold coins all over our carpet, and leave us a box of Lucky Charms under our leprechaun trap...even our toilet water magically turns green. The kids love this tradition every year, but what they love the most are our magic green milkshakes. When they aren't watching, we put green food coloring gel in the very bottom of a blender (where they can't see it). When they're all on the carpet, we put vanilla ice cream in the blender and point out that it is white, then we pour milk in, also pointing out that it's white. When we hit the blend button, their faces are priceless! They come up with some interesting theories as to how the milkshakes turned green, even going as far as thinking that a leprechaun got stuck in there and now we're drinking him...a bit morbid, but funny at the same time. :) This gets them riled up and it makes for a crazy day, but it's totally worth it to see all of those smiling faces!

Too Cool for School

For my winter bulletin board, I painted a snow man and a snow woman on either side of a foam board that I bought at the dollar store. I had each of my kids stand with their head in the circle and I took their picture. I put each of the pictures on the bulletin board with a sign that says "We're just chillin'!" Cute, and so simple...my kind of bulletin board!

 

 

What's in the Egg?

During dinosaur week with my 4's, I always show up with a bag full of what looks like rocks. I tell the kids that I found them on my front porch and thought they were cool. First I pass them around so they can feel them, and then I shake one by my ear and tell them I think there might be something inside. They get so excited when we break the eggs open and find little dinosaurs! We speculate who might have put them on my front porch, and then they each get a dinosaur to take home. It's a cute little activity they really seem to enjoy!

 

Recipe:

1 c flour

1 c used coffee grounds (dried out)

1/2 c salt

1/4 c sand

3/4 c water (or enough until ingredients can be easily molded)

 

Mix all dry ingredients, and add water until the "eggs" can be molded into balls. Place a dinosaur inside each ball and cover completely with the mixture. You can air dry these eggs for several days until they harden, or you can bake them at 150 for about 20 minutes until they are dry and hard. I find it works better if you flip the eggs half way through baking so both sides get hard. This is messy but worth it!

Smart Cookies

This bulletin board was extremely simple. I used two cake boards, purchased from a craft store, and some Christmas scrapbook paper I had lying around. I made the flour bag and rolling pin out of construction paper one day while my kids were napping. They had free choice on what to draw on their gingerbread men. After they were finished decorating, I gave them two eyes and three buttons to glue on to their cookies. The kids had fun, and I think they turned out really cute. In my class, I only bake smart cookies ;)

Spaghetti Painting!

One of my favorite art projects for my three year old class...also one of my messiest :) I cook spaghetti (Use a regular size spaghetti, NOT angel hair...it will break) until it is a little bit al dente. Spray the spaghetti with a non stick cooking spray and put into a large ziplock bag. I do this the night before the art project, and refrigerate it so it's completely cooled off the next day. In front of the children I choose my color and pour a good amount of paint into my ziplock bag...close it *TIGHTLY!!* and shake. Obviously, since we were painting pumpkin cutouts, I chose orange. This is a really great tactile activity for children who aren't afraid to get a little messy. I did this during our "Sense of touch" week and they loved it. :)

 

 

 

 

Give a Hoot

Another great "Earth Day" project...you will need two tiny circles for eyes, two small circles (one cut in half for the wings), two small orange diamonds (one cut in half for the feet), one large oval, and one 'head shape'...(not really sure how to describe that one, just use the picture as reference)...in the middle of the owl you could either write on the original circle or make another one saying "Give a hoot...don't pollute!" The kids thought this was cute...and it lead into a lesson on pollution...I was surprised how interested they were in learning about ways to keep the earth clean, but I guess it's a good sign. :) 

Playing with your food...

During "Earth week" we focused on things that came from the earth that are good for us. This project was fairly simple and not very expensive. The day before I planned on doing this art project I went to the grocery store and bought various vegetables. You can use whatever you like, but I used corn on the cob, a pepper (cut in half), mushrooms (cut in half), carrots (cut in half), celery and a potato (cut in half). I had the kids dip each vegetable in different colored paint and stamp or roll them on their paper. Who says you can't play with your food?