Beehive Stamping

Spring has sprung down here in Texas!

The azaleas are putting out their yearly show and our yard is exploding with white and pink azaleas.

With the blooming of all the flowers, comes the pollen and the bees (and allergies)!

It's absolutely perfect timing to start our Bees and Butterflies Unit from Mother Goose Time, 

our preschool homeschool curriculum.

I have to admit... I despise insects- especially flying ones.  However, as I have started reading more bee books to my preschooler and actually looking at the bees around me, I am slowly trying to appreciate them more.  I especially appreciate when they don't buzz to close to me! ;)

Here are a couple of pics of the bees in our yard this week as they flew from azalea to azalea:

Bumble bees, honey bees, and carpenter bees all make their way to our yard in the spring and summer.  I can handle the bumble and honey okay, but those carpenter bees are pretty territorial of our garbage can and shed... no bueno my friends... no bueno.  I have been known to look like a maniac a time or two ducking and running for the safety of our garage.

As the bees buzzed outside, we started our Bee Basics week with MGT, starting with their home.

Although bees can have different types of homes (hives, nests, or underground), we focused on a hive as we did our first Invitation to Create for for this unit.

MGT sent us the photo, yellow paper, and bubble wrap bag.  The Inspiration photo is truly inspirational!  Avaleigh stared at it for a loooong time and pointed to the larva in the hive showing me the babies and then asking me where the queen bee was.  She's into bees already!

We only had to add paint.  Although the pic above shows yellow paint, I did add some brown into the yellow to get the honey looking color you see below.

Avaleigh did not waste any time painting.  She used her bubble wrap bag like a mitten- stamping bubble imprints all over her paper creating the cells of a hive.  When she finished that, I asked her what she wanted to use to create her bees.  She asked for black paint.

I asked what she wanted to use to stamp her bees thinking she would ask for a paintbrush.

She surprised me and said she would use her fingers.

Which, by the way, were the perfect bee creating stamp.

The thing that impressed me the most as I watched her create her hive was the way in which she manipulated her fingers to stamp.  She was really trying out different parts of her finger to see what the effect was- something I had not really seen her think of before.

Her finished hive. 

I love how her bees turned out! Some of her fingerprints actually look like the head and abdomen of a bee! I also love the variety of bee shapes she made, some circular, some thick and solid black, others with a thick outer black ring with the yellow of the paper in the center.

Yeah....I'm going to frame this one.

Roll a Painting

How can you incorporate kicking and painting?

By painting with a ball of course!

Mother Goose Time comes up with some memorable and amazing ways kids can create art- especially in their Invitations to Create which I love!

They sent us a rubber ball (blue) and I added a yellow one for my 1 year old son because all things go in his mouth. MGT also included this amazing inspiration photo and the white cardstock.  

All I needed to supply was the paint and the box. 

Avaleigh and Everett collaborated on their first masterpiece!

I could not be more pleased!

Here are the deets:

Observe the Inspiration photo and ask your kiddo what they notice.

"That's a lot of colors momma! Can I roll my ball in paint like they did?"

Yes.  Yes you can.

Get a container (box lid/ tray/ pan) and tape down a white piece of cardstock.

Roll the tape and fasten down on the backside.  This will allow the entire surface to be painted and you do not have to worry about the picture falling out.

Pick 3 colors of paint. This lesson can turn into a great one on color mixing, so be careful about what colors you choose.  We went with the primary colors which make all colors. 

Dip the ball in paint and start moving your container.

Ewwww and Ahhhhh at the beauty as it unfolds....

Don't panic when the ball bounces out of the tray because your preschooler is so excited and paint trails in a line across your tile floor.  You used tempra.  That stuff washes out with water.

Oh wait... you used acrylic.... yikes!  It'll come off your tile but not your clothes.

Because this was a collaboration, my girl would roll her small rubber ball and then take it out, dip Everett's large yellow plastic ball in paint, and then she placed in on the paper. Then I held his hands as we shook the box. That's why there aren't too many process pictures.  It's hard to take pics with a one year old who can't wait his turn in your lap....lol! 

I love how the large ball left different track lines than the smaller ball- adds variety.

My girl was so excited about this artwork that she brought it as her Show and Tell item to our Classical Conversations co-op the next day!

She shared how she made this masterpiece with her brother and I'm wondering if her classmates are painting their own kick inspired artwork at home.... 

All thanks to Mother Goose Time. 

Preschool Ocean Art: Salt Painting

This month we are becoming Deep Sea Divers and exploring the Ocean with our Ocean Commotion Unit from Mother Goose Time.  We live about 4 hours from the coast, and my girl has yet to see the ocean; but that didn't stop us from experiencing.

We first tasted the Ocean.

After drinking regular water, we added a little bit of salt to our cup so we could taste what ocean water is like.  The face my girl made was priceless!  Wish I had my camera then.  

She obviously didn't like it, and when I asked her what it tasted like she said,"Yucky!"  

I told her that the ocean was filled with salt and we were going to make some art using salt today.

We've done salt painting in the past (a year and a half ago) when we first discovered 

Mother Goose Time, and I absolutely LOVE it!

I set up this Invitation to Create.

One thing I try to always do, especially when we paint, is use Artist tape around the edges.  It creates a nice border for her art, keeps the paper in place, and really gives a great finished look to the final piece.  

I asked my girl what 3 colors she wanted to use, and she said red, blue and yellow.

I put about 3-5 drops of our liquid watercolors in each cup and then added water.  MGT sent us a pipette, paper, the image you see on the stand and a little packet of salt.  I knew she would want more salt, so I poured a generous amount of table salt into her bowl while she grabbed a spoon from her play kitchen,  Then she started to paint.

The magic really started to happen when she placed the salt on her paper.  She loved pouring it into piles and it gave her work some beautiful dimension.  It was fascinating watching how the color would spread through the salt.  We did end up propping up her tray so the watercolor would go down the paper instead of pooling in a spot.  She painted her masterpiece for about 30-45 minutes, but it needed to dry overnight.

We looked at it this morning and it was so gorgeous!  The colors were rich and the dimension was so intriguing.  The salt had crystallized and adhered to the paper. However as I went to grab my camera to take a picture, she pressed her finger into the dried mound of salt, cracking, and breaking apart the mound!  My insides screamed "NO" as my head reminded me,

"This is her work.  Let her mess with it."

"I just want to touch it," she replied.  So she did, and while the paper was still taped to the tray, we tapped it upside down over the trash to loosen the salt bits she had scratched away.

Then something magical happened.

As we turned the tray over, we saw the most exquisite colors and craters!  I let her tap on her tray some more over the trash can, and the end result is below. 

It is absolutely gorgeous!

I have about 5 of her abstract paintings that she has created using MGT framed throughout the house.  You better believe this too will be framed!  

I could just stare and look at all these little nooks and crannies of color.

I can't wait to make some more.  Maybe I'll do my own.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook for more adventures and quick ideas to try with your learners!

And if your a Pinterest junkie like me, you can follow me here.

Here are links for my go-to items for our art projects:

            

Happy Painting!

Salad Spinner Art!

It's been raining here....constantly.

For 3 weeks, I think we have seen the sun twice.

That's not normal Texas weather... not that Texas weather is ever normal I suppose.

When dreary days keep you stuck indoors, you have to find some activities to break free from the gray and bring some sunshine back into your day.

Salad spinner art is the perfect rainy day activity!

Thank goodness for Mother Goose Time and this STEAM activity, because it put some much needed color back into our gray day.  And it was all stuff I already had right here at home!

All you need is:

• salad spinner (check thrift stores)
• paint (we used fingerpaint)
• small paper plates (or cut paper)

We learned so much through trial and error during this STEAM activity.

We learned where to place the paint to get the best coverage of the plate and about color theory.

Here's my girl in action:

Plate 1

Plate 1 Results

Plate 2

Plate 3- starting the paint in the center produces more plate coverage.

Are they not beautiful or what?!

The bottom is plate 1, the middle is plate 2, and the top is plate 3.

We did about 17 more plates that day.

Then more the next day until we ran out of paint.

She (and I) loved this activity. 

Not only did we experiment through trial and error about where to place the paint, but we also went over color theory- seeing what colors made what.

Avaleigh could observe how brown was made or green! 

I should have done this with my high school students when studying color theory.

I know kids of all ages would have fun doing this and the results are never exactly the same.  

Older students could even write about their learning and attach the plate to back up their writing.

If I only knew then what I know now.

Seriously....so much fun!

Happy Art Making!!!

   

Creating Crabs

This post is brought to you by the letter C.  :) 

We are on Alphabet Island having adventures studying island life including crabs!

Mother Goose Time came up with this little crab craft for Crab Day, and it doubles as a musical shaker!  I love it when crafts have a dual purpose.

Mother Goose Time sent us a little cardboard container with a lid, a strip of eye stickers, red glitter sand (I love this stuff), and a red piece of cardstock which I cut out 6 strips and 2 claws.

All I had to do was provide a paintbrush and paint, 

which is modge podge mixed with a little red acrylic paint

(Thanks Stacy at Things to Share and Remember for that great idea!)

It did not take Sweet Pea long to get after painting! I was so proud of how focused she was and how she tried to cover the entire surface of her container.  Most of the time she ends up painting her hands and making prints, but she really worked at just placing paint on the cardboard tub and the lid.

TIP:  Give things in steps one at a time to help keep kids from being overwhelmed.

When I placed the tray in front of Sweet Pea, I only had the container, lid, paint, and paintbrush on it.  .  Once she was done, I took away the paint and paintbrush and replaced it with a teaspoon and the glitter sand.  I also placed the red tub in a container to catch the glitter sand.  Using the teaspoon, Sweet Pea scooped and poured the glitter sand on the red glue surface and it stuck like a charm.

I helped by holding it so she could pour the glittery sand on the sides of her container.

After it dried outside, which didn't take long, I added a bit of rice into the container and hot-glued the lid shut.  No one wants to clean rice off the floor. 

Been there done that.

Sweet Pea folded the red cardstock strips in half, and I hot glued them and the claws onto the container... all he needed now was eyes.

Why have 2 eyes when you can have 12?

Sweet Pea was so proud of her craft she took it to her grandparents to show off later that afternoon. 

I love that she is becoming proud of her creations and I absolutely love watching her create.

Painting Butterflies

Thanks to Mother Goose Time, Sweet Pea is obsessed with butterflies, 

which is perfectly fine with me. 

They're insects that I actually like.

My previous post was all about our caterpillar day, and naturally, 

the next day, we studied butterflies.

Mother Goose Time supplied this Invitation to Create, but you could easily do it at home.

Here's what you need:

-large sheet of white paper (11x14 or larger works great)

-tempra paints (or any you prefer...tempra comes out of clothes)

-painting supplies (brushes, sponges, whatever you want to use to put the paint on the paper)

-pictures of butterflies (discuss symmetry if child is old enough to understand)

When I set up her Invitation to Create, I made sure to already have her paper folded in half so that she would only apply paint to one side.  Later we flipped the other side on top of the paint to make our symmetrical butterfly painting. 

Here's what she did:

Sweet Pea used all the tools to apply the paint, but she definitely loved the sponge.

She dragged it across the paper and created stamping impressions with it as well.

Don't limit your child to just brushes! 

Anything could be used to apply paint, and you never know what surprise you might end up with.

I love that little line of orange dots Sweet Pea made with her paint brush.

Bringing the sponge back out this time to stamp rectangles.

Once Sweet Pea was done painting, I flipped the folded over white piece on top of her painting and told her to press hard and rub her hands all over the white paper.  This allowed the colors to blend together and really make a good symmetrical print onto the white paper.

Time to dry this beauty.

Here is her masterpiece hanging on the wall with all her other artwork.

I absolutely love it.  I feel like I could really cut around the colors to make a true butterfly shape, 

but I will not do that.  Maybe I'll buy a frame though.

We had a bunch of paint left over and Sweet Pea was all about painting some more, so 

she whipped out a few more butterfly prints.

Perfect gifts for grandparents.

Both grandparents have their butterfly paintings on their fridge.... the perfect artwork spot.

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Creating Alligator Skin

We are still hanging out at the pond and having so much fun.  I am definitely behind in my blogging, but I have been having so much fun with my girl.  Today during our Mother Goose Time (MGT), I gave her a choice between studying fish, ducks, or alligators.  She chose the ALLIGATOR and today Sweet Pea created a picture of ALLIGATOR SKIN!

I can not recommend Mother Goose Time highly enough, but if you don't have it, you can still enjoy this awesome Invitation to Create.

Gather your supplies:

-Painters Tape or Masking Tape

-Glue

-Paint (tempra or finger if you want it to come out of clothes)

-Containers to hold glue and paint

-Glue

-Bubble Wrap

-Cardstock or Watercolor paper to paint on

-Fine black glitter or sand

-Pictures of Alligator Skin or an Alligator book

-Tray or Baking Sheet that you can tape the cardstock to

Directions:

Tape the paper to the tray.  By taping all 4 sides, you create a nice little border once you pull off the tape after the artwork has dried. Show the pictures of the alligator skin.  We talked about the colors she saw and whether the skin was smooth or rough.  We also read the book provided this month in our MGT kit and here's a link to that book.  It's a great way to introduce the alligator.

I had to show Sweet Pea how to use the bubble wrap once.  After I did, she went to town using the bubble wrap to create the perfect alligator skin texture.   

 Then she decided to drop glue dots from as high as she could.  For some reason this is how she likes to use a glue bottle.  I really like it too!  The glue doesn't get everywhere and she doesn't make giant blobs.  Just one dot at a time.  As I use to tell my classroom kids,
"One dot does a lot!"

Sweet Pea is just over 2 and a half.  Therefore, I modified our Invitation to Create by not bringing out the black glittery sand until she was done painting and gluing.  I grabbed a 1/4 tsp to help her pour the glittery sand.  She did a great job both shaking out the sand, and then precisely pouring it on her glue dots.  Great fine motor practice.  

When Sweet Pea was done, I took the tray with her artwork still taped to it outside to dry while we ate lunch. Unfortunately I turned the tray to the side and the black glittery sand spread everywhere. #momfail.
 I guess it would have spread everywhere anyway since we are having such a windy day here.

I still love it.  She's napping now and I went outside to check on her alligator skin artwork.

It was perfectly dry, so I peeled the tape from around the edges,
and placed her masterpiece on her table.

When she wakes up, I want her to figure out where to place it. 

Have fun creating with your kiddos!