earth day pointillism

I recently posted about exploring pointillism with rainbows, and with Earth Day coming soon I thought I would share. Print out a line drawing of earth here, dip a new pencil eraser into various shades of green and blue paint, there is our beautiful blue planet!

This would be even prettier cut out and mounted on black paper.

I have included this project as part of my Earth Helpers unit, great for Earth Day or any time you are looking for activities to celebrate our planet:

This resource also includes a fun tri-hexaflexagon activity I know your kids will love! You can read more about it by clicking the image below:

salt dough ornaments

We have made these for a few years now and they are always a favorite! Check out these gorgeous salt dough ornaments for ideas:

katy elliot

great detail!!!

even cleveland

my inspiration for trying out stamps

(btw, the snowflake stamps I used I made with foam stickers)

creative kismet

cute as a button!

Some the kids and I made.

What you need:

• Dough (2 parts flour, one part salt, and one part water)
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Straw
• Ribbon or ornament hooks
• Decorations: paint, glitter, photos, stamps, pen (optional) Note: The pen seems to run on plain salt dough when you spray the gloss, but not if it's used on top of paint.
• Spray gloss (recommended - I used satin finish)

Knead, roll to .25 - .5" thick, and cut out with cookie cutters. Make 1 or 2 holes with the straw for your ribbon. Bake at 200°F for 4 or more hours (you might want to flip them half way through). When they are cool, you can decorate them. H&F love to paint them and then shake on glitter (I found red, green, and silver glitter shakers all in a pack at the local dollar store). Let them dry and then spray them to protect them. If you want, you can then add a photo. These were photo ornaments from last year and the kids gave them to their grandparents as gifts:

I made an indentation for the photos with the back of a measuring cup.

Baking!

 This photo is after the ornaments were baked - I colored the snowman's hat with a black permanent marker.

Who wouldn't love a Christmas rhino?

Some stamped ornaments.

F's ornaments

H's ornaments.

Hanging with ribbon.

There really are endless possibilities here. You can even attempt three dimensional objects, though I don't think I'm crafty enough for that!

painting pine cones

This is a great activity to do outside on a nice autumn day. It is a wonderful fine motor and attention-building activity; painting an entire pine cone takes a lot of focus and time. Collect your pine cones on a nature walk ahead of time if you don't have any nearby.

I ended up filling another paint cup with glue. Paint the glue on with a paint brush and then sprinkle the glitter on. Glitter in a shaker bottle is handy for this!

Getting set up.

What you need:

• pine cones
• washable paint
• paint brushes
• smocks (it gets messy!)
• glue and glitter (optional)

Concentrating.

It's hard to get in all the nooks and crannies!

Painting!

Glittery.

Letting them dry.

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painted sticker roller prints

This is similar to the wood block sticker stamp project, though less prep work and a bit messier.

What you need:

• cardboard tube (tp, paper towel)
• large dowel or rolling pin (with a smaller diameter than your cardboard tube)
• wash cloth, paper towel, or rag
• foam stickers
• washable paint
• paint brushes 
• paint tray
• roll of paper or large piece of paper
• drop cloth or shower curtain (optional) 
• smocks (optional)

You could do this directly on a rolling pin if you didn't mind cleaning it off later but using a cardboard tube makes for easier cleanup. I covered the kids' table with paper so we could just do the project right on the table, but if you are using a large roll of paper on the floor you will want a drop cloth or old shower curtain underneath the paper.

1. Trim your cardboard tube to the same length as the roller on your rolling pin and insert your rolling pin into the tube.

2. If it is a snug fit, great! If not, roll a piece of paper towel or washcloth around the rolling pin and then place your cardboard tube on so you have a tight fight.

3. Put your foam stickers all over the cardboard tube in the pattern you want.

4. Pour some paint into a paint tray and start painting your foam stickers.

5. Roll out your design!

You can then change out your roll and start again, making as many designs as you'd like in as many colors as you can mix! This would be great to do on canvases as well and want to have the kids make their own prints for their room or a playroom.

DIY Color Resemblance Sorting Cubes

DIY Color Resemblance Sorting Cubes

We have a number of Montessori materials at home that we use, but their cost limits the number of items we have. Sometimes it's possible to use the basic idea and make your own substitute. Kid Advance (where I've gotten the bulk of our Montessori items) has a Color Resemblance Sorting Task that looked really cute but $50 for a task that could become boring quickly didn't seem like a good use of money. I thought that using cubes to do a similar task would be fun and also keep with the sensorial nature.

We frequently head to Michaels, 40% off coupon in hand, for art/craft supplies, so on one trip there I looked for and found 3/4" wooden cubes that I thought would work well. Here they are:

Materials Needed to create your own color cubes:

• wooden cubes (or another shape you like)
• craft paint; you will want white as well as a few colors
• paint or foam brush
• mixing palate/tray

You will have to paint the cubes twice since the first time you will only be able to paint 5 sides, so make sure you have time to let them dry enough that you can paint the last side while you still have all your colors mixed. You can use as many shades of a color as you'd like by mixing in different amounts of white paint. Don't worry if they aren't perfect; most kids will beam with pride over something they've created rather than dwell on slight imperfections. I suggest adding the paint colors yourself and then letting your child mix the paint together and paint the cubes one at a time. You will want to make sure the coat is fairly even and not too thick. If it's too thick you won't be able to do fun things like stack them:

You can also make silly mosaics or build towers or whatever else you'd like to do with these sweet little blocks.

Another great way to use these is for measuring. Ask your child to pick out different toys or books they would like to measure and then figure out how many blocks tall (or wide/long) the different items are. It's a great way to explore non-standard measurement, and then compare using a ruler or tape measure.

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medicine dropper cotton ball painting

This is a fun activity that we hadn't done in a few months, but after reading The Color Kittens a few mornings ago, H asked to paint with medicine droppers.

What you need:

• Ice cube trays (or something else for paints/mixing)
• Medicine droppers 
• Cotton balls in a container/tray
• Food coloring mixed with water
• Towel

I usually fill every other ice cube spot with a color and then put a little extra water in several other spots for mixing.  Tip: using a small medicine dropper will make this task take longer!  If you want to paint snow this way outside (or in), you might want to pick up some extra turkey basters.