pi day necklace

Pi day (3.14) is a fun holiday for math geeks and it is just around the corner! If you know me at all, you know just how much I love pi. If there were an e day, I'm sure we would celebrate that as well. There are so many projects you can do with your kids - try pointing out circles you see around the house or out and about, and how pi comes into play (for all of you non math geeks, remember C = πd? If not, head to wikipedia). You can have fun by baking a pi(e), or serving a snack in the shape of pi. This piñata looks like a fun project for next year for us. I hope I don't forget about it!

This year we made pi day pasta necklaces using the first dozen digits of pi. Here are some more if you are an overachiever:

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286

Pi Day Necklace

What you need:

• beads or pasta you can string, in different shapes, sizes, or colors
• string or yarn
• scissors
• tape (optional)

We used more of our dyed pasta for this. F will be 3 this month and was able to follow the numbers I wrote down on his own so this seems like a good craft for the preschool crowd. He had a lot of fun choosing which (different) piece would come next and then counting them out and stringing them on. Just cut the string to your desired length, add a piece of tape to make the stringing end rigid, and start sorting and stringing them on. Simple and cute!

bowl o' pasta

F stringing

Done!

This project makes me want to hit up the local bead store and make my own pi bracelet!

Here is another post on Pi Day activities.

exploring negative space

We had gotten a few of those grow capsules that grow into shaped sponges at Target for bath time, and I saved them knowing there would be some projects we could do with them. Negative space came to mind so we played with a couple different ways to use the sponges to create designs.

Spray paint method:
Now before you start thinking what a loon I must be to give my kids spray paint, I didn't hand a couple bottles of Krylon over to them for an indoor craft and hope for the best (though maybe in a couple years?). Watering down washable kids paint and putting it into an old spray bottle seemed like a better idea. I think it was a little too diluted the first time we tried this, but still pretty:

This is an old Windex bottle I've had for a long time, though it looks like the real stuff, it is really just diluted paint! I know this could be an April Fool's joke waiting to happen:

1. Place your sponges or other items on the paper.
2. Spray with diluted paint.
3. Wait for the paint to dry, then remove the sponges.

Glitter method:
We used contact paper for this one (I know, we use it a lot!), but you could easily use plain paper and glue. Place your shapes on the sticky side of the contact paper and then sprinkle with glitter.

 

I plan on taking this outside in a few weeks to use items from nature and will add some new photos then.

Shamrocks and Clovers Window Art

St. Patrick's Day Craft for Kids

We were going to make shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day decorations but H wanted a four leafed clover, so this gave us an opportunity to talk about the differences. We decided to do both - one for tradition, and one for luck. I remember doing a project like this in school and scrunching tissue paper around a pencil and sticking it on, to give a nice 3D effect. We tried that but the kids preferred just smooshing up the paper and sticking it on.


What you need:

• contact paper (we used white)
• items for decoration - tissue paper, construction paper, ribbon, sequins, buttons, etc.
• scissors

1. Gather your materials

2. Draw and cut out your shapes.

3. Peel off the backing and start sticking on your decorative items.

4. Hang and enjoy!

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.

cleaning crew

If your home needs cleaning love, and you just don't feel like you have the time to get it done while taking care of everything else that needs attention, try enlisting the help of your child(ren). A toddler can take on a good amount of cleaning, and not only are they learning something useful, they are actually helping! My favorite toddler cleaning tool is a Swiffer sweeper with 1-2 of the handle links removed. It is excellent for quick cleanup on our wood and tile floors. Other things easily found at your local dollar store:

• squeegee
• spray bottle
• duster
• dust pan & brush
• small broom (the one below is from Target)
• dust cloths 

our kid-sized cleaning supplies

Need your windows washed? Fill the spray bottle with water (or nontoxic cleaner for older children) and have them spray the window and squeegee it. You will have all your windows washed in no time! We have glass shower doors as well so I give H & F spray bottles and squeegees every so often during bath time. Need your floors cleaned?  Dampen a dust cloth with water or mild cleaner and put in on the Swiffer head (or leave it dry for dusting or picking up pet fur). Older children can of operate an upright or canister vacuum cleaner, smaller children a hand held vacuum. In my experience, it works better to let them take the lead and decide they want to clean, rather than ask when you need it done. If I leave the cleaning supplies out, eventually they will ask to use them.

craft stick match up

I saw a game like this posted somewhere else (I can't recall where, but if you have seen it please let me know so I can link it!). This would also be fun with large craft sticks and letters, numbers, or rhyming words.

What you need:

• an even number of craft sticks
• markers

1. Gather your materials.

2. Draw on some shapes, half of a shape on each stick.

3. Put all of the sticks face down and play!

napkin rolling and folding

Napkin folding and rolling are practical life activities that can become part of your child's a daily meal routine. You don't need fancy napkins or napkin rings. You can make your own napkin rings by cutting toilet paper or paper towel tubes and decorating them with ribbon or fabric. If you use paper napkins, you can still roll them, but you can pick up cloth napkins fairly inexpensively and wash them along with your laundry. It is nice to have larger diameter rings for younger children, like the red ones below:

It doesn't have to be perfect!

This is a holiday set. No, I don't iron my cloth napkins. =)

rocking the Pfaltzgraff

If you don't want to roll, or don't have rings, the folding task is also useful to learn. H generally folds all of our washcloths and small towels now when I'm doing laundry, which is helpful for me and fun for him.  Traditional Montessori folding is shown here and described in impressive detail here. Folding in quarters works for us, so that is what we do! You can try experimenting with fancy napkin folding, too!