Materials

• Various white, silver, clear and blue beads
• Elastic beading cord*
• Needle (optional)
• Scissors
• Tray

*You could use clasps if the child prefers this.

Directions

• Cut lengths of cord for the number of children (plus a bit extra).

• Put out a variety of beads for children to make necklaces, bracelets etc. in a tray.

• Lace the beads on the cord.  (Some children, depending on their age and the size of the beads etc. may like a needle for this.)

• Enjoy making and wearing snowy bracelets!

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills.
• Working together/ sharing materials (They could make a bracelet for each other.)

Safety Notes

• Beads can be a choking hazard.  Please keep them out of reach from children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Exercise care with scissors. Use with adult supervision.
• String, cord etc. can be a strangulation hazard, thus they are not meant for play and should be used with supervision.

*Please excuse the paint-stained hands!*

Materials

• Printout “Over the winter holiday I…”winter_holiday_writing2
  
• Pencil/eraser
• Pencil crayons, felt markers etc.

Directions

• Print out the provided sheet and photocopy enough for your class (I always did approximately 5 extra).

• Have the children write out what they did over the winter holiday (you might want to brainstorm with some guiding questions- Where did you go?  Did you eat anything special?  What traditions does your family do?  Were there any special events that you attended?  Did you try something new?  Did anyone come to visit you?  Etc.)

• Have the children record their experiences. There is a spot for a illustration and lines for a written response.

• Following this, depending on your group, you may want to get them to share with each other in partners, small groupings or as a whole group.

Purpose

• Re-telling events and experiences
• Developing confidence in sharing with others (oral language skills)
• Learning about one’s classmates

We just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who take the time to look at our projects, try a few, share them with their friends or colleagues or to send us your own ideas.  It has been one of the best parts of 2014! With sincerity, The Scorer Family-

A fun keepsake! (We made these for Grandma & Grandpa!)

Materials

• Blank pillow case
• Pillow insert
• Iron photo transfers & iron (used by an adult)
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Scissors

Directions

• Take some photos.  We went with the kids outside, pretending to catch snowflakes.

• We then sent them to a photo lab which printed the children’s image on the pillow case.  You could also print the images onto iron transfer paper and iron them onto blank pillow cases (following the product directions).

• We then sewed snowflakes onto the pillow case using embroidery floss and a needle. (Be sure to knot the end of your floss!)  Our daughter is learning to sew and we went with a simple pattern.

• Once knotting and trimming any excess floss, insert your pillow into the case and give it to someone special!

Purpose

• Learning how to sew

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with supervision and care.
• An iron should be used by an adult if you go with the transfer option.

Materials

• Fabric
• Fabric glue
• Gold leaf or similar material
• Jingle bells
• Beads
• Twine or embroidery floss
• Needle
• Sewing machine OR needle & thread
• Star templates
• Thin cardboard or cardstock
• Thick cardboard
• Smock, craft tray

Directions

• Lay out your fabric onto sheets of thick cardboard.  Don your smock and drizzle them with fabric glue.  Lay your gold leaf* or similar material overtop and assure contact with the glue.  Allow to dry overnight. *Follow the directions on the product that you have in regards to fabric.*

• Gently peel the gold leaf material off once it has dried according to the directions.

• Print out the star templates on thicker paper or use them to trace onto thin cardboard.  Cut out your star on the outside line.  Lay it onto your fabric.  Cut out 2 copies for as many stars as you would like in each of the two sizes.  Once you have the fabric stars cut out, take your cardboard star and cut it out again on the inside line.  Sandwich your cardboard stars into your fabric stars.  You can either glue them together, sew them by hand together or sew them on the machine together (have an adult do it or depending on your age and abilities do it together).  The cardboard will give your star some structure.

• Cut a long piece of cord or embroidery floss and thread your needle on it.  Tie a know on the end and lace/sew your beads, jingle bells and stars on as you would like them, making a loop in the middle to hang on the door.

Purpose

• Re-imagining items (The fabric for our project was gifted to us from my Grandma’s collection).
• Developing fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• Beads, jingle bells etc. can be a choking hazard.  Please keep them out of reach from children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Exercise care with needles and scissors. Use with adult supervision.
• String, cord etc. can be a strangulation hazard, thus they are not meant for play and should be used with supervision.

Materials

• Child’s artwork (Make sure it is something that they are okay with being cut up or make something for this purpose.)
• Paper cutter OR scissors, ruler and pencil/eraser
• Clear tape
• Toothpicks
• Scissors

Directions

• Cut your artwork into thin strips.

• Cut one end, making a “V” shape.

• Tape your toothpick onto the other end of the strip on the side without the artwork. Fold over the end of the paper and tape it (as seen in the photo with clear tape).

• Insert into treats and enjoy!

Purpose

• Re-imagining items
• Finding economical ways to celebrate with paper
• Thinking of others

Safety Notes

• Exercise care when using scissors and/or a paper cutter.  Use with adult supervision.
• Toothpicks can be sharp- use with care!

Materials

• Envelopes
• Paint (* Optional, we went with metallics.  You could use crayons, felt markers etc.)
• Craft tray
• Cardboard or scrap paper
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil/eraser
• OR paper cutter
• Rick rack (or twine, cord etc.)
• Smock
• Glue or glue gun (to be used by an adult)

Directions

• Carefully open up your envelope as shown.

• Draw lines around the outside triangles with your ruler, blocking off the parts with the glue residue. Make an “X” through the centre.

• Cut out your triangles.

• Arrange them on a scrap piece of paper or cardboard and place them in your craft tray.  Depending on the size of your craft tray you may want to cover your whole work space with newspaper or a plastic crafting tablecloth.

• Don your smock. We then went with a drip technique for the painting where we stood over the triangles and let the paint drip onto the them.  Allow to dry overnight.

• We then used a glue gun to glue our rick rack to the front of our triangles (ours was a bit bent being wrapped around card, but if yours is on a roll, craft glue would work too!)  Allow to dry.

• Hang up your garland and enjoy!

Purpose

• Re-imagining/recycling items
• Experimenting with various painting techniques.

Safety Notes

• Be sure to use a smock and a craft tray to protect your clothes and surfaces.
• Any string like materials such as rick rack may pose a strangulation hazard.  Be sure to use them with direct adult supervision and not as a toy.

Materials

• Paint (we went with metallics)
• Craft toothbrush (one that you won’t use for your teeth!)
• Cardstock (We re-used some old black cards)
• Letter stickers
• Beads
• Twine
• Metal circles (ours I believe were a donation leftover from a wedding, but you could use washers, binder rings etc.)
• Tag punch/ hole punch OR ruler/ scissors/ pencil & hole punch
• Craft tray
• Smock
• Small cardboard box
• Shallow tray
• Tweezers

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Put your paint or paints into a shallow container.

• Put your letter stickers onto your cardstock to make your guest’s initial or initials.  Do several to a page.

• Put your cardstock into your small cardboard box (We saw this tip on The Crafty Crow http://www.thecraftycrow.net/ for a different splatter technique and thought is was a great idea to contain the paint!)

• Dip your toothbrush into your paint.  Angle your brush downward and with your thumb, pull back on the bristles, creating a splatter.  Repeat with another colour and do all of your pages.  Carefully peel off your letter stickers.  You don’t want to leave them on for a long period of time as they might remove a bit of your paper.

• Allow them to dry overnight in your craft tray(s).

• Punch out your tags, using a tag punch or create rectangular shapes with a ruler, pencil and scissors, cutting around your initials.

• We made a loops around our rings (as shown) with twine or cord and added beads and the letter tags, tying them together around a napkin.  Enjoy!

• Once you are done, be sure to put them away in a safe space for next year’s celebration!

Purpose

• Re-imagining items
• Experimenting with different painting techniques
• Recognizing letters

Safety Notes

• Beads, rings etc. can be a choking hazard.  Please keep them out of reach from children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Exercise care with scissors. Use with adult supervision.
• String, cord etc. can be a strangulation hazard, thus they are not meant for play and should be used with supervision.