Materials

• Cardboard
• Corrugated paper*
• Pencil/eraser
• Paintbrushes
• Paint
• Scissors
• Glue gun or craft glue
• Plastic netting
• Additional supplies (Cupcake liners, beads, gems, use what you have!)

* A simple DIY for creating coloured corrugated paper is to take a coffee cup sleeve and cut it, revealing a corrugated interior.  Then paint it to your desired colour!*

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Sketch out your idea.  This is just a basic plan that might guide you as a starting spot, however, you can change your actual creation as you work with the materials.  You could also cut up your plan and use it like a sewing pattern, taping it to your different types of paper if that makes it easier for you.  I know I had some students who found this technique helped them.

• Don your smock. Lay your cardboard in your trays and paint it the various colours you might like for your dragon.  Allow to dry overnight.  We used scrap pieces of cardboard we had from other projects.

• If you would like to create scale-like texture, cut your netting open (it is often used to contain vegetables etc.) and lay it over your surface (with younger children, I usually have them tape it in place) and paint over it in a contrasting colour.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Sketch out your pieces on your various types of paper lightly in pencil.  Cut them out, going slightly inside the line so as to eliminate it.

• Arrange your pieces together entirely before gluing them together.  I think that this planning step assures more success in projects as you can manipulate your pieces until you reach a desired look.

• Glue your pieces together, allowing them to dry and display your finished dragon!

Want to read this book or others in the series? 

Canadians can order it here:

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/home/search/?keywords=asia%20citro&suggest=1

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Asia+Citro&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AAsia+Citro

American readers can order it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Asia-Citro/e/B00KODFI6E/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1492485894&sr=8-2-ent

Purpose

• Using literature as a jumping off point for creating.
• Working with and mixing different types of papers, materials etc.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct adult supervision.
• Small parts such as gems and beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Enjoy the process of this activity and if you like, save your work in a garland to see each year!

Materials

• Watercolour paper
• Eye droppers or pipettes (Pipettes would be better for younger children as they are easier to squeeze)
• Watercolour paint
• Large box
• Containers

Optional:

• Egg templateegg egg
• Scissors
• Cord
• Beads
• Needle
• Pencil/ eraser
• Tape
• Hole punch

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Fill your containers with your paint.  Lay your paper in your box.  This will catch all your splashes!

• Squeeze your droppers to suck up the paint and drop it onto your paper.  Do you notice any changes with the drops based on your height?

• Allow your painting to dry overnight.

Garland

* I would only proceed with this next step if your child is interested in it.  If they want to leave their work in a full sheet, respect that.  You could also pre-cut the paper into egg shapes prior to the painting.*

• If you like print out the egg template (or better yet, draw your own) and trace out the eggs over your work, lightly with a pencil.

• Cut out your eggs and punch two holes in the top.  Lace your eggs and your beads to form a garland.  To hold your eggs in place, add a small piece of tape on the back.

• Hang it up each year to enjoy!  Or give it to someone special!

Purpose

• Eye droppers are great for building one’s hand strength/ developing fine motor skills which lends to other skills such as writing, cutting etc.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Large felting mat
• Felting needle tool (we liked this one as it had a protective case around the needles)

• Wool felt squares
• Roving wool
• Beads
• Ribbon
• Dowel
• Embroidery floss
• Needle (with a large eye)
• Scissors
• Dowel
• Finger protector (Thimble/Although it offers less protection, but more flexibility, a rubber finger is an alternative)
• Glue gun (Sorry- it seemed to have migrated out of the photo for another project!)

Directions

• Lay your felt square on your felting mat (which is kind of like an upside down thick brush).  The mat helps provide some structure while allowing you to push the roving wool into the felt square with the needle tool.

• Chose your colour for your bunny (or other animal- it is just that bunnies are our daughter’s favourite!).  Pull off a bit of your wool gently and then create a shape that you would like for the face and then the additional features (such as the ears).  Lay your shape onto your felt square and then hold your felting tool upright and compress it down onto your roving wool.  Continue to do so, until the wool is entangled in your square.  Go at a slow and steady pace and be sure to keep your other hand or someone else’s away from your mat while you do this.

• Add additional colours to create the facial details (so for example, the interiors of the ears and/or around the nose and mouth areas.), repeating the same process.

• Once the roving wool is attached, remove your felt square from your mat and then sew on your beads to create details like the nose and/or mouth.

• To practise our basic sewing skills and provide a finish around the edge we then sewed a basic stitch around the border.  My daughter had a clever technique for trying to create an equal distance with one’s stitching.  In writing, she places her finger down on the page to achieve spacing between words.  She did this with her non-dominant hand, between her stitches so as to help her to start to recognize equal spacing.  As a beginning sewer, she practised going “up an down”, “up and down” and came to realize that an error is easily corrected by going backwards or pulling out the stitch.

• Once finished, tie off your ends on the back of your square.
• We then applied a bit of glue to the top border on the back of the felt square and attached our dowel.

• Cut and attach the ends a length of ribbon (we glued them to the dowel at the back) for the hanging portion.

• Give your hanging to a friend or loved one or hang it in your own room!

Purpose

• Using a variety of tools and materials.
• Learning basic sewing skills.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors, the felting needle tool and glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Ribbon etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Newspaper
• Watercolour pucks (or liquid watercolour would work)
• Paintbrushes
• Scissors
• Glue
• Corrugated paper (you could use other types of paper you may have)
• Paintings (These were off-cuts of other projects- be sure to communicate with your child before re-purposing a work)
• Cardstock

Garland Materials

• Egg template egg or a pencil/eraser to draw your own
• Beads
• Cord
• Needle

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Paint your newspaper and allow it to dry overnight.  Collect other types of paper with various textures and characteristics.

• Rip your papers and add them to a thicker page such as cardstock, gluing them down.  Our son was really into controlled ripped lengths, but go with whatever shapes you like.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Print out the egg template or better yet, draw your own, cutting it out.  Lay it overtop of your collaged page.  Cut out your eggs.

• We then took our eggs and created a garland- what will you do with yours?

Purpose

• Combining and working with different types of paper.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

To make these beauties, check out the link below:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/RECYCLED-EGG-CARTON-WATERCOLOR-FLOWERS

Materials

• T-shirt
• Block (we used a cylinder)
• Heart foam sticker (you may have one left over from Valentine’s Day)
• Fabric paint
• Paint brush
• Fabric pen
• Cardboard

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Insert your cardboard into your shirt.  This will prevent your shirt from sticking together from the fabric paint.

• Adhere your heart sticker to your block.

• Don your smock.  Our daughter put a small dot of fabric marker to help her have a centre point to align each of the leaves, with the bottom point of the heart touching the dot.

• Paint your sticker with your fabric paint.  This ensures an even coat and tends to lend to a more clear shape.

• Use your heart shape to create the leaves of your clovers with the point in the centre.   Allow to dry overnight.

• The next day, with your fabric marker, draw the stems of your clovers.

• Remove your cardboard and put on your shirt- we hope it brings you good luck!

Purpose

• Recognizing symbols commonly associated with various cultural celebrations.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.

She may have loved the butterflies so much she decided to make an additional set for herself or maybe a few more…

Materials

• Coffee filters
• Wooden butterfly bodies or twigs
• Glue gun
• Cord
• Paint (liquid watercolours, watercolour pucks etc.)
• Glitter glue
• Office supply stickers
• Branch or driftwood
• Beads
• Cooling racks
• Artificial stamen
• Scissors

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Read the book Waiting for Wings for inspiration.

• Don your smock.  Lay your coffee filters in your craft trays and paint them.  We created two sets- one with warm colours and the other with cool colours.  Our daughter’s current favourite technique is splatter painting, where you tap the brush, creating flecks of copper in this case.  Allow your filters to dry overnight on your cooling racks.  Once dry, add stickers if you would like to extend your designs.

• Fold your filters (we went with an accordion style, back and forth movement) and glue them onto the back of your bodies, adding some stamen for antennae if you like.  You may need a little bit of adult assistance for this portion to hold the fold down while you glue or vice versa.

• Loop your cord over the driftwood or branch, knotting it tightly and then lace your beads through the two pieces of cord, knotting the end several times.

• Attach your butterfly to the bottom with glue.  Trim off any excess cord.  Allow to dry and then hang it in your room or give it to someone special!

Want more butterfly inspiration?

Design butterfly wings with loose parts:

http://make-it-your-own.com/design-your-own-butterfly-wings-with-loose-parts/

Spin art butterflies:

http://make-it-your-own.com/nature-finds-butterflies/

Shrink art necklaces:

http://make-it-your-own.com/shrink-art-creature-necklaces/

Make a butterfly costume out of shopping bag: 

http://make-it-your-own.com/paper-bag-butterfly/

Tissue paper monarch necklace:

http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-necklace/

With Earth Day coming up, check out these other recycled insects!

Grasshopper: https://www.thecrafttrain.com/cardboard-tube-grasshopper/

Bumblebee: http://buggyandbuddy.com/egg-carton-bee/

Dragonfly: http://kidscraftroom.com/recycled-milk-jug-dragonfly-craft

Caterpillar:  http://www.firefliesandmudpies.com/how-to-make-a-colorful-caterpillar-suncatcher/

Bumblebee: http://iheartcraftythings.com/recycled-bee-craft.html ‎

Ladybug: http://www.iheartartsncrafts.com/recycled-cd-ladybug-kid-craft/

Purpose

• Painting with different materials on different surfaces.
• Learning about butterflies.
• Expressing gratitude.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

 We are giving away a copy of the book on Instagram if you are interested!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRIJXI-gMOP/?taken-by=make_it_your_own_&hl=en

Materials

• Playdough
• Trays
• Organizer
• Green loose parts of various shades (Go with what you have!  We used: gems, beads, buttons, game pieces, foam shapes etc.)
• “Green” by Laura Vaccaro Seegar
• Book holder

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Make or purchase your playdough.  Here is our favourite recipe:http://make-it-your-own.com/fall-fun-pumpkin-pie-playdough-gift-jar/You could make it green as well, but we went with a sparkly white so the pieces would stand out.  If I was working in the classroom, I would make 4 batches of the recipe.

• Read the book as a class or put it out for the class to explore.

• Arrange your trays around your loose parts.  Depending on your classroom space and dynamics, decide on how many children could work on this activity at a time.

• Explore with the loose parts to create images or something more abstract.

• You could document your creations with your camera and then return the parts for the next person to create with.  Our daughter noticed that the loose parts created imprints- how could you then extend this idea?

Purpose

• Manipulating loose parts allows for developing one’s fine motor skills, experimenting with design, exploring in an open-ended fashion as loose parts lend to unique combinations for each learner.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Small items can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.