If you teach in the Toronto area Coaches Corner EY (Early Years) is offering a PLAYSHOP on Loose Parts where you can learn more about how to incorporate this into your classroom setting rooted in literacy and equity based practices to meet the diverse needs of early learners:  

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkwUyXZgAOf/?hl=en&taken-by=coachescornerey

https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/coaches-corner-ey-17524906595

Materials

• Circular canvases
• Paint (we used gold and silver)
• Paint brushes
• Loose parts (Use what you have, here are a few suggestions: yarn, marbles, chenille sticks, pom poms, wooden parts/sticks, gems)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Paint your bases and allow them to dry overnight.

• We cut the dust cover of the book as a visual inspiration and added a bit of text, propping them on a book stand.

• Set out your bases or pop them in a tray (to catch any stray parts) and then create your Lion and your Mouse using loose parts.

• Take a photo of your designed creation and make then make another!

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Purpose

• Experimenting with designing, tinkering etc..  These kind of projects lend to exploring concepts such symmetry, patterning 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.
• Small parts 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

• Solar print kit (You can find these online, in science centre shops etc.)
• Found and nature objects
• Water
• Drying rack
• Dowel or stick/ Beads/Glue stick or glue gun/coloured paper/ scissors or paper cutter *

*Optional for display

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Using items from around your home and in nature, create an image of fairy.  It is good to plan it out before you lie it out on your solar print paper.

• Follow the directions on your solar print kit (laying your paper in a tray in a dark/shaded area- we used a box in the video to illustrate this, quickly and carefully arranging your items to create your fairy, exposing it in sunlight according to the time suggested and then stopping the exposure by placing it a shallow tray of water.).  Be sure to chose a calm (not windy) day to do this project.  Some kits will include a cover with a transparent window to hold down your items or you may need to tape them down if there is a slight breeze.

• Allow your sun print to dry overnight on a drying rack.  If you find that it is crinkled, you can flatten it under a stack of books overnight.

• We then mounted the print on some coloured paper, trimmed it to create a border and then glued that to a dowel with beads that we secured to the ends to make it easy to hang up!

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Purpose

• Understanding that exposure to light can create a negative image.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors, a paper cutter and/or glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• 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

• Popsicle printable 1) Card: popsicle invite 2) Tag: popsicle
• Cardstock
• Paint
• Old gift or credit card
• Scissors
• Popsicle sticks or tongue depressor sticks
• Craft glue
• Hole punch
• Beads
• Twine

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Print out the popsicle sheet on a study type of paper such as card stock.  Flip it over so that the print is facing the bottom of the tray.

• Squirt some blobs of paint onto your paper and scrape them with the edge of your gift card, covering the surface of the paper.   Allow to dry overnight.  This is only one painting suggestion- go with whatever you like- you could splatter paint your popsicle, colour it with markers etc.

• If your pages have curled a bit, flatten them under a pile of books.

• Cut out the shapes and write your message inside.

• Glue your popsicle sticks on the back, allowing them to dry overnight.  (We used a glue gun for an immediate stick.)

• Punch a hole in your card and lace it onto your present, tying a bow or add a few beads if you like, giving your present to a friend!

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Purpose

• Exploring different painting techniques.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, 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 were delighted to participate again this year with a butterfly that you can personalize with your own design!

Materials

• Felt (We used two sheets for the body and scraps for the designs)
• Template butterfly
• Embroidery floss
• Stuffing/ Wool filler
• Chopstick or similar item
• Fabric scissors
• Fabric glue
• Tape
• Chopstick

Directions

• Print the template or better yet- design your own!  Cut it out.  Form a tape donut and tape it to your felt to cut out two copies of the butterfly wings and one butterfly body.  You can trace around it lightly with a pencil, fabric marker etc. if that makes it easier.

• Cut out shapes for the designs of the wings.  We went with something simple, using two different sizes of lids to form circles to decorate the butterfly’s wings.

• Sew these shapes onto one of the copies of your butterfly wings.  As you can see we went with a very basic running stitch, but our cousin went with a more complex blanket stitch in her project below!

• Lay the two copies of the butterfly wings on top of each other, assuring that they align and then sew around the edge, making sure that you have a slight border.  Leave a gap so you can stuff your butterfly.

• Gently fill your butterfly.  If you find that you are having a hard time getting the stuffing to the corners, we find using a chopstick to gently guide it further in does the trick!

• Sew up your gap.

• Glue your body on and give your butterfly to a friend to snuggle!  Wouldn’t this be perfect for someone who is about to go through a new transition, such as moving to a new city?  A butterfly symbolizes the beauty that can lie in change.

Part of Sew a Softie is teaching someone else to sew one too!  Here’s our cousin sewing her own butterfly.  The beauty of working with other people is that my sister knows quite a bit more about sewing than I do, so really we learned so much from her in the process- like using the fabric pencil to create the easy line for the border.   

Here’s last year’s project:  A personalized bag tag to look just like you!

http://make-it-your-own.com/portrait-bag-tag/

See all of this year’s project’s here:

http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=788447

Purpose

• Creating with various materials.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors and a needle with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn, floss etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• 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.

Here is where you can purchase the book:

Canadians

•  Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/How-Survive-Firefly-Kristen-Foote/dp/1943147329/

• Chapters/Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/how-to-survive-as-a/9781943147328-item.html?
  

Americans:

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Survive-Firefly-Kristen-Foote/dp/1943147329/
  

*Disclaimer:  We received a copy of the book for review as we love so many books from The Innovation Press (http://www.theinnovationpress.com/)  This is not a sponsored post and nor do we use affiliate links.*

Materials

• Embroidery material (We used Aida cloth)
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery hoop
• Pencil/ paper
• Thick fabric
• Stuffing/ Fibre fill/ Wool
• Tape
• Fabric scissors
• Sewing machine (To be used with/ by an adult) *Optional, you could also hand sew

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Whether you read a book, go out into nature or tap into your imagination, lay down your embroidery hoop onto a piece of paper and sketch your idea in the centre of the hoop.  Be sure to make it large and simple for your first design.

• We then put our design up to the window and taped the Aida cloth on top and traced over the design with a pencil.  We would recommend ironing your fabric prior to as this makes working on fabric easier, but someone got a bit excited to get going!

• We then outlined our design with black embroidery floss.  (We would recommend adding those beads at the end as they are bit tricky to work around, but again, someone was a bit excited about his idea and wanted to see it!)

• We then filled in the design with various colours of embroidery floss.

• Cut two pieces of identical fabric to form your pillow casing.  (You could also purchase a pre-made case and sew your design on).  We would recommend using a more discrete colour for your thread, but for the purpose of the photograph, we used black.

• Sew your design onto one of the pieces.

• Flip your design so that it is facing the inside of the pillow and line it up with the second piece and sew around the perimeter of the pillow, using the foot of your sewing machine to create your border.  (Have an adult do this or with direct adult supervision/assistance or hand-sew it if you like).    Be sure to leave a space to insert your stuffing that is approximately 5 cm/ 2 inches or larger.  We usually cut off the excess fabric on the corners.  Now turn your design right side out through the hole carefully.  This process will create nice seams.  If you find that you are having trouble making the corners nice and sharp, a chopstick or similar item often does the trick in pushing them out.

• Insert your stuffing/ fibre fill.  Depending on how full you want it, use a chopstick to reach the corners.

• Sew up the remaining hole and display your work.

Purpose

• Working with various materials to create with.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors, a needle and sewing machine with care and direct, 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.

This is a perfect way to use up a pair of jeans that is damaged that you can’t donate for someone else to use. 

Materials

• Old jeans
• Scissors
• Weaving loom (This one is from Melissa & Doug is good quality)
• Roving wool
• Yarn
• 2 dowel or sticks
• Beads or end caps
• Glue gun*

Directions

• Set up your loom according to the directions.  You could also use a smaller loom if you like.  This particular size was great for a wall hanging.

• Cut your jeans into strips.  We went with ones that were approximately 2.5 cm/ 1 inch thick as our loom is quite big.  First we cut the legs off and then cut them along the seams to open them up.

• String your yarn through the loom as indicated in the directions of the loom to create your vertical lines.  Ours had the string included.

•  Weave your materials through your vertical lines.  We alternated between the jean strips, roving wool and yarn.  When weaving, the kids often say, “Under, over, under, over” or “back, forth, back, forth” as they weave to create a rhythm and keep them on track.  We often doubled the yarn and secured the ends with a knot.  Try to cut your materials so that they are a bit longer that the width of your loom.  *For the jean to attach the ends and finish them off, I glued the end on itself with a glue gun for ease with a younger child, but you could tie it as well.

• You could thread some beads onto your yarn if you like too.

• Before finishing off the ends, we slid in a piece of dowel (a stick would look lovely too) for hanging, unscrewing the pieces of the frame.  For the bottom, we slid in the dowel,  cut the loops and tied a knot for each to attach it to the dowel, adding some more yarn for a fringe in the same fashion.

• Attach two end caps for dowel rods (or have an adult widen the hole on a bead with a drill) to hold your weaving in place.

• Give your piece to a special friend!

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Make some other ideas with yarn:

http://make-it-your-own.com/invitation-to-create-driftwood-yarn/

http://make-it-your-own.com/woven-friendship-bracelet/

http://make-it-your-own.com/sewn-burlap-bookmark/

Purpose

• Developing one’s fine motor skills.
• Re-purposing materials for another use.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, 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

• Thicker paper (e.g., bristol board)
• Cardboard*
• Pencil/eraser
• Acrylic paint in various skin tones
• Paintbrushes
• Cupcake liners
• Glue gun/glue sticks
• Beach finds (shells, driftwood, beach glass)
• Chenille sticks
• Scissors
• Felt
• Gems, buttons etc.
• Canvas (optional)

* We learned from @handywithscissors that IKEA cardboard is bit thinner and therefore easier to cut.  Gosh, connecting on the internet is handy!

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Lay with your upper body on a bristol board sheet or cardboard.   Have an adult trace around you.  Our daughter wanted to make her head out of a canvas board, but you can easily trace around your head too.  Carefully cut it out.

• Don your smock.  We usually paint on a craft tray, but as this project is a bit larger, our daughter placed the components on a scrap of paper and painted them to match the colour of our her skin tone.  You might find mixing various skin tones works to get your desired shade.  Allow to dry.

• Sketch your tail on cardboard (we used cardboard as we wanted something sturdy that would hold all the cupcake liner “scales”).  Be sure to make the width of your tail at the top match the width of your waist.  As with all projects, sketch lightly at first to allow for modifications and then go over it with a darker line if that is easier for you to see.  Carefully cut out your tail.  You may need a bit of help with this part as cardboard it sometimes tricky to cut out.  Paint your tail if you like- this fills in any gaps that might exist within your scales.

• Fold your cupcake liners in half and paint them if you like.  Allow to dry.

• Glue your liners, layering them (it is easier to start at the bottom) all over your tail.  Flip your tail over, fold the edges and glue them down.  This will give your tail shape.

• Cut out a top for yourself.  We used felt, but you could use paper, fabric etc.  Decorate it as you like.  We always recommend that you manipulate your pieces, experimenting with them prior to starting to glue.  Glue your tail onto your body.  Our daughter covered up the segment where the pieces attached with a driftwood belt.  Add any details or accessories as your may like- for example a seashell crown, jewellery and/or wand.

• Create your face and hair.

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Purpose

• Working on projects of various scales.
• Incorporating nature into creating.

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 direct, adult supervision.
• Small items such as beads, shells and buttons 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.