Materials

• Cake pan
• Paint (we went with acrylics as they provide a bit of a resist to the watercolours)
• Paint brushes
• Watercolour paper
• Liquid watercolours, water, containers, salt, painter’s tape *Optional

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Paint the bottom of your cake pan.

• Carefully flip it over while it is still wet and apply it to your page, assuring contact at all points.  (You can press the interior of the pan to better help this process.)

• If you wanted a more dramatic print, repeat this process (you may need an adult’s help to line up the images).  We then allowed it to dry overnight.

• If you like, paint over your image with a watecolour wash.  We used painter’s tape to create a border (with half of the width of the tape on the page and the other off) and then painted the background space, going slightly over the tape resist, to create sharp lines.  If you like, sprinkle your paint with a bit of table salt while it is wet to create a starburst effect.  While the paint is wet, carefully remove the tape.

• Allow your work to dry, sign it and give it to a friend, loved one or hang it in your own space!

Purpose

• Exploring different methods of creating prints.

Safety Notes

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

*This is not a sponsored post*

Materials

• Cardboard Tubes
• Scissors
• Glue gun/glue
• Tweezers
• Paint brushes
• Paint (we went with acrylic)
• Beads
• Foam
• Felt
• Marker
• Ribbon/ cord
• Painter’s tape
• Felt or fabric or any other materials you may like!

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• First we played the app to get inspiration for creating figures and creatures from a cardboard tube:

Here is their info:

http://www.coocoolo.com/start/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coocoolo-roll/id1034734283?mt=8

***

• Sketch out your ideas on your cardboard tubes.

• Don your smock.

• Cover the areas that you don’t want painted with painter’s tape and paint the other sections.  Peel the tape off carefully while the paint is still wet.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Once dry, cover the sections that you already painted with painter’s tape and then paint the remaining parts.

• Add any additional painted details that you may like.  Allow to dry overnight.

• We then added embellishments of foam hair and hands, beads for eyes and earrings and drawn components.  Use whatever materials that you may have on hand.  For tiny beads, we find tweezers are helpful for placing in the glue.

• Once your creations are dry, enjoy playing with them!

Want to learn more about the app?  Here is another review:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/THE-COOCOOLO-ROLL-APP-COMBINES-DIGITAL-PLUS-PHYSICAL-PLAY-WITH-FUN-TOILET-PAPER-TUBE-CRAFTS

Purpose

• Re-imagining recyclables.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills.
• Learning how tape can form a resist.

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.
• 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.

Sending you warm holiday wishes!

Most sincerely,  The Scorers-

* Hand-letting on the card by Justine Ma Design: http://justinema.ca/ (who we love!)

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Materials

• Felt sheet
• Template house
• Scissors
• Tape
• Loose parts (we went with beads, jingle bells, felt circles, rick rack, buttons & pom poms, but use what you have!)

Directions

• Print and cut out the gingerbread house template, or draw your own!

• Tape your house template to your felt and cut out the felt house.

• With your loose parts, design the “candies” on your house.

CHRISTMAS TREE

Materials

• Felt sheet
• Scissors
• Tape
• Template tree
• Loose parts (We went with rick rack, beads, felt circles, buttons & jingle bells, but use what you have!)

Directions

• Print and cut out the Christmas tree template, or draw your own!

• Tape your template to your felt and cut out the felt house.

• With your loose parts, design your decorations for your tree.

Purpose

• Learning about symbols of various celebrations.
• Manipulating loose parts lends to developing design making and fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Small parts such as beads 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.

For the full tutorial pop over to:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/SHRINK-ART-SNOW-GLOBE-ORNAMENT-CRAFT

ADVENT WREATH

Materials

• Felt sheet
• Holly Wreath template wreath
• Scissors
• Tape
• Organizing Tray
• Loose Parts (Use what you have.  We went with caps, pom poms, foam shapes, gold beads, gems, bingo chips, gold rings, sequins)

Directions

• Cut out your wreath template.  To snip out the inside, fold it gently in half and make a starting snip.  You could draw your own wreath as well.

• Tape your template to your felt and cut out the felt version.  The tape will help hold it in place.

• Once done, create your holly wreath or extend it into an advent wreath. Each week leading up to Christmas a candl e is lit, symbolizing hope, peace, joy and love.  Often a candle in the middle is lit on Christmas day.

MENORAH

Materials

• Felt sheet
• Template menorah
• Scissors
• Tape
• Loose parts (We went with glass gems for this one, but use what you have)
• Organizing tray/ containers

Directions

• Cut out your menorah template.  You could simplify it by trimming off the edges of the individual candle holders if you like.

• Tape your template to your felt and cut out the felt version.  The tape will help hold it in place.

• Once done, create your menorah.  A candle is lit for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah using the centre candle, the shamash (helper candle).  Below are some books if you would like to learn more.

KINARA

Materials

• Felt sheet
• Kinara template kinara
  
• Scissors
• Tape
• Organizing Tray
• Loose Parts (Use what you have.  We re-used game pieces.)

Directions

• Cut out your kinara template.  You could draw your own kinara as well.

• Tape your template to your felt and cut out the felt version.  The tape will help hold it in place.

• Once done, create your kinara candles for the celebration of Kwanzaa.  During each of the seven days of Kwanzaa, a candle is lit with the centre candle, each with their own meaning.  Below are some book titles if you would like to learn more.

Purpose

• Learning about the traditions and celebrations of various cultures.
• Loose parts lend to exploring design, the development of fine motor skills through manipulation and an opportunity for expressing one’s creativity.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• 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

• Template gingerbread
• Felt
• Loose parts (buttons, beads, rick rack, jingle bells etc. Use what you have!)
• Scissors
• Chenille sticks
• Paper/Printer
• Craft tray
• Tape
• Camera

Directions

• Print out the gingerbread person template and cut it out.  Even better, you could draw your own!

• Attach your template to your felt, using tape (creating a small tape donut).  Cut around your template, forming a felt gingerbread person.

• Using your loose parts, design your gingerbread person.  To contain your parts, lay your felt gingerbread person in a craft tray.

• Take a photo of your person if you like, to document your creation and then make another!

Purpose

• This activity lends to the exploration of various math concepts (symmetry, patterning etc.).
• Recognizing symbols of various seasons and celebrations.

Safety Notes

• Use a craft tray to contain items.
• Use scissors with care and direct adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn, rick rack etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads, buttons and other small objects 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.

Have you had the chance to read astronaut Chris Hadfield’s book, “The Darkest Dark”* where he shares what inspired him to the profession?  Space holds children’s imagination- the magic that is beyond us.  Put out these simple materials for children to build their own rocket!

Materials

* These are only suggestions based on what we had.  This is a perfect time to use up your odds and ends!*

• Cardboard tubes
• Paper (we went with black, metallics, and brights)
• Circles (in case that they wanted to make a cone shaped top, you could put out lids to make circles themselves.)
• Metallic ribbon, rick rack
• Caps
• Fabric pieces
• Adhesive jewels
• Sequins
• Bubble wrap
• Tissue paper
• Paper ribbon
• Gold cord
• Wooden pieces
• Felt
• Glue
• Scissors
• Binder clips
• Stapler and/or glue gun (Once we got busy making these, we found them quite handy!)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Place your supplies into an organizer for children to chose from, adding some glue and scissors.

• If your child/ students have some pieces to hold together while the glue is drying, you can always employ a binder clip.  It often minimizes frustration and allows for hand free drying while one can move onto other parts of the project.  Simply remove it the next day.  A stapler or glue gun (if you are comfortable with it) are our personal favourites!

• Try to incorporate a clean-up time which allows the children to invest care into the environment, sort and work collaboratively on a common goal.

***

If you want to extend the project or display the rockets, here is a background based on the work of

Julia Linsteadt of Cut Out Studios: https://www.instagram.com/p/BISPZMigAw3/?taken-by=julialinsteadt&hl=en

Make A Multi-Layered Moon

• Don your smock.  Lay your canvas in your tray.

• Experiment with your various types of paint and tools, layering them on top of each other to create your own individual moon.

Space-y Gift

• Love using literature as a starting point for a birthday, Christmas, etc. gift?  Here are some simple ideas to pair with The Darkest Dark:

Purpose

• Using one’s imagination.
• Experimenting with different materials.
• Exploring various painting techniques and their effects.
• Developing fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors, a stapler, a glue gun and binder clips (which sometimes pinch) 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.
• 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.