http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/HOW-TO-MAKE-A-POSTER-BOARD-PUPPET-THEATER-FOR-PRETEND-PLAY

Being ethical is important to me, so I would only recommend something that I truly feel is valuable to other families.  (This is not a paid or sponsored post).  In reading the booklet that accompanies each subscription box, it is evident to me that this was a thoughtful process that Megan and Julia went through to select the text and create ideas to go along with it.  One of my favourite teachers in I.B. English created a series of projects for us to do throughout high school, exploring various texts.  This brought the literature to life and Megan and Julia do exactly that where the children create their own journey after reading the book.  (This month’s choice was “A River” by Marc Martin).  The box comes with good quality materials to create with and lands on your door step each month- which is perfect for families: a pre-made, accessible and informative way to explore literature created by two people who have the background experience to assure that it is developmentally appropriate.  I was impressed!

Along with the book, the box contained a booklet that describes the text, the power of a read aloud and how to ask questions to improve your children’s understanding of the text and how it relates to them.  It gives tips for how to set up a creating space and provides the materials to explore loose parts play (which lends to a future understanding of design principles), how to use markers as a painting material, how to create a pastel resist and using tissue paper as a dye transfer- all being put together for a stunning project!

As the book relates to taking a journey, after reading the narrative our daughter was able to immediately scaffold this to her own environment using the questions in the booklet- she created her boat travelling, observing the Northern Lights that we are privileged to catch painting the sky here in various parts of Canada.  The use of the box was genius, creating a shadow box or theatre feel to the project.  Plus, we haven’t found bleeding tissue paper here in Canada yet, so this was new to us!  We honestly can’t wait for the next box to come!  We can’t recommend this subscription box enough!

Loose Parts Exploration

Boat on the River Project

Even our daughter’s 3 year old brother loved the box, creating a boat to camouflage into his background!

I have been following Mother Natured on Instagram for a while and connecting with Penny Whitehouse online.  Penny has been a long time Wildlife and Natural Resources Education officer with her schooling in Biology and Early Years Education.  I admire the really innovative ways that she encourages children to experience, play and connect with nature.  When I heard that she was developing a digital printable package for people to use with their own children and/or their students I asked her if we could share it with our readers as many of ideas are borne out of nature.

The printables package has directions, suggestions, templates and extensions to activities for you and your family or students to create with nature.  There are ideas that contribute to mathematical understanding, imaginative play, and scientific discovery.  Part of the enjoyment of these activities is going out and collecting items to use.  As a teacher you could a) collect the items with your students b) bring in items for your class or c) have the children bring in items or d) a combination of the previously mentioned ideas.  I would then print and insert the pages into page protectors where they can be re-used for many children.  One way to preserve their ideas if they use it in this way is to take digital photos and then compile a photo album that you can print or view online.  For some of the projects, you could print each child one.

Here is an example of one of her templates that my daughter and I tried using, dressing up a character with flowers, foliage etc.:

•  She has selected these ones to do next:

• And here is a video sample of all the great ideas in the package:

For more information about Penny’s resource and to get one yourself, click on the link below*:

http://mothernatured.com/2017/05/16/nature-printables/

*I should note that this is not a paid or sponsored post, but rather something that I think is worth sharing with others.  In a digital era, connecting with nature is so important!*

Materials

• Coffee filters
• Cupcake liners
• Sponges
• Scissors
• Dowels
• Glue
• Paint (we used acrylics & diluted liquid watercolours)
• Paint brushes

Make it Your Own

• Add any other supplies that you might like.  So for example, our daughter added wooden beads and watercolour paints as she wanted to do a wash on her flowers.

Container Supplies

• Container
• LABEL (cardstock, printer/ink)FriendshipGardenLabel
• Scissors
• Clear tape
• Ribbon

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Pack your supplies into your container for a friend, adding the label with clear tape and a bit of ribbon.

Want to make the flowers yourself?

• Cut up your sponges into a variety of shapes.

• Don your smock.  Lay your coffee filters in your tray(s).  Dip your sponges into the paint or if you want a more even coverage, paint the sponges with your brushes.  Apply then to your filters and allow them to dry overnight.  One quick way to get them to dry is by placing them on cooling racks (used for baking).  Create and explore patterns.

• If you like apply a diluted watercolour wash over your filters, allowing them to dry again.  We painted some filters green for the leaves.

• To make your filters regain their shape, you can place them back in the stack and fill them with rocks or marbles. Leave overnight or for several days.

• Paint your dowels if you like, allowing them to dry overnight.  You could paint them on a tray, making sure that they don’t touch, so that they won’t stick together or you could stick them in floral foam, painting up and down.

• Glue your pieces together to form flowers (we flipped the cupcake liners inside out) and then give them to a friend!

Purpose

• Using literature as a starting point.
• Re-using household materials for 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 adult supervision.

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.

Want to save this idea?

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.

For the full supply list, labels and where to order the book, check out our post here:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/3-RAINBOW-BOOK-GIFT-IDEAS-FOR-KIDS

Materials

• Plasticine
• Clay tools (I preferred the wood ones when I was a teacher for more durability, but plastic ones can work too.  Otherwise use what you have- a fork, a butter knife, scissors etc.)
• Small wooden boxes (These were from the craft store) OR the bottom of card boxes/ a shallow, sturdy box

Optional (For hanging)

• Ribbon/ cord
• Glue gun

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Create the background for your portrait.  We used these little wooden boxes left over from another project, but you could use any shallow box, like the bottom of a package of greeting cards.

• Add your mother, remembering to include lots of details, exploring your tools!  (My students always liked scissors so be sure to give those a try!)

• If you like, glue on a bit of cord to hang your portrait on the top corners or simply stand it up on display- ours are on top of our piano!

Purpose

• Developing one’s fine motor skills, manipulating materials and using a variety of tools.

Safety Notes

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

Materials

• Magazines
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Sturdy paper
• Pencil/ eraser
• Containers (optional)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Sketch out your idea first in pencil.

• Flip through your magazines and find colours that you would like to use in your image.  Gently tear out those pages and cut them into strips.  Ours were approximately 1 centimetre in width.  We then cut them into small pieces (to simulate tiles) that were 1 centimetre by 1 centimetre. (For younger children , you could do larger and I once had a student make such tiny tiles that she applied them with tweezers- it was magnificent!)  If you wanted, you could use a small paper trimmer for this portion too. Our son placed the colours in small containers to keep them organized for him.

• Don your smock.  Using your glue stick, place a thin coating of glue on the back of your magazine tiles.  You could do this on your craft tray or a scrap piece of paper to assure a full coverage.  Or if you prefer, apply glue to the page and lay the “tiles” in place.  Line up the edge of your tile with your lines and apply.

• You may need to overlap tiles.

• It is good to go over the edge as well.

• For younger children, they may need to do some simpler modifications (as seen by the tiger’s facial lines) in order to create the image.  However, older children may like the challenge of using only the designated size.  If there is a tile that is not working for your intended vision, simply glue over it!

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Once your image is complete, flip it over and trim the edges so you get a sharp line.

• Hang up your work to enjoy!

• PIN IT HERE:

Looking for more jungle projects:

Elephant: http://buggyandbuddy.com/elephant-craft-newspaper/

Parrots: http://iheartcraftythings.com/twirling-parrot-craft.html

Parrots:  http://kidscraftroom.com/cardboard-tube-parrot-craft/

Giraffe: https://www.thecrafttrain.com/cardboard-tube-giraffe/

Turtle: http://www.firefliesandmudpies.com/cd-button-turtle-craft/

Purpose

• Re-using materials.
• Creating with various techniques and exploring their origins.

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.