Materials

• Liquid watercolours (or food colouring)
• Liquid dish soap
• Straws
• Shallow circular containers
• Scissors
• Pre-made card sets (we purchase these at craft stores) OR cardstock/envelopes/paper trimmer

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Before you start this activity it is a good idea to practise blowing out of your straw, rather than sucking which is usually associated with the use of straws.  You may want to do this in a glass of water.  This helps prevent your child/students from sucking in the bubble mixture accidentally!  TIP: If you are working with young children, using plastic straws, make a small snip in the straw- it helps to prevent children from sucking in the soap from the same extent!  When we do with with a group, we will also put a dot on the end of the straw that goes into the bubble mixture so that that end doesn’t accidentally get tasted!  As you can see on our video, metal straws also work quite well!

• Don your smock.

• Put a few tablespoons of dish soap (some produce better bubbles than others) in your shallow containers, along with several tablespoons of liquid watercolours (you could also try food colouring)- the more paint you add, the more vibrant the bubbles.  Add some warm water (we went with about 1/4 a cup in each container), but it depends on the size of container that you use) and mix with your straw (the end that doesn’t go in your mouth)!  If you would like your bubble prints to be really vibrant, skip adding the water and just add the soap to the liquid water colours.  Different brands create different levels of vibrancy.

•  Place your bubble mixture on your craft tray.  Blow your bubbles up over the lip of the container (not overflowing, however).

• Gently put your paper on top of the container- the best results are generally yielded from going straight up and straight down.

•  Lift off your paper carefully and repeat with different colours.  You can overlap or go off the edges of the paper for different looks.

• Allow your paper to dry overnight.  If you used cardstock, trim your page to the right size to fit your envelopes and fold it in half.

• Write a card to your friends!

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Purpose

• Exploring different techniques.
• Creating opportunities for writing.

Safety Notes

• As mentioned, go over blowing, rather than sucking with the straw, prior to starting the activity.  This is not an activity for children 0-3 or who may have trouble with this.  Check for non-toxic products.
• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision.

Materials

Mushrooms 

• Clean paper egg carton
• Spools *
• Scissors
• Paper towel (You can use newsprint, regular paper etc.)
• Flour
• Warm water
• Plastic containers (for the paste and the paint)
• Acrylic
• Paint brush
• Stylus, mini dowel or toothpick/BBQ skewer with the end trimmed off
• Glue gun

* As you can see, with many of the mushrooms we also used wooden items for stems.

Flower Trees

• Blocks
• Drill (to be used by an adult)
• Acyclic paint
• Glue gun

Ponds 

• Wooden plaque, coaster or round
• Paint

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

Mushrooms

• Cut your paper towel into strips and your cartons into individual cups.

• Make your paste.  We used about 1 cup of warm water to 1/2 cup and a tablespoon of flour.  You want your paste to be a bit thicker than pancake batter.  Whisk your ingredients together.  You could also use craft glue alternatively.  (Or a third option for a more silky and harder drying paste, you can have an adult also cook the paste, however, be cautious not to let your paste get lumpy by cooking it too long or at too high of a heat.)

• Don your smock.  Layer your strips over your egg cup, covering the area completely.  If you find they are too dry, add a bit more paste with your fingers.  If your mushroom cap is getting too saturated, add a few more strips of paper towel.

• Do the same with your spool- we found going length-wise with a few strips wrapped around held everything in place.

• Repeat as many times as you like to get a desired thickness- we went a few layers.

• Allow your pieces to dry overnight.

• Paint your mushrooms in your chosen shades.

• We added a few details with a stylus dipped in paint.  You could also use a toothpick, mini dowel, end of a paintbrush or a BBQ skewer with the end cut off of it.  Older children could paint on the details.

• You could add an acrylic gloss for a shiny finish to your mushrooms should you like.

Flower Trees

• Have an adult drill a hole in your blocks so that your artificial flower can stand freely in your block.

• Paint your block in your desired colour and allow it to dry.

• Insert your flower into the hole. (You may have to glue it in.  If you find that it is tipping over, trim the stem down in size.)

Ponds 

• Paint a wooden round or plaque to create a pond for playing with.

Set up your small world and play!

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Purpose

• Re-imagining materials.
• Creating opportunities for social interaction, dialogue, narrative development etc.

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.
• Small items such as the rocks used 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.

1) Magical Mushroom Washing Brushes

Materials

• Mushroom brushes (You can purchase these online or in kitchen stores)
• Paint
• Dishwasher safe/waterproof sealant
• Brushes
• Stylus (or use a toothpick, paintbrush end or dowel end)
• Magical creatures (unicorns, pegai)

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Paint your mushroom caps in the colours you like.  We did a few layers, allowing them to dry in between.

• Add your dots with a stylus’ circular end, the end of a paintbrush handle, a dowel end or toothpick.  Allow to dry.

• We then covered the mushroom brushes with a few coats of dishwasher safe sealant so the paint wouldn’t wash off while the kids washed their unicorns, pegasus and the like.

• Add this to a bin of water with some soap fun and wash your toys!

2) Rainbow Foam

Materials

• Soap pumps (these ones we re-used that had baby wash in them)
• Soap (dish soap, hand soap, body wash)
• Food colouring
• Warm water
• Tray or bin
• Magical creatures (we went with dragons)

Directions

• Put approximately 1 tablespoon of dish soap/hand soap/body wash into your soap pump.

• Add about 10 drops of food colouring in your bottles.

• Add your warm water (we filled it about 2.5 cm/ 1 inch from the top to account for the displacement for the pump when you put it in) and gently mixed the elements by tilting it up and down.

• Don your smock and play with your foam and creatures in a bin, tray or water table- this is a perfect activity for outside!  You may want to have some rags handy and be sure to wear play clothes as the food colouring may stain.

3) Glittery Wash in Interesting Containers

Materials

• Various containers (condiment bottles, spray bottles- set to mist, medical supply spray bottles etc.)
• Warm water
• Food colouring
• Biodegradable glitter

Directions

• Put approximately 10 drops of food colouring in your bottles, along with a sprinkle of your glitter.

• Add your warm water and gently mix the elements by tilting it up and down.

• Don your smock and play- this is a perfect activity for outside.  You may want to have some rags handy and be sure to wear play clothes as the food colouring may stain.

• Give your toys a rinse!

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Purpose

• Exploring different types of sensory play.
• Washing one’s belongings.
• Making items to enhance play.
• This type of play can lead to discoveries related to displacement, viscosity, flow, capacity etc.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Follow product directions and safety guidelines, using child-safe soaps etc.
• These activities are recommended for children over the age of 3 and those who do not put items in their mouths/consume large amounts of soap.
• As with all water play, direct adult supervision is always recommended!

Materials

• Circle card template circles
• Scissors
• Watercolour paper
• Tape
• Pencil/ eraser
• Liquid watercolours
• Water
• Containers
• Paint brushes
• Drying rack
• Markers

We always find these items useful too:

Get the book here:

Canadians:

https://www.amazon.ca/Pod-Bog-Asia-Citro/dp/1943147388/

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-pod-and-the-bog/9781943147380-item.html

Americans:

https://www.amazon.com/Pod-Bog-Zoey-Sassafras/dp/1943147388/

*We do not use affiliate links, nor do we recommend books that we wouldn’t honestly suggest to a friend.  We received our copy for review, only as we enjoyed other books from The Innovation Press.*

Directions

• Print out the circle card template.  Cut it out and trace around it onto the rough side of your watercolour paper.  To hold it in place while you trace around it, you could tape it down with tape donuts (tape wrapped onto itself with the sticky side out).  Cut it out.

• Lay your card flat in your tray with the rough side up and cover it with a thin layer of water.

• While your card is still wet, apply your paint.  We used regular colours and a metallic for the splatters, taping the brush handle with our hand.  The magic in this process is watching the paint travel on the wet surface- it creates a magical effect.

• Allow your card to dry on a cooling rack over night.

• Once dry, fold it in half and then place it under a stack of books to flatten out.

• Write an inscription in your card and give it to a friend, perhaps with the book- it would make a lovely gift!

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Purpose:

• Extending literature with creative activities.
• Experimenting with various painting techniques.

Safety Notes

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

Materials

• Template butterfly
• Watercolour paper
• Pencil/earaser
• Scissors
• Items to make shapes and lines (caps, dowels, popsicle sticks etc.)
• Craft glue
• Acrylic paint (We used both black and white)
• Old fork
• Drying rack
• Liquid watercolour paint
• Brushes
• Wooden peg bodies
• Artificial stamen
• Glue gun (optional)

We always find these items helpful too:

Directions

• Print and cut out the butterfly template, or even better, draw your own!

• Trace it onto watercolour paper for the best results onto the rough side.  (We often use the weekly coupon at Micheals to purchase it!)

• Cut out your butterflies and lay them in your tray.

• Mix your acrylic paint with your craft glue.  As you can see we used about 1 tablespoon for approximately 10 tablespoons of glue.

• Dip your parts into your glue mixture and carefully apply them to your butterfly, creating various designs, exploring patterning and symmetry if you like.  If paint gets on your fingers, be sure to take the time to wipe it off so it doesn’t stick to your wings!

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Paint your butterfly.  One trick that we use that prevents bleeding is to paint the details and then to allow it to dry and paint the background.

• Once completely dry, attach the stamen to a peg body (you could also use a stick from nature or the provided body on the template) and then glue the body onto the butterfly.

• Hang your butterfly from the ceiling with fishing line, attach it to a present etc.

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Do you love butterflies?

Here are some more of our butterfly projects:

SPIN ART BUTTERFLIES: http://make-it-your-own.com/spin-art-butterflies/

BUTTERFLY WALL HANGINGS

http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-wall-hanging/

DESIGN BUTTERFLY WINGS WITH LOOSE PARTS https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/DESIGN-BUTTERFLY-WINGS-WITH-LOOSE-PARTS—CRAFT-FOR-KIDS/

SHRINK ART BUTTERFLY NECKLACE http://make-it-your-own.com/shrink-art-creature-necklaces/

PAPER BAG BUTTERFLY COSTUME http://make-it-your-own.com/paper-bag-butterfly/

Purpose

• The glue mixture forms a resist where the paint won’t be absorbed into the paper for an interesting effect.
• Recognizing some of the common symbols/ signs associated with spring.

Safety Notes

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

*Special thanks to Start Creative Studios for the invite and do be sure to look at the rainbow of ideas below! 

Materials

• Thick width headband (we used one that had a fabric finish to assist in gluing items together)
• Clean egg carton
• Scissors
• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Beads
• Felt

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Cut the egg sections from your carton.  We then gave them a trim so that the edge was as even as possible.

• We then glued two of the egg cups together to form the cactus.

• With the blooms we cut simple snips toward the centres to make the petals. We made the cup that would form the interior petals a bit shorter, trimming it down. You can gently bend your petals outwards if you like.

• Make as many cacti as you like- we went with three, but it depends on the size of the wearer!

• We painted both the cacti and the blooms with acrylic paint and allowed them to dry overnight.  Depending on your desired effect, you could add a few layers of paint, allowing drying in between.  We cut the scraps into little stamen which we painted as well.  With a tiny brush and some white paint added to the green, we created the spines for the cacti once the base layer was dry.

• Once dry, glue the stamen into the blooms (the kids added a few beads too), the layers of the petals together and then the blooms onto the cacti.  Allow to dry.

• With the top of the egg carton we created a bit of desert and covered it with felt, but you could also recycle old tissue paper or paint it in a desert-y colour!  One tip that made it easier to cover was to pull the felt “up and over” before gluing it down.  We then cut out a shape to cover the underside and another smaller one to create an additional layer of sand for the top.  We attached the desert piece to the headband and then the cacti to the desert, adding a few beads to the edges to create some interest and perhaps some mini cacti growing!

• Once dry, we tried it on- what fun to have made your very own fascinator!

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A Rainbow Collection of Fascinators:

Red: Start Creative Studio

https://startcreativestudio.com/blogs/blog/upcycled-fascinator

Orange: Cinta & Co.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhZxArUA-UM/?hl=en&taken-by=cintaandco

Yellow: Creating Creatives

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhZxRYuH7H7/?hl=en&taken-by=creatingcreatives

Green: Barley & Birch

https://barleyandbirch.com/2018/04/make-a-colorful-chameleon/

Blue: Art Camp LA

https://www.artcampla.com/new-blog/up-cycled-fascinator

Purple: Make it Your Own (Us!)

Purpose

• Re-using materials to create with.

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.
• 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.

Project #1: Tic-Tac-Toe

Materials:

• Wooden plaques or rounds
• Drawer knobs
• Paint
• Stylus, toothpick etc.
• Moss (You can find this at craft or dollar stores)
• Glue gun

Directions:

• Paint the “cap” of your mushroom on your drawer handle with acrylic paint.  You will need two different colours of mushrooms (5 of each colour).  Depending on the desired effect, you may need a few coats, allowing them to dry in between.  We added the dots with the tip of a stylus, but you could use the end of a paint brush handle, a small dowel end, a BBQ skewer with the end cut off or a toothpick.  Use a contrasting colour.

•  This classic game with involves some strategy in creating three in a row (vertically, horizontally or  while blocking your partners ability to create the same.  Along with that, the game allows for turn-taking and how to accept winning or losing a round gracefully.

Project #2: Mushroom Counting & Adding

Materials: 

• Button plugs (found online or at hardware stores)
• Paint
• Stylus, toothpick etc.
• Wooden plaques or wood slices
• Drill (to be used by an adult)
• Small garden signs
• Moss (You can find this at craft or dollar stores)
• Glue gun
• Paint pen

Directions:

A) One to One Correspondence: 

• Paint the caps of your button plugs and allow them to dry before adding your dots.
• Paint your plaque.  We went with a green colour to mimic grass.  Once it was dry we had an adult drill a hole in it to fit the garden signs/pegs.  If you like you could glue moss around the edges.
• On our garden signs we then wrote the numbers 1-10 on them,
• Place your mushroom caps in a container/ bowl etc. and then have the child count out the number of mushrooms as indicated on the sign.

B) Perceptual Subitizing in a Ten-Frame Position: 

• Paint your caps, but when you add your dots, put different numbers on them (we put them in ten-frame formation), so that children can identify the number of dots to the number signs.  You might want to include a magnifying glass if they are teeny or use drawer knobs instead if you want them to be larger.

C) Conceptual Subitizing: Roll, Combine & Match

• This is similar to the above project, but children roll 2 dice and then add the numbers on each die together, finding the corresponding number.  You may want to have counters available to assist some students, so that they assign each die with the amount of counters and then combine/ add them together.  The next step is to find the matching amount of mushrooms or the mushroom with the correct number in the ten frame arrangement.

Project #3: Sorting

Recognizing Attributes

Materials: 

• Wooden plaques or rounds
• Button plugs (found online or at hardware stores)
• Drawer knobs
• Paint
• Stylus, toothpick etc.
• Drill (to be used by a parent)
• Small garden signs
• Moss (You can find this at craft or dollar stores)
• Glue gun
• Paint pen

Directions:

• We used the mushrooms for various projects so for colour sorting we used the button mushrooms that were red, orange and pink and wrote corresponding signs to insert in the drilled holes.  All of the mushrooms started out on a large plaque that were then sorted into three smaller plaques.

• We them sorted button and drawer knob mushrooms according to size with signs that said, “Small and Large”.

• We also sorted by “Greater Than, Less Than” picking a numeral to work with.

• If you like you could further increase the challenge of this activity by providing tongs/ tweezers for the children to transferring the mushrooms.  This is a good way to develop one’s fine motor skills.

Project #4: Creating Letters

• We used the button mushrooms to arrange them into the shape of letters, both upper and lower case to match the little garden signs.

Project #5: Stacking

• This activity takes the drawer knob mushrooms and challenges children with how high that they can stack them.  This explores balance and some students might start to see what arrangements could increase stability.

Project #7: Patterning

• We used an old baby food container that we glued moss onto, but an egg carton would work perfectly for this as well.
• Create a pattern with your mushrooms, so you might do this based on size, colour etc.
• See if you can challenge and expand on your patterns, so for example an AABAAB pattern.  We included a few cards to prompt you if you need it.

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For all projects, we always find these items helpful:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Purpose

• Create items for play and learning.
• Develop one’s mathematical skills through patterning, adding, identifying numbers etc.
• Strengthen fine motor skills working with different items, arranging them, manipulating them in a space, transferring 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 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.

Materials

• Wooden parts (Dowels, pegs, dowel ends, shapes etc. You can often purchase mixed bags of wood parts)
• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Organizing container
• Drying rack

We always find these items helpful too:

Directions

• Paint your wooden parts and allow them to dry overnight.

• Put them in a tray to organize them.

• Use your loose parts to design your flowers on a large surface such as table, play mat or section of felt.  This is an opportunity to use concepts like symmetry, patterning etc.

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Purpose

• Arranging loose parts allows you explore design concepts along with mathematical ideas such as symmetry, patterning etc.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Small parts such as 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.