Materials

Felt Version

• Felt (a large piece for your body of water and scraps for other parts)
• Fabric scissors
• Fabric glue or glue gun (you could also sew any items you may like)
• Twigs
• Craft wire
• Wire cutters
• Smock
• Craft tray

Paper Version

• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Twigs
• Craft wire
• Wire cutters
• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Go out on a nature walk and collect twigs to use for your tent frame and campfire.

• Don your smock to avoid getting glue on your clothes.

• To make your tent frame, take 3 of your twigs and make them into a triangular shape, attaching them together with craft wire (we find it helpful to make an “x” formation). Repeat this so that you have 2 triangles (as seen below).

• Take a rectangle of felt (or paper) and fold it over.  Cut it to the size you want your tent and embellish it as you like.  Glue 3 longer sticks onto the inside of the felt- two on either end and one in the middle (as seen in the photograph).

• Attach the sticks to your triangle frames (as shown) with your craft wire to complete your tent.  (We first attached a little spot of glue with a glue gun to hold them in place to make it easier to wrap the wire around for younger children!)

• For your campfire, glue your sticks into a “log formation”, then glue some yellow and orange felt in the centre to simulate the flames.  Allow this and other items to dry on your craft tray overnight.

• For the sleeping bags we took a small rectangular piece and folded it over at the top to form a small pillow and at the bottom to form a pocket for your figurines.  We sewed these together, but you could easily glue them with fabric glue or if you made them with paper, craft glue.  (Be sure to allow them to dry overnight so as not to glue your figurines inside!)

• For the body of water (pond, lake) cut out a large piece of blue felt or paper.

• Set up your campsite and have fun!

Purpose

• Hand/eye coordination (cutting, gluing, bending wire etc.)
• Creating replicas of real life scenes, events or activities.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision/ assistance.
• Be sure to exercise caution with fabric glue so as to avoid gluing items to your clothes.
• This might be the perfect time to talk about real camping/water/fire safety.
• If you chose the glue gun option, have an adult use it.
• Be careful when working with wire and have an adult cut it for you.

Materials

• Collection container  (e.g., something like a bucket where the pinecones won’t poke through it like a bag)

Directions

• Go out for a nature walk and collect pinecones.  We recommend the Ponderosa Pine type or something similar as they are often easy to work with for children and are not so sappy.

• See how many pinecones you can collect together.  If you go out more than once, challenge yourself to collect more the second day.

• When you get the pinecones home, how could you compare them? (E.g, Which one was the smallest one you found?  The largest?  Which one was the most unique? Why?)

• Put your pinecones in a box and store them for some fun winter projects that we will have on our site!  Or think of your own to make!

Purpose

• Collecting items for future use
• Building number sense (comparing, counting etc.)

Safety Notes

• If you are collecting pinecones in a residential area, be sure to ask property owners before removing pinecones from their properties (e.g., front lawns) and watch out for things like vehicles.
• Try to avoid pinecone types that are often sappy.

Materials

• Various sizes of boxes
• Paint
• Brushes (or other tools)
• Plastic containers
• “Not a Box” (by Antoinette Portis)
• Smock or play clothes

Directions

• Save boxes or request some from a local company or grocer.  Think of an idea for what to make your boxes into (or several if each child wants to do their own thing).

• Put on a smock or play clothes (that you don’t mind paint getting on).

• Pick a sunny day to go outside on your back lawn.  Put paint in various colours into the containers and encourage children to create their vision.  We wanted to make a castle after using the boxes for a hibernation den, so we mixed white with a little bit of black to create grey, as well as using silver.  We then used a sponge to make bricks, leaving space in between and staggering the rows to give the appearance of mortar in between.

• We allowed them to dry overnight and then brought them into the playroom for rainy day fun, adding other materials such as toys to enhance the play.

• A good friend of our did this with a large refrigerator box and made a boat that gave her children months of fun imaginative play and our aunt made us a puppet theatre from a refrigerator box that we loved as children.  What can you think of?  What to share it?  We love to see your creations.

Purpose

• Re-using materials for a different purpose.
• Imaginary play.

Safety Notes

• Be sure to wear a smock or old clothes when painting large scale pieces.

Materials

• Air dry clay (you can buy this at art or craft supply stores)
• A circle cookie cutter OR old glass and butter knife
• Things to make imprints (leaves, sea shells, twigs etc.)
• Rolling pin
• Clay board, laminated placemat or craft tray
• Smock

Optional Supplies

• Exterior grade Modge Podge
• Felt protectors (what you put on the bottom of furniture- you could also glue on felt pieces instead)

Directions

• Go out on a nature walk and collect things to make imprints with (sea shells, twigs, leaves etc.)

• Don your smock.

• Take out a ball of your air dry clay and knead it according to the directions on the package.

• Use your rolling pin to roll out a piece that is approximately 1 cm thick.

• Make impressions with leaves, sea shells etc.

• For the coasters we then flipped over a glass and cut around it (so that we knew it would be large enough for the bottom of the glass).  You could use a large circle cookie cutter if you have that as well.

• We then rolled the edges gently (being careful not to squeeze our design) to give them a smooth finish.

• For the dish we trimmed the edges with our knife and bent it in slightly using the curve of our hand.  You could leave it flat as well.

• Allow to dry according to the product directions (we found it took several days).

• When dry, paint your coaster and dish with a thin layer of Exterior Grade Modge Podge to protect it from moisture (according to the product directions).

• Put floor protector felt stickers (that you use on table & chair legs etc.) on the bottom of your coaster and dish (to protect table tops from getting scratched).

• Enjoy!

Purpose

• Motor skill development (kneading, rolling cutting etc.)
• This would be a great time to talk about something like how fossils are formed!

Safety Notes

• Follow the directions on the products used. (Particularly if there is product remaining as to how to store it.)
• Exercise caution when using a knife.
• Be sure to wash your materials (e.g., the brush immediately following use)

Materials

• Highlighters
• Blank cards (or make your own using cardstock)
• Eye dropper (you can buy these inexpensively at drug stores)
• Plastic container
• Ink (often labeled as “India Ink” or “Chinese Ink” in art supply stores)
• Craft tray or scrap paper to protect your table surface
• Smock

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Draw a design or pattern with your highlighters on your card.

• Using your eye dropper, apply a few drops of ink to your card.

• Fold your card in half and rub the outside gently.

• Allow your design to dry overnight.

• Bend your card back to make your design on the outside and write a message inside.  Send it to a friend or loved one.

Purpose

• Working with various materials.

Safety Notes

• Ink can stain clothing and surfaces.  Be sure to protect them by using a craft tray and smock.

Featured on:

http://www.bloggang.com/mainblog.php?id=108idea&month=02-08-2014&group=19&gblog=85

Materials

• Collected sticks (approximately the same length- you can always break them to be so)
• Craft wire
• Wire cutters
• Fabric Scissors
• Ribbon
• Fabric

Directions

• Go on a nature walk and collect sticks of approximately the same length.

• Create a “frame” with 4 of the sticks, laying two of them parallel to each other and putting another set of 2 on top on the other ends.  Secure the sticks together, using craft wire.  We find it handy to make an “x” with the wire. (See photograph below).

• Add additional sticks, going across and securing the ends with craft wire.  We took one stick and put it through the middle (top to bottom, as seen in the photo) to increase the sturdiness.  You could put several, depending on the age and ability of your child.

• Cut your fabric into strips.  Some types of fabric might lend to being ripped, where you make a small snip and then you are able to rip strips.  Make sure that they are long enough to extend past the distance you will be weaving.  Cut ribbon to the same length as well.  It is easiest to prepare this in advance to starting.

• Tie a knot at one end of the stick (as seen in the photograph) where you want to start.

• Then proceed to weave the fabric “over, under, over, under” the sticks.  Actually verbalizing this is helpful to some children.

• Push the fabric or ribbon to the end if you would like a more compressed look (as seen in the photograph).

• Knot the end to the stick and then cut off any excess.

• Repeat this process, using opposite actions (so if the first strip started with “over”, have the next one start “under”.) Continue with various pieces of fabric and ribbon. To cover up the wire on the ends, we wrapped around the sticks (and wire) as shown as we weaved.

• Trim the ends to make them relatively uniform.  Hang up your weaving or if your sticks were relatively straight and your weaving can sit flat on a table, use it for a hot pad for pots etc.

Purpose

• Hand/eye coordination
• Motor skill development
• Setting a purpose for a walk (gathering a certain type of sticks)

Safety Notes

• Use scissors and wire with direct adult supervision.

Materials

• Blank canvas
• Paint (we used craft grade acrylics)
• Old gift, credit or membership cards
• Cardstock
• Craft tray
• Smock
• Cloths for clean-up
• Scissors
• Craft glue

Directions

• Don your smock and put your canvas on your craft tray.

• Decide what colour you would like your background of your nature scene to be.  Put little blobs of your paint on your canvas.

• Scrape the paint around with the edge of the card (as seen in the photograph.) The excess will go off the edges of your canvas onto your craft tray and can be wiped up.

• Repeat the same process for your cardstock pieces using various, contrasting colours.

• Allow your canvas and cardstock pieces to dry overnight.

• Cut out shapes that you might like,  inspired from nature (trees, mountains etc.).  This is only one suggestion- if you have other ideas- go go for it! (For younger children, flip the cardstock pieces over and draw our your shapes first.  Arrange them before the final gluing so you can make alterations as seen in the photographs.)

• Glue your cut-outs onto your canvas and display it.  You may want to write on the inside wood the trip that inspired the piece and the date, so you have a keepsake.

Purpose

• Exploring different painting tools and techniques.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with adult supervision.
• Use non-toxic products.
• Be sure to have your cloths ready- this can be quite a messy activity!

Materials

• Cardstock
• Pencil/Eraser
• Permanent Markers
• Crayons
• Watercolour paint (we used diluted liquid watercolour)
• Paint Brush
• Craft Tray
• Smock
• Page Protectors (or laminating materials)
• Scissors

Directions

• Brainstorm some ideas for your playmat (a surface for you to make playdough ideas on top of).  We settled on a garden to include play dough bugs.  Draw out your scene.

• Colour it in.  We used crayons as the kids wanted to do a wash.

• Paint with watercolours and allow to dry.  (This step is optional, you could just colour the mat ideas).

• Slip your mat into a page protector or laminate it.  You could leave on the 3 hole section and then store your ideas in a binder, divided into themes or cut them off should you like.

• Be creative, making play dough things to compliment your play dough mat!

Purpose

• Taking an idea and personalizing it.
• Guiding play ideas.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with adult supervision.
• Be sure to wear a smock and protect surfaces when painting.

Materials

• Play dough (you can buy this commercially or make your own- see the Directions section for our favourite recipe)
• Clay boards or laminated placemats

Ideas for Items to Include in your Play:

From Left to Right, Top Row:

• Seasonal items (such as filler eggs, artificial Fall leaves etc. for different holidays)

• Vehicles (perfect for making tracks and imaginary play)

• Craft matchsticks (without the match heads, great for building, making impressions)

• Plastic jewels, glass rocks (great for digging out “treasures”)

• Science related items (such as plastic dinosaur bones that they can excavate)

Second Row Down

• Thematic items (we showed Space for example- with plastic stars, rockets, astronauts etc.)

• Plastic animals/figurines (you could do different groups- Farm, North American Forest, Rain Forest etc.)

• Glitter (we added this to our playdough for a space birthday party- simple and fun!)

• Playdough cutters (Again, you could sort into themes)

• Building blocks (fun for making impressions)

Third Row Down

• Dice (for making impressions)

• Spools and tape rolls (great for making impressions and circle cut-outs)

• Stamps (Your could use those that are images such as vehicles or letters)

• Craft eyes

• Marbles

• Paper clips

Bottom Row

• Construction items (washers, nuts etc.)

• Old keys (for making imprints)

• Rocks (you could use a variety of nature items such as twigs too)

• Sequins

• Craft gems

• Golf pegs (you might want to include plastic hammers)

From Left to Right, Top Row: (* starting with the third item as there was some overlap in the photograph)

• Clothes pins (just be careful of pinches!)

• Craft feathers

• Caps (from beverage jugs and cartons)

Second Row Down

• Popsicle sticks (great for building)

• Game (bingo) chips

• Chenille sticks

• Toothpicks (great for building, just watch out for pokes)

Third Row Down

• Craft foam (you could use shapes or cut your own- such as a carrot nose for a snow person)

• Scoops (great for imaginary play)

• Straws (good for construction or making 3-D shapes in math)

• Play coins (dig for “treasure” or create imprints)

Bottom Row

• Shells 

• Buttons 

• Beads

• Wood pieces

• Birthday candles (unlit of course!)

From left to right:

• Cooking and baking utensils (measuring spoons, garlic presses, icing tubes are great fun!)

• Beach toys (molds, shovels etc.)

• Silicon cupcake liners (you could do mini muffin tins, small pie plates etc.)

• Clay tools (you can purchase these at educational and art stores)

• Scissors

• Rolling pins

• Primary clay and playdough tools (bigger for easy gripping for smaller children)

• Candy/chocolate molds

Directions

Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 salt
• 3 tbsp cream of tarter
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Food colouring

Directions:

• Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium pan.
• Add water and oil.
• Cook on medium heat.
• Stir continuously.
• When the dough mix pulls away from the sides and forms into a large ball, the dough is ready to be placed in a small bowl to cool.
• Store in a plastic container or re-sealable bag.

Source: Japer Place Child and Family Resource Centre

Safety Notes

• As the included play dough recipe involves a stove, an adult should make it. (An added bonus is that it is an excellent upper arm mini work-out!)
• Many of the suggested items to include in play can be choking hazards and are therefore not recommended for children 0-3 or those who tend to put things in their mouths.
• Encourage your children to wash their hands before playing with the play dough and remember to discard it regularly, making new batches.
• This dough is not designed for consumption.