Contact paper frames

Old cereal box panels make great frames. Just add contact paper over the opening of the frame and add leaves, flower petals, or anything!

West's friend Marleigh, 22 months

Fynn, almost 4

It was windy, so we taped the frames to the table outside. After the works of art were finished, we put another piece of contact paper over the top to seal in the petals and leaves. They look really cool hanging in a window.

pudding paint

The tongue is a sure sign of concentration

He didn't trust me that it was edible for quite a while, but once he tasted it, he looked at me like 'wow'

For this project I just made half of a package of instant vanilla pudding, divided it up into 4 Dixie cups, added food color and let them cool. Once cool, I poured two color each in to two squeeze bottles. I really could have fit all four colors in one, that's what I'll do next time. Then I gave him some Froot Loops and let him go to town. He enjoyed covering the Froot loops in the paint, then eating them, of course. He never gets sugary snacks like this so he thought it was quite a treat to paint and snack at the same time. Next time, I think I'll do it with vanilla yougert to make it a bit more healthy.

And while he painted, Lula harassed Kip.

Mixing

Mixing pancake batter.

But he still wanted to keep mixing after the batter was done, so....

I gave him a big bowl, a little bowl, a measuring cup, a squeeze bottle of water and some parsley flakes.

Pouring is a tricky thing...

While I cooked the pancakes, West mixed water and parsley flakes and poured it from bowl to bowl. He didn't care what he was mixing, as long as he was mixing! I got all the pancakes cooked and he was getting bored and hungry by the time they were done. Perfect! I got the idea of water and spice mixing from the new book I bought yesterday, Unplugged Play.

Spray and squirt bottle painting

The squirt bottles were a hit

It was fun to watch him perfect his spraying technique

Squirting water on 'erased' the paint

I bought squirt bottles and spray bottles at Michaels today with this project in mind. First I tried to color the water with food coloring, but it would have taken a lot to get bright colors. So, I just mixed in some tempra paints and that worked well. For West, again, this wasn't about creating art, but about dumping and spraying and getting messy. The paint didn't stick to the paper anyway which made it fun to 'erase' with the water. I have a feeling we'll be doing this again soon.

Lula's excellent sensory experience

I actually made these for West when he was having some strange reactions to sensory experiences. I bought round wood cuts outs and hot glued various textured items to them. (coarse grit sand paper, fine grit sand paper, furry fabric, super soft fabric, slippery fabric, felt that feels like snake skin, the hook side of velcro, the fabric that goes on footie pajamas, cork) Lula loves them. They each go in her mouth, her prefered from of exploration. Her favorite is the coarse grit sand paper.

Threading

I used a hole punch to make holes in some larger circles I punched out of paper. I taped the end of a piece of ribbon to make it a little easier to thread. He kept threading them on until he had a lot. Then he wanted to go outside and hang it from a tree. He also spent a lot of time just running back and forth in the yard with it hanging behind him.

Using scissors

Note his tongue sticking out, what intense concentration!

These are 'big kid' scissors. The package said 4+ but under direct supervision he does fine. West really enjoys cutting paper. He's learning how to properly hold the scissors and open and close his hand to make them work. I also have a pair of craft scissors that cut a decorative edge that he likes to use. They are actually really great first scissors because they aren't really sharp and aren't pointy at all.

Painting

This activity swiftly moved from indoors to outdoors.

This has been West's favorite activity to date. He threw quite a fit when it had to be over. We just used acrylic paints that I had on hand, some artist's canvas board, some various paint brushes and a nice big palate that I had. He loved painting with the brushes, his hands and even his feet. Dumping the paints was also a favorite. Being nearly naked makes everything more fun too.

This was definitely an experiential activity, he really had no interest in the finish product. It was all about the paint and mess to him, but we have some great paintings out of it! West asks to paint again nearly every day.

Hair gel, ziplocks, glitter and food coloring

Squish

Pat

Draw and write

You probably have these ingredients on hand too. Mix hair gel, the cheaper the better, food coloring, and glitter into ziplock bags. I taped the top shut to prevent leakages and to keep little hands from opening it. After all the ingredients were added, I taped the ziplocks to a window and let West squish away an mix them up. These are really cool because you can write and draw and the images stay up for a really long time! I made a third bag, not pictured, in which I added cooked tapioca pearls. We colored that bag green and it looks like some alge or something.

I got this idea from playathomemom3.blogspot.com

Baking soda, vinegar and food coloring

West liked to hold baking soda while I poured on vinegar so he could feel the fizz

Such a simple, fun activity! You probably have all the ingredients on hand, if not, they're cheap. We poured the baking soda into a drawer organizing tray that we had, added a few drops of food coloring to the baking soda and took turns pouring the vinegar on. The bubbles would fizz up in bright colors and mix with each other. Each time we added more vinegar, because there was still a lot of baking soda on the bottom, new colors were created.

West is his own crane

West loves cranes. 'Up up up! High high high!' He says.

Croc crane

Inspired by his imagination, and my own, I made West a crane with a piece of ribbon and two pipe cleaners. It isn't very sturdy, but he has been lifting things nonstop for the past hour. Some things are too heavy, the pipe cleaners bend, and the object falls. He's learning cause and effect, gravity and so much more.

The purpose of this blog

I want to write this blog so I can share the fun experiences I have with my children. West has just gotten to the age where I can do crafts and activities with him and we are having a ball. The activities we do are ones anyone with kids can do with little or no cost. I hope this will inspire people to play more with their kids and explore their own creativity at the same time! Many of the activities done are ideas I got from other blogs, I will give credit where credit is due.