A is for Acorn - Acorn Paper Garland

This week is letter A week...we decided that since it is fall season (just started), we would make something special to decorate our house! We made an acorn garland. This is how:

We fold the paper accordian style. You have to make sure that the squared are the same size of the template. 

I made this template you can download. You are free to use it. Remember to put the fold-line on the edge of the paper and NOT to cut where the dots are. 

Open the garland and paint (My daughter made a "blue" squirrel)

We used water colors. They are perfect for this kind of craft.

Enjoy!

Letter X is for Xylophone

We are almost done with the Alphabet!! Letter X was a really difficult one, but we found some great ideas on the Internet. X is for Xylophone! First we made a Xylophone using toilet paper rolls...this is not a Xylophone that's really going to make music but the idea is to create, use your imagination and have fun! This is how we did it:

PAPER ROLL XYLOPHONE

We used 4 toilet paper rolls (We made the rolls each time smaller. The 2 littlest ones, are the part of the third and fourth roll. You can use scotch to close them)















All we needed was:

• Toilet paper rolls
• Paint
• Glue
• Jumbo sticks
• Needle
• Yarn
• Beads ( if you like)

Before painting, I made a little hole in the toilet paper rolls. Now we can "sew" them together after they are painted.

My daughter painted each toilet paper rolls and the sticks with a different color.

We sewed the toilet paper rolls using the beads in this step. 

She glued the jumbo stick on each roll (you can  match it or let your child be original...mine wanted to be creative. That's OK with me!)

You can leave it like this and have a mobile, but we glued it on a  wrapped shoebox cover and my daughter wrote the word Xylophone all by herself! This was for me the best part of this project... :-)

WATER BOTTLES XYLOPHONE

Another type of Xylophone (that actually works!) is this one! My daughter really loved this one! We used 6 glass bottles, water and food coloring.

You just need one drop of paint and water. Pour as much water as you want. You can leave them like that or put the lid on. And now just play! 

Isn't it cute to see the faces of your children when they realize they have just created something so cool??

Letter W is for Watermelon!

Al you need for these delicious Watermelons is a paper plate, some red and green paint, glue and some Watermelon seeds you can buy in any garden shop.

My daughter loved this activity and reminded her dad that these Watermelon were not for eating...they are just pretend...I guess she said that because they look just like real Watermelons!

Here is how you do it.

Fold the paper plate in 2

Open it again and paint the center red and the border of the plate with green paint

Glue the seeds

Fold it back a little bit...Enjoy your Watermelon!

Letter V - Vegetalbe Print and Venus

This week, letter V.

VEGETABLE PRINT

We made a painting using as brushes and stamps some vegetables. 

We used carrots, broccoli, peas, cauliflower, zuchinni, and a potato. The idea is to dip the vegetable into the pains and stamp them onto paper.

My daughter had so much fun! The lettuce was a BIG brush, the peas rolled and made a nice line. There are lots of vegetables and some have realy nice prints (maybe nicer than the once we used), so try it.

We loved the brocolli and peas pattern! 

I used a potato to make a stamp.  I cut the potato in half. On the cut face of the potato, I used a knife to carve the letter V. I cut away the potato surrounding the shape, so that it end up with an aprox. 1/5 inch shape. 

Here you can see the letter V print made with the potato.

VENUS

Remember the coffee filter, markers and water activity (Umbrella)? Or the Earth activity This time we made Venus!

We colored a coffee filter with red, orange and pink markers. Put some water on it and let it dry...that's all! 

Letter U - Umbrella and Universe with Coffee Filters (and the Earth)

UMBRELLAS, UNIVERSE AND THE EARTH

This was a tough week....letter U...Umbrella, Under, Underwear, Unicorn, Universe....

I had an idea of making some umbrellas but my daughter preferred the Universe....until I told her that in order to make the umbrellas, we had to make it rain....hum, that's mysterious??? How???

Here's how:

First you need this template (download it by clicking on the image)

Then you need:

• Coffee Filters
• Water
• Scissors and Glue
• Markers

Umbrella

Print the template and cut the umbrellas. Don't color them.

Color the coffee filter with markers. Just scribble scrabble...

These are the ones we made. (the blue one is for the Universe activity. You also need a green one if you want to make the Earth activity...)

Put the umbrellas on a surface and put on top the colored coffee filter....
LET IT RAIN!!!!

She had so much fun!

Wait until it dries and look at your umbrellas now...now they are colored!

Since I was trying new techniques, we used food coloring to paint the background. You just need one drop and some water! I am definitely using this technique again!

With regular paint and a Q-tip, we made some rain drops...oh, and the clouds are made of cotton balls

We need the umbrellas with this rain!

Done! U is for Umbrella!

Universe

Put the blue coffee filter on a blank paper (this one had a little blue on the background since I was trying the food coloring paint) and let it rain!

Wait until it is dry. We used this coloring page of the planets (kaboose website) and my daughter used watercolors to color them. She cut them out and glued them...this is our Universe

The Earth

I know this has nothing to do with the letter U, but it is still Earth Day Month, and we have to recycle, so instead of trowing the colored coffee filters away, we made a nice craft with it.

I don't have a picture of the green coffee filter but you do the same...just scribble scrabble a little bit green and make it wet. After it is dry, you cut it in little pieces and glue it on the blue one, making the continents. Here is the Earth. It is so easy to do, and you see the different blues and greens, just like in our real World!

Letter U - Under the Sea Tank- (Recycle Earth Day)

I was not sure if it was letter T week again or the letter U...

My daughter's teacher told me they would continue last week's activities about the Ocean, about Earth Day and that they would go on a field trip to the beach and do some research and snorkeling, so we came up with this

Under the Sea Fish Tank made with Recycled Materials to celebrate Earth Day!

(This is another variant of the Kijkdoos I explained last week...)

Working together was so much fun and this project was so easy to do!
All this was made with stuff I had at home....look at the details...

• A shoebox...
• This pattern I created and I want to share with you for download and use.

NOTE:

You can download this template and use it anytime, but please don't copy it anywhere else without my permission. I worked on it and a simple link to this page would be a great way to share it. Thanks!!!

The Top Sign was made with the back of the shoebox. I cut a piece of the box before placing the blue tissue paper so the light would come trough. We glued 2 Goldfish crackers and my daughter wrote the word TANK.

The Red Crab is made with Farfalle Pasta (Bow Tie pasta) and red paint. Glued some eyes and done.

And the Sea Stars with Stelline Pasta.

The Sea Algae (Seaweed) was made with Raffia.

In the corner you can see some Corn Kernels. These are our Sea Plants!

The Rocks are little stones from our backyard.

Glitter gives the water a bubbling effect.

The Sea Shells are Cavatelli Pasta and the Coral Reef are pieces of Walnut


After we places everything inside the box, I used some thread to hang the fish.

Are you ready to go Scuba diving???

We used these real cool markers called Elmer's Kids Arts and Crafts Paintastics Color Changing Markers
A great way to draw and create with no mess. These paint brush pens feature vivid, true color paint right in the brush, so there is no need for jars, water or separate brushes. The washable paint in the pens dries instantly for less smudging.

These color changing pens paint in one color, then can be changed to two more colors by using the color Magic Wand.

Simply rub the Magic Pen over the other 5 pens to produce instant color changes. Each pen can produce 3 different colors!