Homemade Crayons - Reuse Old Crayons

Need a way to use the nubs on crayons or maybe your little one decided to break every crayon your household owns? Here's a great way to make 'new' crayons and have a blast!!!!

We started by sorting crayon into similar colors and a few with mixed to make some funky crayons.

We then placed the muffin tin in the sun. Normally on an 85 degree day they would melt in an afternoon. However, it was only 72 here this day and it was taking a bit long. Our crayons were soft  and started to melt but we wanted to be able to use them that afternoon.

We decided to pop them in the oven, which is what I remember trying as a child. - oh growing up with a crafty mom was AWESOME!! 

 

Try to get your oven as low as you can go. I was able to set mine to 100 degrees.

 We left them in for about 20 minutes, until they were liquid and glossy on top.


 

Make sure you let them cool completely or you will have finger prints and dents.



To get them out, we had to turn the pan upside down and bang on it a bit. It also helped to try and lightly twist the muffin tray like an ice cube tray.

Use this as a conversation starter to talk about the sun. You can discuss how the sun heats the Earth, warms the water in pools, lakes, etc, warms the soil so plants can grow. Have fun talking about color sorting, matching light blues and dark blues or opposites on the color wheel (blue vs orange). Anytime you can help build your child's vocabulary, you are only helping them be more successful!!!! Give them the words and let them practice what those words mean. When they get to do - they learn!!!! 

I am not sure about no stick spray and the wax in the crayons. If you try it, let me know what you think.

Homemade GAK!!! Busy Bag Activity

Who doesn't remember playing with GAK as a kid!!! 

 

Found an easy recipe, of course on Pinterest, and had a blast on our rainy day creating a fun activity. 

http://simplykierste.com/2012/05/oh-what-do-you-do-in-the-summertime-featured-guest-lil-luna.html

 

Little man had the job of squeezing the glue into the bowl. He loves to make a mess and it was great to have permission to do so. 

 

He chose the colors. We made the first batch green. It was definitely a Pinterest Fail. We got it the second time!!! It's AWESOME!!!!

 

The Pinterest fail was just too dry I used a bit too much Borax. 

 

He was in charge of mixing or stirring the color into the glue. 

 

It took a few minutes to mix in all the water and it was soooooo much fun massaging the mixture. 

 

He walked around with his container of GAK for the next ten minutes so proud of his mix and showing daddy and his sister how he made it. 

 

Keep it in an air tight container for use later. 

A fantastic idea for a busy bag is to make a batch and split it into smaller portions. Put the portions in baby food jars to pass out at your next exchange. 

Inside Garden from Tomato Containers

Indoor Easy Garden

As my little man and I created these little indoor gardens, I become more excited about summer coming and having him learning about gardening, plants, and growing. 

We were invited to the neighbors for a dinner party and there was no way I was showing up empty handed. I created an easy and DELICIOUS tomato and olive salad that was a HUGE hit. 

I rinsed the cherry tomatoes and realizes I NEEDED to keep these containers for something and it me later to use them as a little terrarium or mini green house.

 

I purchased little violets and used some extra dirt from the backyard. I had little man join me in the backyard to gather the dirt. It had just rained and he wasn't too thrilled with the 'mud' aspect. 

   

Conversation during this activity was all about how plants grow. We got to see the roots of the violets and spent time feeling how small and thin they are. It was cool to talk about how the roots soak up water and nutrients (I related it do plant food) to help the plant grow strong and beautiful. I showed him that trees are plants, too. We discussed plants are large and small but they all have roots. 

 

We have these in the kitchen window. I would love to put them in the play room on their art table however, the dog would love to help redecorate our home with these. :)

 

I love reusing containers. Anything works. Get Creative on your own terms. 

Remember: Every activity is an opportunity to help build your child's vocabulary. Don't worry about talking 'above' there head as long as you connect it to something they already know and can give them a visual. 

Letter Stickers

Calling all moms who are looking for another idea to practice letters. 

 

I purchased poster letter stickers on a whim one afternoon. 

What a great purchase!!!! I originally was thinking fun cheap stickers, however, it has turned into so much more! 

 

I gave little man the stickers for his name and he pulled the paper back off and put them on the paper. 

He decided that it wasn't enough just to have the stickers. He needed to make a border for each letter. Which was AWESOME, since he was outlining each letter! 

(Practicing letters all on his own) 

We spell his name to him all the time and he was writing C and L over and over.

 

 I encourage him to use various mediums to enhance his art. We had painted earlier in the day and spent time practicing using colored pencils while his sister was sleeping (she likes to try to eat them, good ideas from a 11 month old). It was time to bust out the crayons.

  

The letters were inspiring. He found his favorite letter H. Not sure where that came from but he points how "big H" anytime he sees one. Today we used the letter sticker to demonstrate how to make his letter H. 

 

We used the pattern 'line, line, cross' to practice making about four dozen H's today. It was exciting to see him start writing. 

 

Dyed Pasta Busy Bag Activity

Our Mommies' group did a busy bag exchange. 

It was wonderfully successful!

 

One fabulous mommy (I was able to join up with a great group of mom's who are all extremely helpful, supportive, smart, and all absolutely fabulous!!!), spend so much time dying pasta and cutting colored circles for muffin tin sorting.  

Great site to get instructions on dying pasta for kids activities :

http://www.manylittleblessings.com/how-to-dye-pasta-for-kids-crafts/

 

Cut colored circles to match whatever colors you decide to die your pasta. 

Tape or glue them on the bottom of a muffin tin. 

  

 Spend time sorting colors. Talk about colors. Discuss how different noodles can have the same color even though they are different shapes, sizes, widths, or lengths.

 

The mom who created this busy bag for us also gave us cups with each type of pasta attached (hot glued) to the top for sorting types of pasta.

 

Again: This is an opportunity to increase your child's vocabulary. Discuss how the same pasta can be different colors. Practice sorting styles, see if your child can focus both colors and type.

 

I also let my 1 year old (oh my goodness, she just turned one, where did the time go!) also play with noodles, however, she is a mouther so I have an eye on her constantly. She does love to feel the various textures and spread them around her tray. 

Tangrams

Tangrams are a wonderful activity to help children learning spacial awareness, shapes, colors, and above all problem solving. 

 

Melissa and Doug produce a great set of wooden pieces that are durable and easy to practice beginning skills.

 

This activity helps create an independent learner. Be sure to model with your child first before you can expect them do to it on their own. (We started do this when little man had just turned two, older children will be able to follow the patterns without modeling). 

 

Remember: every activity is an opportunity to increase vocabulary and spend meaningful time with your little ones. 

Melissa and Doug Pattern Blocks/ Tangrams

 

Plastic Egg Color Busy Bag Matching Game

Easter Egg Coloring Matching

We have a blast pairing up different tops and bottoms.This busy bag activity is easy to create, reproduce, and very inexpensive!

I created small cards for small fingers to draw and use.

Easter Egg Coloring Matching Game Cards

 Since we have extra eggs we layout the matching with the cards. However, when I gave this away as a busy bag activity, I only gave one egg per color. When the eggs are stacked (tops and bottoms separately) the activity fits perfect in a sandwich Ziploc bag.

Have your kiddo pull a card and see if he can find the two pieces that match the card.

 C. has more fun pulling cards for me to match and telling me if I am correct or not.

Clean Mud/Play Snow

This is something that I have had the supplies for after seeing on a Pinterest post months ago.
I have seen it labeled Clean Mud or Play Snow

1 Bar of Dove
1 Roll of Toilet Paper
about 1 Cup warm Water


1. Grate the soap with a cheese grater. (It makes it dissolve more quickly) Grate it into a 9x13 pan. Makes for easy clean up and a "one pot wonder"

2. Let the kids tear up toilet paper! It's a blast!!!!

3. Pour the warm water over the soup and allow to melt for a minute

4. Put the torn up paper over the soap and water mixture and massage/kneed/mix the paper in, make sure the paper is torn into smaller pieces as it will dissolve a little quicker. 

5. Mix and enjoy! 

We brought it out after dinner so my husband and I could clean up. It was a blast. Our son then went straight to the bath. It made for a few happy campers. :)

 

Keep it in an air tight container to use later. 

Mr. Director

CP became Project Manager. 
We repainted our dining room and my husband is building the most amazing shaker style wainescoating! Well, someone woke up hard from his nap so he needed to be with daddy. I set him up in his sister's highchair (keeping him contained while paint was drying) and he had his snack. 


While sitting there, he started telling daddy where to paint and what he needed to be doing. He had a blast. I realized, quickly, that he was practicing such wonderful vocabulary and building complex sentences. We started using the "manager" game to do different things around the house. 

-  Have your child tell you where the toys go as you are picking WITH them! They have to pick up too otherwise, they don't get to be "the manager". Kids start to learn vocabulary for different places around the house and learn nice ways of telling people information without being bossy. 

- Try doing dishes together. 

- Feeding animals/pets

- Fold blankets or clothes (depending on the age)

    

- Sorting animal toys/ different balls/ blocks/ letters/ pictures/ numbers into categories. - Teach them how it looks to think about how to sort things. 

***Remember**** Demonstrate to your kid what it looks like to give information and not be bossy. No matter what the age (I see this with fifth graders daily), you need to show them what the expected behavior looks like and vocabulary sounds like. It will help create a very thoughtful kid! I promise!!!

Displaying Children's Work

Ikea has some great finds!

  

Here we used a wire curtain rode and a few "s" clips to display kids' work. 

 

 Now to add a great quote above the wire rod. I believe that I may use Pablo Picasso's "Every Child is an Artist" We'll see! :)

Singing our ABC's

 

A few years ago, having the privilege to teach kindergarten for a year, I created felt letters cards. I used a bulletin board stencil to draw on scraps of felt and then glued the felt on to foam boards.

We pull the cards out frequently. We lay them out to find different letters, colors, sounds. We sing the ABC song over and over. It's an awesome activity to share with those who want to play with the kids but don't want to get messy.