Posts Tagged ‘arts & crafts’
Dot-to-Dot
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Looking for a simple way to exercise your child’s creativity? Here’s a great activity that takes only a second to prepare.
Three easy steps:
Step 1 Draw dots randomly on a page.
Step 2 Have your child connect those dots.
Step 3 See what they create.
Rules: 1. you don’t have to use every dot. 2. the thing that they’re drawing can change over time. 3. discuss what he/she created.
Dots are randomly placed on a piece of paper
Parent: What is it? Child: I think I know what it is but I don't want to spoil the surprise.
Adding color
Child: It's a map! It looks like a map in real life. Look there's your state. It's purple and everything in it is fancy—fancy restaurants, fancy places. Here's my state. It's striped. Everything in my state is cool.
Post your child’s creation on the Ellie Bellie Kids’ fan page. We’d love to see what they created!
Tags: arts & crafts
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 2 Comments »
Stickers!
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
What’s inside the latest issue of Classic Play? A make-your-own sporty stickers download. It’s as simple as…
Color
Tags: arts & crafts, sports issue
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 1 Comment »
Life Size Paper Doll
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
What to do when it’s too hot, thunderstorm clouds are rolling in, or it’s just one of those days? Let the kids become life size paper dolls. Click here for the how-to.
Tags: arts & crafts, silly, summer fun
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 4 Comments »
Celebrate Childhood: Tin Can Phone
Friday, July 16th, 2010
Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one. – Dr. Suess
This weekend enjoy a little old fashioned fun with this super easy project.
Tags: arts & crafts, childhood, Parenting, Playdate
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 4 Comments »
Craft: Teacher Gift
Friday, June 18th, 2010
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. -William A. Ward
The other week, I dropped my daughter off at school midday. Her class was out a recess. As we came into view, her classmates started cheering. This was my daughter’s home away from home. These were her friends welcoming her back to their community.
The teacher ran over and gave my daughter a hug. She was happy to see my daughter return to school after battling a little illness. Then the kids came over to give her hugs. One of the boys in the class asked her to play. Many of the kids smiled and waved to me. “Hi, Mrs. Cooper!”
It was exactly what I had hoped for my children’s school experience. If they must be away from my care, then this is how I wanted them to be treated—warmly and with respect.
(more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, friends, Parenting
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 2 Comments »
Ewok Birthday Party
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
The Challenge
Host a fifth Ewok themed birthday party and you have a week to pull it all together.
When the birthday boy asked for an Ewok party, I wasn’t sure what we’d do. It’s not a common theme and it didn’t come up in a search on the web. So, I looked to Twitter. There was a good deal of enthusiasm and some great ideas offered. My other go to source was YouTube where I found videos and cartoons featuring Ewoks.
Slideshow
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- Take home gift – Ewoks. The bears were hand drawn, then screen printed onto 100% cotton, stuffed and sewn. So cuddly!
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- Take home gift – Lego pod racers designed by the birthday boy’s dad.
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- Large terrarium surrounded by buttermilk cupcakes topped with chocolate buttercream frosting
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- Terrarium centerpieces featured Lego characters from the Return of the Jedi movie.
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- An Ewok hut serves as decoration. The lights are battery powered and can be found in the floral department of most craft stores.
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- Craft: Ewok necklaces. Feathers were glued to wooden beads making them easy to string.
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- Spray painted coffee cans were made to look like storm troopers.
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- Cans were hidden along a trail for guests to find and capture.
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- Guests were told there were reports of storm troopers in the area. They went on a hike to find them.
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- A battle against storm troopers.
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- With the bad guys safely captured, guests were able to head back to camp for a celebration.
The Party
As party guests arrived they were given a walking stick and burlap backpack containing furry ears and a small bag of nut-free trail mix. Then they were directed to a station while where they could make a wooden bead and feather necklace while we waited for all the guests to arrive. (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, parties
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 10 Comments »
Thumbprint Art
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
Perfect project for a Sunday morning
For more inspiration, check out Ed Emberley’s Great Thumbprint Drawing Book.
Tags: arts & crafts, Playdate, storytelling
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | No Comments »
Spring Break Idea: Make Your Own Museum
Monday, April 5th, 2010
Can’t make it to a museum this spring break? You can still have a museum experience by encouraging the kids make a museum of their very own.
I’ve asked my good friend, Clare Brown, an exhibit designer whose recent work can be viewed in the First Ladies exhibit at the National Museum of American History, to share some tips for kids who want to create a museum of their very own. Here’s what she had to say… (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, Playdate
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 5 Comments »
Jenny’s Birthday Book
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
Didn’t win the iStopMotion software but still want to make your children’s stories come to life? You can by using the Iconographic technique. In essence, you use a video camera to pan and zoom over an illustration to create the illusion of movement. (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, storytelling
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | No Comments »
Circus Inspired Puppet Theater
Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Last spring, I was invited to be a guest writer over at Make and Takes. I was so excited! I went to work brainstorming. It can be a little nerve wracking to figure out what you want to share. Will the readers like it? Will my instructions be clear? So I sat and I thought. And I thought while I sat. I guess I do my best thinking while physically inactive. (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, storytelling
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | No Comments »
The Friendly Dragon
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Because there is a natural storytelling urge and ability in all human beings, even just a little nurturing of this impulse can bring about astonishing and delightful results.
-Nancy Mellon, The Art of Storytelling
I have always been fascinated by the art of storytelling. Everywhere you look there is a story. We go to the movies and the stage to watch stories. We pick up books or follow blogs so we can read stories. We buy music or go to concerts so we can hear stories. We write, we create so we can tell stories. (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, childhood, contest, storytelling
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | 55 Comments »
Beauty and the Beast
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
I’ve been fortunate to meet some very talented people during my time. One of those people is artist and illustrator Linda Olliver. When I met Linda and saw her work, I knew that I wanted to work with her one day. (more…)
Tags: arts & crafts, storytelling
Posted in Ideas and Inspiration | No Comments »
