Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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4 Seasons Paintings & Poppins Book Nook!

These 4 Seasons Paintings were so much fun that I had to make one with the kids, and I love how they all turned out!


Before we pulled out the paints, we talked about why we have seasons.  I asked the kids, "What do you think makes the seasons?" and thoroughly enjoyed listening to them speculate.  Then, we pulled out a globe and "sun" and modeled the Earth/Sun system so they could see how the tilt of the Earth creates seasons.

I love the book Tree for All Seasons by Robin Bernard.  It has beautiful pictures and follows the changing seasons gently and logically.  (Amazon affiliate link below)


Then we made our 4 Seasons Paintings!  The basic technique is the same as these Fall Handprints from Fun-a-Day, but multiplied to make a forest with a tree for each season.  Follow our easy steps below to make your own 4 Seasons Paintings too!

Simple Supplies:
  • 4 hand/arm cutouts for each child
  • big paper or little posterboards
  • sponges
  • paint and tins
  • scotch or masking tape

Easy How-to:

1- I prepared the hand/arm cutouts by pulling each child aside during their free play time and tracing their hand and arm.  Layer four pages together and cut out each child's set.

2- Use two pieces of rolled up tape to stick each hand onto the big paper.

3- Ask your children what colors each season remind them of.  Show them their "forest" and suggest they paint one tree for each season.  I love using circle sponges to paint with because it lets the kiddos cover the area in a child-friendly amount of time!







4- When the paintings are dry, let your children carefully pull the hands off to reveal their finished projects!




5- The hand trees also make fabulous art!





This post is part of the Poppins Book Nook Series!

PoppinsBookNook

Be sure to check out other Seasons-themed activities and books below:


The Poppins Book Nook is brought to you by the following blogs:

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God's Grace - Royal Little Lambs - Life with Moore Babies - Teach Beside Me - The Usual Mayhem - Mum Central - Fantastic Fun and Learning - Kathys Cluttered Mind - Toddler Approved - Growing Book by Book - Adventures in Mommydom - B-Inspired Mama - Edventures with Kids - Learning & Growing the Piwi way - A Gluten Free Journey - Preschool Powol Packets - To The Moon and Back - Our Craft ~N~ Things - Fresh Farm Adventures - Are We There Yet? - Afterschool for Smarty Pants

Every month the Poppins Book Club hosts a giveaway for a book related to the theme!  This month's giveaway book is Four Seasons Make a Year.  You can enter to win your own copy HERE at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom.  (Note: click on the text to enter...clicking on the picture will take you to Amazon.)


A few more Amazon affiliate links:
  


 
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Monday, October 28, 2013

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Monster Preschool Packet {FREE} w/ subscription

This fun Monster Preschool Packet is filled with 36 pages of preschool printables!


You will find matching pages, pattern pages (What Comes Next?), puzzles, mazes, and a set of monster number cards...perfect for games like Uno, Speed, and Go Fish!

Here's a summary collage showing all the fabulous pages inside:



You can get this fun Monster Preschool Packet {FREE} when you sign up for the new {FREE} Mini Book Easy Reader Club or for a small price at my Teachers Notebook shop here!

Click here to sign up for the new {FREE} Mini Book Easy Reader Club and get your Monster Preschool Packet {FREE}!!

Clipart in this packet is from the talented Moonlit Productions and Educlips.

Convenient Amazon affiliate links:





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Friday, October 25, 2013

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80+ Creative Pumpkin Ideas

The Perfectly Pumpkin Contest is now complete!  It's an awesome resource with over 80 fabulous ideas...and, we have 8 wonderful posts to highlight!


Click on over to B-Inspired Mama to see the winners in the four categories:  Pumpkin Kids Activities, Pumpkin Crafts, Pumpkin Recipes, and Pumpkin Decorating!

And a huge Thank You!! to the four guest judges:


And, of course, the 81 brilliant pumpkin ideas:






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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

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Bubble Spider Webs!!

Using bubbles to make spider webs creates unique experience-focused art projects and gives your kids permission to actually blow bubbles in their cups!



First, let's look at some Fun Spider Web Facts:
  • Some spider webs are symmetrical, some are not.  Some are very messy!  
  • Some spiders do not build webs, but hunt their prey instead.
  • Some spider webs seem to go across rivers or other places the spider could not have possibly stretched.  To start building these webs, a spider will set loose a long "tail" of silk.  The wind will carry it across the river (or other obstacle) until it sticks to something on the other side.
  • Sometimes thousands of spiders work together to build a huge web.  Check out this article about a time when thousands of spiders built a web together in Texas in 2009.
Also, this post is part of our Bubbles! mini-series!  Click HERE for Bubble Science With Pumpkins and be sure to check back again for more bubble fun!!

Here's the easy How-to for your own Bubble Spider Webs (and click HERE for a quick How-to for the pipe cleaner spiders!):

Simple Supplies:

  • paper plates
  • black paint
  • water
  • liquid dish soap
  • paper cups
  • straws


Easy How-to:

1- Squeeze 2-3 tablespoons black paint into the paper cup.  Add just enough water to make it runny (about a 1-2 tablespoons).  Add a big squirt of dish soap.

2- Let your children blow bubbles!



3- When you have a nice mound (like the picture above), press a paper plate into the bubbles to print a "web" on it!



4- Repeat as much as you like!








Our youngest preschoolers "painted" their webs with the straw so they did not suck up paint.  As with all projects, please be mindful of your children's abilities and do not give them a project that is dangerous to them.





Do you love spider activities?  Click on the pictures to check out these other projects:


 And here are some fun affiliate links from Amazon:





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Monday, October 21, 2013

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Pipe Cleaner Spider Preschool Craft

Our kids put these little spiders together in no time to go with our super cool Bubble Spider Webs!!  


The spiders could be loads of fun by themselves, but they are actually part of our current Spiders unit (the download is coming soon).  We like to learn about fun Halloween-y themes in October.  This year, we're doing Bats and Spiders!

Here's a quick how-to for these fun, furry spiders:

Simple Supplies (for each spider):
  • one pipe cleaner
  • 2 wiggly eyes (we used the self-adhesive wiggly eyes that Craft Project Ideas provided us!)
  • scissors

Easy How-to:

1- Cut the pipe cleaner into 4 sections for your children.

2- Give them the pipe cleaners and wiggly eyes and invite them to make a spider!  Let them explore and twist till they are happy with their creation.  Younger children may need help making the pieces stay where they want them to!

If you want to make them for a group, I recommend placing two on top of each other and twisting them to make an "x."  Twist another "x" with the other two pieces, then twist the two x's together.  Bend joints in the legs if you like!


Be sure to check back tomorrow to see our totally awesome, easy, and very unique spider webs too!!

Fun affiliate links from Amazon:

Shop Amazon - New Fall Toys
Shop Amazon Veteran's Day Store



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