Worm Painting

This craft is loads of fun when pairing it with the study of worms or reading a worm book! Plus the look you get when the child touches it for the first time is priceless!

Supplies: brown paint, brown paper, and faux worms (found in worm bait) or rubber worms (found in party supply stores)

Process: Place the faux worm in the paint and let it wiggle around in the dirt (paint and paper).

Teach Well: Preschoolers need sensory experiences. Why not bring unique items into the classroom to help them explore? Those will be the ones they remember most! 

Frog Painting

Supplies: Toy frogs, green paint, and copy of frog clipart

Process: Find frog clipart and make a copy on construction paper. Use the frogs to paint onto the paper.

Teach Well: Can't find frog clipart? Check your computer for variety.

Driving in the Snow Sensory

This sensory is perfect for little boys! It keeps them busy for quite some time!

Supplies: white playdough and cars

Process: Use the white playdough as your "snow." Have the children drive along in the snow as they like!

Teach Well: White playdough maybe hard to make at home. During this time of year you may find white playdough in the seasonal department and during Valentines Day. I use inexpensive cars from the dollar store and keep them only for art projects. These are not save to play with since the wheels come off easy and are a choking hazard to young children. So, they are only used to paint with or in playdough.

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

Supplies: pumpkin colored playdough, recycled pie tins, rolling pin

Process: Have the children make pumpkin pies with their dough. If you have a play kitchen have the children put their pies in the "oven".

Teach Well: If you have any pumpkin cookie cutters place them on the table for even more make believe!

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

I love teaching the Bible in ways where children experience the lesson. This month we will be learning about sharing in the story Jesus Feeds Five Thousand. Today was our first lesson where I act out the story as I tell it with my basket of loaves and two fish.

Supplies: bag of rolls, basket, 3 dish towels, and cutout of two fish (I found clipart with my Microsoft program)

Process: Before the lesson starts line a dish towel at the bottom of the basket. Place several rolls on top of the dish towel. Place another dish towel on top of the rolls. Then, place five rolls and the fish cut outs in the basket. Put another towel  over it all to keep it fresh until the lesson. As you tell the story, make sure you show the children the five rolls and fish. Count them out loud. When you get to the part of Jesus passing out the food, begin to pass out the rolls from the bottom layer of your basket. If you have a large class tear the rolls in half or thirds. At the end, you should still have some left on top to show the children that there were leftovers! While the children eat, talk about how the little boy shared his lunch... how can we share with our friends?

Teach Well: Remember to look for allergies when using food in your lessons. If a child doesn't want to take a piece of bread just have them say, "No thank you" and move on. Some preschoolers are unsure when you begin a story with food. As they see the other children enjoying it, they may want to try it after all. So remember to ask them again at the end of the lesson to see if the child changes their mind.

Leafy Shape Sensory

I love filling our sensory table up with different items every month; none in which are rice! This month we use silk leaves from the local dollar store; they come in a large package of loose ones. I think it cost me $6 to fill the table. I got the magnetic wands at my local teacher supply store. The shapes magnets I got at a garage sale, but you can use letters, animals, or round ball magnets (also found out a teacher supply store).

Supplies: Sensory table, magnets, magnetic wands, and silk leaves.

                       

Process: Fill your sensory table with the silk leaves and bury the magnets under them. Have the children use magnet wands to find a shape under the leaves. When they find one, have them say what shape they found!

Teach Well: Use this opportunity to introduce magnets and how they work in science. Keep other magnetic centers out for creative exploration!

Flubber Fun

I love unique sensory experiences! Small hands need to explore and keep busy. This recipe is not for shaping but for exploratory purposes only. Our local dollar store and Target carry this flubber pictured below but you can make your own easily at home.

Supplies: 2 cups white glue, 1 1/2 cup warm water, food coloring or non-toxic liquid watercolor; 4 tsp. Borax, and 1 1/3 cups warm water

Process: Mix glue, 1 1/2 c. warm water, and food coloring together. Mix Borax and 1 1/3 c. warm water together. Add Borax mixture to the glue mixture and stir with your hands as quickly as possible to get the borax solution and the glue solution to bind. (Use latex gloves to protect your hands from the liquid watercolor). Mix until all the water has been Incorporated into the mixture.

Some things to remember when using Flubber. Flubber does not come out of carpeting if dry. It will stick to clothing and hair, but can be soaked to remove.

Teach Well: Use flubber in a sensory table. With older children use straws to blow bubbles in the flubber. Use scissors to practice cutting skills over a tray.

Map Mud

Even though the school year might be coming to an end, learning never does. My curruculum ends at the month of May but I use the summer for a great time of sensory, fun, and games. The weather makes it easy to do those messy projects outside. When we did this sensory today, we used a plastic outdoor table and washed the table off with the hose when we were done. Run out of ideas to keep the kids busy? Stay close to this blog this summer and be inspired to teach your kids while having a great time doing it!

Supplies: 3 parts flour, 3 parts salt, 2 parts water, and food coloring if desired

Process: Mix salt and flour in a bowl. Add enough water to make a paste that is thick like frosting. Add food coloring or wait and paint when dry.

This recipe comes from Magic Mixtures Recipes for Fun and Learning by Heidi Stalder, Lane Community College

Teach Well: Some ways to use Map Mud - Spread the mixture on heavy cardboard, a sheet of plastic board, or wood. Shape to land features such as hills, lakes, and valleys. Use it as a sensory mixture and have children spread it like fingerpaint on a hard or washable surface. Use it to build dioramas.

Fish Art

Punches can be great for small motor skill development. The punches below were purchased at a local dollar store. They stick at times and are quite hard for preschoolers. When looking for yours make sure they are good quality and from a craft store if you are going to be using them with younger hands.

Supplies: punches, construction paper, and glue

Process: Have all your supplies out on the table. Have the children punch paper with fish and ocean animal punches. Have them use glue to decorate their paper.

Teach Well: Children don't learn without experimenting themselves. Let the child do the glue application. Have toddlers learn to squeeze the glue from the bottle. When that skill is developed have glue in a small container and give them a Q-tip to apply glue.

Letter Jello

Supplies: Jello and alphabet cookie cutters

Process: Make Jello according to box directions. When it is time for the activity, remove from the refrigerator and run the bottom of the pan under warm water. Give the children letter cookie cutters that you are working on. (For example, if you are just working on phonic sounds from A-F then use those shapes for this activity. We were reviewing "am" words. So we had letters that would spell out words with A and M.) Have the children place the letters in the Jello and pull it out. Place on wax paper or paper plates to spell out their words. Then eat!

Teach Well: Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty! You'll be surprised that those lessons will be remembered most...

Cross Fingerpainting

Encourage and develop small motor skills by having your child paint with their pointer finger only. When painting try and be eco-friendly by reusing plastic container lids that usually can not be recycled. It takes a bit more clean up to rinse and dry these off, but think of how much a classroom or school could keep from wasting daily by doing so!

Supplies: pink and magenta paint, dish soap, white crayon, and black construction paper

Process: Squeeze a little bit of both colors onto your paint palette. Add a bit of soap for easy clean up. Give each child a piece of black paper. Encourage the child to use one finger to create crosses on their paper. Use the white crayon to write their name on the paper.

Teach Well: Have extra paper on hand for those children that learn kinetically. These children will want to continue painting, put their hands into the pallet, and paint over their original art. This is how they learn and explore! If you want to keep their art, have scrap paper on hand to give them to continue their sensory experience. Hang the crosses on a bulletin board with an Easter verse as the title.

Tulip Fun

Create these cute tulips from scraps of construction paper. Use a glue gun to attach the paper to the craft stick for easy and fast preparation.

Supplies: play dough, paper, craft sticks, glue gun, and a marker

Process: Pre-cut the flowers and use your marker to write letters on the flowers. Glue the flowers to the craft sticks. Set your brown play dough (as your dirt) on the table. Have the children create words that you have been working on in class.

Teach Well: Leave this out as a center and have the children work in pairs. I have seen this done with floral foam (at your local craft store in the floral department) but it can be quite messy. The floral foam can be placed in pots and the children can make their own word bouquet. The floral foam ends up being more of a sensory than literary experience.

Stamp Art

I love to find items for my art at Goodwill or garage sales. These foam stamps were a great find at a garage sale. I also love the handle stamps by Hampton Art Stamps. I had the wooden stamps before I started teaching. These ink pads are a life saver! They are large enough for any size stamp and washable!

Supplies: Foam stamps, washable ink pads, and paper

Process: Have the children stamp their paper any way they like.

Teach Well: Have several pieces of paper there if needed. Let the children create until they are finished!

Pigs in the Mud

I got so excited yesterday when I went into the attic and pulled out my "spring" and "farm" boxes! It was like Christmas all over again. I haven't looked in the boxes for a year and I had forgot what was inside! One of my favorite centers is "Pigs in the Mud." I found little piggies at the dollar store years ago. I make "mud" from my favorite play dough recipe that I got at a conference about eight years ago. I love to use my liquid watercolors to color my play dough because the colors can be so vibrant and beautiful. But you can use food coloring and it will do the trick just fine!

This recipe was given freely without copy right. Heidi Stalder from Lane Community College compiled Magic Mixtures - Recipes for Fun and Learning. She believed that all should gain from her work... there are so many good recipes! I am sure I will be sharing more as time goes by.

Sauce Pan Play Dough

This play dough is quick and easy to make. It is smooth and requires no kneading. It makes a small quantity and may be doubled or tripled but it can be hard to stir.
1 Tbs. oil (I use baby oil)
1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 tsp. alum
a few drops of food coloring

Process: Mix dry ingredients in a sauce pan. Add food coloring, water, oil, and vanilla. Mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes (really!). As it is cooking the mixture will change from a milky color to a translucent color. Remove from heat. Let it cool for a minute. Roll to form a ball. Cool. Store in a sealed container.