Ocean Mural

Last week Monkey finished up his last sea creature for our ocean mural. We've been making all kinds of underwater animals for months now, with the end goal of having them all up on display together. Today was finally the day that we painted the ocean and glued all our creatures together!

Supplies: butcher paper, blue paint, foam roller and mini tray, drop cloth

I knew I had to come up with a way for Monkey to paint the ocean quickly since I wanted it to be pretty big. We used a mini paint roller a few months ago for some work around the house and ever since then I've had my eye on it for this project. Monkey has seen his Daddy using it, so I knew he'd be thrilled to get a chance to use it, too. We also ended up using some extra wall paint that was leftover from Peanut's room, but I would have just bought a big bottle of blue children's paint otherwise. 

I got everything set up for Monkey and crossed my fingers that the drop cloth would contain the mess..

As predicted, he couldn't believe that he was going to use the roller. While it was still clean he was rolling it all over the paper to practice. 

I explained how to use the paint tray and then Monkey got started. 

He started sitting down but wasn't really strong enough to do it that way. He had a little more success standing up, but I did have to help a bit, too. 

Before long we had the whole paper painted blue. 

Well then Monkey had an amazing idea! He told me that we needed to have some sand on the bottom so that the crab and lobster could sit on it. I certainly couldn't say no to that. We could have painted the bottom of the paper brown... but I we've been working on this for months and I wanted to go all out. So we got all our winter clothes on and trudged out to the backyard to get some sand out of the shed. 

Once the paint was completely dry I grabbed some glue and a foam brush to spread it around. 

Monkey squeezed some glue onto the paper and then spread it around with the foam brush. 

We actually ended up doing two coats of sand because after our first attempt it looked like a sad excuse for an ocean floor. So we did it again overtop and put on a ton of glue and a ton of sand. 

After the second try it looked thick and even and I was so proud of Monkey for suggesting the sand. It added so much texture to the flat blue paper. 

Now we were ready to add all the beautiful sea creatures. 

We used white glue to attach them onto the ocean. Monkey picked where to put each animal. 

Now Monkey's ocean mural is hanging in the hallway. He proudly shows it off to anyone who comes over and touches and talks to it when he walks by. 

I wonder if we have time for another mural of a different habitat before I go back to work...? :)

Mar

Race to Fill the Cup

Here's an easy, quick game to practice number recognition and counting. 

Dice are a great tool for learning numbers because, with practice, a child will learn to recognize a quantity without having to count it. This is called subitizing, and it is an important concept in early math. Dominos are another great tool for practicing this skill. 

Supplies: die, cups, glass stones (or any collection of objects available, such as small blocks, pom poms, etc.)

To play, take turns rolling the die and placing that many objects into the cup. The first to fill their cup wins. 

I made sure to say out loud what number I rolled and to count out loud as I dropped my stones into my cup. I encouraged Monkey to do the same. 

An older child could play this game with two dice which would present the additional challenge of adding two numbers together. 

We played this game on and off all day. It's easy to set up and a round typically lasts about five minutes, so it was easy to fit in here and there. And it's packed with math skills, too. 

Mar

Paper Plate Shark

Today we finally got around to finishing the last creature for our ocean mural. Monkey actually asked if we could make another lobster, but when I suggested a shark instead he was thrilled!

I got the idea here: http://www.crafty-crafted.com/paper-plate-crafts/paper-plate-shark/

Supplies: paper plate, black and white paint, googly eyes, white paper, white and black construction paper, paint brushes, glue

As we sat down to get started, I asked Monkey what colour sharks are. He knew they were grey. I told him that we didn't have any grey paint but that we could make some. He figured out that we'd use the black and white paint, so smart! ...Well I did have it sitting out on the table, so he had a big hint. 

He helped me squeeze out the paint and mix it all up on our paint tray.  

Then I got him set up to paint the paper plate, which makes the shark's head, and the white paper, which we'd use to make the fins. 

I made sure he covered the whole plate and enough of the white paper to be able to cut out three fins. 

Once the paper was dry, I drew the fins on with a pencil, one dorsal fin for the top and one pectoral fin for the side, which I then folded over to cut, leaving two identical fins. 

I wanted Monkey to help with the cutting but he wasn't very interested. (I'll have to find some scissor activities to get him practicing that!) 

I cut out the three fins, as well as a black half circle for the mouth and five teeth. 

Monkey glued all the pieces on to the paper plate, using white glue for the eyes and fins and a glue stick for the mouth and teeth. 

He is so pleased with how it turned out, and so am I!

Next week we'll paint a big, blue ocean mural and all our sea creatures will finally have a home! 

Mar 

Spray Painting Snow

We've had a couple of days of absolute freezing cold here, so when the weather turned for the better today I knew Monkey and I had to get outside while Peanut was sleeping. 

Supplies: spray bottles, food colouring, water

Before heading outside, we filled the spray bottles with water and added food colouring to each one. 

Monkey loves helping with the food colouring. 

After we got sufficiently bundled up, we headed outside. 

Doesn't that look inviting? Snow is a perfect blank canvas.

I had to help Monkey figure out how to use the spray bottle with his mittens on, because they made it a little more difficult to do on his own. But he was able to get the bottles to spray using both of his hands. 

He started off spraying the snowbank. 

Then he grabbed some snowballs and sprayed them, too. 

To be honest, Monkey didn't really love this activity. He only did it for about five minutes. He was way more interested in playing with his shovel. I've done this at school and it's a big hit so I had high expectations for Monkey. I'm going to bring it out again and see if he shows any more interest in it. Maybe on a different day, or if we took it to the backyard, or invite a friend over? Or it might be something he's not really into, and that's ok too!

Mar

Jingle Bell Painting

Happy New Year!!

After a wonderful break from our regular daily schedule, Monkey, Peanut and I are ready to get back into the groove now that the holidays are over. 

Today's art activity was one that I had planned to do before Christms but ran of time and didn't get to. I knew Monkey wouldn't care that we were doing a Christmas activity after Christmas, so here it is!

Supplies: paint, paper, deep baking tray, bells

I picked up the bells at the dollar store wth the sole intention of painting with them. I couldn't find plain bells so I got ornaments instead and just pulled off the top so I had only the bell left. 

The other parts would have just gotten in the way!

I got the paper set up by trimming it to fit into the baking sheet and then taping it down from below. 

Then Monkey and I squeezed some drops of red and green paint onto the paper. 

I gave Monkey the bells so he could put them into the tray. I said he could put them wherever he wanted, in the paint or not. He put them right into the paint, even matching the colours. 

Well, then we had a problem because  there were only six bells but we had made eight blobs of paint. So I was ordered back to the kitchen to get two more bells, specifically one red and one green so that they would match accordingly. Oh, his brain is too much like mine, sometimes it scares me! 

Finally, we were really ready. 

Monkey started shaking! And the bells jingled around just like I hoped they would. Adding in another of Monkey's senses to the whole experience. He loved it. 

It was a little tricky for him to do by himself. I'm not really sure why? Maybe the bells were a bit too small, or not round enough, but they seemed to get stopped by the blobs of paint. So I helped Monkey shake the tray and they moved a little better. 

We sang Jingle Bells twice through while shaking.. Monkey's idea :)

Here is the masterpiece: 

This was definitely more about process and not product, but lots of good art activities are (especially with preschoolers!), and we'll hang it on the wall anyway. Before bed he asked if we could do it again tomorrow, so that means it was a success for him, too. Good thing I didn't throw the bells away yet! 

Mar