New Year's Waffle Clock

Happy New Year’s Eve!

So, my little guy was very impatient waiting for me to make breakfast this morning. I’m not sure if he appreciated it, but oh well. He did enjoy the numbers and trying to read them; it was good number practice, if anything.

 

The hands of the clock were cut from banana, the center dial is a strawberry, and the numbers and hour marks are a very thick dark chocolate sauce, which we got as a gift. I used multi-colored sprinkles for confetti.

 

Here is my breakfast creation:

Confetti Popper Rockets

It’s almost New Year’s Eve. I wanted a special project to celebrate. I got the inspiration from One Mom Blog. It was nice, but it came from a kit. So, I then found a confetti popper rocket version from Alpha Mom. It has a very nice diagram of how to put the whole project together.

 

On the night before, I prepped the difficult part of the project, the trap door with the pull, and I cut the paper to fit the tubes. As a modification, I had my son decorate the paper that went around the tubes. No, it’s not as pretty as Alpha Mom’s project, which used nice scrapbook paper, but it is more hands on. He also helped by gluing the paper to the tubes, cutting the confetti, and putting the confetti inside. I finished it off by putting on the tops with their ribbon handles. If we had stickers, I would have had him put those on, but we used the materials we had on hand. We used wrapping ribbon for the streamers and even the string, since it was what we had.

 

Here is our creation:

Envelope Dog Puppet

I wanted a project that practiced some simple gluing. Believe it or not, I always have Kindergartners come into my class lacking this basic skill.

 I got the inspiration for this project from Twiggle Magazine.

 

Modifications: I cut out the main shapes and used a circle punch for the eyes. My little guy glued all of the pieces down, choosing to put the ears up instead of down. Then, I colored the dots by the nose, and he colored the dog’s spots.

 

Here is our creation:

 

Pop-up Houses

Today our art project was inspired by pop-up haunted houses from Make and Takes.

 

Our creation:

It was really good practice drawing some simple shapes and just coloring. My son was delighted with the house and claimed it for his little rubber duckies. He then wanted paper blankets, pillows, and cereal bowls for the ducks. The project really got him interested in coloring (something that he has resisted), as he ended up coloring all of the accessories on his own.

Tip: When coloring grass or sky, I folded the paper so only that part was showing.

Handprint/Footprint Calendar

I really wanted to do a special art project with my son. He loves to paint, and I saw some cute projects on Pinterest (of course). I found some good sites for ideas and then searched for poems. If I couldn’t find a poem I liked, I created one. I might end up doing this project with my Kindergarten class, but I would need to change the 2 footprint projects to handprints.

Tip: If you get paint on a part of the hand/foot that you don't want on the picture, just dab off with a wet wipe before printing. You might have to try a few prints before you are totally happy. Luckily, my son was great after the initial tickling sensation of the first print.

Laminate and put in blank calendars, and you can use dry erase markers and use it indefinitely.

 

Intro Poem: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/dad/mhandprint.html

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing -
I'll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

 

January Footprint:Penguin

Poem: http://www.quickteachingtips.com/songs-and-poems/little-penguin-poem/

I’m a little penguin

I'm a little penguin,
Black and white.
Short and wobbly,
An adorable sight.
I can't fly at all,
but I love to swim.
So I'll waddle to the water
And dive right in!

 

February Handprint: Heart

Poem: http://www.teachingblogaddict.com/2012/08/the-kissing-hand-freebie.html

 

Kissing Hand Poem

A piece of me I give to you
This special heart because
“I Love You!”
The heart is you, the hand is me,
It shows that we are
A Family!

 

March Handprint:Leprechaun

Poem: by Pamela W.

 

I'm a little leprechaun,
Tiny and green.
I try to hide where I cannot be seen.
If you catch me on St. Patrick’s Day,
I must give my gold away!

 

April Handprint: Rabbit

Poem: http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems66.html

 

Here's a Rabbit

Oh, here's a fluffy rabbit
With two ears so very long
See him hop, hop, hop about
On legs so very strong.
He nibbles, nibbles carrots
For his dinner every day
And as soon as he has had enough
He hops, hops, hops away.

May Handprint: Tulips

 Poem: http://funhandprintart.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

 

Tulips

In the garden

Tulips grow

Straight and golden

In a row.

Each one holds

Its empty cup

Drinking rain

And sunshine up.

 

June Handprint: Peacock(inspiration from http://pinterest.com/p998/////in/144748575494951693/; main link no longer valid)

Poem: by Pamela W.

 

Peacock

A peacock with its colorful feathers

Displayed for all to see.

Its graceful body and its head

Is made just by me.

 

July Footprint: Rocket(inspiration from http://www.thatisadorable.com/Services.html)

Poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171638

 

A Rocket in My Pocket
I've got a rocket

In my pocket;

I cannot stop to play.

Away it goes!

I’ve burned my toes.

It’s Independence Day.

 

August Handprint: Fish

Poem: http://designsbya.blogspot.com/2009/08/june-handprint-fish.html

 

The Fish

I hold my fingers

Like a fish,

And wave them

As I go.

See them swimming

With a swish,

So swiftly

To and fro.

 

September Handprint & Fingerprints:Apple Tree

Poem: http://jennwa.blogspot.com/2009/09/more-apple-crafts.html

 

These are special apples

Hanging on this tree.

I made them with my fingerprints

They are a part of me.

 

October Handprint: Spider

Poem: by Pamela W.

 

This spider is not scary.
Look real close, and you’ll see.
It’s made from something very special,

And that’s special something’s me!

 

November Handprint:Turkey

Poem: (from several sources)

 

This isn’t just a turkey,

As you can plainly see.

I made it with my hand,

Which is a part of me!

It comes with lots of love

Especially to say—

I hope you have

A Very Happy

Thanksgiving Day!

 

December Handprint: Santa Claus

Poem: by Pamela W.

 

Santa Claus

Here is Santa Claus,

A very jolly elf.

But this Santa is a special one

Because I made it myself.

Handprint Sources:

http://mrskilburnkiddos.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/handprint-art-books/

http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/2008/12/handprint-calendar.html

http://funhandprintart.blogspot.com/

 

 

A Special Christmas Breakfast

Getting Started

I have been on Pinterest a lot. My husband says too much. But I got to say, there are a lot of creative ideas out there, and for a girl who loves to web surf, Pinterest is very addictive.

  

Recently, I have been on the search for ideas to make special memories with my 3 year old son. I tried a virtual advent calendar with kid craft bloggers giving projects but only gained a couple of ideas. I guess I'm pretty picky about what I want to create. So, I was a little disappointed. The projects have to be cute and fun but turn out really nice. Basically, I don't want it to be one of those "I nailed it" funny posts where it looks like a blob when you are done.

  

I plan to blog my successes and give tips for a more successful outcome. I will always link the source of inspiration, since that is only fair. However, this blog is really for me, so I can share it with my son some day.

Christmas Breakfast

I loved this idea: Santa Pancakes. The original idea came from: Blue Skies Ahead blog.

My cousin saw my pin and tried it for Christmas Eve breakfast for her son. She added bananas for the eyes, which I loved. I told my son that I was planning to make a Santa pancake for him, and he said that I needed it to have ears. So, here is my creation:

Tip: If you want to add ears, make sure your batter is nice and thick. You can then direct your batter into the pan. This works better for any shape you are trying to create.

Happy Memory Making!