Number shakers are so much fun! They can be used to teach number identification, one-to-one correspondance, counting, number writing, and so much more. Here are 10 fun ways you can learn with a number shaker! Making your own number shaker is super easy! All you need is a clean 1 liter bottle, tiny number magnets, and rice. Pour them all into a bottle (I kind of alternate layers of rice and numbers) and hot glue the cap on. Then get ready to … [Read more...]
Little Book Adventure: Library Letters
My Little Bookcase has organized The Little Book Adventure to celebrate Australia's National Year of Reading. She's created 10 monthly adventures for readers to participate in to explore books and promote a reading culture. This month's project is Spread Your Love for Books. She has a fantastic explanation of the challenge and her inspiration for it on the blog, but basically it is to leave a note in your favorite library book for the next … [Read more...]
Upcycled Soda Bottle Planter
Earth Day is coming up and everyone is looking for cute planet-friendly crafts to do. One of our favorites is this upcycled soda bottle planter my 6 year old made for school! It's Earth Week at her school and each grade had a different upcycled project to make. The kindergartners had to make planters and she decided to make a "girl planter" -- of course. She liked the idea of a see-though planter so I cut the top off of a soda bottle for her to … [Read more...]
Egg Carton Computer and Jelly Bean Toss Game
It's time for another Tinkerlab Creative Challenge! The item this month is an egg carton and we definitely have lots of those in our craft cupboard right now! Last Friday the big kids each got an egg carton to create something with. The almost 4 year old got right to work cutting even though he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to make yet. After he had cut the cup section into 3 parts he announced he was going to make a game and would know … [Read more...]
Eggbert the Easter Egg Puppet and Song!
"Eggbert the Easter Egg" is one of our favorite Easter songs. A couple years ago my oldest and I made these cute sock puppets to use while we sing. All you need to make one yourself is a yellow sock, a square of white felt, a scrap of orange felt or any other fabric, fabric glue and two googly eyes. Chick and Egg Sock Puppet: yellow sock white felt orange felt (or color white felt orange) googly eyes fabric glue To … [Read more...]
Making a Leprechaun Trap
We made a leprechaun trap today! I first heard of the idea from friends and thought it sounded great -- creative, fun, St. Patrick's Day themed -- but my husband was skeptical, "You are going to ask the kids if they want to build something to trap a leprechaun in? Doesn't that seem mean? And a little creepy for little kids?" "No!" I assured him, "It will be fun. They love to use their imaginations and build things!" And I was right they do. … [Read more...]
Rainbow Car Paintings
What do you do with two kids who love cars and rainbows? Car painting, of course! Our supplies: Paint in individual containers (in our case old container lids) Small cars that can be cleaned with soap and water Paper in trays (cookie sheets) A dish of water for the car wash Paper towels Then they drove their cars through the paint and then on their papers. In between colors the cars went through the "car wash" to … [Read more...]
Shaving Cream Rainbows
To continue our fun with color we played with shaving cream paint! Not only is it fun on so many levels, it's a perfect medium to use when exploring color mixing. The texture of the shaving cream allows kids to truly see how two primary colors become one. To make shaving cream paint you add a couple drops of food coloring to a mound of shaving cream and stir them together. We mixed ours in a muffin tin so each secondary color was in between its … [Read more...]
