Summer Made Simple: Straw Art

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

I am in “FULL SUMMER MODE” and am finding it hard to sit down to blog. In fact, if I’m being completely honest I just don’t want to. I’m enjoying my family way too much. So, if my appearances here are hit and miss please forgive me. :-) Family comes first.

Last week my kiddos and I made the prettiest art project!

It is really simple. Find some paint, straws, paper and paint brushes.

Begin with your “blow-ed” flowers. {I watered down our paint a smidge to make it easier to blow} Place blobs of paint around the paper and have your child blow the blobs into flowers. This will have them huffing and puffing for sure.

Once you’ve completed your desired flowers they might look something like this…After that dries, use both yellow and green paint to add stems. I kept the paint separate and had the kids dip their brush in both colors before painting each stem. It gives a nice effect.

After the stems and leaves dry water down your paint to a water color consistency {or better yet, use watercolors} and paint the entire background blue. I think they turned out just lovely and can’t wait to display them in our home!

Happy summer and happy painting!

Summer Made Simple: Edible Painting

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Yup, that’s right. I said edible. It’s super simple, very easy and the kids loved it. I love the glossy texture to the paintings. They are so fun!

Simply mix light corn syrup and food coloring together in several small dishes or cups to create the colors you desire. Have the kids or adults draw a picture using black crayons onto construction paper.

We chose to do a guided fish drawing, meaning that Mommy walked them through the simple drawing step by step.The first {top} one was done by my 6 year old Big Guy and my daughter, my Sweet Girl {8} did the second one. The last one was my example.

This would be fun used as scribble art for a little child. Have them scribble a black blob and have an older child fill in each section with lots of colors. Flowers would also be pretty.

I didn’t begin the project telling the kids that the paint was edible. I waited until they got some on their arms and then said, “Well, lick it off.” I got the strangest look from my son. Then of course, once he knew he wanted to eat the “paint” straight from the container using the brush. He had to be told no.

I think this would be fun with little ones too. Put them in swim suits, tape their paper to an outdoor table and pour the “paint” on to their paper. Let them use their fingers to paint the pictures and then have them play in the sprinklers to wash off the sticky sugary paint.

Allow the paintings to dry for a couple days before displaying them. They dry perfectly shiny like the picture above.

We added a little learning into our project by discussing warm (red, orange & yellow) colors and cool (blue, green & purple). The goal was to create a warm colored fish surrounded by a cool water scene. My son almost freaked out when he accidentally started painting the fish head green and remembered that it was a cool color. I assured him it was fine.

** As a side note, we used a 12×18 piece of paper and it took a LONG time to paint. I’d recommend a 9×12 piece instead. **

Happy crafting and happy summer!

(((( DISCLAIMER - Ummm… 3 days later I found my Big Guy with a blue mouth. After asking him what in the world he had been eating he sheepishly said, “I was licking my fish project. It tastes SO GOOD!” Ha ha ha! In calling it Edible Paint I didn’t actually intend for them to eat it after they made it. ))))

Summer Made Simple: Hiking Necklaces

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Okay, so do you remember that I’m trying to be cheap this summer? Well, I am. We live in Colorado so what comes more naturally than hiking? We decided to hit the trail with some cute friends for a hike on Lost Lake Trail.

My kids always enjoy a scavenger hunt to keep them excited during a hike, but carrying a clipboard or a small journal or book just makes them get tired faster. This time I had a BRIGHT IDEA! Why not put our scavenger hunt list onto a necklace? And inside each “paper bead” I put a small treat {an M&M, Sweet Tart etc.}.

First I printed the paper “beads” on my computer. I cut them out and glued them 3/4 of the way closed, leaving enough space to slide the candy in. Let the glue dry. Add a hole punch to the top of each “bead” prior to adding the candy. Lastly slide the tiny treat into the bead and place on some colorful ribbon.

I explained to the kids prior to the hike what items they were looking for and once they found each thing they got to rip open the paper bead and eat the treat inside. AND, yes even the boys loved them! {In blue ribbon of course}It kept this crazy crew excited about the hike and looking at nature in new and exciting way. We also made sure that the paper beads were only ripped open half way ,that way we didn’t have to deal with keeping track of trash.

It was so fun! They are begging me to make them again the next time we go hiking {which I’m sure will be soon}.

If you’d like to download a PDF of the beads you are welcome to. I just ask that you follow along via Facebook or e-mail! Thanks! Happy hiking!

Summer Made Simple: Fishing

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Who doesn’t love casting a line and hoping to catch a slimy fish? (I grew up fishing with my Grandpa, who I am sure is in Heaven fishing right now.) If you have kids in your house, I’m sure your kiddos would love it too. We are blessed to live in a beautiful community with a huge lake and park area.

Isn’t it beautiful? We’ve fished here with the kids the past 3 years and we’ve only caught 2 fish. It’s the experience that counts right? They have a blast!

My sweet girl with her “ladies” fishing pole. Last year they graduated from the little tiny kids poles to medium-sized poles.

My favorite 3 fisher people, with the exception of my Grandpa of course.

A trip to the park wouldn’t be complete without our Big Beast. His real name is Charlie, nicknamed Bubba, most often referred to as “The Beast”. We love him… sometimes.

If you don’t have fishing poles post a request to borrow some on Facebook. More than likely someone you know has some you can borrow.

Happy Summer!

Pinterest Taste Test {3}

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Ahh… it’s summer break, I’m relaxed, it’s starting to get hot, life is good. What do you crave in hot weather? I constantly crave cold and sweet. I could seriously live off of ice cold soda, frozen grapes and slushies from Sonic. I recently pinned this great idea to give me something small, sweet and super cold in these warm summer months.

Yup, it’s frozen yogurt dots. YUM! They crunch in your mouth, they cool you off and yeah, it gives my body much needed calcium. What a deal! The idea was posted by Jillee at One Good Thing by Jillee. So glad she pinned to Pinterest or I never would have tried it! Please follow ‘pinning’ etiquette and visit her site directly if you’d like to pin this to your board. Thanks!

I had to learn to share these too. My kids decided they were as yummy as I thought they were.

One warning, make sure that you get them off the cookie tray and back into the freezer quickly and then take them out in small groups to nibble on. They melt fast and the whole purpose is to pop them in your mouth. If you can’t use your hands, what’s the point? :-) Most freezers tend to have an extra cold zone. Once you get them off of the cooking tray, just put them in a ziplock back while they are still frozen and put them in the “extra cold zone”.

Hope you and the little ones in your life enjoy these little frozen yogurt drops.

Summer Made Simple: Hot Rock Art

Posted on June 4, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Ohh… my kids and I made one of my favorite new summer projects this past week. They are HOT GARDEN ROCKS. We found the idea at Eighteen25.

I think kids age 3-10 would enjoy this project. For the little ones, protect their hands using 2-3 old mismatched socks. I did this with a 6 & 8 year old and we had NO problems. I even touched the rocks with my own hands and I knew it was hot, but it wasn’t hot enough to actually burn my hand.

Here’s what to do:

Gather large rocks
Wash and dry the rocks
Heat the oven to 350 degrees
Place the rocks on a cookie sheet and “bake” for 15 minutes
Remove rocks from the oven and place on newspaper on a table or the ground.

LASTLY - Color/paint the rocks with peeled crayons.

The colors are so vibrant and fun. Once they cooled to the touch (about 30 minutes) we placed them around the yard. Super cute, super easy. My kids were begging me to make them again and really, why not? We had everything we needed already on hand.

So, are you going to make some?

You know your kids would LOVE to! :-) Happy summer everyone!

Linked up at: Skip to my Lou, Craft O Maniac, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Keeping it Simple,

Summer Made Simple: Water Painting

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Creative Preschool Resources

Water painting with kids isn’t something new and most of your probably already do it, but I tend to get so busy during the school year that some of the simple things in life tend to get pushed out. NOT THIS SUMMER! Back to the basics…

To help my kiddos get creative I took out large white construction paper, white crayons and water colors.

At first, my Sweet Girl didn’t want anything to do with it. That was until she saw me sit down and start drawing my picture. Suddenly she became very interested in getting creative too.

Don’t our creations look great? Super simple, super easy, things we already had in our home. But, they were fun and we did them together.

My Big Guy made a picture of the solar system. I loved hearing him name all of the planets as he drew them and then explaining their colors while painting. BONUS: A little educational review and some fun, simple art. Wahoo!

Happy summer to you and yours!

Linked up at: Skip to my Lou, Craft O Maniac, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Keeping it Simple,