Winter Scene Art Project

Here's a really cute project to do with your kids, and it would be neat to make a BIG one with a whole preschool class! We made a winter scene... even though so far we've had such warm weather - including almost 60 degrees two days in a row at the playground!!

Start with a sheet of dark construction paper, like black or blue. Draw a wavy line with white chalk that will be your horizon. Cut out several shapes: squares, rectangles, and triangles from different colors of construction paper and glue them along your line to create houses and buildings. You can also use a black marker or crayon to draw windows and doors if you wanted, but we just left ours blank which is cute too. Fill in the ground with your white chalk, and add lots of small circles to be falling snow. Molly (4) was able to do this whole project by herself... with some help with the cutting when she got "tired!"


This project was a great review of shapes, cutting, gluing, and we talked about winter weather! I found it in a Christmas Craft Book by Usbourne Books.

Paper Plate Noise Makers!

Here is a quick and easy way to create a Noise Maker for your New Years Eve festivities tonight! It really just takes a couple minutes to put together this project, and I pretty much guarantee you have everything you need. So read the instructions now and go make it before it's midnight!!

Gather two clean paper plates per noise maker and have your kids decorate each one on the bottom with markers. Molly (4) and Ben (1) were both able to do this part so it's truly for all ages! Also, I enjoyed decorating one for myself... lol

Set several dry beans, or uncooked rice or pasta (we used pasta) on a plate and cover it with the other one. Staple around the edges so the pasta (or whatever) doesn't fall out. Now shake and make some noise!!


I got this idea from my totally creative friend, Colleen, who made these over the summer with her own kids and I thought they were great! She has her own blog so check it out: www.lifesprinkledwithglitter.blogspot.com. See you next year!

Paper Plate Santa Project

This is a project I've done with Molly (4) for three years in a row now and it's so fun to see how different she does it each year! It makes a great decoration to hang up and she always like working with lots of glue! Here's what you'll need:

Paper Plate
Red Construction Paper
White Cotton Balls
Craft Pom Poms
Glue

In the past, I've cut out a Santa hat from red construction paper for Molly, but this year I simply drew one and had her cut it out and glue it on by herself. Then I let her go to town gluing on cotton balls. I always buy a big bag from Walmart or a dollar store because we go through a lot! Have your child glue on cotton balls for Santa's beard, plus a lining on his hat and one more on the tip of the hat. Use craft pom poms or markers or whatever else you can for Santa's face.

I tape a loop of curly ribbon to the back so I can hang it up easily and be sure to put the year on the back so you can compare them from one Christmas to the next! Here is a photo of Molly's Santa plate from last year, plus her new COLORFUL one from this year! (So sorry it keeps uploading sideways!) Next year I'll start Ben on making them, too! I can't wait to have a big collection of Santa plates!

Rice Crispy Treat Wreath

Here is a super fun, yummy, EASY treat to make for any holiday party! Molly (4) and I made this for a Christmas party we went to and it was a big hit. It would also be good for family get togethers or a class party too. Or just for fun, of course!

Here's the ingredients you need for this Rice Crispy Treat Wreath:

6 cups crispy rice cereal
4 cups mini marshmallows OR 1 package of large marshmallows
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
green food coloring
frosting
chocolate candies

First, melt your butter with your marshmallows in a glass bowl in the microwave. Molly loves watching the marshmallows get big as they're cooking in there! You'll need to "nuke" them for about three minutes, stirring partway through. Then carefully mix in the cereal. Enjoy tasting the melted marshmallow. Add the vanilla extract and about 4-5 drops of food coloring, or until it reaches the shade of green you want.

Once it's all stirred together, use buttered hands to place it on your serving dish and shape it into a wreath. I'm not gonna lie - this part was fun! ;O) Finally, use some red frosting (I tinted some plain white store-bought frosting with red food coloring) to make a bow. Put the frosting in a zip lock baggie, cut a corner off, and pipe it on to make it easy. Lastly, have your kids decorate the wreath with red and green candies, like M&M's. We actually used little Hershey's Pieces which are just as delicious.

Dish Towel Angels

I wanted Molly (4) to make a special gift for her preschool teachers, but I also wanted it to be something they could use and not just another nick-nack for their classroom. Together, we made Dish Towel Angels and they turned out so sweet! I hope her teachers liked them! I found this idea while I was going through old magazines and came across a December 2005 issue of Crafts'n'Things Magazine (it's one of my favorites!). Here's what you need:

1 pot holder
1 dish rag (or hand towel)
1 dish towel
Rubber Bands
Pipe Cleaners
Ribbon

We got all our supplies from the Dollar Tree. I knew they would have holiday dish towels and they were a lot less busy than Walmart next door! Molly picked out the designs she wanted for each teacher. We used Christmas ones, but it actually might be cooler to use non-seasonal ones so the person you're giving it to can display it for Christmas, and then undo it and use the towels for regular every-day use!

Start with your pot holder and wrap a rubber band around the middle of it to create the wings. Then, fold your dish towel accordion style, long ways. Fold it in half and wrap a rubber band around the folded edge, about 2-3 inches down to create the head. Finally, roll up your dish rag (or hand towel, like we used) long ways. Wrap rubber bands around each end, about 1 inch in to create hands.

Now you're ready to put your angel together! Use pipe cleaners to attach the arms behind and slightly below the neck, then attach the wings just above the back of the arms. Loop a rubber band around the hands to hold them together. Finally, create a pipe cleaner loop in the back for hanging... or use the loop on your pot holder if it has one!

You can finalize it by tying ribbon around the neck and hands to cover the rubber bands so it looks nicer. You can also attach something to the angel's hands like she's holding it, such as a gift card, recipe card, a cookie cutter, or a package of soup mix. We attached a wooden spoon and a gift tag to ours. Molly was so proud to give her hand-made gift to her teachers the next morning at school. I hope we can enjoy making these for years to come - I think I'll make it a traditional teacher gift with something different attached each time!

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Holiday Treats!

I had a craving for chocolate and bananas one afternoon, so I came up with these fun and tasty snacks for my kids: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ornaments and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Snowman!

First, I melted about 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and mixed it together with 1/4 cup of peanut butter. (yummmm!) Then I sliced a banana and dipped each slice into my chocolate mixture. I didn't want it to be too chocolatey or sweet so I only dipped the tops and scraped off any access. Of course I covered my treats in sprinkles because who doesn't love sprinkles!?

I stuck a toothpick in individual slices along one side, so those are the ornaments. The toothpicks also make them easy to eat without making a big mess! I used toothpicks to hold together three different-sized slices to shape my snowman and then decorated him with white chocolate chips. This was such an easy snack to make - Molly (4) could have done it if she'd wanted to, and Ben (1) loved waking up from his nap to this yummy treat!

Glitter Tree Decoration

Here's a quick and fun project for your kids - and the result is a professional looking decoration!

Start with a foam cone. I found mine at the Dollar Tree (score!). Lay out some newspapers or an old table cloth and have your child paint the whole thing green. I had Molly (4) use a foam brush and it worked out great - didn't take so long that she lost interest! I really liked just getting out one color of paint and cleaning just one brush!

While the paint is still wet, sprinkle it all over with glitter. Do this over a sheet of paper or a paper plate so you can save any extra glitter that spills! We made a single tree that's about 6 inches tall and I love it! If your child has the attention span for it, create a whole forest of these wonderful sparkly trees to display!