Painted Stained Glass Effect For Kids

As a fun first night of summer vacation, we had our little nephew spend the night. I put together a quick painting project for the kids to do while he was here and discovered how to paint "stained glass!"

Give each child a sheet of waxed paper to paint on and tell them to fill the sheet up with color. They can do shapes, blotches, swirls... whatever. We used washable Crayola kids paints because they are my favorite and really are washable! Even my 3 year old got in on the fun! Just have the kids blot their paint brush on a dry paper towel between colors. No water needed. So clean!

While the paint is still wet, use the tip of  your paint brush to add swirls and designs to your sheet. This was a really fun part for me. ;O) It's totally optional.

 Once the paint is dry (which goes pretty quickly), cut each sheet of wax paper into smaller rectangles, ready for a frame. I already had some 4x6 frames from a previous project but you can just cut some from any color card stock.  I had the kids decorate their frames with markers. Each child ended up with enough wax paper for two frames. I attached the waxed paper painting to the frame using Glue Dots, which I love. Now they're ready for the window!

**NOTE: I actually used one framed piece of "stained glass" as the front cover of a homemade card and it was really cute! I used a 6x5 rectangle of card stock as the back of the card. Fold over one inch of the 5" side so you can attach your framed piece of stained glass to the one inch strip. Now have your child add a hand-written message or picture inside!

End of the Year Teacher Poems

The end of the school year is upon us!! It is a great idea to give a little gift or card to your child's teacher as a thank you for all the hard work they've put in to your child's education. Teachers probably don't want to be bombarded with silly nic-nacs that take up space in their classroom, though, so here is a simpler idea they might like instead.

Number one: a gift card! Give them the gift of lunch out at a restaurant they like, or maybe a gift card to a store where they can buy classroom supplies.

Number two: stuff they can use in their classroom. My daughter picked out a book of small stickers for her teacher to use next year on the class's reading charts. I've also given her pens to grade with.

Number three: this is most special of all - a handmade card from your child. I had my daughter (6) draw a picture on folded construction paper to make the outside of the card. Then on the inside, I had her write out a poem I put together for her. Since my daughter is finishing kindergarten, she wrote the poem on separate lined paper first. I used a glue stick to attach the finished poem into the inside of her card.

If your child isn't old enough to write their own poem, here are a few poems I wrote myself for you to choose from!

"Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
You're a wonderful teacher,
And I'll miss you!"

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
Thank you Mr(s.) [teacher's name]
For teaching me!"

"The school year is finished,
But this isn't the end.
You're no longer my teacher,
But forever my friend."

Countdown to Easter Calendar and Activities

Easter always sneaks up on me so quickly when it's in March!! We didn't even get our Easter decorations out until today so our Countdown Calendar we made last year is only going to be for 9 days instead of 12! My daughter (6) was excited to make a new calendar for this year so I came up with a new idea that we put together today.  It would also be a good one to count down to the first day of Spring... but it's been a bit too cold and snowy here for that!

This craft is a great opportunity to practice using scissors and writing numbers.  First, cut out several tulip shapes... I drew the first one by hand and cut it out of card stock. Then I just traced that same shape onto the back of several other colors of card stock to cut out.  My daughter did a few but then got distracted by pulling out the other old decorations so I did the rest. These shapes can actually represent tulips (especially for a Spring countdown!) OR they can be Easter egg shells... which is what ours are going to be!

Meanwhile, have your child cut fringe into a strip of green card stock, measuring 12" x 3-4".  This will be grass! Glue it to the bottom of a separate sheet of 12" x  12" card stock for your calendar.

Have your child write numbers on each shape and arrange them on your calendar. Glue each one down , leaving the top free to form a pocket. 

Once your glue is dry, fill each pocket with a little note to be opened every day leading up to Easter (or the first day of Spring!). Each note could be an inspirational saying, a part of the Easter Story, or my personal favorite: each day can have a different activity to do! Here's a few ideas to get you started:

1. Go visit the Easter Bunny
2. Decorate Easter Eggs
3. Make a special Easter craft
4. Watch a special holiday movie (such as Hop or Rise of the Guardians)
5. Make and send out special Easter cards
6. Have a special bunny meal... in the shape of a bunny or carrots like a bunny eats!
7. Make some homemade Easter decorations
8. Take a walk and look for signs of Spring
9. Have a practice Easter egg hunt

Fun St. Patrick's Day Meal Ideas

Sure, you might be eating the classic corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day every year, but here are some new, fun side dishes to add to the table that your kids will love!

What Irish dinner is complete without POTATOES!? This potato dish is shaped like shamrocks and is so easy to do! Start by washing and peeling your potatoes - you'll probably need at least 4 or 5 medium white baking potatoes, depending on your family's size and appetite. Now cut two long ditches down the length of each potato.  This will create three leaves to your shamrocks.

Next, cut two triangles along the length of the bottom of each potato. This will form the stem. Now slice the potatoes like normal, each slice about 1/4" thick.

Fry your potatoes in a large pan in about 3 or more tablespoons of oil. Be sure to heat the oil first; turn the potatoes half way through cooking; and fry until golden brown. They should be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside - YUM! You can also add in slices of onion to cook with the potatoes- YUM! YUM! To avoid hot oil popping on your stove top, cover the pan while cooking - you can buy a special metal mesh cover just for this purpose but since I don't have one I used a round pizza pan with holes in it. Final tip: I used vegetable oil and blotted the potatoes afterwards with a paper towel to remove access oil before eating. ;O)

(this photo keeps uploading SIDEWAYS! Can't figure out why... )

Another great side dish for kids? Creamy GREEN macaroni and cheese! Here's what you do: start cooking the macaroni as directed on the box (yes - you get to use a box mix!). Meanwhile, peel one medium avocado and mash it up using either a plain ol' fork (like me) or a fancy food processor. Mix in the ingredients you're supposed to mix into the macaroni and cheese, per the directions on the box. It's probably something like 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of butter. Also mix in the cheese. If desired, add a dash of onion powder. It probably won't quite be bright enough, so stir in a few (5-6) drops of green food coloring. Here's a picture of what it should look like so far:

When the macaroni is finished cooking, drain it like normal and stir in your green cheesy mixture. My daughter (6) loved this creamy (secretly healthy) version of macaroni and cheese!

P.S. A fun addition to any Irish meal is brussel sprouts because they look like mini cabbages! My daughter eats them so well and loves to pretend they are baby cabbages.  I simply toss mine in a tablespoon of olive oil and sea salt and cook in the microwave (in a covered microwave safe dish, of course) on high for about 5 minutes. 

St. Patrick's Day Marshmallow Painting

I just thought one day that it would be fun to paint with marshmallows...and so we did. My daughter had so much fun painting with them - and it was a great way to use up stale marshmallows, too! Here are two projects you can make for St. Patrick's Day with this unusual paint brush!

We used Crayola washable paints, by the way, which are the best.

First I created a pallet of colors for her on a paper plate and provided one marshmallow per color... and a couple fresh ones for snacking! The first project we made was a rainbow, using the marshmallows to dab circles of color along an arched line. 

When your rainbow is finished, add marshmallows clouds with regular glue! We used a heavier card stock for this project to accommodate the weight of the glue and marshmallows.

 

Next, we made a lucky shamrock sign! I wrote "Happy St. Patty's Day!" on another sheet of card stock and had my daughter (6) decorate our sign with marshmallow shamrocks. Just make three green circles together with your marshmallow, then draw a stem with your finger.  Next project... s'mores! :O)

Valentine's Day Party Bean Bag Toss

My daughter (5) requested a bean bag toss for her class Valentine's Day party at school this year. I make bean bag toss games for many holidays and parties so it was easy to make one in just a short time.

Here's what you'll need:

cardboard box
old steak knife or cutting tool
paint
half a yard of fabric total in different patterns as desired
plastic sandwich baggies
dry beans
sewing machine/needle and thread

Start with a cardboard box in the size you wish your bean bag toss game to be.  Trim off all the flaps so you're left with a solid base to cut on.  Draw your design on the box, including holes for the kids to toss bean bags through.  I made the word "LOVE" with the "O" being a toss hole, and a couple hearts for Valentine's Day.  Now carefully cut out your design using your steak knife or other cutting tool. A simple steak knife works so well for me and I have so much control when cutting out shapes like hearts!

Now you're ready to decorate your box. I painted mine with Crayola washable paints, which dry really quickly.  You can also use construction paper or markers if you're in a time crunch.  But really, the paint goes on fast and dries so quickly!

As that dries, start making your bean bags. Cut your fabric into 5 inch squares - you'll need two squares for each bean bag.  I made a total of six bean bags in three different patterns.  I found really cute, inexpensive fabric at Wal-mart for this project.

For the inside of our beanbags, I bought a bag of dry beans from the grocery store. Molly helped me fill six sandwich bags with about 3/4 cup of the beans in each and seal them up.  Fold each bag in half, then in half again so it's the right size.

Place two squares together, with the fabric design facing each other.  Sew around three complete edges, and part of another edge. Leave that hole open so you can turn it right-side-out. Then put the plastic baggie filled with beans inside your semi-sewn bean bag.

 

Finally, fold the open edges in a little and sew it closed. That way you won't have any rough edges poking out. You can also sew this part by hand.  Be careful not to sew the plastic bag inside so you don't mess up your sewing needle.  I have a set of bean bags I made this way from five years ago and they're still perfect, so these will stand up to lots of play and last for years to come!

Valentine's Party Game Ideas

The first month and a half of 2013 has flown by and Valentine's Day is tomorrow!! I am in charge of the games at my daughter's kindergarten class party tomorrow so I thought I should hurry and share my ideas before it's too late! I have researched and come up with three different game stations for tomorrow. These games are really simple so you should have no problem throwing them together at the last minute.

First is a game I've planned is called "Matchmaker."  I have made large paper hearts, using different paper and colors for each one.  Have fun with the layers to make it tricky and be sure to add a heart-shaped piece of white paper to the back of each one to make it tricky! Once those are dry (I just used a glue stick so it went pretty quickly), cut each heart in half. You can do a straight line or a zig-zag line, or use special scissors with a zig-zag shape to them like I did and end up with a straight zig-zag line.  You get the picture. I made eight halves, so this is for eight kids - make as many hearts as you need for your group.

Here's how to play: have all the kids stand in a circle with their eyes closed. Keep all your heart halves in a bag and take it around so each student can pull one out without looking! Once everyone has their piece, tell them to open their eyes and find their match - the student who's holding the other half of their heart! Whichever couple pairs up the fastest wins. This will go quickly, so you may want to play a few rounds or use this as a fun way to pair up students for a second game, like my next one:

Here is a racing game I've named "I LAVA You!" All you need is four big hearts total for the kids to step on. You can use large 12" x 12" sheets of red card stock like I did, or even just cut them out from paper plates. You know I love paper plates.

Here's how you play: Line the kids up so they will race two at a time and give each racer two large hearts. Use tape to mark off a starting line and a finish line on the floor. When the race starts, kids must only step on their hearts to get to the finish line. Have them stand on one heart as they place the second one in front of them, then step to that one and move the previous heart in front. Keep going until they reach the end, careful not to touch the floor with their hands or feet. Pretend the floor is hot lava - hence the cute name!