1-2-3 Come Do Some Winter Craftivities With Me!
Hopefully things are winding down this last week of school before Christmas Break. If you're looking for a few last-minute things for your kiddo's to do, you've come to the right place. Here are some quick, easy and simple activities, I think your students will enjoy.
Since the 3D cylinder shape was always the "toughy" for my Y5's to wrap their heads around, I tried to do several projects each month involving that shape. The cylinder-shaped Santa windsock, was one of their favorites. I made Santa's beard by tracing their hand once and then cutting it out 4 times.
Children work on a flat surface; when they are done, then help them roll their Santa into a cylinder shape. Pulled-cotton and glitter, add those finishing touches. Punch a hole in the top, tie a yarn loop, so it can hang from the ceiling.
Review the triangle, oval, and circle shapes as well. If you have your kiddo's do a craft on party day, these are great as a whole-group, or independent center activity.
To expedite things, make sure you trace and cut their hand prints the day before. Click on the link to view/download the Keepsake Hand Print Santa
Quite a few of my favorite Christmas Stories involve mice, so I thought it would be fun to design a sweet treat for my Y5's, featuring this Christmas character. You can review the oval shape with this craftivity as well. His ears are heart-shaped.
I don't buy peppermint candy canes for my kiddo's, as when we graphed whether they liked peppermint or not, most of them did not.
This was true every year, so I looked for the flavored candy canes. You can get a box of a dozen at The Dollar Store. Wiggle eyes and a pom pom nose added extra pizzazz.
You can make these for your students as a gift, but I liked doing them as a craftivity the last day of school. I used silver wallpaper for a sparkling effect. You could also glue metallic wrapping paper to tag board. Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Mouse.
Another peppermint activity I call "Me Mints." I made the larger one out of a sturdy 8-inch paper plate. Students striped the edges. Enlarge a photo, cut into a circle and mount it in the center of the plate.
Wrap with clear cellophane. (You can buy it by the roll at The Dollar Store.) Twist the ends and tie with curling ribbon.
These make a super bulletin board boarder, or have students glue the "greeting" to the back and suspend from the ceiling.
I also made a "Mini Mint" ornament template for you. Run off the peppermint candy. Students color with markers and glue to a circle of tag board. Follow the above directions to complete this "Awww-dorable" craftivity. Click on the link to grab this FREEBIE.
Finally, Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman, would be fun to do on the last day, so that you would have some winter decorations up when your students return from Christmas vacation.
If you look closely, you'll see that Wally's face is textured. I made the circles out of embossed wallpaper. You can buy a roll of white textured wallpaper for less that $5, or visit a paint, wallpaper, or home-decor store, where they sell wallpaper, and ask if you could have or buy a sample book.
I used these sample books for die cuts, banners, backgrounds, and stationery for my students to write on. I've included 4 winter writing prompts so that students have a choice.
Children write a rough draft and when they have finalized it, they write it on the circle and glue it to the back of Wally. These look wonderful dangling from the ceiling. Click on the link to view/download Wally,The Wallpaper Snowman Writing Prompt Dangler.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. I design and blog daily, so I hope you have the time to drop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.
"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." - Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol
1-2-3 Come Make Some Shaving Cream Stuff With Me!
If you haven't heard of using shaving cream in the classroom yet, you and your students are missing out on a lot of fun. Yes, it's a little bit messy, but oh the joy of hands-on learning.
Clear the work tables or student desks, and have children don a paint shirt. Shake up a can of shaving cream (they sell a variety at The Dollar Store) and squirt a few big dollops in front of each child's place. The whole key to not making a mess is to give them just enough to make a writing board.
Tell them to smooth it out to make their very own "whiteboard!" Using their index finger as a pencil, have students write letters, numbers, or draw shapes. This is a super-fun way to whole-group assess.
As you call out each letter, number, shape or whatever, students draw that on their snow "board." When you've checked everyone's work by simply a glance, have them "erase" their board by smoothing it over, so you can call out something else for them to write/draw.
After you review, give your students one last dollop for them to write their name or draw whatever they like.
An extra bonus is that the shaving cream takes off sticky glue residue, as well as crayon, permanent marker and ink marks. Depending on the fragrance you choose, your room should smell simply wonderful.
The cream also makes your kiddo's hands feel smooth and soft. Take a teachable moment to talk about friction, as students rub the tabletop or their desk. The shaving cream will disappear, and their hands will feel warm. We take a bathroom break to wash our hands, and then everyone pitched in with wet paper towel, to wipe and dry our work space. Our tables were so clean and shiny!
Shaving cream is also an excellent "frosting" or "snow" for winter "craftivities". The results pack a huge "Wow!" affect and were some of my students' favorite artwork. Shaving cream creations make an outstanding decoration for your hallway, but hang them above any one's reach, so little fingers aren't tempted to poke the fluffy "snow." To make the "snow frosting," mix Elmer's glue with equal parts non-menthol shaving cream; mix quickly to whip up a frothy-goopy consistency.
I plopped 1 or 2 spoonful's on each child's project and then they smoothed their "frosting" with a Popsicle stick. Depending on how thick the artwork is, shaving cream craftivities need at least 24-48 hours to dry. Here are 2 of my all-time favorite shaving cream creations.
Shaving Cream Frosted Cookie Ornaments: I have my students cut their cookie out of light brown paper, frost it, and then add their photo to the middle.
If you have an Ellison Die Cutter at your disposal, these cookies are adorable cut into your students' initials. Add a few real candy sprinkles and these honestly look good enough to eat; they look so real!
These make a darling bulletin board too. Cover with aluminum foil to make a giant "cookie sheet". Caption: "We're cooking up a batch of fun, learning letters in _____________'s class."
Shaving cream would also look cute on a frosted gingerbread man, and would be fun for your kiddo's to decorate like mine did with their snowmen below. Scatter them on your aluminum foil background above. Caption: "Some Sweet Fun With Our Gingerbread On The Run!"
By far, my favorite craft that I ever made with my Y5's, was the shaving cream snowman. The first time I made these, I hung my students' snowmen as a border, just under the ceiling in the hallway.
We got zillions of compliments and everyone wanted to know the secret of the awesome looking "snow!" I've also made them into a bulletin board accompanied by stern "Don't touch!" warnings.
Not sure why I used a yellow background here, when blue snowflake wrapping paper would have been awesome.
Before hand, have students draw their snowman on a pre-cut piece of tag board. (5x7 or 8x10) Little ones have a tendency to either draw way too small or way too large, so demonstrate drawing 2 simple circles “just the right size.”
I used a template to pre-draw the ones for my Y5's. You really need to make sure that there is a definite "neck" as the "snow" spreads and puffs up to the point where a snowman could look just like a big blog. Make sure students have written their name in the corner.
You don't want to use colored tag board, because when it gets wet it bleeds. If I remember correctly I used 4 cans of shaving cream for my Y5's. I had 2 classes, so this was about 35-40 students. It's always a good idea to have 1 or 2 extra cans just in case.
You can always use it for tabletop fun. I also had a gallon-sized container of Elmer's, so I didn't go through a bunch of smaller glue bottles. Use equal parts of shaving cream and glue.
I collected a large tub of pieces and parts to decorate the snowmen via a note home making a request, searching my house, taking apart jewelry and going junking.
Put several scoops of “stuff” in paper bowls and set 2 on each table. Give students 5-10 minutes to pick out 2 eyes, 1 nose, something for a mouth and 3-5 items for their snowman's buttons.
It’s very important to have children design their snowman BEFORE you give them a dollop of shaving cream, because they need to work rather quickly spreading their “snow” with a Popsicle stick.
It’s helpful if they arrange their parts on the side, so that they don’t forget what they chose for each feature. Children get so excited when they get the “snow-goop” that they sometimes forgot and this really helped. Also remind them to stay INSIDE the lines as one of my kiddo's was having so much fun "frosting" that he frosted the entire piece of tag board instead of just the snowman.
I also did the shaving cream board, discussed above, a day or two before. This really helped to avoid children's curiosity of how shaving cream felt, so they got down to the business of creating a snowman, instead of getting off task and simply playing with the shaving cream.
Mix up a huge bowl of “fluff” and use a wooden spoon to give each student enough dollops so they can “frost” their snowman. I also demonstrate how this is done. When they are satisfied with the results, they gently plop their decorative pieces in the appropriate places.
Remember to remove the bowls of decorations before you give students the frosting, to avoid children taking more and putting it all over their snowman, or it won't look like a snowman.
After they have completed decorating, set aside in a designated "keep out!" drying area.
Again, you will need at least 24-48 hours of dry time. Because of that, I always did shaving cream art on a Friday.
When you return to school they should have dried and really “puffed” up! They look simply amazing! Click on the link to view/download the Shaving Cream Snowman “craftivity.”
I hope you have a delightful time with these ideas. If you take pictures, I'd LOVE to hear from you and see your "mess-terpieces!" diane@teachwithme.com
If you run into a Grinch that says: "You can't do that!" or "Shaving cream's not allowed in our school." I recommend reading Lisa Murphey's Ooey Gooey article. It's a humorous read, chock full of lots of factual information you can arm yourself with.
Want more shaving cream ideas? My kiddo's made a puffy apple in September; a plump pumpkin in October, the snowman in January and a cloud in April.
I tinted the shaving cream with powdered tempera. I've also used liquid paint, and added more glue and shaving cream, so it didn't get soupy. You could also drip some drops of food coloring in, but I don't think the colors come out as vibrant. A heart for Valentine's Day would be fun as would a shamrock for St. Patty's Day. Oh the ideas are endless!
Jean, over at the The Artful Parent has collected 67 other shaving cream projects and lists the links in her blog article: Shaving Cream for Art, Play and Learning.
Every Day Life has still more ideas including a shaving cream experiment.
No Time For Flashcards lists 11 more shaving cream projects, and Wiki How has a tutorial on how to make this pretty marbled-rainbow paper using shaving cream and food coloring!
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. To check out all of the creative-educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart to the right of the blog.
I have lots of winter boards. I blog and design daily, so I hope you can pop by tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.
"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for several days, peanut butter makes good shaving cream!" -Barry Goldwater
Deck the Halls With Keepsake Ornaments!
This 36-page Christmas Ornament packet is filled with 16 different ornaments that your students will enjoy making, or perhaps you’ll want to choose one to whip off a bunch of, as gifts for your little ones.
Every year I machine embroidered my students’ names on a snowman hat and made them these “snow” special snowball ornaments, in celebration of the fact that they could write their name.
In the past, I’ve also skipped the name portion and done them with Sunday school groups for Christmas craft night.
You can use any of these, as creative independent centers for a fun December activity to reinforce listening and following directions, as well as increase fine motor skills.
Some of them actually look good enough to eat, like these construction paper cookies topped with shaving cream and glue "frosting!"
Festoon your hallway or trim your bulletin board with awesome borders and then send the ornaments home a few days before break.
Click on the link to view/download the Christmas Ornament packet.
Even when doing “craftivities” it was always important to me to review a variety of standards.
One of my parents’ favorite ornaments was the fingerprint tree.
It’s more recent, so it’s not in the above packet. The tree is a great way to review the concept of +1 more and counting to 10, all the while producing a lovely keepsake.
Click on the link to view/download the fingerprint Christmas tree.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find useful.
Do you have an ornament you could share with us? I’d enjoy hearing from you. diane@teachwithme.com
“One mother teaches more than a hundred teachers.” –Jewish proverb
1-2-3 Come Make Some Shaving Cream Stuff With Me!
If you haven't heard of using shaving cream in the classroom yet, you and your students are missing out on a lot of fun. Yes, it's a little bit messy, but oh the joy of hands-on learning.
Clear the work tables, or student desks and have children don a paint shirt. Shake up a can of shaving cream (they sell a variety at The Dollar store) and squirt a few big dollops in front of each child.
Tell them to smooth it out to make their very own "whiteboard!" Using their index finger as a "pencil" have students write letters, numbers, or draw shapes. This is a super-fun way to whole group assess.
As you call out each letter, number, shape or whatever, students draw that on their board. When you've checked everyone's work by simply a glance, have them "erase" their board by smoothing it over, so you can call out something else for them to write/draw. After you review, give your students one last dollop for them to write their name or draw whatever they like.
An extra bonus is that the shaving cream takes off sticky glue residue, as well as crayon and ink marks. Depending on the fragrance you chose, your room should smell simply wonderful. The cream also makes your kiddo's hands feel smooth and soft. Take a teachable moment to talk about friction, as students rub the table top or their desk. The shaving cream will disappear, and their hands will feel warm.
Shaving cream is also an excellent "frosting" or "snow" for winter craftivities. The results pack a huge "Wow!" affect and were some of my students' favorite artwork. They make an outstanding decoration for your hallway, but hang them above any one's reach, so little fingers aren't tempted to poke the fluffy "snow." To make the "snow frosting," mix equal parts of Elmer's glue to non-menthol shaving cream; mix quickly to whip up a frothy-goopy consistancy.
Students take spoonfuls, plop them on their project and then smooth with a Popsicle stick. Shaving cream craftivities need at least 24-48 hours to dry, depending on how thick the artwork is. Here are 2 of my all-time favorite shaving cream creations.
Shaving Cream Frosted Cookies Ornament: I have my students cut their cookie out of light brown paper, frost it, and then add their photo to the middle.
If you have an Ellison Die Cutter at your disposal these cookies are adorable cut into your student's initials. Add a few real candy sprinkles and these honestly look so real, and good enough to eat! Frosted Cookie Ornament pattern
By far, my favorite craft that I ever made with my Y5's was the shaving cream snowman. I hung my students snowmen as a border, just under the ceiling in the hallway. We always got zillions of compliments and everyone wanted to know the secret of the awesome looking snow!
Before hand my students drew their snowman on a pre-cut piece of tag board. Little ones have a tendency to either draw way too small or way too large, so demonstrate drawing 2 simple circles “just the right size.” For really little ones, I suggest having these pre-drawn and have included a template for you. Make sure students have written their name in the corner of their creation.
I collected a large tub of pieces and parts to decorate the snowmen via a note home making a request, searching my house, taking apart jewelry and going junking.
Put several scoops of “stuff” in paper bowls and set 2 on each table. Give students 5-10 minutes to pick out 2 eyes, 1 nose, something for a mouth and 3-5 items for their snowman's buttons.
It’s very important to have children design their snowman BEFORE you give them a dollop of shaving cream, because they need to work rather quickly spreading their “snow” with a popsicle stick. It’s helpful if they arrange their parts on the side, so that they don’t forget what they chose for each feature. They get so excited when they get the “goop” that they sometimes forgot and this really helped in the past.
I also did the shaving cream board, discussed above a day or two before. This really helped to avoid children's curiosity of how shaving cream felt and they got down to the business of creating a snowman, instead of getting off task and simply playing with the shaving cream.
Mix up a huge bowl of “fluff” and use a wooden spoon to give each student enough dollops so they can “frost” their snowman. I also demonstrate how this is done. When they are satisfied with the results they gently plop their pieces in the appropriate places.
Remember to remove the bowls of decorations before you give them the frosting to avoid children taking more and putting it all over their snowman, instead of making it look like a snowman. After they have completed decorating, set aside in a designated "keep out!" drying area.
You will need at least 24-48 hours of dry time. When you return to school they should have dried and really “puffed” up! They look simply amazing! Click on the link to view/download the Shaving Cream Snowman “craftivity.” I hope you have a delightful time with these ideas. If you take pictures, I'd LOVE to hear from you and see your "mess-terpieces!" diane@teachwithme.com
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. To check out all of the creative-educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the big heart to the right of the blog. I have lots of winter boards. I blog and design daily, so I hope you can pop in tomorrow for even more FREEBIES.
"If you don't mind smelling like peanut butter for several days, peanut butter makes good shaving cream!" -Barry Goldwater