17 jars of baby food

Most years I have several students with younger siblings who still eat baby food.  I put the call out for baby food jars and I get more than I can handle.  This year?  Zilch.  Not one.  And so . . . my family got to "enjoy" 17 jars of baby food applesauce last week :)  Even the youngest member of my family hasn't eaten baby food in . . . oh, let's see . . . 14 or 15 years.  I loved the look on her face when I presented her with a bowl of it and she took an unsuspecting bite.  "What is this?!"  Oh well - it was worth it I guess.  We made some very cute candle holders (with tissue paper and watered down glue) for Mother's Day.  I love this project because I can actually remember making one or two for my own mother when I was a little.

We also painted portraits of our mothers this week.  Most of the moms are sporting a red smile ("She wears lipstick you know") and seem to be leaning in a special mommy dance.  Love these.  I think all of the moms will too :)

yarn art

cut slits along the edges of a cardboard square
tape a long piece of yarn to the back of the square (I used multicolored yarn for this)
child weaves yarn back and forth in any pattern he chooses
finished project mounted on colored construction paper

cooperative games

My littles love games - but they all want to feel like "winners".  Luckily, they don't mind if the other guy wins too - just as long as they don't feel they were left out of the spotlight :)

I made this really simple game to work on counting.  I purchased little wooden peg people and little wooden bowls from Michael's.  I painted them with watercolors and sealed them with beeswax.  Then I made a game board on a piece of poster board.  To play:  Take turns rolling die.  Move any little person that number of spaces.  The object of the game is to get all of the people in their matching bowl home.  Players can move any peg person.  The idea is that we are all working together to get the little peg people home.  

Painting Peter Cottontail

While I do favor process over product, now and then I cave just a bit.  I realize that parents like to have something seasonal on the fridge from time to time.  And the littles really don't mind obliging.

I pre-cut paper into bunny shapes and the littles got to work painting them with cotton balls.  Most favored the cotton ball attached to a clothespin approach.  When the bunnies were dry, children were given an option of adding cotton ball tails and google eyes.

partner pictures

Some cooperative art.  Really big paper.  Brand new colored markers.  Two friends sharing ideas - drawing together.  Sometimes the simple things actually turn out to be the most successful.  I was a fly on the wall during this lesson - just standing back and observing.  And, I loved what I saw.  They were listening to what the other person had to say.  They were problem solving.  They were planning.  And, best of all - they really liked it.

Wood & Watercolors

Wooden eggs and bunnies from Casey's Wood + opaque watercolors = fun at the art table this week :)

p.s.  the littles couldn't wait to take these home!!!

rescued from under a pile of paperwork . . .

We made circle prints with large cardboard tubes earlier in the year and I discovered them under a pile of paperwork that I was saving.  They didn't look quite finished so I gave the children the option of adding some color with watercolor paint.  Some did a watercolor wash over the entire thing but most just filled in  the circles with different colors like this.

flower prints

. . . or - what to do when the bouquet from your still life is on it's way out.