Make Monday: Celebrate Harvest with Corn.

We have already been to the farm this harvest season for a combine ride. The kids have a blast seeing the combine suck up those golden corn stocks through the field. Then a sight to see is to watch the kernels being transferred over to into the wagon before it makes its way to the elevator.

To celebrate harvest season, we decided to make some corn stalks all our very own. Then we shucked some of our own ears to see the yellow dried kernels inside.

Supplies

Bubble Wrap
Yellow Washable Finger Paint
Green Construction Paper or Tissue Paper
Paper Towel Roll
Glue

Instructions

To make corn stalks, brush washable yellow paint over the paper towel roll. Let dry and then glue green leaves to the sides of the roll. To make corn on the cob squirt yellow washable finger paint on top of the bubble wrap (bubbles facing up). Roll the paper towel roll around for 3-D kernel effect. Let dry and then glue green leaves at the base of the corn.

Decorate your own house with corn stalks hanging on the walls and cobs of corn in a basket for a table center piece.

Make Monday: Create Paper Bag Pumpkins

It is pumpkin season and what better way to celebrate than make pumpkins to decorate your house for the season. So if you have a cold, rainy day stuck indoors that is keeping you from visiting the pumpkin patch or apple orchard, then get out your paints for some pumpkin fun. Judah and I created these brown paper bag pumpkins to add some decorations for around the house while at the same time enjoying season.

Supplies
Brown paper lunch bags
Orange, red, yellow, and green washable, finger paints
Green ribbon
Tissue paper or newspaper
Scissors
Clothespins or tape to hang bags
Glue

Instructions
Open your brown paper lunch bags to make the lunch sack flat including the sides of the bag. Using and mixing orange, red, and yellow paints, finger paint designs across the bottom 3/4 of the bag of the side that is flat. On the remaining space at the top, use green paint to cover the portion of the bag. Hang to dry with tape or clothespins. Do as many bags as you want.

The next day or once the paint is dry, you may open the bag up and fill with waded pieces of leftover tissue paper or newspaper. When the bag is full up to the top of the orange color, close shut and tie with a green ribbon to resemble the stem. Decorate as you desire.

Variations
For a more complete pumpkin look, paint the other side of the bag by adjusting the sides flat again once the first side is dry. You may otherwise glue orange tissue paper pieces to the outside of the bag instead of paint. To decorate faces, cut out eyes and mouth from black construction paper and glue to bag after painted. You may choose to use facial features found and cut from a leftover magazine for some weird, funny, or scary faces. Substitute filling the bag with candy and give to a special friend as a Halloween gift.



Lessons learned
Judah had fun with this activity as it was very simple for him to do. He enjoyed using his finger paints. We then hung up the bags with tape but when we took them down the tape ripped the bag a small amount.

Make Monday: Bubble Wrap Painted Pumpkin!

Today's craft is a bubble wrap painted pumpkin. As always, we had a lot of fun making this project and it decorates the house nicely for the season.

Supplies

Orange, Yellow, and Red Finger Washable Finger Paints
Scissors
Kitchen mixing bowl
White card stock paper
Pencil or marker
Bubble wrap used found in packaging
Black felt fabric
Green or brown construction paper
Glue

Instructions

To prepare for the project, I first used a medium sized kitchen bowl to turn upside down to trace the circle. Using scissors, I cut out the white card stock circle. Meanwhile, I took a large piece of bubble wrap, added a mixture of orange, red, and yellow finger paints onto the side of the bubbles. I laid the white circle down onto the paint and then folded the bubble wrap in half. Judah then walked and hit the bubble wrap to move the paint around onto the paper. We then removed the paper and hung to dry. We made several circles at one time while the paint was out.

The next day once the orange circles were dry, we finished our project. Mommy cut out some mouth and eye shapes from the black felt and helped Judah glue them onto the circle. We then cut and glued on green stems for the top of the pumpkins. Our finished project hangs on the dining room wall as a nice display.

Lessons Learned

Judah really enjoyed playing with the bubble wrap and finger paints. We did spread out our project on the tile kitchen floor to minimize mess. Judah also found tracing the kitchen bowl an interesting technique as we talked about shapes in things. While cutting can be for older kids, Judah helped glue on the jack-o-lantern mouth and eyes.

Make Monday: String Painting Techniques!

While I was in 4-H in high school, I entered this child development project featuring home made recipes for kids play activities. To add to the display, I decorated the front cover of my report splattering paint all over the title page. Tapping the paint brush to drip dots one by one of yellow, red, and blue paint, the cover sheet turned into a delightful, original painting.

This last week, Judah and I got the finger paints out once again. He really enjoys creating with his hands, especially getting the dirty and smearing different shades of colors all over the paper. This time though, I added a new painting technique using a string for a similar effect to the paint splatters.

Putting bright and bold colors of washable finger paint onto a paper plate, we took some cording (used for sewing) and dragged it through the piles of paint. We then lifted the string to the paper and again dragged it around on the paper making lines of color. The cording also added an extra dimension to the line like little beads. Judah enjoyed this new technique to use with the paints. He dragged the string back and forth, around in circles, and even added a hand print for good measure!

Remember the sky is the limit to painting techniques. Trying new effects stimulates creativity and originality. And we also now have some really cool wrapping paper to use for future gifts!

Happy Painting!

Make Monday: Swimming in the Ocean...or paint!

This spring, I invented a painting project for Judah to learn more about the ocean. He really enjoyed talking about fish in the ocean and painting in shades of greens and blues. To complete the experience we ate fish crackers for snack afterwards.



Supplies

Paper plate
banner paper
crayola washable finger paints
sponge
fish shapes
glue
wipes
paper towels
soap

Directions

Putting different shades of green and blue washable finger paints onto a paper plate, I let Judah mix up the colors. I then covered the table with banner paper, cutting it to size. Judah used the sponge to add texture to the painting. I rotated the paper four times so that Judah could get all sides painted. We then glued fish die cuts onto the paper and taped it up on the wall to enjoy our ocean display.

Make Monday: Budding Trees!

Since it has been rainy a lot around here with April showers, we have been finger painting to pass the time and to speed up some early May flowers. I found this idea for painting trees from Paint and Prozac. One morning, Judah and I thought we would do our own take on it to help pass the morning and add some spring decorations to our gloomy house.

Finding our banner paper, we spread it out across the table. First, I cut out a tree trunk out of some brown card stock I had on hand (for my homemade cards) and taped it to the paper. I took green and yellow Crayola washable finger paints squirting them onto a disposable paper plate. With his paint apron on, Judah dipped his hands and fingers into the paint. Plopping his hands onto the paper, we made some tree leaves. Once we finished the tree, we turned the paper and trunk upside down to add some purple and pink spring flowers.

Finally, I hung the materpiece up on our kitchen mirror where it still remains. We have enjoyed the cheery paintings bringing spring indoors on these rainy days. And my toddler had so much fun making and learning about trees.

Make Monday: Stepping it up with a Banner!

A few weeks ago, the weather went from one nice spring day back to its usual cold, gloomy mood the next. Ready for spring, cabin fever hit Judah and I very hard. We were starting to annoy each other, fuss a lot, and getting into things.

I decided right then and there that we would do something fun and different to distract our "going crazy cooped indoors" minds and bodies. That is when I got really brave with finger painting with our feet. Yes, I said our FEET!

Judah and I unrolled a large piece of white banner paper onto the kitchen tile floor. I took a marker and wrote "Happy Birthday Dad" for daddy's upcoming surprise birthday party. Then I squirted some washable crayola finger paint on each end of the paper on either side of the words. Stripping Judah down in his sleep shirt (since we did this before we got dressed in the morning), we spent the next twenty minutes walking around on the paper with paint on our feet.

Judah and I would step in the blob of paint and walk around making colorful footprints to decorate the large banner. Next, we dipped our fingers and hands adding hand prints and other designs. Judah laughed at the funny feeling of the wet paint on his feet that made their way to the paper. This fun lasted for a while before the paint started to stick our feet to the paper.

This activity was certainly fun and distracting from another cold, winter day. The fun though soon turned into a little mess. Judah had to wait for me to clean my own hands and feet before wiping down his paint. Meanwhile, Judah was all over the paper, the kitchen tile, touching the cabinets with his hands, and stepping onto the carpet before I could catch him.

The garage was empty where we could lay the banner down to dry. Thankfully, the washable paint on the cupboards came off with baby wipes and the paint on the tile floor was easily mopped with the Swifter Wet Jet. I even just used a wet wash rag on the carpet for the paint spills. Finally, Judah and I made our way upstairs to get dressed for the day.

Daddy could not even tell we painted that day and was very surprised by his big, colorful birthday banner. Painting helped pass the time, entertaining us from effects of cabin fever. And painting on our feet enhanced our creativity and our sense of touch, adding new meanings to finger paints.

My only advice is perhaps do this activity in the garage on a warmer day. Then hose down your "little Picasso's" outside after they are done painting!

Make Monday: Fingerpaints and Potato Art!

Last week, Judah and I had our neighbor friend over for some finger painting and potato art! What a blast the boys had playing in the paint and creating their own stamp masterpieces.

We started by gathering up all the supplies....vinyl table cloth, aprons or bibs, sheets of paper or roll of paper, paint, paper plates, potatoes, and some old rags for cleanup. The boys were good about rolling up their sleeves, putting on their paint shirts, and sitting on the chairs at the covered kitchen table for some serious fun.

We used blue, washable, tempera paint (you can find in the store) on paper plates to keep things simple and under control. This time we used regular white card stock I had laying around the house but you may use a roll of paper as both the table cloth and the paper.

If you do not have paint around the house, try mixing your own recipe at home with ingredients straight out of your cupboard:

3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 cups of cold water
food coloring
dish detergent
4 plastic or paper cups

Mix the sugar and the cornstarch together in the saucepan. Then add the water and mix a little more. Cook over a medium heat, stirring all the time. The mixture should start to boil, then thicken. This takes about 5 minutes. Remove from the stove, cool, and pour into 4 plastic cups. Add a little food coloring and a drop of detergent to each cup. This recipe is recommended for toddlers and above, depending on the child.

The boys dipped their hands in the finger paint to make hand prints and other designs for about 30 minutes. We discovered you can use your fingers for other inventions like connect the dots or making snakes. For some added fun, cut potatoes into shapes for stamps. I cut out squares and triangles for the boys to dip into their paint and stamp onto their paper for additional designs.


Cleanup was easy and minimal (which is what a mom likes to hear). I gave each boy a medium sized bowl of warm, soapy water to wash their hands. They continued playing in the water at the table, washing any brushes and items that needed cleaned, until their own hands were clean. We dried up and while they had a snack, I rinsed out the bowls and wiped down the paint from the vinyl table cloth and the spills on the carpet. Then I put away the supplies for another day and threw the aprons into the washing machine. That was it.

The boys certainly had a fun morning painting and stamping. And I enjoyed myself knowing the easy preparation would make this activity go smoothly, especially with being easy to manage and clean up. The end result was a happy mom and some really cute paintings for our fridge!

Make Monday: Easy Valentines for Tots!

Looking for an easy valentine for your Tot to give to Grandpa and Grandma? These darling, simple valentine hearts make such an easy, memorable decoration for those relatives you think of often.

Find some roll-on, red children's paint. Roll it on the little finger side of your child's hand (opposite of your thumb). Curl your left hand (as pictured above) to make one side of the heart. Wash hand with wipe. Roll on paint to the right side of your hand and line-up to finish stamping a heart. Wipe again with wipes before the child gets paint all over everything. Add other decorations or sayings.

The sky is the limit on creativity. You can decorate hearts in any color of paint, add some words, or decorate to your hearts content. Let your child direct you.

For a priceless gift for the grandparents, try making your own mug with the hearts. For reasonable art supplies, visit the Oriental Trading Company, a party and craft resource site.