Let's Explore - Creative Activities for Preschoolers

Office Supply Collage

The girls were following me around asking for a "project," so I dug through my box of office supplies and set them up collaging. I put out 4 different types of blank labels, colored index cards, paper clips, post-it flags, highlighter pens, and tape, plus regular glue, glitter glue, & scissors. I also found a couple scrap pieces of craft foam, so that's what they used for their bases.

Good fun - and, I also learned that I have way too many office supplies, and should try to control myself next time I'm in Staples... :)

Happy playing today!

Ribbon Art

After missing last week, we are back for another Unplugged Project at the Unplug Your Kids blog. This week's theme was ribbon. I pulled out my bag of ribbon scraps leftover from scrap booking, gift wrapping, etc. and the girls made ribbon art.

Buttons were also requested, so we added those too. The big tray of ribbon, combined with bottles of squeeze glue, kept the girls busy for a good half-hour or so. We will probably leave these supplies out on the art table for a few days for more creations.

The finished projects -- the girls say they are gingerbread houses:

Looking forward to seeing all the other creative ways of exploring ribbon!

Happy playing!

Birds of a Feather...

Time for another Unplugged Project over at the Unplug Your Kids blog. This week's theme was birds. The girls had been asking to do a "project," which means they wanted to do something craft-like. So, we made these simple toilet paper tube birds.

I think they are pretty self-explanatory! We painted the tubes, and while they dried the girls cut out wings and a beak. I helped my 3-year-old with cutting out the wing shape, then she cut "fringe" all around to make it look like feathers. Good scissor practice! When the paint was pretty much dry (we weren't very patient!), we glued on the wings, beak, & googly eyes. I had envisioned the birds standing up, which is how my 3-year-old made hers. My 5-year-old came up with the bird in flight -- I love it!

The girls are really interested in birds and bird-watching, so there may be more bird activities to come!

Happy Playing!

Fun With Plastic Eggs

After all our Easter activities this weekend, we have added to our already extensive collection of plastic Easter eggs! Although I am tempted to gather them all up from the corners of my house and pack them away immediately, I think I will let the girls enjoy them a bit longer. When you have had enough fun re-creating Easter egg hunts around your house, here are some creative & easy ways to play with those eggs a bit longer. Enjoy!

• Egg & Spoon Race: See how far or how long your child can walk with a plastic egg on a spoon.
• Egg Toss: Toss plastic eggs into an Easter basket, a box, a laundry basket, etc.
• Surprise Egg: Put a small object inside an egg and give your child clues. After your child guesses your object, it's his/her turn to hide something inside.
• Count & Deliver: Set out baskets or boxes with numbers attached to the front (or draw different amounts of eggs on an index card for each basket). Have your child count and deliver the corrent number of eggs to each basket.
• Sound Match: Fill pairs of eggs with matching objects. Tape them closed and have your child shake each egg and find the matches.
• Egg Roll Race: Mark a finish line on the floor with masking tape, or outside with chalk. Ready, set, go! Roll the plastic eggs and see which one crosses the finish line first.
• Missing Egg: Set out 3-6 different eggs. Talk about each one, name the colors with your child, etc. Then your child closes his/her eyes while you take one egg away. Then, guess which one is missing! Be sure to let your child be the "hider" too!
• Sort & Graph: Sort a basket of plastic eggs by color. Older preschoolers will be able to color in a simple bar graph showing how many eggs there are for each color.
• Treasure Hunt: Set up a treasure hunt with clues inside eggs hidden around the house or outside. Fill the last egg with some candy or toy treasure!
• Save an egg carton and have fun loading and unloading with plastic eggs.
• Use the plastic eggs with playdough, rice, beans, water, paint. Try painting with whole eggs & halves.

Phew! Hope you have fun with these ideas. I'm off to plan a treasure hunt!

Fun with Grocery Ads

I saved a couple week's worth of grocery store ads, which we put to use for a few easy projects today. We cut out a big pile of food pictures -- I ended up doing most of the cutting, but this would also be a great opportunity for little ones to practice their scissor skills.

We made paper plate meals

and restaurant menus.

We still have quite a few cut-outs left. We might sort our foods into food groups or make a food pyramid. Check out the new food pyramid and healthy eating guide for kids at the USDA website.

Well, my kids are busy setting up a restaurant for dad when he gets home. Have fun exploring with your kiddo this weekend!

Simple Sculpture

reusing styrofoam pieces + paint + pipe cleaners

"Rainbow land where the baby rainbows live" created by Natalie at preschool

The Junk Box

I affectionately refer to this as the junk box. It is an ever-changing variety of materials, and is used very frequently for spur-of-the-moment art activities. My girls love digging through it and seeing what they can find.

Here are some of the things I throw in here from time to time:

• junk mail, envelopes, address labels, old stationary, stickers


• cardboard flats, cut-up cereal or cracker boxes


• bubble wrap


• small boxes


• office supplies, such as blank labels, register tape, paper clips, etc.


• scraps of ribbon, yarn, felt, fabric left over from other projects


• paper plates, paper cups, lunch bags, napkins


• wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, tissue paper


• magazines, grocery ads, catalogs


• packaging materials, such as styrofoam pieces/peanuts


• wood scraps, popsicle sticks


• strawberry baskets, lids from milk or soda bottles, twist ties

I could just go on and on! As you can see, this is a great place to put excess mail and packaging to work. What household items do your kids like to create with?

Happy playing!

Create: Bubble Wrap Prints

I have a nice stack of bubble wrap hanging around from all my online holiday shopping. When you and your kids have had enough bubble popping contests, try this simple art project!

First, tape the bubble wrap down on the table. Put out a few colors of paint and a brush or two. Let your little artist go to work painting the bubble wrap. Mixing the colors is part of the fun! Next, lay a piece of paper onto the bubble wrap and gently press. Lift the paper and see your beautiful print!

If you use blue and green paints for this, the prints make great underwater scenes. When your prints are dry, cut and glue on some paper fish, seaweed, and other sea creatures. The dry prints also make beautiful cards or bookmarks.

Happy playing!