Category: create

Use regular Cheerios to ensure that this treat is safe for birds to eat.

Supplies

• Cheerios
• Pipe cleaners
• Twine, yarn or string

Instructions

1. Bend the end of a pipe cleaner to keep the Cheerios from falling off.
2. Thread the Cheerios onto pipe cleaner and twist ends together.
3. Loop a piece of twine around the pipe line cleaner and secure with a knot.
4. Your Cheerio Bird Feeder is now ready to be hung outside. Children are encouraged to be creative and create any design that they choose.

Skills

• Fine Motor
• Concentration
• Eye-hand coordination

Supplies

• Cookie cutters
• Washable paint colours
• Paper
• Shallow bowl of water (for cleaning cookie cutters)
• Optional: sponges to hold paint or shallow dishes wide enough to dip cookie cutters

Instructions

1. Pour paint colour into shallow bowls or onto sponge.
2. Dip the cookie cutter into paint colour. Or, if you’re using sponges to hold paint press the cookie cutter into the sponge.
3. Press the cookie cutter onto paper and create a painting.

Adaptations/Extensions of Play

• Allow your painting to dry and then colour your cookie shapes with crayons, or paint sticks.
• Use the cookie cutters to make a pattern to develop math skills.

Skills

• Fine motor
• Creative
• Colour mixing
• Math: patterning

Supplies

• Contact paper
• Nature: flowers, leaves, etc.

Instructions

1. Cut the contact paper into strips that will fit around a child’s wrist.
2. Go for a nature walk or in your backyard. Collect natures treasures and stick the treasures to your bracelet.
3. Be sure to smell your bracelet, especially if you have collected flowers or herbs.
4. Educators: when you return from your walk, you can cut the bracelets off and tape them to a sheet of paper for your students to bring home. Show and share with your classmates prior to students taking it home.

Skills

• Science & nature
• Fine motor
• Observation
• Creative
• Botany
• Socials skills: share/describe the items you found

Supplies

• Card stock
• Contact paper
• Optional: glitter, magazine pictures, gems, tissue paper, etc.

Instructions

1. Fold card stock in half and cut out half a heart. When you unfold the paper it will be a full heart.
2. Fold the heart in half and cut out half a heart. When you unfold the heart there will be a full heart shape that is cut out.
3. Stick a piece of contact paper behind the heart.
4. Cut or tear pieces of the card stock. These pieces will be stuck onto the contact paper.
5. Seal the artwork by placing a piece of contact paper on top of the design.
6. Reminder, process over product is what’s important!

Notes:

• This activity was the perfect activity for a toddler. However, older kids will enjoy this activity as well.
• You can use anything you choose to stick onto the contact paper. For example, glitter, magazine pictures, gems, tissue paper, etc.

Skills

• Fine motor
• Creative
• Concentration and focus

Supplies

• 1/4 cup white school glue
• 1/4 cup white shaving cream
• Bowl
• Optional: food colouring, paint brush, ziploc bag

Instructions

1. Combine shaving cream and glue together in a bowl.
2. Add a couple drops of food colouring, if you chose to do so.
3. Stir mixture together and you are ready to paint. Be creative and have fun! Remember, process over product!
4. Set your painting aside and allow for your painting to dry.

Notes:

• This is an easy recipe that children will enjoy making just as much as they will enjoy painting with it.
• Add glitter to your cloud paint mixture if you would like to add some sparkle.
• Cutting the corner off a ziploc bag and filling the bag with cloud paint is a fun way to change things up. Squeeze the bag to paint just as you would to ice a cake.
• Unused cloud paint mixture can last a couple of days when stored in a air tight container.

Skills

• Creative
• Fine motor
• Science
• Hand eye coordination
• Calming

Supplies

• Yarn
• Shallow, wide container (cake pans, disposable pie trays and take out containers all work well)
• Collected nature items

Instructions

1. Get dressed for the cold.
2. Give child a container (disposable pie trays are recommended for classrooms and can be reused).
3. Take child outside to collect treasures they can find (pine cones, herbs, tree cuttings, stones etc).
4. Place the collected items in container.
5. When finished collecting items: place the items artistically in the container. Place the items in a way that you would like your design to look – be creative.
6. Gently fill the container with water. Place the end of your tied yarn beneath the water. This is where you will hang your art work from
7. Place outside and allow to freeze.
8. Check on your art and observe the freezing process.
9. Once frozen, pop out your creation and hang from a tree outside. Tip: you may have to run warm water over the back of your pan to release the ice.

Adaptations

• Observe how the sunlight shines through the ice.
• What happens when the weather gets warmer?
• How does weather affect water?

Skills

• Science: light, temperature, liquid, solid, melting, frozen, weather, water
• Math
• Creative
• Art
• Nature