Simple Valentines Sun Catcher

I am a crafty person.  My Mom is and always has been a huge crafty person, instilling her joy of creating things in her kids.  As Liam gets older it is getting easier to do crafty things with him.  And I am thrilled that although he is 100% a Daddy's boy and into tools, building and doing stuff with Daddy, he often asks to do crafts with me.

This week, we made these super easy, no mess involved sun catchers.  These can be adapted for any season or any theme and are fun for a ranger of ages.  I do them with toddlers (18 months to 2.5 years old) at work and I've done them with my Brownie group (7-8 years old).

Materials Needed:

card stock

clear contact paper

tissue paper (cut into squares for younger kids)

glitter (optional)

scissors

Directions:

Step 1: Cut your shape from card stock.

Step 2: Cut two pieces of contact paper, each slightly larger than your card stock shape.

Step 3: Remove backing from on sheet of contact paper and position card stock shape in the centre .

***If you are doing this craft with a young child (toddler or preschooler) you may want to complete steps 1-3 before involving your child!****

Step 4: Sprinkle a small amount of glitter on to the inside of the shape. Not too much as you need the sticky surface for the tissue paper.

Step 5: Fill the inside of the shape with tissue paper pieces.  It doesn't matter if some pieces are loose or if the tissue is layered in places.

Step 6: Sprinkle a small amount of glitter on top of tissue paper. Note: There won't be anything for the glitter to stick to right now, so be careful or you will have glitter everywhere!

Step 7: Remove backing from second piece of contact paper and position over top of tissue paper.  Press into place to ensure two layers are adhered together.

Step 8: Trim excess contact paper, leaving just a little bit of an edge around the shape.

Step 9: Hang in a window and enjoy!

Toddler Art - Snowmen

No two snow flakes are alike, so I guess the same should apply to snowmen, right?  Especially when they are made by toddlers!

I love doing art with the toddlers at the daycare.  I don't always enjoy the mess taht goes along with it, but that's beside the point!  I have fun doing all kinds of art - finger painting, easel painting, glueing, colouring, etc - with them.  But my favourite is a glueing project where they glue pieces together to actually create something specific.

I've done eyes, nose and mouth on faces, putting Humpty Dumpty back together, faces on pumpkins, leaves and petals on flowers and most recently, snowmen.

When I do these projects with the kids, I glue one together a head of time, so that they have a visual example of what we are creating.  Then I put glue on the pieces, one at a time, and let them stick it on their paper.  I point to each piece of the sample as I give it to them, but they choose where to put it.

When it is all said and done . . . well, take a look!

  

Some are standing proud and tall.

Some are a little wobbly.

Some look like they have fallen over.

Some look like they are just pieces floating in the air.

Some look like they have melted.

I may be a little biased, but this is Liam's snowman, and it is my favourite!

It really doesn't matter what the finished snowman looks like.  The kids know that they have made a snowman and they are happy and proud of their creations.  And the parents love to see what their children's masterpieces.