November 2, 2007
|
|
The Little Scarecrow Boy
by Margaret Wise Brown
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
by Betsy Maestro
|
For thousands of years, hungry birds have been a problem for farmers. Sometimes the birds eat so much corn or wheat that a farmer and his family will not have enough food to last through the winter. So, for more than 3 centuries, farmers have been making scarecrows.
Scarecrows come in many different forms. In countries like India and some Arab nations, older men sit in chairs and throw stones at the birds who try to eat their crops just like long ago. As long as birds are hungry, farmers will rely on scare crows!
Create your own scarecrow! Who do you want to scare away?
Materials:
- Googly eyes
- Paper plate
- Ribbon
- Glue
- Brown craft foam or construction paper
- Tan craft foam or construction paper
- Orange craft foam or construction paper
- Yellow craft foam or construction paper
- White craft foam or construction paper
- Green craft foam or construction paper
- Markers
Where do the brilliant colors of fall come from? Most leaves appear green. In the fall, leaves turn orange, yellow, and red. Most leaves aren't changing colors. The pigments are always present in the leaves. The green pigment simply overpowers the other colors during spring and summer. In the Autumn many colors can be seen as the green pigment becomes less prominent.
Create your own little leaf friend. And be sure to give your leaf friend its own personality!
Materials:
- Ribbon
- Mini pom-poms
- Googly eyes
- Glue
- Brown craft foam
- Orange craft foam
- Yellow craft foam
- Red craft foam
- Permanent Marker
November 9, 2007
|
|
Five Little Monkeys
Jumping on the Bed
by Eileen Christelow
|
It's no secret the more your child reads the better readers and writers they become! Parents are competing with video games and television and are struggling with ways to encourage reading in their home. One way to avoid this problem is to begin to introduce reading to your child at an early age. Start by reading aloud to your child. Reading aloud to your children not only gives you an opportunity to spend quality time, but will help to develop your child's language skills which will help them to read on their own. Keep your child's interest by using different voices. Another great way to keep their interest is to incorporate the voices with a puppet. In fact, you and your child can work together to create the puppet. Not sure how to make a puppet? Here is an easy way!
Materials:
- 1 paper bag (lunch bag size)
- 5 black pipe cleaners
- 2 large colored fabric balls (a bright color)
- 1 medium size fabric ball (black)
- 2 small size fabric balls (black)
- 1 sheet of black construction paper
- Glue (for best results, use a glue gun)
Instructions:
- To create the hair, fold the pipe cleaners in half. Place glue on the fold area of the pipe cleaners and adhere to the bottom of the bag. Shape the pipe cleaners to look like hair. Keep in mind, the bottom of the bag will serve as the head of your puppet. To get a better idea of where to glue the hair, insert your hand inside of the paper bag and hold it like a puppet. The pipe cleaners should be glued to the top area of the bag and centered.
- To construct the eyes, glue the small fabric balls to the large fabric balls.
- Once the glue dries, glue the eyes in the center of the bag, but covering the area where the pipe cleaners are glued
- Glue the nose to the bag under the eyes
- Simply cut out arms and hands using the black construction paper and glue to the sides of the bag.
- You are ALL DONE! Now grab a book and sit down with your child and read a book!
You do not have to use the same materials to create your puppet. Use your imagination and create your very own unique puppet!
November 16, 2007
Thankerchief
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and this is usually everyone's favorite holiday to gather with family, and of course, eat a delicious Thanksgiving meal. But sometimes we forget what this holiday is really about, it's about telling loved ones what you are thankful for in your life. Here is a little game to play with your family, with a fun little twist to make it fun for the kids!
What you do:
Arrange the children/players in a circle. Pass around a "thankerchief" (handkerchief) around as everyone recites this poem:
Thankerchief, thankerchief, around you go --
Where you'll stop, nobody knows.
But when you do, someone must say,
what they are thankful for this day.
The player holding the "thankerchief" when the poem ends, must
say aloud, one thing for which they are thankful, this continues until
everyone has had a turn.
The Thankful Turkey
Here is a fun craft activity that is also a creative way to have children say what they are thankful for this year. This is an activity you can do before your guests arrive with your children, or have the whole family participate in during dinner. Either way you choose, this craft will bring the family together at in great way at Thanksgiving!
What you need:
- White paper
- Markers or Paint
- Construction Paper
- Black Marker
- Glue
What you do:
- Use paint or markers to draw your turkey on plain white paper.
- Next, cut out the feathers using different colored construction paper.
- Glue the feathers onto the turkey
- Write what you are thankful for on the turkey's feathers.
November 23, 2007
|
|
Arthur's Family Vacation
by Marc Brown
|
The holiday season has arrived, that means spending time with loved ones, great food, and for a lot of us…Traveling! Whether you are going out of town to see relatives or friends, when you gather the children in the car, don't go unprepared! We all have heard that infamous question "Are we there yet?" come from a child. Why not help fight off that boredom in the car with fun and educational activities for the kids! Start with packing all of the essentials to keep your children entertained: coloring books, markers, toys, and fun games you can play as a family! We all remember the classic game of "I Spy", here is a little twist you can prepare for the kids before you get in the car.
What you'll need:
- White Paper
- Crayons
- List of items typically seen on road trips
- A Car full of bored children!
Here's what you do:
We all loved to play a game of "I Spy" to pass the time on family trips when we were little. But did you ever play the game and have the item you "spied" pass by long after others are still trying to guess what it is? Well that is why you can create a drawing of items commonly found on road trips for children to check off as they see them! You can create multiple boxes in case they spy more than one red barn or blue car! A little preparation will keep the kids entertained in the car…well at least until the next "Are we there yet?"
|
