puppets on a stick

The stick puppet is one of the most simple to make. Even the very young can make their own variations of stick puppets by decorating (with paint, markers, or collage) a card stock or cardboard shape that an adult has cut out. A slightly older child can cut out her own shape. As for the stick? My butterfly is sporting a Chinese take-out chopstick. Other options might include taping a drinking straw or pencil to the back of the puppet.

One of the (many) reasons I've become so enamored with puppets is that they are a high-quality educational toy that can be fashioned entirely from found objects, recycled material, and common household items. Here's how I made this papier mache butterfly puppet:

Draw a shape onto a piece of cardboard and cut it out. Cover the cardboard entirely in aluminum foil (used foil works fine!) Attach a stick to one side with masking tape.

Prepare your papier mache paste. I use 1 part white flour to 2 parts warm water, which should form a consistency like thick glue. Add more water or flour if needed, and mix to remove the lumps.

Tear newspaper into small strips (the smaller the better for working with figures that have curved edges, such as this one.) Dip each strip into the paste, run it between your index and middle fingers to remove the excess, and place it on the figure. Cover the figure evenly, forming "x"s with the strips, which will give it more tensile strength. Add 4-6 more layers (being sure to let it dry a bit between each layer.)

Let the puppet dry completely for one or two days. Use some sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges, then cover it entirely in a coat of white paint (acrylics or temperas work fine.)

Once the base layer has dried, bring out the rest of the colors and let your imagination take flight! Once dry, cover with a coat of Mod Podge.

Happy puppeteering!
Meg

holiday crafting with the wee ones

As promised! I'll begin with my personal chart-topper, salt dough ornaments.

Use the play doh recipe and leave out the food coloring. Form a small ball (about 1" diameter) by rolling the dough in your hands. On wax paper, flatten the ball with the palm of your hand and use a small rolling pin to roll out the ornament until it is no less than 1/2 cm thick. With a small wooden dowel (or a pencil with the eraser cut off) make a hole in the top of the ornament. Using acrylic paints (or even washable tempera, which I used due to availability) paint the ornament while it is still soft. Let it air dry on the wax paper overnight, then flip it over and air dry it some more. Two days later, it should be dry enough to finish with a glossy mod podge seal. Attach the ribbon, and ta da! You now have a keepsake ornament for the family collection. (Before the ornament is dry, you might consider "engraving" the date on the back with a toothpick.)

Winter scene collage
Gather all of the white miscellany you can get your hands on - cotton balls, white buttons, styrofoam packing peanuts, soap flakes, white yarn, egg shells, etc. Glue away on a dark card stock background.

Winter scene 3-D collage
Using a scrap of cardboard as the base, go outside and collect sticks and stones, and perhaps a little moss if you're lucky. Using that handy-dandy play doh once again, make a sturdy base in which to place the sticks to make the "trees" stand upright. Go for it with the play doh, glue, and other white items such as the ones suggested above. You might consider providing a bit of glitter to evoke a moon-kissed snowy eve.

This looks awesome, too - though I haven't tried it yet.

Soap Snow
Here's an idea from one of my favorite children's craft books: Global Art.

Measure 1 cup of cold water into a bowl. Little by little, using a hand mixer, add 4 cups of soap flakes (such as Ivory) to the water. Beat the soap and water until just stiff. Put some of the soap mixture into a pastry bag or a sandwich bag with a small hole cut out of the corner to allow the soap to escape. Squeeze soap designs onto cardboard and dry until hard.
*Don't put the mixture down the drain as it will cause a whopper of a clog!*

As far as holiday crafting goes, I'm a huge proponent of going the multi-cultural route whenever possible. A family (or classroom) crafting activity becomes that much more meaningful when it is accompanied by stories, food, and music from the region. These two books have been a real boon in this aspect. Festivals Together is a great amalgamation of traditional crafts, activities, songs, stories, and recipes from cultures around the world, arranged by season.

Oh - one more thing - don't forget to visit Bella Dia during the month of December. Cassi will be authoring a daily "activity advent," replete with holiday activities, children's crafting, and cooking!

If you have a children's holiday craft you would like to share, please consider posting a short tutorial in the comments!

:) Meg

art, craft, children, and the making of the home

In my Montessori training, we were warned against putting the children's art up for display. Children's art, it was said, should be spared the ooohs and aaahs adults are so prone to spill all over it. Like any work, it should be received in a kind and encouraging manner, but shouldn't be put on a pedestal, as the goal is for the child to learn to love the process of creating for itself, and not to "create" just because of the accolades their creations tend to elicit from grown-ups.

Okay, so that's the Montessori view of artwork. I'm on the fence - while I certainly don't want my students and future children to create simply because I like it and think its so incredibly cute, I also believe that displaying children's art in the home and classroom is an important act of home making and community building.

First, I would never want to diminish the act of giving a handmade gift that is, by its nature, infused with love, time, and much effort. As a child, I remember giving countless homemade gifts to people I loved. The child's generosity is unencumbered by holiday pressures and financial worries, and his penniless, spontaneous state allows creations of love to be gifted at any time of the year, if only he has within his reach a set of paints, fabric scraps, and other mundane treasures.

Next, if my creations are sprinkled about my home, why shouldn't my children's be, as well? For me, an integral part of "home making" is just that - a home must be made, not bought. How does one make a home? Here are a few thoughts:

Baking and cooking from scratch
Gardening and eating from your seasonal harvest
Making household items, such as towels, pillowcases, quilts, etc., by hand
Thoughtfully decorating with thrifted or handmade items
Cleaning - again and again and again and again ...

A home must be lovingly "acted upon" in order to make it a home. A home can't function on its own - we grown-ups are well aware of this. Children need to be brought into this realm of understanding, too. Remember that post on Practical Life exercises a while back? If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and read it now. As soon as the child is developmentally capable, he should be encouraged to help to "make" the house into a home. Like his parents, he should be involved in meal preparation, cleaning, and decorating; in essence, the child shouldn't be overlooked in the whole, ever-occurring process of making a house into a home.

If you are a crafter, this means that, like you, your children will want to make useful and decorative items for display, as they will see it as a tangible way to contribute to the family community. If you don't consider yourself an artist - consider trying it out, for the sake of your children. Why should their art be the only of its kind on display on the fridge? Consider making items for the home together, and finding more pleasing and permanent ways to display children's artwork other than the fridge. If you're at a loss for where to begin, Amanda's upcoming book promises to have some innovative ideas for displaying children's handiwork and many more lovely ideas for encouraging creativity in the family.

As for the classroom? Well, it wasn't for quaintness that Maria Montessori decided to call the 3-6 year-old classroom the Children's House. It is meant to mimic the family home, from the cozy decor to the familiar household (practical life) activities. I would say, then, that the students in the Montessori classroom should be part of the entire "home making" process, from caring for the plants to decorating for the holidays. No die-cut bulletin boards for our "House." Instead, you will find handmade paper garlands, hand-cut snowflakes, salt-dough ornaments, and more. The children make the decoration and then decide how, where, and if it will be displayed.

More on specific holiday crafts tomorrow!

paper clip ice skates

wool + embroidery floss + cotton ball + paper clips

I first came across these little bitties during my Montessori training course. It was love at first sight, I tell you! They've been a seasonal staple in my classroom ever since.

You will need to pre-cut the wool or felt "booties" and provide all of the necessary materials, including an easy-to-use needle threader (available at Michael Olaf.) Obviously, this is a rather advanced sewing activity and only children who have mastered the more simple sewing materials should be introduced to the ice skates.

What, you say? You aren't six years old and you still want to make paper clip ice skates as tree ornaments? No matter! I'm already twenty years past my prime, and I'm still as giddy about them as any kindergartener.

Oh ... and, if you are in Group 11 for the holiday ornament swap, don't go making yourself a whole set. Surprise! You're all getting paper clip ice skate ornaments!

xo,
Meg

once upon a time there was a little boy who loved play-doh

But his teacher thought he was too little to make it himself on the stove ...

So she put together a special, no-cook play-doh making exercise just for him.

The little boy has never been happier! Every day at school he makes a batch of play-doh to share with the rest of the children on the art shelf and a special green batch to take home.

4 tablespoons of white flour
2 tablespoons of salt
1 dropper-full of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of water

Add the dry ingredients in a bowl. If you want to add a few drops of food coloring, make sure to add it to the water, otherwise it will be difficult to get a uniform color. Little by little, add the water. At first, stir with a spoon - once all of the water is added, start smooshing the mixture with your hands until it reaches the desired consistency. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge when not in use. Most likely, it will end up drying out after a day or two of heavy use.

Psst ... want to see more recent pics of classroom happenings? I just posted a bunch over at Flickr .

xo,
Meg

something's up my sleeve

I've been working on a child's art smock pattern for the last week or so. Wonder what this teacher does with little bits and pieces of her spare moments? Here's a peek:

I'll be working on writing up the pattern this weekend. Lately I've been able to get a good deal of pattern design on the time card because my husband is spending all of his "leisure time" applying to grad school. Maybe, just maybe, the child's art smock will be available in a fortnight or so ... a blink of an eye and a few twirls of the hourglass!

ta ta for now, and an art project to keep you busy...

while I'm on vacation! I will be taking a bit of a bloggy break while my husband and I are jet setting around North America. First stop, Kentucky for a friend's wedding. Second stop, Nevada City, California for a visit with my parents, grandparents, brothers, and nieces. Plus, I'll be packing very light, leaving plenty of room for the new fabric stash I will be bringing back with me!

In the meantime, try this psychedelic art project. You'll have as much fun as the kids!

Materials:

* white poster board
* a stash of large crayons
* black liquid shoe polish
* black washable tempera paint
* larger paint brush
* newspaper
* toothpicks

*I used a small square of poster board for this photo shoot, but I suggest you color an entire sheet.

1.) Using so much force that you work up a sweat, color the poster board using the crayons. You need to push HARD. The more colors you use and the more often you change color, the better. The point here is not to make a design. It's simply to get plenty of different colors.

2.) Coat the entire sheet with liquid shoe polish. Wait for it to dry.

3.) Using your paint brush, add a coat of black paint. Allow to dry completely.

4.) Cut the poster board into smaller squares.

5.) Go at it with a toothpick! The black layer will easily scratch away, revealing the smörgåsbord of color beneath!

See you in ten days!

Meg

fine art and food art

Gushing gratitude for my blogging friend, Jo, from Japan! Jo put together some art card PDF files and sent them off to me to share with y'all. I've uploaded them to Box.net for easy downloading. Just click on the blue "Box View My Files" button in the side bar. The files are located in the "Art Cards" folder.

Another fabulous resource for art appreciation is the Child-Size Masterpiece series, available here at Montessori Services. I also recommend this book that tells you how to use the series in the home or classroom.

While we're on the topic of art, let me throw in another artsy idea - bento boxes! This is creativity extended to food. Jo first turned me on to the possibilities of Bento for children. Here's one of her creations:
Bento boxes are common in Japanese cuisine. They first made their appearance during the mid-1500's, and were eaten during a hanami, or tea party. Their portability made them popular among travelers, and their use later extended to teachers and school children, who brought their bentos for along for lunch.

The potential of bento boxes for children seems astronomical - a delighful, fun presentation of fresh, healthy, unprocessed food! I imagine that it would also be a fun way for the adult and child to corroborate in meal preparation. Here are some links to other bento box resources:

Bento Corner English blog on creating bentos, specifically for children
Bento In Japanese and English
Cooking Cute - A Bento Site Links to lots of resources, including bento making supplies
Vegan Lunch Box Bento book for vegetarians and vegans, geared toward children
Bento Boxes - Japanese Meals on the Go
e-obento Japanese language blog with great pics

painting with feet

I love presenting this material to my students. Here's what you'll need:

• large, thick paper - butcher paper won't do, because it's too thin
• waterproof mat, larger than your paper, to place on floor. Try buying a meter of that picnic table material.
  
• plastic tray large enough to fit your foot in
• piece of felt to cover bottom of foot tray, and duct tape to secure it down
• pitcher for transporting water
  
• basin for washing feet when you're done
  
• small bucket for transporting used water to drain
• a chair
• washable paint available on the shelf
• towels for drying feet
  

1. Place waterproof mat on floor. Bring the chair, basin, bucket, and clean towel to the work area. Place the basin just to the right of the chair, and drape the towel over the back of the chair. The bucket can be placed to the right of the basin. Fill pitcher with water and empty into the basin. Retrieve a piece of paper and place it in the middle of the waterproof mat.
2. At the shelf, squirt a generous amount of paint onto the felt-bottomed foot tray. Bring tray over to work area, placing it on the mat, to the left of the paper.
3. Sit down in the chair and remove shoes and socks. Place shoes to the left of the chair.
   
4. Stand up and place one foot at a time into the foot tray. Step onto the paper.
5. Demonstrate different techniques - painting with the big toes, tip-toes, whole foot, dragging the foot, etc.
6. When you are finished, sit down in the chair and place painty feet in the basin. Rinse, using your hands, then use towel to dry off each foot individually. Put shoes on.
7. Dump dirty water into the bucket, and transport it to a drain inside, or a thirsty plant outside.
   
8. Place painting in a secure place to dry.
9. Place the dirty towel with the laundry, and replace with a clean towel.
10. Invite the child.

A neat variation for this is to use black paper and white paint. Also, mixing paint colors in the foot tray is nifty.

Happy foot painting,
Meg

birding, boxes, and beeswax

I'm loving this vocabulary card pouch set that I whipped up to go with my Audubon Field Guide bird cards. These field guides are available for mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, butterflies, and marine mammals.
Buy two (used) sets of the field guide, then cut them all up. Make copies of the informational section on each animal, then paste all the photos to card stock, pasting the copy of the information on the back of the picture only card. Here's what they should look like when the set is complete:
Ahem. My apologies to those who read this post before it was complete. My cat just published the post while I was away from the computer. Thank you, cat. Always so helpful.

I wanted to direct you to my blogging friend Leah, whose blog, HomeWork, has some great offerings. Please go and check out her tutorials - she has young children, and many of the projects are child/family friendly. Here are just a few, photos courtesy of Leah.

Felted treasure box

How to make beeswax candles

Also, check out Mod Podge masterpieces, here and here!

Until next time, unless the cat decides to publish again.

Meg

memory books

Phew ... tomorrow is finally the last day of school! I'm in need of a recharge - a few delicious mornings of sleeping in, a few days of reading some good books, and a few trips to the hot springs.

But it doesn't stop yet! I have an entire week (plus this entire weekend) of doing teacher-y things. In fact, I've been doing teacher-y things late into the night this past week, also. Here's a little peek at some of my behind-the-scenes projects:

These are memory books that I've put together for the children who will be moving on to elementary school. Inside each book you will find:

-a picture of the whole class on the front cover
-several pictures of each child
-a handwritten letter from his/her teachers
-a collection of their "work," from their first drawings, first words, etc. to more advanced artwork and math work.

I used a thick construction paper, gluing examples of the children's work to both sides, making sure to leave enough space on the left hand side for the binding. Take the books to any office supply store and they should be able to bind them for you. I think that having the transparent covers adds a more professional, "important" look to the books, and it makes them more resistant to wear.

Not a Montessori teacher? No matter. It actually occurred to me as I was putting these together that once I have my own children, I'm going to collect and bind their artwork and other creations in memory books. Wouldn't it be nice to make one for each year? What a treasure. Because, hey, we can't frame everything, and the fridge has it's limits! You can cut out parts of certain artwork, especially if it's finger painting or foot painting. Yes, you heard me correctly. We paint with feet in our classroom. In the next post, I'll show you how it's done Montessori-style. Larger, easel paintings can be folded up, pasted on one side to the construction paper, and opened by the child when she is flipping through her book.
Let me know if you use this idea in your classroom or home!

xo,
Meg

A Little Bit of Everything

Lots of ideas swirling around in my head. House guests. Parent-teacher conferences. Another head cold. So here's a post that reflects my current mental state - lots of ideas and hardly any organization!

View Master "Around the World" slides and view finder found on Ebay = Geography folders extension. Search for these old slides on Ebay and organize them by continent, much in the same way as the continent folders. But these are in 3-D! In my house, we are all quite twitter pated (reference Bambi if your eyebrow just went up) with these slides and my antique View Finder. I can only imagine what it will be like once I put it in the classroom! Just have to make little folders for the slides and increase my slide collection. Just. Maybe after P-T conferences!

Recently, Montessori By Hand was included in a helpful list posted by Lori of Montessori for Everyone at her blog. Called Montessori Basics 3: Ultimate Guide to Online Resources, it features links to all kinds of Montessori and educational websites organized by category. Check it out!

Tie One On's new apron gallery is up! My little "Watering Plants" apron is featured. Make sure to send in photos of aprons you've made to Tie On On - and post them on our very own Handmade Montessori Materials Flickr group. Let the apron inspiration roll!

Are you familiar with Kids Craft Weekly? If not, familiarize yourself! This is a great, bi-monthly newsletter put out by a mom of young children. She has some really great ideas - a great way to keep your art shelf fresh and interesting. One caveat - be sure the craft is doable without adult help. Some of her ideas are heavy on adult guidance, and not what we really want in a Montessori environment. Think "help me do it by myself," a favorite quote from our favorite lady.

And a purely crafty announcement, Anna Maria Horner's new line of fabric, Chocolate Lollipop, is now available. I'm drooling. And yes, I already ordered some. Must ... have ... fabric. Are there any support groups for this kind of addiction?

Back to the crazy life.
xo,
Meg

Springtime Art/Practical Life Ideas ...

... and a bit of Mexican tradition for you, as well!Did you know that every Easter, in small towns in the south of Mexico , they have a confetti egg fight? My grandfather's family is from the south of Mexico, and it is an Easter tradition we have kept alive in my (now American) family for several generations. Here's a photo of my husband about to get bopped on the head by my uncle - this was way back in college (thus the scanned photo.) Thankfully, he still wanted to marry into my family after this experience!

In his hand, my uncle carries a colorful arsenal ... an eggshell, yolk emptied by making a smallish hole on the skinny side of the ovoid, filled with confetti. Tissue paper and glue cover the hole and keep the confetti inside until it is smashed over someone's head.

The egg fight is so much better than your typical "gringo" Easter egg hunt. Adults hide dozens and dozens of these eggshells, or cascarones, and each child receives a paper bag for gathering as many eggs as they can find before the fight begins. (I use the word "child" liberally here ... my brother is 40, my father 65, and they are more into this than any 7 year-old.) Here's my dad and brother in a typical Easter scene: (click to see a larger version)



Where I am in the north of Mexico cascarones are not part of the Easter celebration. Although we are not going to have a real fight in the classroom, I did put a few materials on the shelf that pertain to the preparation of the cascarones.

Here is my most "active" child totally engrossed in his work washing and drying the eggshells in preparation for decoration. Here he is again, filling, topping, and decorating his eggshell. He ended up making a cat, with ears, tail, whiskers, four paws and all. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the finished product. Perhaps I'll post it tomorrow.
Here is the practical life material you will need for washing eggshells:
We asked the parents to save their eggshells ( not cracked in half, but with a hole in one end.)
Materials:
eggshells
small jar
a small dish (a spice grinder worked here)
a ramekin in which you can submerge an eggshell in water.
sponge
toothbrush
somewhere to put the washed eggs as they dry (you could use a half-dozen egg carton with the top cut off.)
a small bucket to empty the dirty water
organic soap shavings (We also have material on the practical life shelf for grating soap, which is generally used for washing veggies ... this is the same soap that can be available at the Table of Provisions.
small towel for drying eggs
mat or underlay

Presentation:
Put one small spoonful of soap into dish. Fill jar with water and add a small amount of water to the soap dish. Fill the ramekin 3/4 full. Get an eggshell from the basket on the shelf. Show child how to carefully insert a finger in the eggshell, dip toothbrush in soap dish, and wash egg in tiny, circular motions. Once you have scrubbed the entire egg, carefully submerge it in the ramekin. Move around slightly to remove soap, take out of ramekin and let drip until the last drop falls (like pouring water,) and place in the egg carton/holder. Show the child how to clean up. Tell him that when he has filled up the carton, you will show him how to dry off the eggs and place them, one by one, in the basket on the art shelf.

Here's the art shelf. The entire top row is dedicated to egg decorating at this moment. From left to right: cutting confetti, washed eggs, tissue paper for the egg tops, glue, sponge applicator (or paint brush) and small glue dish (you can't use paste for this ... you'll have to make do with white glue,) markers, compartmentalized tray with sequins, packing popcorn cut in half, tissue paper balls, yarn pieces, etc., tray with small pieces of construction paper and a pair of scissors.



This presentation involves cutting confetti (if a small child hasn't chosen this work yet today,) filling the egg half full with confetti, placing glue around the hole, and topping it with a piece of tissue paper. The rest is your creative license - I like to make little animals when I present to an older child, and simple shapes and decoration when presenting to a younger child. I don't present the construction paper and scissors tray to the younger ones - this is for making ears, etc. To make animal ears, cut out the shape and fold 1/4 inch at the bottom of the ear. On this fold you can place the glue and stick it on the egg. The ears stick out and look really cute. I'll post some finished product photos tomorrow to give you some ideas!