The Mom I Want to Be

 A grown up activity —

 

 

1 black bottle top/cap

4 black pipe cleaners

2 googly eyes

Glue gun

Glue sticks

 

 

I glued the middle of the four pipe cleaners underneath the bottle top so that it would make 8 legs (4 on each side of the spider). Then I glued the googly eyes onto the bottle top. Finally, we bent the pipe cleaners so that they looked more like spider legs…and there you have it…a bottle top spider. This was super easy and the kids love playing with their spiders.

 

2 applesauce cups (per favor) 

Tape 

Scissors 

Orange crepe paper 

Black electrical tape 

 

Tape applesauce cups together to form pumpkin shape.

 

 

Wrap crepe paper around a few times, just to help with coverage.  Tape. Fold crepe paper in half (better coverage, better scale) and wind around and around, turning as you go, until the cups are completely wrapped.  Tape.

Cut cute (we went for non-scary) jack o’lantern face shapes out of electrical tape.  Stick on.  Tie on a note if you like.  Get these done ahead of time and cross something off your to-do list.

You could also use red crepe paper, a green paper leaf and make apples for an apple / A unit!

The theme for this week’s Open Ended Art project was simply “black and white”.  Once again I wanted to go with the spirit of the challenge and provide only materials to him, without any specific project in mind, and without assisting or correcting in any way.  He is old enough that it works.  When he was younger I think he would have been at a loss on his own like that.

We started out upstairs in my office / the playroom and he was asking to “make a project”.  I said of course and hey, do you think we could make something cool if we only used black and white? and he said yes we can!  He started rummaging (my scrapbook stuff that isn’t packed up is all over the place), dug out some buttons and some patterned paper.  He asked for scissors and glue.  Then he went to work

Once he had everything glued down the way he wanted, we set it aside to dry, but he very earnestly informed me that it wasn’t finished and he needed to “draw in the lines” when the glue was dry.  He had a very clear vision, apparently!

What is it?  It’s a “jungle at night” of course.  He even spelled out “jungle” with scrapbooking stickers all on his own!

A recycled margarine tub becomes an autumn decoration for nuts and candies.

Margarine tub 
Crayons, markers, paint, 
or colored pencils 
Scissors 
White Glue 
Glue Gun (optional) 
Any of the following; Brown colored construction paper, burlap, calico fabric

Apply diluted glue onto the tub with a paint brush adding fabric, burlap or paper as you go. Until it is completely covered. Follow with another coat of glue. Set it aside to dry-for a few hours or over night. Now that you bowl is dry you can decorate it the way you like.  Paper or fabric leaves, circled by a fall calico.  Make a mosaic picture with beads or tiles. For thanksgiving, add a turkey head and feathers with construction paper or feal feathers, nuts, leaves, seeds or beans. Heavier items may need a glue gun.  Let your children tell you where to place the objects, while you use the hot glue gun.

Younger children may need assistance.

Large needle
string or fishing line
popped corn
raisins or dried cranberries
Optional items:
nuts, pieces of orange peel,
dried apple or apricot

Measure the length of line that you need to fit the necklace over the head. Don’t forget to leave enough for tying off. Thread the needle and string the popcorn and other items alternately. Wear for fun; afterwards hang the necklace onto a tree or shrub for the local wildlife. Tip: The orange peel adds a very pleasant scent. Put a bit of all natural peanut butter on the necklace before placing it outside. The oils and protein are great for the birds!

  

At school, home, and throughout the community kids are offered food as a reward for “good” behavior. Often these foods have little or no nutritional value but are easy, inexpensive, and can bring about short-term behavior change.

 

There are many disadvantages to using food as a reward:

 

§  It undermines nutrition education being taught in the school / home environment.

§  It encourages overconsumption of foods high in added sugar and fat.

§  It teaches kids to eat when they’re not hungry as a reward to themselves.

 

Kids learn preferences for foods made available to them, including those that are unhealthy. Poor food choices and inadequate physical activity contribute to overweight and obesity. Currently, obesity among kids is at epidemic levels and can often lead to serious health problems.

 

Students Learn What They Live

 

Kids naturally enjoy eating healthy and being physically active. Schools and communities need to provide them with an environment that supports healthy behaviors. Below are some alternatives for students to enjoy instead of being offered food as a reward at school.

 

ZERO-COST ALTERNATIVES

 

Sit by friends

Watch a video

Read outdoors

Walk with a teacher during lunch

Eat lunch outdoors with the class

Teach the class

Have extra art time

Enjoy class outdoors

Have an extra recess

Dance to favorite music in the classroom

Get “free choice” time at the end of the day

Listen with a headset to a book on audiotape

Play a computer game

Read to a younger class

Get a no homework pass

Make deliveries to the office

Have a teacher perform special skills (i.e. sing)

Have a teacher read a special book to the class

Listen to music while working

Play a favorite game or puzzle

Earn play money for privileges

Be a helper in another classroom

Eat lunch with a teacher or principal

 

LOW-COST ALTERNATIVES

 

Select a paperback book

Enter a drawing for donated prizes

Take a trip to the treasure box (non-food items)

Get stickers, pencils, and other school supplies

Receive a video store or movie theatre coupon

Get a set of flash cards printed from a computer

Receive a “mystery pack” (notepad, folder, sports cards, etc.)

 

Although specifically targetted at the classroom, many ideas can be adopted to use at home as well!

Little ones use a combination of emotion, recall, and learning to understand the world around them.

 

If we stop and think about it, most of us are aware that emotions — pleasant or unpleasant — impact our learning. Developmental psychologist Michael Hoffman researched three different ways that this happens for children:

 

Emotion may cause, change, or interrupt the way a child processes information. Say a dog approaches a toddler. The child’s mood or emotional state before the dog arrives may predispose her to be interested in him, if she’s feeling secure and comfortable, or resistant, if she’s feeling tired or irritable.Emotion may organize mental recall. Pleasure in the dog encounter stimulates the recall of previous pleasurable encounters, which encourages the young explorer to reach out and touch the dog, or talk to it, instead of simply looking on passively.The emotional “charge” we attach to categories, events, and things is the product of how we felt about them in our past experiences with them. We bring that charge to each new experience, which, in turn, may modify the charge further.

 

For the young child, in particular, experiences are more easily understood and filed away if they are connected to the emotions — pleasurable or not — contained in the event. Thunderstorms are terrifying if you are alone, wet, or hungry. Thunderstorms are neat if you are snuggled on your dad’s lap, and he tells you what is happening and how safe you both are, and that the noise, lightning, and water will not “get you.” Either way, boy, will you remember thunderstorms! The same is true for remembering dogs, grandmothers, songs, pictures, books, butterflies and so forth.

 

The little thinker can take that experience, file it, and call it up to work on later. He may construct figures in his sand pile, get water, and pour it over the tableau as he roars his own thunderclap (most observers would wonder what is going on!). He is playing out an experience which he is thinking and feeling through. In this type of play, children practice and refine their inner worlds the way they practice rolling a ball, washing a doll, or pulling on a shirt. It takes time, a pleasant, calm environment, some playthings, and a little time to oneself. Most little ones resent interruptions as they work to sort this stuff out!

 

The more internal images children have at their disposal — of their own making, not from videos or TV — the better they will manage later in life. The way children accumulate those images over time is what makes toddlerhood so interesting. Recent memory research has built upon the pioneering work of Jean Piaget, the famous Swiss psychologist who established the idea that children learn best from comfortable, repeated, and predictable sequences. They feel pleasure at being able to predict and cause the outcomes of their actions.

 

This is why children delight in repetition — why the demand the same story or game or song over and over. However, once they are comfortable and satisfied with a learning experience, something unexpected happens: They start to demand the new or different.

You will need a small, inexpensive flashlight, white crepe paper, tape, and a black marker. 

 

Wrap the flashlight a couple of times with the crepe paper lengthways and tape to secure.

 

 

 

Fold the crepe paper in half and wrap the flashlight completely. After securely taping, dot on a couple of eyes with a marker (I think googley eyes would be great here but I didn’t have any on hand).  Add a note and there you go–a practical, yet fun, Halloween favor that both kids and parents will appreciate.