Preschooler Art: A mathematical rainbow collage

Okay I admit, I did not think of the math angle till we were through the red and orange squares and starting on the yellow.  😉

Originally, all I set out to do was a fine motor skills activity using small squares of colour paper to make a rainbow.

Along the way, it sort of evolved into a counting the leftovers activity when I  casually pointed out to DD that the orange arc was smaller than the red arc.  And the yellow was smaller than the orange, and so on and so forth. 

So then we got to counting the number of squares leftover in each cup, with the completion of each colour’s arc.  🙂  She tired out after counting up to blue, but I think that was pretty good after all that focused concentration on pasting the colours.

Leftovers Count:

• Red = 0
• Orange = 3
• Yellow = 3
• Green = 10
• Blue = 14
• Indigo and Violet = ??  😛

Kids Say: Hobson’s Choice Part II or “That’s NOT food!!!”

DD: (walking into the kitchen) Hi, may I take your order please?
Grandma: Yes, may I have spaghetti and meatballs?
DD: Okay. (turning to Grandpa), please may I have your order?
Grandpa: Yes please. (with a twinkle in his eye) I would like one tyrannosaurus rex and one stegosaurus.
DD: One tyranno….pffffthhhh!! (bursts out laughing) Tyrannosaurus?? Tyrannosaurus?!

The adults erupt into laughter and so does DD. As she walks out of the kitchen, DD turns back and declares, “Tyrannosaurus is NOT fo-oo-d.”

A minute later, DD walks back in and sets the dishes on the table.

DD: Okay. Spaghetti for you. (turning to Grandma)
Grandma: Thank you. And what did you give Grandpa in the end?
DD: Spaghetti.
Grandpa: No tyrannosaurus?
DD: No. (very matter of factly) You can’t eat a tyrannosaurus.

Alphabet Wall: Making…J for Jellyfish

A thought just occurred to me while sitting here typing the tutorial for this craft – Especially after reading about the biology and life cycle of a jellyfish, I can’t believe we merrily ingest these little stingers at Chinese wedding dinners…

Maybe I’ll pass, next dinner I attend.
Anyway.

You will need the following materials: Coloured paper, tissue paper, white sheet of paper, marker, scissors, glue.

1. Cut out a semi-circle shape from the coloured paper for the bell of the jellyfish. (As an alternative, you can try using different materials, e.g. craft foam, painted tissue paper, etc.)

2. Cut the tissue paper into strips. These are for the tentacles.

3. On your white sheet of paper, draw an uppercase letter J.

4. Apply glue following the shape of the letter J. Paste the bell on the horizontal line and the tentacles following the curve of the J.

5. Decorate your picture. 🙂  (DD drew herself and her brother “swimming in the ocean, wearing goggles”).  Way cute!

Art with Daddy: Experimenting with brushes

So I was reading this early childhood learning reference book we’d borrowed from the library and one of the suggestions in the book was to provide children with a range of different art materials.

” ‘Fat paint brushes’ produce ‘fat paintings’, when sometimes a child may want to record the fine detail in the picture they are creating.”

So I decided to provide a range of different paintbrush sizes on Saturday morning when the kids were painting with their father, and let them pick their own choice of paint colours and brush type to use.

Hmm…not quite the outcome I’d imagined (oh me, the eternal idealist…wahahaha!) but it sure looked like DH had fun with the Chinese brush. 😀

Kids Say: Hobson’s choice in free market

“Hi, we are cooking some lunch!  Please may I take your order?”
“Oh, okay. Please may I have…um…fish and chips?”
“Okay. Fish and chips”   *scribbles on imaginary notebook*

…

“What about my drink? Can I order a drink?”
“Nope.  We only serve water.”

Alphabet Wall: Making…T for Telephone

Ring ring!  “Hello, grandma!” 🙂

You will need the following materials: Black craft foam, white coloured paper, marker, scissors, double-sided tape, artblock sheet, paints, glue.

1. Cut 12 small squares from the white paper, marking the numbers 0 to 9, and the symbols, # and * to make the press buttons for the telephone. Paste these onto the craft foam with double-sided tape. Set aside.

2. With a marker, draw a block uppercase letter T on the artblock sheet. (Tip: Place the number buttons as a guide to estimate the width of the vertical bar.)

3. Paint!

4. After the paint has dried, paste on the number buttons. We used our home telephone as a template. 😀

Whilst DD happily worked on the number placements comparison with some guidance from DH, it would have been a long shot to expect our 2 year old boy to do the same, so I just made it a simple number identification and counting exercise. 

All done!

Celebrating September

Birthday wishes and hugs first thing in the morning from the children.

Birthday wishes and hugs last thing in the night from the children before they climb into bed.

Birthday wishes and hugs from the children every day for the rest of the week.

Two entertaining meals with your very best friend in the whole wide world, talking about anything and everything, laughing at everything and nothing.

Two birthday cakes and birthday songs in a space of a week apart. 

And chocolate cake for after dinner dessert for the rest of the week.

🙂

Preschooler Art: Horses in a field

Kids Say: Sure or not…

DS and I were fixing jigsaw puzzles on Monday night.

Now, the boy is perfectly capable of fitting the pieces of the puzzles on his own, but is fond of asking me or DH to fix it for him when we are around. So I playfully pretended to place the pieces the wrong way a couple of times, to prompt him to tell me the right way to place them.

After a while, DD glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and commented drily, “You don’t know how to fix the puzzles?”

Totally. Precious.

Alphabet Wall: Making…I for Ice Cream

Dream up some exotic flavours and make your own ice cream cone.

You will need the following materials:  Coloured paper or old magazines, white sheet of paper, marker, scissors, glue.

1. From the coloured paper or old magazines, cut out lots of little circles of varying colours. Also cut out a skinny and tall brown triangle for the cone.

2. With the marker, draw a block uppercase letter I on the white sheet of paper.

3. Apply glue and paste on the ice cream cone. Go crazy with the flavours. 🙂

Talk about a craft that makes one hungry. We’re all plonking into the car to get some REAL ice-creams.  Later! 😉