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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-y Night Craft for Preschoolers

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Scott’s a preschooler! What? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has been one of Scott’s favorite songs for a while. It’s fitting since his bedroom is decorated in an outer space theme with lots of glow in the dark stars. However, crafts have not held Scott’s interest much. But I’m holding out hope that we will have some craft making memories.  This was one successful Twinkle Twinkle Little Star crafts for preschoolers

Make this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers today via BecauseBabiesGrowUp.com

Elli loved this craft, too!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star-y Night Craft for Preschoolers

We’ve been working on colors and chose this craft to work more on the color yellow. I drew a cityscape on a piece of blue construction paper. The Eiffel Tower just sort of happened. My favorite though was when Scott added a star to the top and showed me, calling it the Eiffel Tower. I didn’t know my heart would be so happy about him recognizing and loving this structure.

Check out this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers on BecauseBabiesGrowUp.comI cut strips of yellow paper then had Scott cut the yellow strips into little bits. While he was cutting the bits I drew the cityscape and tore small pieces of Duck Tape (that we got from our awesome Family Forward trip to Universal Studios Orlando last summer)

Make out this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers from BecauseBabiesGrowUp.comScott enjoyed gluing the star bits in the sky and then adding in the Duck tape stars. We had fun talking about the color yellow, gluing, and his strategies for where he placed the stars. He stuck with this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers longer than I had expected. He was also very excited to show it off to his dad when Brent got home.

Check out this Twinkle Twinkle Little Star craft for preschoolers on BecauseBabiesGrowUp.comLooking for more Twinkle Twinkle Little Star crafts for preschoolers? Check out these Twinkle Twinkle Little Star crafts.

Watercolor Therapy

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We had an atypical weekend as we watched General Conference for our church. (It’s a broadcast from the leaders of the LDS church that comes in 4 2-hour sessions over two days.) By Sunday afternoon the kids were restless. We’d done puzzles and workbook pages, snuggles and snacks. We’d been spending our time downstairs watching it on TV. But for the final stretch, we took the iPad upstairs and sat at the kitchen table.

The kitchen table is a gathering place in our house. It’s where we craft, snack, do homework, eat, read, listen to music, and produce art. Sammi commented one day to me, “Isn’t it funny that we eat dinner at the craft table?” Creative expression is a huge element of our kids’ days. They are happier and more at peace when they’ve had time to create something. So on this Sunday afternoon we brought out the big guns: the watercolor supplies.

  • We had watercolor paper. I love the texture of watercolor paper.
  • We had Crayola watercolor paints. They have the brightest colors and wash up the easiest of all the brands we’ve tried.
  • Then we have a collection of brushes. The kids love big brushes. Sammi is starting to understand using different brush sizes for different details in her paintings.
  • Finally a cup of water. And a medicine dropper. We use it to drop a little water in each color.

Here’s the final products. But like always, the process was where they unwind and get back into their good moods. The end result is proof of happy memories and brings a smile to our faces!

Scott’s Watercolor

Elli’s Watercolor

Sammi’s Watercolor

What do yo do to get your kids out of a funk?

Mixed Media: The Colored Pencil Factory

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Current Giveaway: The Colored Pencil Factory by Astrograss. Giveaway open to adults in Canada and the US. Please visit this post for a full review of the album. You can enter the giveaway there or at the bottom of this post. Good luck!

Music is becoming an increasingly important part of our play. Music is great for dance parties and altering sour moods. But it’s great for so much more, too. Music is good for learning, bonding, communicating, and creating! As we have gotten to know various albums, specific songs have sparked art projects, gifts, and parties. With so many opportunities to review and share new music here on the blog, I’ve felt inspired to explore and elaborate on the connections we’re making between music and other “related arts” (as they are called at the girls’ school.)

Welcome to Week One of Mixed Media!

In each Mixed Media post I’ll share a song and a creative project that was inspired by the song. My hope is that you will be inspired to share music with your little one in a way that gets you two (or three or four!) connected to each other and to your creative sides. First up, The Colored Pencil Factory by Astrograss. This is the title song of their album set to be released October 16. Take a listen!

Astrograss: The Colored Pencil Factory

Elli received a box of colored pencils for her birthday a few weeks ago. Brand new colored pencils make me want to color something! Combined with the song, I knew we had an art project waiting to happen. As I mulled it over, I remembered Amy of Let’s Explore had an art project on Make and Takes that was the perfect combination of The Colored Pencil Factory and our brand new colored pencils.

She took some of her favorite photos from the summer, turned them black and white, and printed them. Then she and her girls colored them using different art supplies: markers, watercolors, colored pencils. I printed off recent pictures of the kids and one of me in black and white.

We listened to the song while we worked on our pictures. The girls were so excited about coloring that they hardly paid any attention at all to the song or to me. So we listened to the song again. This time through I asked them what colors they were hearing. When we heard a color named we scrambled to find a pencil that color and hold it up. This was a huge hit. Then I had them listen for where all the colors were (in the colored pencil factory.) Of course they both asked what a factory is and we talked about that.

Sammi then drew a picture that started out as a garden. Morphed into a city and finally contained a factory. I love the creative process!

What has inspired you and your little one this week?

Other Mixed Media Posts:
Week 2 Where Are the Dragons
Week 3 Love Is A Superpower

Linking up at Taming the Goblin.
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I Can Embrace Fanny’s Dream

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A while back my mom attended a workshop taught by Dr. Wallace Goddard. Actually she attended two, one on strengthening marriages and another on parenting. She absolutely loved what he taught and shared lots of notes and book recommendations with me. While most of them were parenting books, he did recommend one book for children, particularly girls. It’s a princess book. A princess book like you’ve never experienced before.

Fanny’s Dream

Fanny’s Dream
Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner
Picture Puffins, 2nd Printing edition (June 23, 2003)

Fanny is a hometown girls with big dreams. She plans on marrying the mayor’s son and never working another day in her life. She gets all dolled up for the ball at the mayor’s mansion and sits out to wait for her fairy godmother. While waiting, a suitor named Heber shows up. After a short conversation Heber proposes to Fanny. It means a life of work, but Fanny accepts. They have twins boys and then girl. They make a happy life together. Then one night her fairy godmother shows up. She offers to take her to the mayor’s mansion where there’s an available colonel. As Fanny hesitates the fairy godmother says, impatiently, “Do you want to go to the ball, or not?” Fanny replies, “Not.” And returns to her family in the little farm house. I cry every time I read it!

My favorite line is when Heber proposes. “Even with all that moonlight it took Fanny an hour to give up her dreams. She shook Heber awake.” And accepts his proposal.

In a lot of ways I can relate to Fanny. I had dreams of exotic travel abroad and a life of adventure. But when I met Brent, giving up doing those things in the immediate future felt right. It was hard, but I’m glad I did. I love him and our little girls and have grown more as a person with them in my life than I ever would have if I’d chosen to travel the world instead.

What Happens While I Blog

As I am writing this post, Sammi came to inform me that Elli spilled all the cinnamon sugar on the floor (fortunately there was only a little left). I look up ti find cinnamon sugar on Sammi’s chin. Hmmm. then Elli came i to tell her side of the story. She’s holding the lid and looking like this:

She takes me by the hand to show me the mess. Sammi is sitting on the floor drawing in the pile of cinnamon sugar. She explained that it’s a park. And with each movement of her fingers she tells me about trees growing here, people walking this way or going that way. I love her little park.

Not ready to tackle the mess just yet, I return to blogging. This is what I just found. I’m impressed she was able to get so much back in the container. But, don’t worry, it will end up in the trash!

This post is linked up with Feed Me Books Friday from The Adventure of Motherhood and Kids Make the Darndest Things from Buried with Children. Check out other books moms are recommending and the artwork by their children that moms are sharing at these to blogs.

Happy Friday!

p.s. What’s your favorite princess book?