Perler Beads Artwork

 Perler Beads Artwork

I have found that school aged children love to make artwork with perler beads. These beads come as a kit with different pegboard creations. The children get to decide what type of pattern or design that they would like their creation to have. The task of getting the little beads onto the right peg on the pegboard can be challenging. Using tweezers can be helpful for this task. This artwork is very good for enhancing hand eye coordination. After the design is finished, the trick is to not spill the beads on the pegboard before they are fused together. To fuse the beads together, an adult will iron on medium heat with ironing paper over the beads for 20-30 seconds in a circular motion. Flip the artwork over and fuse the design evenly. Each creation is personal and unique!

Baked Crayon Rocks

As a child I remember collecting rocks. I even entered my favorite rocks as a 4-H project at the county fair. Rocks are all around, so why not have fun with them. There are many creative ideas that you can do with rocks. My mom read about making baked crayon rocks, and so when my niece and nephews visited Grandma's we tried the craft idea out.
To make baked crayon rocks, collect rocks the size of a baked potato or a child's fit. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the rocks on a cookie sheet and in the oven for 15 minutes. While the rocks are baking, find old crayons and remove the paper wrapper. Have a paper plate for each child, with a pot holder or towel underneath the plate to protect the table. Once the rocks are baked, take them out and use a pot holder to place one on each plate, making sure the children do not touch the rock. The children can then begin making designs on the rocks with the crayons by placing the crayon on the rock, causing it to melt. In the end the rocks turn out very colorful and can be used as a paper weight or something fun. We learned it works best on rocks that are not as ruff or course, as the crayon melts easier. So the next time you need to use up some old crayons, finds some rocks and decorate them!

Teddy Bear Picnic

Having a Teddy Bear Picnic is almost as fun as having a special event like I talked about in the last post. When you add different themes into your curriculum the student are then more excited to learn about what is going to happen during the day. At preschool when we have a Teddy Bear Picnic we tie many fun activities into the day. We start out by playing with toys and activities that centered around or deal with teddy bears. The students are invited to being their very own stuffed teddy bear to school that day and a great big picnic blanket is laid out for the students to sit around during group time. A great CD to listen to is by The Teddy Bear Band called "Teddy Bear Picnic". There are many action songs on this CD that the children can take part in with their teddy bear. During our Teddy Bear Picnic we always enjoy making butter out of wiped cream with the students to have on their biscuits along with honey. While the children shake the wiped cream we listen to the sounds it makes and talk about the different stages the wiped cream goes through before it turns into butter. As the students take turns shaking the wiped cream we listen to the book that I have pictured "The Teddy Bears' Picnic". Having a Teddy Bear Picnic is just one example of how you can take a book and turn it into a theme for the day in your classroom. So find a book that you love and turn it into the theme of the day by adding activities that collaborate with the book!