Kids Crafting

This year for Candlemas, I REALLY wanted to make some snow candles. But, alas, it is raining, there's never been more than 3 inches of snow on the ground at a time, and for the first time in my lifetime, there isn't a snowbank as far as the eye can see.

So, I needed to change plans. Instead of making candles this year, we made candle holders. And because I hadn't totally given up the snow theme, we made super easy, but lovely, votive holders rolled in Kosher salt. It has a snowy look, but is warm at the same time. We had some simple glass votive holders left over from a different project, but you could do the some thing with any glass or jar.

Materials:
Mod Podge, Sealer or crafting glue
Kosher salt
glass jar

Cover the jar with a thick layer of your choice of adhesive. I used a sealer on one and Mod Podge on another.

Sprinkle some salt on a flat surface, and roll the jar through the salt so all areas are covered in salt. You could add some glitter to the salt it you'd like.

When the jar is completed dried, coat with a sealer.

Put in a candle. The glass is opaque and gives off a lovely light.
 

EDIT: Oops... I forgot to add flour to the ingredients' list. A lovely reader caught my mistake, and the recipe my includes 2 cups of flour. Thank you, Laura :)

I have a confession to make. Actually, not really a confession because that would imply that I am apologizing, and I'm not :) I guess this is more of an admission. Sometimes, oh, probably 4 or 5 times a week, I look at the clock before going to bed and I think... just 6 more hours and I can have a cup of coffee! Pretty pathetic, right? I'm telling you this just to let you know I'm always looking for things to do with coffee grounds. Yep, I do compost them, and I frequently use them in place of dirt in crafting projects, but still, I generate a lot of coffee grounds.

So, it's no surprise, that I'm drawn to making coffee playdough. Besides the abundance of coffee grounds in this house, it is a fun sensory dough. Yes, it does smell like coffee, but not enough to make wee ones wrinkle their noses. It also gives the dough an interesting texture and unique appearance. Over the years we have used this playdough as mud for pigs to wallow in, for dinosaurs to leave their foot prints in, and to make "brown stuff" like tree trunks, mushrooms, and at some point, someone will inevitably make doggy doo-doo... just happens :) 

This playdough does tend to dry out fast, so always keep the unused playdough in an airtight container. Also, if you allow the playdough to dry out, the color does lighten up. You can intensify the color by rubbing a little oil on the finished piece or coating it in a sealer like Mod Podge.

Another comment... the original recipe I got many years ago called for instant coffee and plain water. Instant coffee in my house... blasphemy! So, instead, I add very hot, very dark brewed coffee to the dough as a substitute for plain water. It still will not have a dark brown appearance, the instant coffee does make the dough darker, so I do add enough red and green food coloring to achieve a nice, deep brown.

COFFEE PLAYDOUGH RECIPE

1/2 cup of coffee grounds
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
1 cup of very hot coffee
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon vegetable glycerin (available at grocery, drug stores and some craft shops in the cake decorating section)
optional: brown food coloring
optional: 1 tablespoon instant coffee 

Gather all your ingredients.

If the wee ones are making this with me, we mix it up in a big bowl.

However... if I am making it myself, I sometimes cheat and mix it all in my food processor :)

If you want your dough a deeper brown, knead in food coloring by hand.

Store in an airtight container.

I love to make mushrooms and tree trunks with this dough. To make a mushroom, simple make a round disk with an indentation in the center for the cap. Roll out a stem.

Wet the end of the stem and add it the indentation. 

Wah, lah... a mushroom. Make many for your wee folk and woodland friends :) 

Have you ever been to Art Projects for Kids? If not, run there, right now, but be prepared to stay for a long, long time. Kathy Barbro is an experienced and gifted art teacher, and she shares over 600 projects on her blog. Whenever I need inspiration for kid crafts, she's one of the first places I turn.

She shared a wonderful watercolor project for Winter Birch Trees. I'm going to let Kathy give you the actual directions, but I'll share our enjoyable experience making our own trees. Michelle and I enjoyed the experience as much as the wee ones. The kids were able to do everything themselves except I cut numerous long strips of tape for Pixie, but she decided on the placement and did the rest herself. Oh, I also taped the paper to the table, both to hold it in place and to create the matted look border. I have plans for a number of other projects using this technique.

Taping to table, cutting strips, and making tape trees on watercolor paper.

Watercoloring the whole thing.

Sprinkling with Kosher salt.

Drying. If you are the impatient type... like one little Pixie we know... you can speed the drying with a blow drier!

Removing the tape.

Adding lines on tree, shadows and snow.

Gammy's 

Mommy's

Bug's

Fairy's

Pixie's

It's your turn now :)

The Little Robin Grieves - Nursery Rhyme
 

The little robin grieves
When the snow is on the ground,
For the trees have no leaves,
And no berries can be found.
 

The air is cold, the worms are hid;
For robin here what can be done?
Let's throw around some crumbs of bread,
And then he'll live till snow is gone.
 

The other day I came upon a stack of large flip charts. Do they even use those any more? Anyway... opening them brought on a ton of delightful memories.

I didn't homeschool my children. To be honest, at the time, I only knew of 1 family that homeschooled, and the thought never even crossed by mind. Instead, I surrounded our children with enrichment learning, and I think my family would all agree, that some of their best learning, certainly the most enjoyable and memorable, occurred within the family. One of the things I always did, was to print poems on flip charts, which were displayed in our family room, which I then surrounded with picture books and resource books on the topic. We kept a poem up until everyone had a chance to mostly memorize it... at least become intimately familiar with it... and we had enjoyed crafts and outings that corresponded with it.
 

I thought it would be fun to share some of the poems that the wee ones haven't learned yet.  The nursery rhyme, The Little Robin Grieves, has long been one of our favorites. I think I like the poem so much because it speaks of the seasons and encourages us to help these lovely creatures :)   
 

Although we haven't gotten any noteworthy snow yet, the above picture was taken last year, our feathered friends still appreciate the food and heated water we provide for them. 

Above is this year's winter picture, sans snow or sun!!!

If you've never looked at Michelle's Winter Wonderland Curriculum, you are in for a treat. Although it is geared to preschool/kindergarten, many of the activities will be enjoyable for children of all ages and it has a list of some wonderful winter books. One of the crafts we will be doing this week is to make the ever popular pinecone feeders. The tutorial is available in the Winter Wonderland Curriculum. We will doing other activities, which we will be sharing, too.
 

BTW... we have many books on winter, birds and animals in winter, but I just read a review on the book, A Bird in Winter by Hélène Kérillis and Stéphane Gire , and thought it would be perfect. It was inspired by Pieter Breugel's painting, Hunters in the Snow, and is about an eight year old peasant girl named Mayken who finds an injured bird in the snow. She nurses the bird back to health. Not only is the book's water colors suppose to be lovely, but I'm hoping it demonstrates the joy in helping all creatures, great and small :)
 

Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1565)

The book is due in on Tuesday. I'll do a review on it them :) And, fingers crossed... Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!
 

While looking for a clay project, I came upon this lesson plan for autumn leaves at Dick Blick. I was very excited and order 2 - 16 oz. packages of Creative Paperclay. The clay has a natural white color, air dries, can be painted, and is non-toxic and acid free. Something that the wee ones can use with supervision.

Before beginning, collect some leaves. You need to pick leaves that have well defined veins, so it will be visible on the clay. Also, you need leaves that are supple. Dried leaves, even along the edge, will crumble when you need to push them into the clay. I chose green leaves for impressions, and will collect colored leaves to study before painting.

Before using, I scored the paperclay into 16 pieces, since each leaf is suppose to use about 1 oz. of clay, depending on the size of the leaf. I then cut 1 piece all the way through and immediately placed the rest in a Ziplock.

I flatted the clay in my hands, then placed between 2 pieces of waxed paper and rolled like you would a pie crust.

Place a leaf, back side down, on your clay. Using your fingertips, press the leaf into the clay so the veins on the leaf leave marks in the clay.

Using a small paring knife, cut around the leaf, removing the extra clay.

Remove the leaf. The clay has been imprinted with the leaf and is ready to dry. It will take 1 - 3 days to dry depending on how thick you clay is and humidity.

If you would like to hang your leaves, either as pendants or perhaps as a garland, make a hole in the clay where you would like an opening to be. You must do this now, before the clay hardens.

Also, if you would like your leaf to have a more natural look, instead of being perfectly flat, set the leaf over another object to dry. I place mine on a small bowl, leafing the waxed paper under it. If you do this, be careful that you do not set the leaf on something that has ridges. While the clay is still wet, it could take on the impress of the ridges and dry that way.

NOTE: The tutorial on line suggests you lay the leaf on the table, face down, and press the clay on the back of the leaf, spreading the clay to recreate the natural edges. If doing this project with children, I suggest you use that method, then you will not need to cut away the extra clay. I tried it both ways, and found cutting the leaf out with a knife gave a more pleasing result, but it can be down either way.

We will be painting our leaves after they have dried.

For Paperclay Leaves - Part 2 click HERE.