Big Paper Snowflake

We get to enjoy making various types of snowflakes from October through April (hopefully not May...). This is one of our favorites.

We make one or two of these big beautiful snowflakes every year. You need 7 squares of paper, scissors, a pencil, and clear tape. We used white paper cut in 9" squares.

Fold in half to make a triangle, then in half again forming a smaller triangle.

With the open sides at the bottom, cut three lines, parallel to the long straight side, from the bottom, almost to the top (but do not cut through the top). Use the picture below as a guide. Draw first if that helps.

When you open it up, it should look like this. Now, repeat with the remaining 6 squares.

Now, you want to make each piece 3-dimensional. Take the top and bottom corner, bring them together and secure with clear tape. Then take the next top and bottom corners and bring them together on the opposite side and secure with tape. Looks like we started with the inside pieces...

It really does not matter how you start as long as you end up with seven pieces like the one pictured below.

Now line them up and tape the sides together so that they form a long line. We only have five lined up in the picture, just pretend there are seven.

Finally you want to tape the bottoms together so that it forms a round snowflake. As you can see, I took over at this point. It can be tricky getting the corners together.

These are beautiful in a classroom or a space that can accommodate a bunch especially if they are various sizes and colors.

Alexander Calder Inspired Bat Mobile

I have long been an admirer of Alexander Calder and his colorful, fun whimsical work. He strikes me as someone who was a quirky and interesting person to know. He is probably most famous for his mobiles and stabiles. In fact, you really cannot teach, learn or even think about kinetic art without discussing Calder. When making mobiles, I try to replicate (in a very stretched sense) the way that Calder would balance each piece when choosing where to add the next. Little ones do not need to merely hang various lengths of string from coat hangers to make a mobile, it is much more interesting to build and balance from the bottom up.

This mobile is holiday themed and a bit on the hokey crafty side, but I think the structure redeems it. I cut out the wings and bodies. Hollin glued them together and added faces, mango trees, night vision and more. Some are flying, others sleeping. Bold colorful shapes can easily take the place of bats--actually anything can work!

We used:

5 paper bats made with black construction paper and decorated with crayons

4 pieces of wire (20 gauge) between 14" and 8" (does not need to be exact)

pipe cleaner for a hook (and extra cut of wire would work too)

hole punch

wire cutters

pliers

I pulled out some other metal bending/ working tools, but really, the pliers and cutters are all you need.

1. Gather materials and make your bats and punch a hole in each bat where you want it to hang from.

2. You will be building the mobile from the bottom up. Use your longest piece of wire and attach a bat to each end. This is the only piece of wire that will have two bats. All the others will only have one. Be careful not to tear through the paper around the hole. The pliers help make a nice loop in the wire. Pinch and close it up tight. You may need to help make sure the bats are attached securely.

3. Using your finger, find the point where the wire balances (does not slide off your finger onto the floor).

4. Make a loop in the wire in that spot.

5. Select another piece of wire. This time, attach one end to the loop you just made.

6. Carefully attach the third bat to the end of the newly attached wire.

7. Now find the balance point by placing your finger under the wire with the bat (number 3) you just attached. Make a loop in that spot. Attach the next piece of wire and then the next bat. You just keep repeating this process until you are finished.

Once you have used up all of you bats and wire, find the balance point on the top wire, add a loop and attach a hook. We hung our mobile on the light over the kitchen table. It is very light and delicate and spins around slowly and gently.

It all sounds a bit complicated but t really is not. The balancing is great fun for the little ones and a great way to throw some science into your day.
Enjoy your weekend. This may be our last snow free weekend for awhile so I think we will be playing in the leaves.

Found Object Art

My favorite thing about making art with found objects is that there is no limit on the possibilities. You can use anything to make anything. You can save it, leave it alone, knock it down or blow it away. The other thing I love about it is that it can just creep up on you when you least expect to be making art.

For example, your kids might come across an interesting assortment of bolts, washers and a dead fly or two and get to work making....

 a "Tower"...

a "Train"...

"Butterflies"...

and just a cool thing that turns.

My kids stumbled upon this stuff at their grandparents house last month and just started to make stuff with it. There was no planning, no set up and hardly any clean-up. They just wanted to show everyone the treasures they made. I am happy had my camera.

Upcycled Plastic Lid Flowers

I often wish that I had some gardening skills, and I do try and will probably continue to try...but for now I have decided to make some flowers that will not die. I know that I am not the only one out there with plastic yogurt containers. We cannot recycle them here and I really don't need anymore, yet we go through so much yogurt that I have an endless supply of containers and lids just waiting to be repurposed. I also have a handful of Tupperware lids that have become mysteriously separated from their matching bottoms. Well, I cannot recycle those, can't really donate a random lid, and I cannot throw them away so I had to think of something. The excess lids combined with my need for flowers that will survive my black thumb led to these adorable flowers. I cut the flower shapes from the lids, painted one with acrylic paint and attached buttons and painted dowels using wire (poked holes in the plastic with a thumbtack first). I filled a tub with soil and rocks and planted my flowers. The four you see here are just the beginning. So far, this was a mommy project, but it inspired the kids. Just last night they started cutting and painting a few more. The plan is to make a new flower with every lid we use. Be on the lookout for a full flower bucket in a few weeks. 

Wood Sculptures

I have a bin where I keep little scraps of wood, interesting pieces of cardboard, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, dowels, etc. I pulled it out the other day, along with some Elmer's glue and let Hollin go to town building.  She was completely set on making a dog. The black pieces, which were ripped off the back of a picture frame, were going to be the ears. But as she played around with the various pieces a rocket was born! It is always exciting when something just begs to be made and I am so glad she had that experience. This was 100% kid generated--the idea, the construction and the painting.

I love the way she used toothpicks to represent the fire coming out of the bottom.

When it dried she made the decision to add another layer of paint. I love the sense of ownership and pride that comes from creating something completely on one's own. No one told her what to do, nor was there a model to try to emulate. As a result there was no frustration or disinterest-only pure creative enjoyment. Kids are capable of such brilliantly creative ideas.

Our Ice Sculpture

Well, here it is. The most fun was removing the round ice from the balloons. After you cut off the ends, the balloon just peels off and out pops a lovely little ice jewel. After we removed everything from the molds we just stacked them up. We did not even need to spray water in between the pieces because it was warm enough that there was some wet melty ice and all the pieces stuck together nicely. I really would like to do this on a much larger scale. It would be a great school project or something to do with a group of friends.

Ice Sculptures--Part 1

It is that magical time of year in Fairbanks when the sun is bright, the days are longer and warmer, and the ice park is here. The kids' ice park runs alongside the World Ice Art Championships which is one of my very favorite things about living in Alaska. The sculptures are amazing and playing at a park made entirely out of ice is not something anyone should live without doing. With season passes, we plan to spend lots of time there until it closes at the end of March.

Since we cannot be there 24 hours a day, we decided to make a few sculptures out of ice for the yard. I did not give the kids sharp tools and hot irons to carve and sculpt with, instead we went with more kid friendly tools such as balloons, cups, bowls, colored water, glitter, beads, found objects and spray bottles. My plan is to build with several small pieces of ice rather than carve away from a larger block of ice.

This is a 2 part project since you have to make your ice before you can build with it.

 As you can see we just poured colored water into molds and added "stuff". It was a warm enough day to go without mittens and survive a few splashes. It was a major mess, but well worth it I hope! I hope to show you part 2 in the next few days.

The Perfect Pet

I came across a Family Fun craft book in the reference section of the library the other day that was full of really clever ideas. This little fish bowl is the first one we have tried. To make your own you will need:

 fish bowl or jar

styrofoam (clean meat tray or egg carton)

permanent markers (be careful!)

fishing line or thread

stones or beads (make sure they will sink)

heavy washers, bolts or beads 

I started by cutting a few fish shapes out of a styrofoam egg carton. After cutting out a few I wondered why I was doing it when my 4-year-old was sitting right next to me. So she drew and cut a few herself. Then she colored them front and back with permanent markers. Next we used a pin to poke a hole in the bottom of each fish. Hollin counted the fish to determine how many pieces of thread she should cut (I would suggest fishing line if you have it). She was able to string the thread through the holes but needed help tying it on. We then tied the other end to a button to act as a weight to hold the fish in place. She filled the bottom with a layer of stones and beads, carefully set the fish on the bottom and poured in the water. The plan was to watch as our fish floated to the top, held in place by the button on the bottom, but silly Mommy never thought about the fact that the button may not be heavy enough to sink and hold the buoyant foam fish in place, so all of ours floated to the top.

This little problem was easily solved...by the 4-year-old who carefully pulled each fish out, cut off the buttons and explained to me that we needed something heavier to hold them down (I did get it, but was speechless over her complete understanding and ability to solve the problem). We found some heavy bolts and washers in the tool box and retied the strings. She dropped them in and sure enough, we now have a lovely little bowl of fish who do not poop and do need to be fed.
Another thing I like about this activity is that we were able to talk about the different lenghs of string and how they will affect the look of the fish bowl--not to mention the cool science lesson in buoyancy.
I think it would be cute to fill a mason jar with stones and a foam fish, tied to a washer and ready to float. Then send it to a friend with instructions to add water. Or leave the fish white and let the recipient color them themselves. Might just make a nice little birthday present.

Recycled Christmas Trees

Hollin made this at Sunday School this morning and I love it! What a great way to reuse liquid laundry detergent tops. The lid is stuffed with coiled cardboard and the stem/ trunk is a coffee stirrer. The kids stuck stickers to a paper cutout and then taped it to the coffee stirrer.

So simple and she loves it.

Snow Family

Here is another one from the Christmas box. Again, I don't have pictures of the process, but I may make a few more this year (I believe I have a baby or two to send out) and if I do I will post instructions. I started making snow families about 10 years ago--I gave them as gifts to friends and family. A cute personalized gift that I hope the recipients enjoy every year. They are paper mache over newspaper and masking tape armatures. I use white paper towels with the paper mache glue so that I do not have to paint them (saves a step and looks really nice) The carrot noses are made out of polymer clay and everything has been assembled with a glue gun. My family is in need of a few repairs (the trip from MD to AK took a toll on them). The kids love these and like to play with them. I think it is fun for them to have a "doll" of themselves. You can add little features to characterize each family member a bit more. I would like to put a princess scarf og Hollin and a truck scarf on Waylon. Nothing is ever really finished...

Tree Topper

Hollin and I made this tree topper two years ago, when she was 2 and a half. We made it out of cardboard, a toilet paper tube, paper mache, some red paint, glue and little "jewels". I absolutely love it and hope it will be our topper for years to come. I still remember her chubby little hands gluing on the jewels while we talked about our new baby who was to arrive after Christmas. The best part is that she still considers it a masterpiece--the perfect topper to our tree. I don't have photos of the process, but I will describe it. Let me know if you need more detailed instructions to make one for your tree.

• First cut a star out of a piece of sturdy cardboard. Glue a toilet paper tube to the back the tape it on securely with masking tape.
• Tear a white paper towel into strips. Mix up some paper mache glue. You can do this several ways, I suggest using Elmer's Art Paste for paper mache.
• Cover the entire thing with 2 layers of wet (with art paste), but not dripping, paper towels and allow to dry.
• Paint.
• Decorate.
• Put on your tree every year:)
  

Best Use for Halloween Candy

There is really only so much candy a 4-year-old can (or should) eat. Why not make some art with all of those pretty little colors and shapes? I rinsed out a little carton of cream and painted it white (actually Hollin painted it). We used acrylic, but tempera would work well too. While the paint dries, open up lots and lots of colorful candy--everything that does not get used gets tossed, so open more than you think you need :)

Then let them glue away with some white glue. You have to do one side at a time to allow the glue to dry. I think this would be fun for older kids to do after reading Hansel and Gretel, or somehow tied in with a game of Candyland. We kept it simple, but you don't have to!

Paper Pumpkins

These 3-dimensional paper pumpkins are very cute and very fun to make--especially if you are 4. My daughter has wanted to do little else the last few days. We are growing quite a pumpkin patch. To make a pumpkin you need:

• 4 strips of orange construction paper. You can make your pumpkins any size. We used 12" x 1/2"


• a small square of orange paper for a base (if your pumpkin is wobbly, you can add a piece of cardboard to the bottom).


• a green rectangle (about 3" x4")


• about 2-4 thin strips of green paper for vines and a pencil for wrapping them around to make them curl


• scissors


• white glue

Start by gluing the center of an orange strip to the little orange square (base). Then continue gluing the center of the orange strips making a star shape. While the glue sets for a few minutes, cut small slits along the long side of the green rectangle, then, roll it into a stem so that the slits are on the bottom. Glue the side of the stem together. Hold it tight for a few minutes so that it does not come undone. Sing a song, count to 100, say the alphabet 3 times--then it should be dry enough to stay put. This is also a good time to curl your vines by wrapping the green strips around a pencil.

Starting with the bottom strip, start to glue the ends of the orange strips together making the round shape of the pumpkin. You might need to hold the newly glued pieces and count or sing again. Next, glue the vines on the top of the pumpkin. Fold back the little tabs you cut along the bottom of the stem and add glue to each tab. Carefully glue the stem to your pumpkin.

So cute! We plan to add some faces later. Hope this works for you!