Wonder-Full Easter Eggs

I love, love, love this idea from the Artful Parent.  Stickers and sharpies!  Yes! 

Go to the Artful Parent website for more ideas and instructions.  (Click on image or name)

I also adore these gorgeous eggs - the design is made with rubber bands!  

Go to the Purple Trail for instructions. 

This is one of my favorite ways of having children decorate an Easter Egg.  It is easy and the results stunning!  It only requires crepe paper.  For instructions go to First Palette.

There is nothing more endearing than felted eggs.  

Instructions can be found at Activity Village.

Fish Windsocks - Super Cheap!

This is another great project for a weather unit.  AND it is super economical.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• paper fish windsocks (Click here to order) Under $8 for 24!
• Blotters or watercolors
• Yarn
• Glue sticks

 The windsocks come pre-cut.  All you need to do is decorate them and glue together.

 Color blotters are perfect for this project as well as watercolor paint.

 The children love decorated their fish.

They look so beautiful fluttering in the wind!

Beautiful Pinwheels

As a part of our weather unit, we made watercolor pinwheels.  Pinwheels are so easy to make and so beautiful to see in the wind.  There are several methods of attaching the pinwheel - the method of I am sharing is from my colleague, Mrs. Flynn.  It works!

What you will need:

• copy of the pinwheel pattern on white cardstock
• pencils
• straight pins with round plastic heads
• watercolors
• masking tape or duck tape

Click here to download pattern.

 STEP ONE:  Watercolor your pinwheel pattern.  Watercolor both sides.  Let dry.

STEP TWO: (for teachers) Cut the pinwheel out and cut a long black slits.

 STEP THREE:  Using a straight pin with a plastic ball top, push four alternating corners through the pin.  You do not have to be exact.  I just gather up those corners on the pin.

 Here my corners are gathered!

 STEP FOUR:  With corners still gathered push pin through the silver part of the pencil.  Yup.  It will go through with a nice push!  Leave enough of the pin on the "pinwheel" side for spinning. 

STEP FIVE:  Bend the end of the pin down.

 STEP SIX:  Wrap the silver part of the pencil (with the pin bent) with masking tape or duck tape.

 Look how cute it is!

STEP SEVEN:  Go outside and watch it spin in the wind!

The Peace Table

One of the best gifts from Montessori education has to be the concept of the Peace Table.  The Peace Table is a conflict resolution tool for the classroom.  Traditionally, there is a peace rose that the children can present to a child they have a conflict with and "go" to the table to work it out.  I have adapted the process for my classroom and circumstance and am using a little heart stone a friend gave me.  My Peace Table is small and easy to sit on the floor with. 

 The child who is upset brings the issue to the Peace Table.  Holding the stone, they state the problem.

I coach the child to state the problem as "I did not like it when. . . ."

Then from that point on it is a "I feel ______ when _______" statement. (I statements!)

 The other child has a chance to say what they are feeling as well.  The peace stone goes back and forth until the children have expressed all their feelings and the issue is resolved.

What is amazing about the process is that the children are given a chance to safely express their feelings to a peer.  There is the tool for "talk turns" - the peace rose or stone.  It eliminates tattling as I just send them to the Peace Table.  Nine times out of ten, the problem is resolved by the very act of communicating their feelings.  The children who have trouble with their peers need help with this process - but it is a great forum to do it!   

Wish we could have a global Peace Table for big people. . . .and it worked like this does!!!

Collaborative Groups

I have been playing with my color groups and providing more collaborative opportunities.  There is this transition after winter break that begs for more collaborative work.  The children are ready for the rich experiences of negotiation, problem solving, compromise and all the rich, juicy stuff of working with others!!

 Each week I try to provide at least one collaborative piece for the children to work on.  This week as a quick transitional piece - each group worked together on a "doodle drawing." 

I had each group create a dancing dragon during the Chinese New Year unit.

Each group decided on their group "name."  Everyone had to agree.  It took two days for the groups to finalize their names.  They decorated their group posters together.

What collaborative work do you have your students do?  I really want to expand what I do and would love to hear your ideas!

A Narrative at Block Play

I love to watch little narratives unfold during centers.  One of the best places to "catch" such a narrative is in the block center.  Here is the saga I captured today:

 Four boys are building a structure.  I ask what it is.  S replies, "It is a house."  H chimes in and says, "It is Halloween and they bump their heads."  "Who?" I inquire.  "The beyblades."   One boy tells me, "It is a haunted house with a battle place.  You can battle on top of the house."

"Some people do not know how to spin." C explains.  S warns,  "They can bounce."

H brings over some tigers.  S warns him, "No, don't!"  H spins the tigers like a beyblade.  "Dude, you can't do that." S warns and then seeing H is not going to back off says,  "Pretend he got trapped and can't get out."  S slips the tigers under the block structure.

 Another boy adds, "The beyblades are sick and have to go inside."  The boys make a place for the sick beyblades.   Another boy announces, "The tigers are killed."

 H returns with a new creation.  "Here comes the Electric Shock Ball with two ships." 

 Another boy enters the play asking if he can join them with his car.

 S tells him, "Yes, we will make a home for you."  S opens a section of the structure and J slips his car into its new home.  Meanwhile one of the boys declares "We all have the same powers.  When the beyblades spin, they shoot out fire."

Placing a block over the car, S looks pleased.  "It is a new battle area!"

The narrative lasted the entire centers - nearly 25 minutes.  During that time many children entered the saga and left.  S, C and H remained the constant players.  It is so revealing to watch their negotiation skills and how they work out differences.  It was rich to see how others entered the play and then disengaged. 

Drawing Castles

This last week, I lead my kinders in drawing castles.  I adapted my original drawing instructions (see below) by adding extra towers to each side.  I demonstrated how to draw stones and bricks on the castle.  The children loved it!

Dear Ole Abe and George

Today in class my kinders made a good old fashion project - paper portraits of Abe and George. They traced the major components and glued it together.  (This is my first post made from my iphone. . . a little different but fast!)

Sweet Little Paintings

This is such a sweet little project and super easy.   I purchased 24 - 4" by 4" little canvases for $6 using a 40% off coupon at Michaels.  The best deal available is at http://www.dickblick.com/.  You can purchase 24 for under $5.  I purchased the cheapest brand of liquid craft acrylic paints with these main colors - a happy lime green, a magenta, turquoise and gold metallic paint.

It is done in four simple steps:

 STEP ONE:  Have the children paint the entire canvas.  I provided two colors per table (a light and dark color such as light blue and dark blue.)

STEP TWO: (sorry no photos)After the paint dried, I had the children draw their picture on the canvas with a crayon.  I showed them how to draw a heart (make a v and put a m on top), a butterfly and a flower.  I let them choose which one to draw.

STEP THREE:  Gave the children a small selection of colors to choose from to paint their drawn image.  I guided their choices by asking - "What color would you like to make your heart" or "What color will the body of the butterfly be?"  This helps the children to refrain from just swirling colors into mud!    I also demonstrated how to make dots and marks with paint. 

 STEP FOUR:  Trace the main image with a sharpie to bring it out. 

 I taped a ribbon on the back for hanging.

This was the children's gift to their parents for Valentine's Day.  It would also be a lovely Mother's Day Gift.  So simple but oh so cute!!