Birthdays are all a Buzz

I made my classroom a cute birthday wall, here's how!

What you'll need:

• Black and yellow paint
• Paint brushes
• Paper
• A list of your kids' birthdays
• Eyeball stickers (optional)
• Some tiny adorable feet

What to do:

1. Paint your child's foot with yellow and black stripes. In the past when I did bumblebee feet I painted the whole foot yellow and added the black stripes to the dry footprint, I suggest that method, it makes for less smudging.
2. Have your child put their foot on the paper. This part can actually be a bit more tricky than it sounds. If your child is sitting, they may not be able to reach the floor and you'll have to stand them up. Standing them up without putting the painted foot on the floor before you're ready is tough so hold that foot with one hand and help them balance on the other foot with the other. Also when you do get the foot on the paper it will be slippery with paint and the kid will move around. Try presetting them to wait until you are ready, then quickly put the foot down, hold it in place while counting to 5 out loud, they'll want to count with you!
3. After the footprint is done, help them sit back down without getting that painted foot on anything else. Use a wet paper towel or baby wipe to clean off the majority of the paint, your probably won't get it all off but it will come off after a bath or two at home.
4. After your footprint is dry, draw some antennae and wings next to it. In one wing write your child's name and in the other write their birthday. Don't forget to add a face!

The finished product:

Some of them are handprints, I had some kids that had issues with the thought of their feet being painted but were willing to do their hands. Same steps!

R Week- Handprint Rose

Just a simple one to finish out my last few days.

What you'll need:

• Red and green paint
• Paintbrush
• Sponge brush
• Construction paper
• Something to clean tiny hands with

What to do:

1. Using the sponge brush paint the child's hand red.
2. Place it on the paper, I usually hold it down and count to 5 because sitting still is not a mastered skill of 2 year olds.
3. Use the paint brush and the green paint to paint a stem for your rose and maybe some grass if you feel like it.

The finished product:

Handprint Ninja Turtles (Brotherly Love)

There's a child in my class who I absolutely adore and he has a baby brother that does not come to out daycare on a regular basis. He was with us today in the baby room and I thought it would be cute to make a project with the two of them. I don't really know why I had the urge to do this but I did. Maybe because I will be leaving my class soon and I'm feeling emotional. You can want whatever reaction you want out of people but the reality is they will react however they want to. I got lucky with this one, I was hoping the parent would be all emotional about the project their sons made and the mother was when she picked them up. She was about almost in tears talking about wanting to frame it. I just wanted to make something nice for them and it worked out. :)

What you'll need:

• Green paint
• Markers
• Construction paper
• Eyes
• Glue
• Scissors
• Sponge brush

What to do:

1. We're making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so that is why we're using green paint. Paint the child's hand green with the sponge brush and press it onto the paper. Hold the child's hand down to prevent smudging (I usually count to 5).
2. Let the handprints dry before you move on. Cut a thin strip of paper to make the eye mask, use one of the ninja turtle colors (red, blue, purple, orange). I also cut to smaller pieces to create what looks like the ends when you tie the mask onto a face.
3. Glue the mask onto the handprints, then the eyes onto the mask.
4. Cut some orange construction paper into 4 small orange squares. Glue the orange squares onto the area where the "stomach" would land, I glued them onto the middle and ring finger area.
5. I used red and black markers to make an open mouth smile with a tongue sort of sticking out to make my turtles look happy.
6. Since this is a sibling project for parents I wrote a cute phrase on it and the children's names and ages so it can be a memory.

The finished product:

I wish my handwriting was a little cuter but I'm very proud of the outcome.

Handprint Tu-tu

So one of my kids welcomed a new baby sister early yesterday morning and I wanted to show her parents that as her teacher I cared about their new edition to their family so I wanted to make something with their daughter that they could hopefully keep as a baby gift from their first born.

What you'll need:

• Pink paint
• Pink and white construction paper
• Pink tissue paper (or ribbon)
• A marker
• Glue
• Scissors

What to do:

1. One at a time, paint the child's hands pink, place them on the paper slightly overlapping (see picture).
2. With the pink construction paper cut out what would look like a pink tank top.
3. Place the tank top on top of the handprints to create a ballet leotard (or tu-tu).
4. Use the tissue paper or ribbon to cut a belt for the tutu to cover the separation between the tank top and the handprints.
5. If you used ribbon it can be easier to tie a bow but since I was using tissue paper I cut some into the shape of a bow even thought it was a bit hard to see and do so I would suggest ribbon if you can get your hands on some.

The finished product:

It's not perfect but the idea is there. I thought coming up with a cute phrase would help get the idea across.

S Week- Spider

I realized a little boo-boo I made after I already started cutting these out but I think this was a cute one to finish out S week.

What you'll need:

• Construction paper
• Yarn
• Paint
• Sponge brush
• Eyes
• Scissors
• Something to put the paint on
• Tape
• Something to clean the hands with
• Black paint

What to do:

1. Paint the child's hand black. Remember a spider only has 8 legs so don't paint the whole hand. The mistake I made was using the thumb instead of the pinky. The thumb ended up landing in a weird place.
2. Place the  handprints on the paper with the palms overlapping.
3. Allow the paint to dry.
4. Add eyes.
5. Cut out the spider and tape a piece of yarn to the back. I should've used a white or grey to look more like a spider web but I didn't think of it.

The finished product:

Bumble Bee Bulletin Board

I needed to redo one of the boards in my classroom that has artwork that represents all of the kids. I decided to do bumble bees, then I happened to notice the bulletin board was bordered with bumble bees and knew it was a good idea.

What you'll need:

• Yellow and black paint
• Eyes
• Markers
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Paint brushes
• Something to put the paint on like a paper plate

What to do:

1. Paint the bottom of each child's foot yellow with the sponge brush.
2. Make a footprint on the construction paper.
3. Allow the footprint to dry, then paint black stripes on the footprint.
4. Attach eyes to the heel of the print and a smile under them.
5. Use the marker to draw wings and antennae.
6. Cut out your bumble bee.

The finished product:

I Week- Insect (The Very Hungry Caterpillar handprints)

In my school the classrooms have a line where we clip up the kid's projects for the day along with any notices that need to go to all the parents. I have decided to change it from the flowers we currently have in my room to handprints that form The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Each child's handprint makes a part of the body and one child's handprint is the head to the caterpillar.

What you'll need:

• Green, blue, brown, and red paint
• Paper plates (or something to put the paint on)
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Clothes pins
• Glue
• Paint sponges (sponges are better for children's hands, brushes can be a little rough)
• Something to clean the children's hands with (I used paper towels and wipes so they could play until I had everyone finished and could wash their hands properly)
• A laminater (optional)

What to do:

1. For this craft we're not going to use the children's whole hands. When trying not to use a whole hand don't try to paint the whole hand out of habit and hold down just the parts you want. Trust me, I've seen people do it.
2. Paint the palm of the child's hand green.
3. Paint all the fingers except the thumb blue. This will create a body part section, and some of the legs. The thumb would be in a strange spot for a leg.
4. For the head, paint the child's palm red, and the index and ring fingers brown.
5. Draw eyes and a smile to create a face.
6. I chose to laminate mine before gluing the clothes pins on the back. I also wrote the children's names above and below the prints instead of through them like I originally intended.

Here's the prints together so you can see how they make a caterpillar:

And here's how they look hung up. This picture is bad I know but it's the best I could do with them being so far apart from each other.

Sunny Door Decoration

So I have FINALLY finished my door decoration.

It came out pretty much how I wanted with all of my kids represented and participated. Click here to see how we did the center of the sun and click here to see how we did the handprints.

How to do Handprint art

I am still working on my new door decoration which we started earlier this week. It won't be done for over a week since I have a student on vacation and I need her handprints. So since today's project was meerly handprints that don't make sense I figured I would just give you a few tips about how to do hand prints.

What you'll need:

• Paint
• Paper plates
• Sponge brushes
• Construction paper

Tips:

1. Use a sponge brush, a bristle one may be uncomfortable for sensitive little hands... or it may tickle so much they can't sit still.
2. Be sure to paint the hand NOT let them put their hand in a big blob of paint. You will have too much paint on the page and it will take much longer to dry and look much sloppier. Especially if you want to do more than one color on a single print.
3. Some children if they are small enough may not comprehend holding their hand open so don't be afraid to get a little paint on your fingers to open it.
4. Some kids also do NOT respond well to having their hands or feet painted. The stimulation is just not enjoyable for them. I would suggesting just doing it as quickly as possible I don't think you are hurting them but if they really flip out maybe don't do it.
5. To engage them make it into a little game while painting, sing a song, make a funny noise. I chose the classic "tiiiiickle tickle tickle".
6. Have some back up paper handy if you don't have a lot of space and need the whole page done right. Sometimes the kids move quickly and just slam their hands on the page or move them around. Which leads me to tip number 6.
7. Press on top of their hands while doing the print and count to about 5. This will ensure that the paint will show up nicely and not faded. Also the biggest thing is smudging, if you let a kid just slap their hands down on their own, they WILL move around because they will think it is fingerpaint time.

Hope these helped! Here's how my prints came out today.

They are two toned for the project I am working on. When it is finished I will post a picture, click here to see part one of this project.