In the beginning God created.....

 We began our unit on Gods creation this week in preschool.

 At the art center I put out circles of wax paper,tissue paper, and 

cups of liquid starch and brushes. First the kids tore the 

tissue paper into pieces as I talked about how on the  first day of creation 

God made the day and night. Next we painted

 the circles with the starch while we talked about things we do at night 

and things we do during the day. After they covered their

 circles with the starch they added black and white tissue paper.

I encouraged them to gently brush the tissue with more  

starch and lay more layers of tissue on the circle. 

 The second circle we covered in shades 

of blue and green tissue to make the"earth" as we 

talked about how God created the earth and everything in it. 

After they had dried I punched a hole and added a ribbon

so the kids could hang their art work on the window as a reminder of 

Gods marvelous creation.   

Supplies needed 

wax paper cut into circles
liquid starch
brushes and paint pots

black and white tissues paper

assorted shades of blue and green tissue
ribbon

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Our lesson today was centered around the book Chicka

Chicka Boom Boom.I thought it would be fun for 

the kids to paint a coconut tree. I  cut out coconut

trees, set out paint pots of assorted colors of paint and brushes. No rules

on what color their tree needed to be. They enjoyed painting their trees

with all the colors! After the trees dried they took brown tissue paper

crunched it into balls for the coconuts and glued them on the trees.

I then set out foam letters and let the kids pick letters to put on 

their trees. During this time we talked about letters and their sounds.

When the kids finished up we had a beautiful coconut grove of colorful trees!
We also made coconut trees for snack. The kids took  graham crackers for the
tree trucks. Apple slices for the leaves and cereal for the coconuts.
They loved building and eating their trees!
Supplies needed
pre cut coconut trees
washable paints
paint pots & brushes
foam letters
brown tissue
For the snack
graham crackers
apples
cocoa puffs or peanut butter captain crunch

The Hungry Caterpillar

Today I planned my preschoolers  lesson

around the book "The Hungry Caterpillar". 

There are so many different math and letter activities 

on the internet for this story! For the 

art center I decided to use bubble wrap and paint.

Before I started I printed a caterpillar and butterfly

picture and cut it out. I found these on DLTK's website.  I taped a sheet of blue
 and green paper together to glue our finished paintings on.I taped a piece of bubble

 wrap (about 8" x 11") to the art table for each child. I 

worked with four kids at a time. The
paint the kids covered  their bubble wrap with paint.

They had such fun painting on the bumpy surface!

 Then we laid the butterfly and caterpillar on top of the painted bubbles.

When they were done painting I laid  a piece of newsprint on the butterfly and caterpillar
and had  the  kids pat the newsprint.

 We lifted  up the newsprint and then lifted the caterpillars 

and butterflies off the bubble wrap. The kids faces were all smiles

 when they not only saw their spotted caterpillars and butterflies

 but also the silhouette of  them on the newsprint! They love googly eyes
and wanted to add them to their caterpillar and butterfly. They
were  very proud of their art work!

Supplies needed
bubble wrap
green and blue construction paper
washable  paint
paint pots and brushes
pre cut butterfly and caterpillar
newsprint or white paper
googly eyes
glue
tape

Easter blessings

I love scrap book paper so I am always looking for new ideas

for crafts that I can  incorporate scrap book paper into. Today we 

made Easter blessing pictures. They came out so cute! I did

a pinterest search for "Easter subway art" and found this cute 

print. I then did a Google search for flower templates and used

those for my pattern. I cut lots of flowers out as well as stems.

I cut and mounted the Easter blessing onto a yellow piece of construction 

paper, then glued that onto the green paper. I had the kids count out 5

big flowers and 3 little flowers and  they glued them above the words. 

This step gave them counting practice. They glued their flowers in place, and 

then counted out buttons for the center of the flowers. 

I used tacky glue for their buttons(they used glue stick for the flowers)

I added stems to the bottom of the pictures, one short one tall and had the kids

add tulips. One of my kids is Jewish so for his I printed "Happy Passover."

I am sure their families were blessed by their child's Easter picture!

Supplies needed

spring scrapbook paper

green construction paper

yellow construction paper

flower templates for pattern

colorful buttons

subway art print outs

glue sticks

tacky glue

Empty tombs

Today we made empty tombs as we continued to learn all about Easter. 

I took heavy paper plates and cut them in half. Then I glued the the two halves

   together with tacky glue. It's best to do this the night before so they are

dry when the kids paint them. I also cut out stone shapes. Next

 I cut a small opening out of one of the plates and I taped a piece of black paper behind it. 

 A  hole punched  next to the cut out tomb opening will be to attach the stone

 to the tomb with a brad.  I don't add the stone until after

 the kids have painted the tombs and they have dried. I let the kids
paint their tombs. For an easier craft you can have them color the tombs.
While the kids paint their tombs we retell the Easter story together. After the tombs
 are dry we add the stone and foam flowers. I closed the tomb and
 let the kids "roll the rock away" and add a "Christ has risen" sticker.
Supplies needed
heavy paper plates
brown paint
paint pots and brushes
black paper
foam stickers
brads
Christ has risen stickers

Jesus prays in the garden

Today I started our Easter unit, and I started out with one of my 

favorite Easter crafts--tissue flowers and clear contact paper. It 

  makes a brightly colored "stain glass window".  The first thing I do 

is precut the flowers.I Google a flower template,cut it out, trace

it onto the tissue paper and cut lots of flowers out of lots of colors

of tissue. Walmart has a large package of assorted colors
that will last for lots of crafts! The next step is to cut clear contact
paper into rectangle shapes.For the craft you will be folding the paper in half so
the two sticky sides stick together to make a square. You also need to
Google a coloring page of Jesus  praying in the garden
and cut Jesus out. I cut four strips of black paper for each child
so I can build a frame for the finished craft.I just cut a 8x12 piece
of paper into the strips and trim off the excess after I have glued the strips to the picture.
Now the prep work is done it's time to make the gardens. I had my the kids color their
 Jesus and set him aside.Then I pulled half the backing off the rectangle
 piece of contact paper.The kids place their Jesus colored side down on
the sticky side of the paper. Be sure he is high enough on the paper so he's
 not covered by the frame.They then add the flowers. After they
 are done I carefully peel the rest of the backing off the contact paper and
 fold it over the tissue flowers and press down. I use a glue
 stick to put the  frame on and then I trim the  excess black paper.
I add a piece of ribbon in the center on the back of the frame to hang it with.
They  look so pretty taped on the arcadia door.
Supplies needed
Clear contact paper
assorted colors of tissue paper
flower templates
Picture of Jesus praying
black construction paper
ribbon
glue sticks
For a Passover craft I did a pinterest search
for subway Passover art.

Frogs

I love teaching the Passover story to my preschoolers! 

It's such a great reminder of Gods love for his people.

After story time I set up the art center with shallow bowls of paint

frog sponges and large white paper. To make the frog sponges I bought

 compressed sponges and traced a frog on each one, cut it out and wet 

the sponge. I  then hot glued them onto laundry soap cups or medicine

bottles so the kids have a handle to sponge paint with.
The sponges need to be fairly dry to hot glue on.Be sure to only

add a small amount of paint in the bowl for the sponges so they don't become
to full of paint.I showed my kids how to take the sponge  place it on their paper 

and gently press the frogs legs and head to create a sponge frog print. 

They wanted lots of frog prints just like all the frogs

 that landed in the Egyptians homes! I enjoyed listening to them

 retell the Passover story as they covered their 

paper with lots of frogs!

supplies needed
Frog sponges
green yellow brown tempera paint
shallow bowls for paint
white construction papaer