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

.

Panda bears.

A few times a month I like to do an activity I call 

"copy cat crafts." I will make a sample of the craft 

and then the kids copy it. This encourages hand 

eye coordination, listening skills and fine motor skills. I begin 

with pre cutting all the pieces and giving them to the kiddos. 

I sit with them as they build, encouraging them to find the 

pieces and place where they go. Today as we finished up our zoo theme 

we made panda bear masks. I cut  the ears into half circles and the eyes

 into ovals. I called out the shapes and had to kids glue them where they should go.

 They had fun not only building the masks but telling stories about their panda bear. 

They were so  excited to put their masks on and go on a panda bear walk!

Supplies needed

Heavy paper plates

large craft sticks(staple one to each plate

for the handle)

black paper cut into ears, and eyes

googly eyes

black pom poms

black markers

glue.

Giraffes on parade.

This week at Homespun Daycare I have been teaching a zoo theme. 

Today I googled giraffe templates. I printed and cut them out and set them 

aside. The kids love finger painting, and I love finger painting on cookie sheets.

(not only does it keep the paint contained it makes interesting prints). 

I found my cookie sheets at the dollar tree. I put yellow paint and a dab of red 

paint on each cookie sheet.Its always fun for the the kids to see their paint mix

up as they finger paint and create a new color! After they were done painting I laid

 the giraffes on the tray and gently pressed them into the finger painted design.
Then  I lifted them out and let the kids fingerprint brown spots on their  

giraffes.They finished up by adding  a googly eye. Each giraffe  looked so 

cute all lined up, ready for a parade!

Supplies needed

Pre cut giraffes

cookie sheets

yellow tempera paint

\red tempera paint

brown tempera paint

bowls for paint

googly eyes

glue

                       

Zz is for zebra.

Today at the art table we had fun with bottle brush sponges 

and marbles. Its all about the letter Zz this week in preschool.
 First you need a zebra template (just Google one) and then cut it out.
 My little guys love marble painting! Marbles are a great way to make
stripes on a zebra. So easy and lots of fun! You just
 take a shallow box and put your zebra in it. Add 3 or 4 marbles
off to the corner of the box. Squirt some paint on the marbles and
 have the kids hold the box as they roll the marbles across their picture. 

We added a blinky eye and and set them aside to dry. Next was time
to make a background for the zebras. I set out blue and green
 bowls of paint with the bottle brush sponges. These can be purchased through

DiscountSchoolSupply.com(They call them sponge paint wands).
Once the kids were happy with their sponge painted sky and
 grass we carefully glued the zebras on. Max let us know
his zebra escaped from the zoo and is never
going back! The kiddos were very please with
 their zebras in the grass! 

Supplies needed

Precut zebras

black paint

marbles

shallow boxes

googly eyes

green & blue paint

bottle brush sponges

white construction paper

glue

Playdoh creatures!

Today at the art table I decided to put out the

playdoh. Instead of cookie cutters I put out assorted sizes 

and colors of crafts sticks, googly eyes,colored pasta,cut up 

  straws and jewels. I added safety scissors, rollers,spatulas,plastic

 pizza cutters and the dough presses. The kids spent all morning making

funny creatures, animals and superheros.They had such

fun pushing the sticks and pastas into their dough! They loved that their 

masterpieces had eyes mouths and noses! They even used the pasta and 

jewels to make magnificent outfits! They had such fun at the playdoh table! 

Supplies needed

Playdoh ( I like to make my own.

There are lots of recipes on the Internet).

Assorted craft sticks, straws, pasta, jewels, googly 

eyes or anything else you think would be fun to use!

playdoh tools such as  rollers, dough presses, 

spatulas,  plastic pizza cutters, and safety scissors.