Fireworks.
We had a great time making these colorful
exploding fireworks! I gave each child a straw that I had cut a couple
 of inches off of. This makes it easier for them to blow the food coloring
around on the paper. I dropped one color of food coloring at a time and
had them blow the coloring with their straw.The kids figured
 out if they wiggled the straw as they blew the colors their colors
would go "crazy". They had lots of fun  making the colors run crazy.
They were very proud of their art work!

Rain painting

We decided to make our own rain today. Kids in Phoenix

don't see much of  the real stuff!The kids stayed busy dipping 

their paint brushes in very wet watercolors and then 

tapping the brush and  making it rain all over their paper. They thought

it was so funny when the "rain" splashed on their hands and even their faces

 We should of worn our smocks to cover our clothes,they were rained on to!

Thank goodness for washable paints!

Supplies needed

construction paper

washable watercolor paints

( I like  a good quality of paints such as Crayola or Prang)

water cups & brushes

Paper crunch

What fun the kids had crunching and wadding up old newspapers

 into a ball to paint with. I had them take their newspaper and

crunch it, wad it and undo it a couple of times. Then I gave them a 

paper plate with blue and red paint. They dipped  their paper ball into the 

paint and smashed it all over their white construction paper. They enjoyed

seeing the purple appear as the colors mixed. This is a great activity to 

use up all that extra energy kids have! 

Supplies needed

white construction paper

newspaper

paint

paper plates

Shaving creme art

What fun kids have with a dollar can of shaving creme and a bit of paint!

Some days I just squirt it right on the table, and let them finger paint.

This is a great way to clean your preschool tables. Other 

days I add 2 colors of paint to the shaving creme on the table

(for easier clean-up you can put the shaving creme on cookie sheets) and we

 learn about color mixing as they finger paint.The kids love making new colors. 

Then I lay a piece of paper on top of their paintings, let them press the paper and 

lift gently.They love to see the designs they made on the table appear on the paper.

 Today I gave them each a cookie sheet of shaving creme. I added florescent

blue and green paint. Then I gave them straws to carefully swirl through

the paint and shaving creme. After they were happy with their swirl design I 

laid white paper on top of the shaving creme and had them press it down. 

 What a gallery of beautiful pictures we have!

Supplies needed

shaving creme

paint

cookie sheets

straws

 white construction  paper

Milk painting

Today we explored science and created gorgeous paintings at the art table!

I set out cookie sheets with a rim. I like the cookie sheets

from the dollar tree.They are smaller than regular cookie sheets

and work well at the art table.I also set out food coloring,small bowls of liquid 

dish soap and q-tips. I poured enough evaporated milk onto the cookie sheet to 

cover the bottom of the cookie sheet.The kids then dropped small drops

 of food coloring onto the milk.Now the fun begins!The kids dipped their q-tips 

into the soap and then gently touched the q-tips next to the food coloring drops.

The food coloring started to move and "dance". The kids were so excited to watch

 the food coloring spread and blend making an explosion of colors! After the colors

 stopped blending I gently laid a piece of paper onto the tray of colors and

 then carefully lifted the paper off the cookie sheet and set the 

pictures out in the sun to dry.

Such fun! Such beautiful paintings!

Supplies needed

cookie sheet or shallow dish

paper cut to fit the cookie sheet or dish

food coloring

dish soap

q-tips

evaporated milk 

Fun with straws.

Today I set out bowls of cut up straws and school 

glue. I made each child a name plate,writing their names lightly 

with a pencil and let them add the white glue and straws to build their names.

 ( I did the glue for my 2's and 3's)They enjoyed searching for 

just the right size straw to fit on each letter perfectly.

They had such fun with this activity they wanted  to make more pictures. 

This time I had them just be creative and  put their glue where they wanted and create 

want they wanted. They came up with all kinds of ideas-- water pipes, houses, 

the beach, a castle! Still after spending a good hour gluing they wanted to 

make necklaces!So I  cut out circles,wrote their names on them  put the circles onto 

curling ribbon and they made their necklaces. This is a great fine motor skill, and works

 best with curling ribbon and short pieces of straws. The ribbon is stiff and the 

short straws are easy to string. I like to tape one end of the ribbon down so as they

 string the straws don't all fall off the end they are not putting their straws on. 

A great activity that is great on the budget!

Supplies needed

colored straws

construction paper

school glue

curing ribbon

Bouncing balloon prints

It was 110 degrees outside today in Phoenix! That 

meant I needed to find some creative inside activities for the kids! 

They had so much fun bouncing balloons through

florescent colored paint and onto white 

paper.  The paintings came out super cute! I gave each

child a paper plate with 4 puddles of paint and a

 balloon (don't blow them up to big). Then I showed them how to dip 

the balloon and bounce it over the paper until the paint was gone. 

They giggled as they painted picture after picture!Once the pictures  

were dry I stapled their paintings together and we made bouncing 

balloon books. I set foam stickers out  for them to add to

 each page of their book and had them dictate a story line

 for me to write on each page. They came up with such cute stories!

This was definitely a  fun and entertaining activity that keep us all nice and cool!

Supplies needed

florescent paint (a fun change from primary colors)

paper plates

balloons

white paper

optional --stickers