God takes care of Elijah

One of the blessings in teaching young children

Bible stories is the way God uses the 

teaching to touch  my life and to remind

me of his promises and his constant presence.

Today the children learned that God was not only with

 Elijah, but also that Elijah trusted God and did what God 

told him to do. Before the kids came to the art table 

I went online printed and cut out a picture of Elijah.

Saran wrap became the river, the sandpaper became dry land.

Our ravens were black feathers. All the supplies were placed on the 

table so the kids could decide how they wanted  their  

picture to look. Art should have few rules, one of them being no two 

pictures have to look alike! The kiddos had fun with all the

 different textures of supplies they used to create their 

picture. Our collection of stories turned out to be 

a wonderful masterpiece!

Supplies needed

Blue construction paper

sand paper

saran wrap

a picture of Elijah

black feathers

orange paper for the birds beak

goggle eyes

small pieces of bread to put in the ravens beak.

white school glue

Daniel in the lion's den.

It's letter Dd this week in preschool.We had such 

fun learning about how God was with Daniel

in the lion's den and how he is always with us as well.

Preschoolers love to paint, and here at Homespun we 

paint a lot! Today we started out with dot painters. 

They are such a great painting tool. Not just because

kids love to make dots all over their pictures, but also 

because they are not messy!  Dot painters can be bought
on amazon.com. I googled a  picture of Daniel and the lion's
den, shrank it down to fit on the paper plates and then the kiddo's
 dot painted the picture. We set our dot painted pictures aside
and got busy painting our lion's den. I used brown paint
with a little white glue added to it. Once the dens were painted
sand was sprinkled onto the wet paint. The glue
in the paint works well when using sand.
Finally Daniel and the lions were added to the den.
Our Bible story art came out great! The
parents love it when the kids bring home an
art project that they can tell a story with.
Supplies needed
A picture of Daniel and the lion's den (cut out)
paper plates (trim off the bottom)
Brown paint w/ white glue added
dot painters
sand 

Cupcakes!

Our cupcakes came out so cute, they looked
good enough to eat! I found the cute cupcake
template at todayinsecondgrade.blogspot.com
We started  out with cookie sheets, red and white  paint and
shaving cream. Finger painting is a great
sensory activity. Some kids will excitedly put
 both hands in the paint and get busy mixing the colors.
 Others are not so sure and use one hand or even just a finger
 to mix the paint. I like to use two colors that will blend into
a new color, that way we have added a little science
experiment to our fun art activity!
Adding shaving cream gives a little puff to the paint.
After the kiddos had finished finger painting I laid
the cupcake frosting cut-out on top of the tray of paint
 and pressed down gently. It's always such fun to see the kids
reaction to the print when the paper is lifted off
their painted tray. After washing up hands lots of sprinkles
 (colored dots) were added to the frosting. Last we glued the
 cupcake to the cupcake paper. What a yummy batch
of cupcakes we had  at Homespun Daycare!
Supplies needed
cupcake template copied on card stock
 washable paint
shaving cream (optional)
cookie sheets
dots

Bb is for Bible

Bb is for Bible, boat and best friend! Today we 

learned about all three. The kids started out

painting a storm using bouncy balls in a shallow box.
It's lots of fun watching the balls roll through the paint
 leaving  quite a storm on the light blue paper. Just place the paper
in a shallow box. Add 3 or 4 bouncing balls to the box and
 squirt some paint on them. I used blue and white paint. The kids tip the box
back and forth and roll the balls creating a great storm picture. While the
stormy pictures dried the boat building began. I pre cut
 the boats, sails and  a simple Jesus figure and taped a craft sick
 to the back of the boat. The kiddos added a sail and Jesus
 to the boat. To make our stormy clouds  they gently
 pressed cotton balls into gray paint and glued them on.
 Last we added shiny pipe cleaners for lightning. The
kiddos enjoyed retelling the Bible story as
they built their pictures. I was so  blessed hearing
the story in their own words and reminding
them that Jesus is their best friend and is always
with them!
Supplies needed
light blue construction paper
blue gray and white paint
shallow boxes
(I paint with 2 kids at a time so I had 2 boxes)
super balls
pre cut boat, Jesus figure, and sail
craft sticks
cotton balls
shiny pipe cleaners

                                                                     Bb is for blue bird

I saw this cute bird craft as I was searching for

letter Bb ideas. As a home based daycare my kids

stay with me for at least 3 years.That means I am always

 looking for new ideas each year as I introduce the 

alphabet. My kiddos get such joy out  of 

turning their letters into crafts. The bird was 

an all time favorite. Not only that but  it's a 

simple craft with little prep work. Just cut out an upper 

case letter B, a beak and legs, add a googly eye and

 feathers and your kiddos are ready to create! The kids

had fun sorting thru the box of feathers. We had lots giggles 

 as they tickled their faces with them. Lily loved 

the soft fluffy purple feathers. 

Homespun had a flock of beautiful birds!

Supplies needed

Pre cut letter B

pre cut beaks and feet

googly eyes

feathers

white glue

Aa is for apples
It was a great first week of preschool
here at Homespun. The kiddos had so much fun with
our apple tree craft. Tearing and crunching lots of
green tissue was the first step. Tearing paper is
a great fine motor skill, and a favorite of the kids.
It was just as fun for them to crunch up
the green tissue and glue it onto pre cut circles.
Our final step was adding pom pom apples. Each child
 picked out 5 apples to glue onto their tress. Once
 dried the beautiful tree tops were put onto toilet paper rolls.
Just make a slit on the sides of the toilet paper roll and
 slip the tree top in. So cute!
Supplies needed 
circles cut out tag board
green tissue
red pom poms
white glue
toilet paper rolls

Helping hands

Today we did stain glass art. It's a fun activity and the kids loved

seeing their hands hanging on the arcadia door! Our lesson 

focus was being a good helper. Its never to early to 

 start planting seeds of compassion in the hearts of kids.

After reading the Good Samaritan we got busy with our art

activity. You will need to cut up  tissue paper into short strips. 

The contact paper is easier for the kids to use if you cut a 

rectangle shape (large enough  for the child's hand to fit on for 

tracing), and peel half the backing off. Then let the 

fun begin! The kiddos loved the sticky paper and 

enjoyed picking colors to stick on it. Once they have

covered the paper unpeel the other side and carefully 

fold it over on top of the tissue paper. As I traced each little

hand I asked how they can be a helper. They had so many cute

 reply's! Aiden said he is going to stay here

 with grandma and be my helper forever! 

Supplies needed

tissue paper in assorted colors

clear contact paper

string for hanging the hands