Color a Mosaic

I found a few websites that have free printables, and one was a Color by Number 

It resembled a mosaic (for the sake of the theme) so I printed ones that my girls would like and let them at it.

 Some were easier than others. :)

One followed the directions...

One did her own thing...

Both look great on the fridge. :)

Fun Snack : Mosaics 2

So, my sister and I constantly battle over which is better. Goldfish (fishies) or Cheez-Its.

I love Cheeze-Its. Always have. In fact, there isn't a grocery list I have made that hasn't had them on there.

Well, they are $1.00 a box last week and I bought 20 of them.

Yes, 20 of them. It is true, I am obsessed.

For this activity, you only need two or three varieties.

I grabbed some scrap paper, drew a rectangle and let the kids make their own creations in the box.

The kids love to eat art.

  

This is the perfect activity when you need to be on the phone, because there was literally NO talking.

They were so focused on this project.

And, everyone can do it. Except for him. He would try and eat the paper. :)

Perfect activity for when you are watching a friends kid, or when you have time to kill.

Or in my case, when it is snowing and you just don't want to leave.

Sorry Utah friends. :/

Paper Mosaics

Continuing on with the theme, I grabbed my square punches and let the girls "punch" from scrap paper.

I like this Fiskars one because it uses a grip instead of a thumb pointer motion.

Here is the other one.

Peek a Boo!

I showed them an example:

Then let them do it completely by themselves.

I loved what they came up with.

 This kept them so busy, I was able to balance the books without interruption!

It was a perfect thing to do with each age group.

Try it! It is so simple, uses scraps, and uses fine motor skills they need for handwriting.

Edible Mosaics

I just got back from a much needed, and deserved (if I do say so myself) vacation without my kids to New York!  While I was there, we saw several mosaics in the subway stations throughout Manhattan.

It was incredible. I took pictures of each one I saw.

When I got back to my children, I decided to teach them all about Mosaics.

I am not an art expert, but, what a perfect opportunity to showcase something awesome to my children!

We talked about what Mosaics are : a picture or other design constructed from smaller pieces.

I also realized that I have a few of these types of art pieces at my house.

Cool right?

So I grabbed some Graham Crackers, Frosting, Cheerios, Puffs, Marshmallows, Sprinkles, Reeses Pieces, and Mini M&M's and had the kids make their own "edible mosaics"

3 year old and almost 2 year old

yellow shirt 5 year old.

They were so quiet and precise. It was a great activity for all ages, even my 1 year old.

Time to eat!

Blue shirt 6 years old.

Please excuse this display of poor manners. It was my fault. I said "is it good?" and then snapped this as he said yes!

This whole week we will be working on different mosaics.

If you like this type of activity and want more, please leave me a comment and let me know!

If you want something else...tell me!

Also, hi to my new followers from MO! 

Twizzle Writing

This is a GREAT activity when you need your kids to be quiet for a good long while.

Grab some CLEAN kid scissors, and a package of pull and peel twizzlers.

Then print in a font large enough for them to see and use, words of your choice.

I did this at Thanksgiving time so we used Thanksgiving words. 

Later, I did it for the littler ones with their first names.

 Let the kids pull apart, and then they cut and mold to the letters.

We love to do this when friends are over too!

 The kids cut the strings, then added on to the letters.

The best part is that they get to eat their little pieces as a snack! 

So fun!

Kid Made Ornaments: Reindeers

you need 3 clothes pins, one wooden spool, googly eyes and a red ball or bell.

We used hot glue on the cool setting, but you could use tacky glue or wood glue and be totally fine.

First, paint the wooden objects...

 Then glue them together

 Then hang on the tree!

Toddler Santa Advent Calendar

A repost from Dec 1, 2010

This is from my son's school but my daughter insisted on having one of her own.

First we played with the cotton balls. It was fun to feel them on our faces and eyes and throw them and just get our hands on them. I put the left overs in the sensory tub for winter. :)

 Once we were done playing we colored Santa faces.

Then we glued a basic hat on and I explained how the advent calendar works.

Every day (today is the 1st) you add a cotton ball to Santa's beard. Once the beard is filled its Christmas!

Everyone was so excited by this.  If you want the beard chart leave a comment HERE with your email address and I will send you the doc right away!

Easy Toddler Christmas idea... voile!