Winter Landscape {Home Art Studio}

Have you tried something and it just didn’t work for you or your family like you hoped it would?  Well, that happened to us.  You see, for the first half of school we attended a co-op.  My eldest son was so excited!  And all in all it was a wonderful opportunity for him.  However, it was rough on baby brother.  It just interfered with his schedule, which in turn left us with a grump the rest of the evening and sometimes even a sleepless night.

So, I just had to say NO to returning for the spring semester.  We just aren’t in the right season of life.  We hope to return another year, but until then I had to find some alternatives for our Friday lessons. 

After reading several reviews, mostly from Carisa at 1+1+1=1, I decided to purchase Home Art Studio for Kindergarten and give it a try.

There were several reasons, I wanted to test this program out – 1. minimal planning and prep, 2. educational and 3. age level specific.

My son is a huge art kid!  I mean HUGE!  So, he was jumping at the bit to get started. Now, the lessons to build on prior knowledge, but we didn’t start at the beginning. We actually had snow that morning, so we decided that the Winter Landscape (Lesson 8) would be a lot of fun to try. 

About the Project – Winter Landscape

• Time - 2 days to complete
• Main Focus – background and foreground

The first day I gathered all the supplies and started to do the lesson with Ms. Volin.  I paused it several times, so my son could catch up.  Once he got the snowy hills and cloud on the paper we set it aside to dry. 

The second day we finished it up, but I decided to let him watch the whole video first.  After watching the full video segment he worked on creating the snowmen and evergreen trees.  

How He Did

My son really enjoyed this project, however there were several tasks that he struggled to complete on his own.  He had a hard time drawing the trees.  To make it easier for him, I told him to draw 3 triangles on top of each other.  He also struggled with creating 3 distinct sizes of snowmen.  To help him, I cut out 3 white rectangles – one small, one medium and one large.  I told him to draw a snowman that would fill each rectangle.  Finally, I had to help him cut out the small images.  Cutting is an area that he is improving in, but in which he still gets frustrated.

Overall

This was a fun project.  I would say my son completed 75% of it by himself.  I can see us revisiting this, but maybe switching up some elements to make a different season landscape.

Do you have a favorite art curriculum?

 

Please note: I was not asked to review this curriculum. Be aware that affiliate links may be present.  If you purchase anything through an affiliate link, you give back a percentage to our family…thanks!

Fabric Sun Photo Kit {Giveaway}

We are so excited to be teaming up with Eye Can Art to offer you this fabulous giveaway for their Fabric Sun Photo Kit.

A Little Info About Eye Can Art Kits...

• 8 kits to select from.
• Kit prices range from $24 to $30.
• Comes with enough materials to create several creations.
• All materials are supplied.

As mentioned above, we got to test out their Fabric Sun Photo Kit.  Let me just say that my son was ecstatic when it arrived in the mail. You see, my son (5 1/2 years old) loves to draw, but he also gets excited about using his hands to create things—mixing pancakes and food coloring, building characters out of Tinker Toys, mushing play dough through a press to create shapes, etc. So he was fascinated by the idea of using the sun and found objects to create art.

 

The Eye Can Art Fabric Sun Photo Kit has everything you need to create nine fabric prints. The only things missing are some found objects from around your house for creating silhouettes and your child's limitless imagination.

 

So, here is my honest opinion on the Fabric Sun Photo Kit:

• Little to no set up required. – Just open the canister and get to creating. 
• No skill required. – If you child can write, draw, or rummage through the house for flat objects then they can create a unique piece of art.
• It’s educational. – The instructions introduce your child to the concepts of silhouettes and composition. These might not be terms your child understands yet, but get them going on this art project and they'll have a firm understanding of these ideas.
• An element of mystery. – Your older children will probably know what to expect from their creation before it is complete, but witnessing our son make some observations about his creation during the process what fun. He was very excited to see his finished work.

Once your fabric sun photo print is complete you can hem the edges to prevent it from fraying and use the included ribbon to create hooks for displaying the artwork. I love that this isn't just another piece of paper to eventually get thrown out (and believe me, we've through out piles of drawings and coloring pages), but that this piece of fabric could be cherished for years to come.

 

Overall, this kit felt like equal parts artistic expression and science experiment.

Now for the Giveaway
One lucky reader will receive their very own Fabric Sun Photo Kit. {affiliate}This giveaway is OPEN FOR US ONLY. Ends May 23rd at 12:00 am EST.

Don’t want to wait? 

• Purchase it on Amazon {affiliate} or directly on the Eye Can Art website.

ENTER by using the Rafflecopter widget below and make sure to grab some extra entries. (Feed/Email readers you’ll have to click over to the blog to enter).  Before entering make sure you look over the Terms Conditions. Good luck.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2 Teaching Mommies Review/Giveaway Disclosure: The featured product for this giveaway was provided to us at no cost, by Eye Can Art. All opinions expressed are my own. Please be aware that affiliate links may be present.  If you purchase anything through an affiliate link, you give back a percentage to our family…thanks!

Winter Crafts and Colors!

As the cold month of January begins we will be rolling out our expanded unit on things we do in winter!  I just can’t bring myself to a recipe post because like many of you I am sick of sweets and baking!

Since we have been out of the swing of things for a couple of weeks due to a Christmas break I will be starting E off with a favorite of hers, a color book! 

          

And, just in case cabin fever starts to set in we might make one of these from Family Fun magazine.  I found this fantastic book on Winter Fun treats and crafts in the dollar section of our Target! 

All of the ideas are cute but here are two of my favorite ones:

These are Sparkling Ice Crystals.  I don’t work for Family Fun, but I would have called them pipe cleaner snowflakes :)  I did read in the comments that for little ones you might want to use fewer pipe cleaners.  That is likely what we will do! 

 

 

 

This Christmas E discovered window clings.  I cannot tell you how frequently she played with the ones in our house.  When I saw this idea for Glittery Window Clings I knew she would want to make them!  Have you made any homemade window clings?  Do they ok?  Give us pointers if you have any!

 

 

I hope these few ideas make your return to the routine a little easier!  

New Year’s Eve Activities!

New Year’s Eve really is one of my favorite holidays.  I don’t know really know why, it just is.   Here are some ideas to keep your kiddos busy while you ring in 2012!! 

TO DO:

New Year’s Eve Sensory Bin:

Just visit your local dollar tree store.  You will find many things to fill your bin with!  I got some horns, party blowers, confetti, and beads!  It was easy peasy!  I think E will have some fun with this!

New Year’s Eve Countdown Craft:
 Happy Home Fairy (Do you all know how much I LOVE her?) has this adorable countdown craft you can print and make with your kiddo.  I would recommend printing it out and decorating it New Year’s Eve day, then countdown the hours to the New Year!  Don’t Forget Your Glitter!

Countdown Bags:
Ideas for these are all over the internet, but I can understand why. We found these over at Hoosier Home Made.  We will be making these!  Use these bags and label them with times leading up to 11:55 PM.  Let your kiddo open them when the time comes and inside they will find treats to keep them occupied!  How fun!

 

TO EAT:
How cute are these?  Over at Dreamers Into Doers are the simple instructions.  I mean, why not get all fancy and do this with the cool plastic wine glasses?  Add a cookie and you have a fancy toddler type treat! 

Still want more ideas?  Check out our Pintrest Board for some more fun things to do with your kiddos!

Nativity Fun

One of our readers, Jackie, e-mailed us yesterday about a site she had seen.  What she found was Paper Model Kiosk, a web site which specializes in premium paper downloads.  At Paper Model Kiosk you register (so you will need an e-mail address for them) and then you can download some BEAUTIFUL paper nativities free of charge!  Some of the downloads do cost something, but if you browse around you can find some beautiful ones, like these, FOR FREE:

Be warned that some of these do not lend themselves to simplicity, but I needed something to do with E for today’s post, so I figured I would find something here and we could make it!  All of the downloads have to be printed on cardstock and cut out, and the detail can be difficult for little ones.  I cut ours out in advance and let E cut the straight lines on the bottom. 

We then put ours together, and there wasn’t much to it.  It was SUPER easy. So did E like it? See for yourself:

Now lets say that you are not one for following download directions.  You need something simple, quick, and kid friendly.  If its decent looking, all the better, right?  Well, here you go….

Let your kiddo cut out the figures and glue them, and their shapes, in place on the nativity.

See, something for all you mommies out there!! 

Clothespin Rudolph

Tis’ the season to be crafting.  As Christmas approaches, you will likely be crafting with your kiddo, but here is one simple activity you can make.  It involved glue, so E was super happy, and it was easy, so I was super happy!

You’ll need:

• A clothespin
• some googly eyes (we get an endless supply from the Dollar Tree)
• Red Pom Pom nose (I should by stock-I get these from Dollar Tree, too)
• Some brown pipe cleaners (Also at the Dollar Tree)

Directions:

• Cut a pipe cleaner in half.  Stick half a pipe cleaner through the metal ring of the clothespin and twist it into place.  You can twist two smaller pieces of pipe cleaner on to make “antlers”.
• Glue on the googly eyes. 
• Glue on the red pom pom

That’s it.  Easy Peasy.  I did put some magnetic strip on the back of ours and they are clips on our fridge now. 

Giving Idea: If your kiddo is glue happy like mine, make several of these and use them to clip gift tags on Christmas presents.  Family would probably like the sweet little addition, and they get a keepsake out of it. 

Family Night Idea:
Make the craft and this simple reindeer snack I found over at Be Different, Act Normal.   
How cute are those!  Settle the family in and watch Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, or read the classic story before bedtime. 

Can you tell I am all about EASY????  Seriously, E won’t remember what we made or did 30 years from now, but she will remember that WE made and did something together! 

Now, there is one more thing….why not craft with purpose this season?  Be sure and check out our post on the Truth in the Tinsel e-book and make a craft that teaches the real meaning of the season we are celebrating! 

Spider Craft Ideas!

Last year when we did the unit on spiders E and I had the chance to get a little crafty.  We made this little guy:

 

Its amazing what some pipe cleaners, a set of googly eyes, and an old egg carton can do!

The thing is there are a lot of great ideas out there for Spider crafts, so in case you’ve already made the egg carton spider, here are some more things for you to choose from!

This little guy is cute and easy!  Better yet, its low on the supply side of things, so all you need is some construction paper!

These funny little guys are too cute, aren’t they?!  I found these over at Gone Bananas,and I think this might be what we try this year!

And lastly, with Halloween approaching, you might need something cute to hang around for awhile and hold that candy!  This little guy will do the trick!

Happy crafting!

Boo! It’s a Sensory Bin!!!

Ok, so who doesn’t love some sensory bin ideas???  We are not BIG Halloween people, but we do like to have some fun with this goofy holiday.  I set out to create a Halloween Sensory Bin that was fun and not frightening.  Mission accomplished according to E.  :) 

I got all of my materials from the Dollar Tree or Targets Dollar Spot (LOVE that by the way) with the exception of the foam stickers.  I got those at Michaels with this COUPON for 40% off.  Here is what I put in:

• A pack of shredded paper confetti in black, orange, and white
• Some of those fuzzy pom-pom monsters
• A few “Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” foam stickers
• Pumpkin Erasers
• Bat Erasers
• Some plastic spiders

Now, I will be honest, sometimes I have been a skeptic of the sensory bin, unsure of what the big deal was.  But then, E played with this sensory bucket! 

What did we do?  We looked for Snoopy.  We counted pumpkins and bats.  We found pom pom monsters of varied colors, and we counted them because apparently E is like Rain Man and wants to COUNT EVERYTHING.  :)  We played and played, and then, when I put the bucket up, we had the promise of another go around tomorrow! 

Want a couple of more ideas?  Check out these! 

Halloween Sensory Bin From Airplanes in August

Halloween Sensory Bin from Nurturing Naters

You can also check out an entire list of AWESOME sensory bins for the season over at Preschool Lesson Plans if you need some more inspiration!