Fine Motor

Marshmallow Slingshots

May 18, 2012 by Jenae — Leave a Comment

Did you see the brand-new Fascinating Science for Kids eBook that you can download for FREE? If not, head on over and grab it while it’s free!

For the next 15 days, I’ll be walking you step-by-step through each of these fascinating science experiments. The eBook has all the instructions…but I’ll be sharing pictures of the process–from start to finish!

Our first “experiment” was so much fun we made a game of it! This idea is originally from Kitchen Pantry Scientist and adapted slightly.

Here’s what you’ll need to make marshmallow slingshots: the plastic ring from a prescription bottle or the ring underneath the cap on the gallons of milk (that breaks when you first open it), rubber bands, large marshmallows, and a chair for each person participating.

1. Place the plastic ring in the center and then make a chain of rubber bands on both sides. To make the chain, overlap two rubber bands (or the ring and the rubber band) to look like a Venn diagram and then pull the bottom rubber band through the top one and over itself. Continue the process until you have a chain equal to the length of the distance between two legs of your chair.

2. Turn your chair upside down and secure the chain in between the two legs of the chair.

3. Put your marshmallow on the ring. Hold the marshmallow as you pull back. Release and watch the mallow go flying!

The Science Behind It:

This is a great illustration for Newton’s Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. When you use force to pull back on the marshmallow, it flies forward once you release it. This is also a great activity for transformation of energy.

Download your free Science eBook with this idea and many others by clicking below and entering your e-mail address. You’ll immediately receive an e-mail that will have the link to the eBook!

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Filed Under: 3-5 years, Fine Motor, School Age, Science Experiment

Homemade Art Supplies

May 14, 2012 by Jenae — 7 Comments

As summer approaches and you start thinking about the many arts and craft projects you want to do with your kids, why not have a little fun making your own homemade art supplies first? Here are just a few of our tried-and-true recipes for homemade art supplies…

Homemade Finger Paint

Homemade Glue

Homemade Water Colors

DIY Paint-with-Water Pages

Homemade Face Paint

Homemade Bubbles (Recipe from the Smithsonian)

Air-drying Baking Soda Modeling Clay

What’s your favorite homemade art supply recipe???

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Filed Under: Crafts, Fine Motor, MAKE IT

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands: Coffee Filter “Stained Glass” Earth

April 16, 2012 by Jenae — 12 Comments

With Earth Day just around the corner, I thought the boys would enjoy making a “stained glass” earth out of coffee filters (just as we have done with Bob & Larry, butterflies, and pumpkins!

As we were making these, I thought it would be a great opportunity to reaffirm to the boys how God created the Earth and everything in it. It also made me think of the old Bible school song, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” My original plan was to just create the “stained glass” Earth, but I thought some handprints holding it would also be cute!

Here’s what you’ll need: white coffee filters, green & blue markers, contact paper or a laminator, a spray bottle with water, black construction paper, scissors, and clear tape to secure it to your window.

1. Lay one coffee filter onto a wipeable surface and let your child begin using their markers to color it. Encourage your child to fill in as much as he/she can with the marker as the colors will be darker and more vibrant with the more color you put on there.

Big Brother working hard!

Little Brother was finished after about 2 minutes, so I finished his for him.

Here is Big Brother with his ‘Earth’!

2. Use a water bottle to spray each coffee filter very lightly until each part is just slightly wet.

4. Let dry. It will probably take 1-2 hours to dry completely.

5. In the meantime, trace your child’s hand (and part of his/her arm) on a piece of black construction paper.

6. When the coffee filter is dry, laminate both it and the handprints. If you don’t have a laminator, sandwich each between 2 pieces of clear contact paper.

7. Use clear masking tape (doubled over) to secure either just the Earth or the Earth and the hands to your window!

He really does have the whole world in his hands!

Literature Link:

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Crafts, Earth Day, Fine Motor, School Age

Flower Patterning with Lemongrass-Scented Playdough

March 26, 2012 by Jenae — 4 Comments

We had lots of fun making and playing with this playdough. And I absolutely love the fresh scent of the lemongrass essential oil (which I already had on hand from the Natural Mosquito Spray we made last year)!

There are so many learning-related things you could do with this playdough (in addition to just playing with it). We used some fake flowers (since I refused to cut the tulips in our yard) to do a little patterning. We also did a little one-to-one correspondence action with Little Brother.

Recipe for Lemongrass Playdough:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cream of Tartar
2 1/2 cups water
5 tablespoons oil
Lemongrass essential oil (I used about 7 drops)
Green food coloring

1. Mix the dry ingredients first (2.5 cups flour, 1 1/4 cups salt, 1 1/2 Tablespoons cream or tartar).

2. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and 5 tablespoons of oil.

3. Get ready to add your green food coloring and lemongrass essential oil.

3. Stir over low to medium heat.

4. Once it thickens and congregates in the middle of the pan, stir just a tiny bit longer.

5. Throw on the counter and once it is cool enough to touch, knead several times.

6. Cover with a dish towel until it is cool enough to store in a Ziploc bag.

Now for the pattern play:

Lay the playdough and flowers out on the table. It was SO beautiful outside today, we just HAD to do it outside. :)

If you have a younger child, demonstrate how to make a pattern for him/her. You might do the first couple pattern units (what repeats itself) and then let him/her finish.

If your child is older and familiar with patterns, ask him/her to see what different patterns he/she can come up with!

Having fun!!!

With Little Brother, we counted as we put each flower in the “grass”…

…but this is what he really wanted to do with it. :)

Who says boys don’t like flowers? My boys certainly do!

Looking for other playdough recipes? Try this chocolate-scented “mud” playdough and let your little one dig for (pretend) bugs in the mud! Or you can try making this DELICOUS edible playdough!

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Filed Under: 2-3 years, 3-5 years, Cognitive Development, Color Recognition, Fine Motor, Flowers and Plants, One-to-One Correspondence, Patterns, Sensory

Beaded Rainbow

March 9, 2012 by Jenae — 2 Comments

We had lots of fun making this beaded rainbow. We all pitched in on each individual color and took our time. Putting the beads on the pipe cleaners is great for fine motor development!

Here’s what you’ll need: Pipe cleaners (aka fuzzy sticks), pony beads (we got ours for free from CraftProjectIdeas.com), and some yellow playdough (for the pots of gold)!