not the first time parents found something like this in their preschooler’s back pack.

probably not the last.

flashback to 2009:

good times when scissors are available at all times.

thanks for the kind words from many of you and your interest in honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

as requested, here are a couple of our favorite printables. you should be able to click on them and download them for yourself.

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the first printable we use for cutting practice, then gluing into a capital M shape, or on to random art projects. we also used these images to add dr. king’s face to some of our people shaped blocks.

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this is the one we used last year with watercolor paints while listening to jack johnson, of course.

 

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this last printable is from years ago by now…we offer lots of shades of brown crayons, mirrors and photos of dr. king.

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again, thank you for your support.

let’s celebrate – and live! – the dream.

 

j week meant “j is for jellyfish (and other creatures that live under water)” week.

we used things other than our hands and paintbrushes to turn a lot of paper different shades of blue and purple…all with a bit of glitter (which reminded us of the rainbow fish book we read!).

the dish scrubbers were a favorite along with our paint wands from lakeshore.

then there was a lot of cutting and gluing to make paper jellyfish.

 

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we i ended up making plastic bag jellyfish…cut strips half way up a plastic bag, stuff another plastic bag in that one, then tie a knot to create a “body” and jellyfish tentacles.

we went “jellyfishing” through the puppet stage window by feeling around and grabbing one.

and then with the help of classical music, did a little dancing with the jellyfish.  they floated amazingly well!

one day we made jellyfish in bottles with more of the plastic bags cut into tinier strips put into blue water.

jellyfish in puzzles were discovered.

and this was the week some children got really interested in cursive writing.

we do a lot of tracing when it’s cursive work!

whew!  what a week that was!

 

tis the season for snowy weather…though this week we’ve enjoyed sunny mild days…all the more reason to make snow scenes of our own.

with a little photo wrapped in clear packaging tape, water and silver glitter all dumped in a baby food jar, we made snow globes!

we added a little duct tape where the lid met the jar to avoid too much water leakage.

the children loved finding themselves in the little jars. : )

and then i took this energy home and made another variation with my own kids (after they ate baby food like it was 1998 and 2000 and 2005).  christmas fun.

i’ve seen these on line for quite some time…i thought they were made with glow in the dark paint…but then i found some made with glo sticks!  i don’t know if they’ll last minutes or hours…but they are fun, fun, fun!

fabric strips knotted on each end, masking tape, baby food jar (and kids who love to eat peach baby food…though they never ate baby food as actual babies!), and glo sticks.

cut the glo stick open (i used a knife), pour some of the glo stick liquid in the jar, close up the jar, tape over the lid/jar seal to prevent leaks, tape the fabric strip handle on (the knot will keep the handle from slipping out), shake and light up the night!

we are storing this made one in the freezer and that makes a cool effect while the frozen liquid melts too!

we’ll take a night time walk tonight as part of our new year’s eve festivities…glo stick lanterns are coming along!

happy new year, all!