Coffee Filter Turkeys

With it being Thanksgiving week, the kids and I have been working on a plethora of turkey crafts. These coffee filter turkeys turned out quite beautifully!  And all three of mine--at ages 7, 4, and 2--had fun with them.  All you need is coffee filters, markers, a spray bottle with water, construction paper, and googly eyes.  Kids can color the coffee filters with markers.  Then, holding the filter over a sink, spray with the water bottle, rotating a little so that the colors run together (you may want to wear rubber gloves for this part; it can get messy!).  Set aside the filter to dry.  Cut a turkey shape out of brown paper, and a nose out of orange paper.  Glue everything down and have the kids draw a waddle with red marker.  Once the filter is dry, you can glue that, too.  These are absolute works of art!

Thanksgiving Turkey Busy Bag

I looked around Pinterest for a Thanksgiving- or turkey-themed busy bag, but couldn't find any good examples.  So this is what I came up with. I cut a turkey out of tan felt (shaped like a butternut squash) and glued on a pair of googly eyes, beak, and waddle.  I cut out a rainbow of feathers to arrange and rearrange behind the turkey.  Then I designed a little pilgrim hat and a pink apron for some fun accessorizing.  My kids will have some fun with it this week!

Mystery Theme Birthday Party

Jack turned seven last weekend!  We celebrated with a mystery-themed birthday party.  We planned a bunch of games, each of which led to a letter clue, that the kids put together at the end to spell out where the hidden treasure was.  I got most of the game ideas from this blog post.  Unfortunately, I was too busy running the games to remember to take pictures during the events!  Ugh. 

1.  Fingerprint Art: a great way to start the party!  I had half-sheets of cardstock and several different-colored inkpads, as well as markers and crayons, out for the kids to make art with.  Jack chose his favorite when we were done, and that person received the first clue.

2.  Laser Beam Challenge: When you make it all through, I will give you your next clue.  Brian set up a short "laser" course (with orange string) in a hallway.  The kids were supposed to maneuver through without touching a laser. They had a blast with this challenge. I so wish I had a picture of it!

3.  Balloon Bomb Pop: To stop the bomb, jump on top, and you will find the clue as they pop.  There were little slips of paper hidden in a bunch of blown-up balloons.  One slip of paper had the clue written on it. The kids popped the balloons any way they could.

4.  Invisible Ink Challenge:  At first you might not see it; use a little science to reveal it.  I wrote different symbols and simple pictures (a sun, star, square, triangle, lightning bolt) on small sheets of cardstock (it needs to be thick) with a Q-tip dipped in lemon juice.  The kids then used sponge brushes dipped in grape juice and painted over the top to reveal the pictures.  Only one had the letter clue on it.

5.  What's Missing? Tray: Use your observation skills to remember what's on the tray, and then what's missing from the tray.  I had a tray with about ten items on it: button, rock, a spool of thread, sunglasses, etc.  The kids tried to memorize the items.  I took the tray out of the room, removed one item, then brought it back.  The kid who remembered first which item was missing received the next clue.

6.  Guess the Number of Candies: How many candies in the jar?  Guess correctly, and you will go far.  This one is pretty straightforward.  Pretty proud of Jack for guessing closest to the correct number (343) and receiving the clue.

7.  Mystery Bag/Secret Keeping Challenge: A great Detective uses all five senses – sight, sound, smell, TOUCH, and taste. Reach in there… do not haste.  The kids all reached, without looking, into a bag full of cooked, cold spaghetti.  If they were able to figure out what it was right away, they also needed to keep it a secret for all the kids who had yet to take a turn (thus, the secret-keeping portion of the challenge). To my surprise, no one guessed it!  They thought it was rice or salad.  Kate knew what it was already, and kept the secret, so I gave her the clue. 

8.  Backwards Words Challenge: You need a mirror to see this clear.  Brian used word art to print a bunch of phrases ("do your chores,"etc.) backwards, so the kids needed to look in a mirror to read them.  The last kid received the paper with "Your Clue is an O" on it.

9.  Baby Food Smelling Challenge: Now that you’re done with that fun, go where all the cooking is done.  Time to smell; I wish you well.  I gave each of the kids an index card and told them to number them one through six.  I then passed around six jars of baby food with the labels taken off.  They were to smell them and guess what food it was.  Pretty fun!

 

The kids then worked together to rearrange the letter clues to spell out the words HALL CLOSET.

They then raced there to find the "treasure."  Their goody bags contained a magnifying glass, mustache sticker, glow bracelet, little pad of paper, pencil, Scooby snacks, and a clementine orange.  I printed out a "Top Secret" emblem to tape on the outside of the bag. 

The cake?  Nothing special.  Just a homemade chocolate cake with orange cream cheese frosting, and black question marks painted all over it.

We had a little photo booth opportunity set up as well, but the kids were too busy to use it.  Kate had a little fun with the props after the party, though.

Peacock Tutu

I figure, the first few years, I get to pick out my kids' Halloween costumes.  Before they really get into all those commercial characters.  I sort of have this thing for peacocks, and so that's what Maggie (age 2) agreed to be for me this year. 

I'd seen peacock tutus on Pinterest before.  I found a beautiful example in a picture, but it didn't link to anything, so I was on my own with instructions. I picked up tulle in three shades of blue and green, then cut and tied it on one half of a hair elastic.

For the feathers, I cut out ovals of brown felt, which I stitched with yellow thread.  I then layered on teardrop shapes of foam green and jade, and then a pac-man shape of royal blue.  I hot-glued all the felt together and then sewed the brown oval onto a jade-colored ribbon.

After I tied the ribbons to the skirt, I used a little hot glue to attach the felt feathers onto the tulle.  This kept the feathers from migrating to the underside of the tutu... sort of.  I still had to walk around adjusting Maggie's tutu all night.  :-) 

View from the back.  I looked all over town for a royal blue shirt and finally found this one at JC Penney.  The puffy shoulders are perfect for the costume.  And Miss Maggie is a perfect peacock!

Paper Bag Scarecrow Craft

I love the kids' crafts where you can use what you have on hand.  I try to keep certain supplies on hand for just such crafts.  I had the opportunity to help watch a group of kiddos the other morning and needed a good fall craft for them.  Pinterest led me to this post and the Paper Bag Scarecrow, and, as it turned out, I had everything I needed in my supply.  They turned out adorable, and it was the perfect craft for a small group of kids to complete in about half an hour.

Supplies needed: paper bags, construction paper, raffia, googly eyes, crumpled-up newspaper (I used shredded paper from the shredder), markers, scissors, scissors, and glue.

Directions: crumple up newspaper and stuff the bag, leaving a few inches at the top.  Fold the top over a couple times and staple.  Lay some raffia across the top and staple that down as well.  The more imperfect, the better, in my opinion!  From there, the kids can glue down googly eyes and design the rest of the face: nose, cheeks, and mouth.  We drew the mouths in as if it was a row of stitches... or "railroad tracks," as we told the kids.  And they can design a hat as well.

I love how one kid used a googly eye for the nose, and how another wanted a trick-or-treat bag for his scarecrow.  Kids are the BEST artists.

Shower Curtain Playmat

A couple weeks ago, we had a week filled with rain... totally abnormal for this part of the country.  Reminded me of being in the northwest again.  I welcome the gray, drizzly days.  And I think people around here like a day or two of rain, but after a week, most of 'em were sick of it!  We needed a rainy-day activity.  I'd seen this idea for a shower curtain playmat here and had a couple extra white shower curtain liners in a closet just waiting for an opportunity.  We pushed aside the dining room table, laid out the shower curtain, grabbed a black Sharpie, and drew away...

I let my two bigger kids draw the lines in the middle of the streets.

Gotta have a church...

We started coloring with markers, before I realized that the ink would make a mess.

Jack spent his time drawing a monster truck racing course around the town.

Crazy dancing girls...

Kids' Passports (For Overcoming Shyness)

My older two kiddos both inherited a bit... or a LOT... of my shyness.  Both have a hard time speaking to adults whom they don't know well.  I thought they both should at least develop basic conversational skills, so when someone says "Hi," they will say "Hi" back.  Better yet, if someone asks them a question, they'll stop turning to me immediately, and instead answer the question.  I saw the idea somewhere to create passports for kids who trying to reach a goal.  Our goal?  To make the kids understand the importance--and the harmlessness--of conversation.  The passports have three pages, each with a prize at the end and space for ten stamps.  The prizes are simple: cookies, McDonald's, and a five-dollar bill.

Jack and Kate each picked out their own stamp to use on their passports.

Kate was all smiles after she had her cookie page filled up.

Flower Applique Shirt

Another applique shirt for another birthday present!  This time, a simple flower with a cute button center. 

MOPS "A Beautiful Mess" Table Centerpieces

I started a new teaching job this fall.  It's totally part-time (just ten hours a week), but still.  I've been a stay-at-home mom for the past seven years.  In that time, so much in the education world has changed.  It has taken all my extra time and energy to keep up with lesson planning, common core standards, professional development, and a gradebook.  Something had to fall by the wayside!  I haven't been able to craft much these past six weeks.  I'm hoping that, as I adjust to working again, I'll get back into crafting. 
I've also been getting ready for the upcoming MOPS year!  The DGLs and I met to put together these table centerpieces for the 2013-14 theme, "A Beautiful Mess." 

We filled mason jars with all those little things that make our lives a beautiful mess: crayons, marbles, LEGOs, play-doh, hair accessories, beads, nail polish bottles, matchbox cars, and other random toys.  We used chalkboard labels on the front for our table names (Splendid Shambles, Fabulous Frenzy, Marvelous Mayhem, and Dazzling Disarray... all synonyms of a Beautiful Mess!).  For the tissue paper flowers, we used this tutorial.  I think they turned out super cute!  Can't wait 'til our first meeting on the 23rd!

Sleeping Bag for a Doll

Found a tutorial for a doll's sleeping bag here.  I just had to make one for Kate's newest doll!  This simple project didn't take much more than an hour. 

Look how happy she is!  She now sleeps by Kate's bed like this every night.

"Under the Sea" Felt Board (To Go)

Here's an idea I found for keeping kiddos entertained on a road trip: felt boards on a clipboard!  Felt can be glued on the back of the clipboard.  I chose to make an "Under the Sea" theme, so I added a little "sand" (tan felt) and some wavy green sea-plant-things (green ric-rac and felt).  

All the pieces, made of felt, can be kept in a Ziploc bag clipped to the other side. 

I added googly eyes to all the animals. 

I only glued down the bottom edge of the sea plants so fish can swim through them.

A turtle, a crab, a shark, a starfish, a clam, and five fish... quite a busy little scene!