Weekly Curriculum

Since we are still out of town visiting family, we have been slacking on our art projects.  We have only managed to get two done this week.

Monday: Stickers

Nico spent time with his cousins putting stickers on a page and coloring them.

Tuesday: Water Colors

On Tuesday we worked on water colors.

Weekly Curriculum

Monday: Color mixing/Painting
Tuesday: Coffee Filter Snowflakes
Wednesday: Sensory Bottles
Thursday: Craft Stick Puzzles
Friday: Taking the day off to travel for Christmas

Monday: Color Mixing

We decided to check out the trains at Olbrich (again) this afternoon, so we didn't have time for a complicated project.  Instead, we just painted with Tempera paints.  We talked about the colors and what happens when you mix the colors.  

Tuesday: Coffee Filter Snowflakes

 Nico was so excited to have friends come over for art time today.

 Maddie got a little crazy with the green paint.

 Riley was working hard.

 Nico showing off his project.

 Here's the project:  We took coffee filters and folded them into fourths.  Then we helped the kids cut little triangles out of the filter.  When we opened it up, we had a "snowflake."  Then we glued them to black construction paper and let the kids paint them.  (I know snowflakes are supposed to be white, but Nico wanted to paint with his friends.)

.

Nico also wanted to decorate his with a pom pom.  Who am I to stifle creativity?

Wednesday: Sensory Bottles

Today we made sensory bottles.  Nico and I filled up some old bottles with water.  Then we put mini pom poms in one bottle and glitter in the other.  We taped the tops on so they wouldn't spill.  Then we flipped them over lots of times and watched what happened. 


Thursday: Craft stick puzzle

Today we made a craft stick puzzle.  First we found a picture on the internet and printed it out.  (You could draw one or have your child draw one).  Then we glued craft sticks on the back and cut it apart.  Then I scrambled the pieces and had Nico put them back in order.  I had to give verbal cues like, "Where's Santa's hat?" He didn't help very much on the actual craft, but loved the puzzle.  We even brought it with us to the Great Dane tonight, and it kept him occupied most of the time.

Olive Penguins

This isn't a project that Nico helped me on, but it was still fun to make.  We have a party tonight, and my husband told me to "make something."  So I made these penguins.  I used a jar of big olives, a jar of small olives, a block of cream cheese and a carrot.  First I peeled and cut the carrot into circles (lengthwise).  I cut a tiny triangle out of each circle for a beak.  Then I slit the big olive and filled it with cream cheese.  Then I inserted the beak into the small olive.  I put it all together with a toothpick.  I'm not sure if my husband will think these are cool or he will be embarrassed to bring them to the party, but they were fun to make.

Weekly Curriculum

Materials Needed for the week:
Q Tips, Glue, Scissors, Construction paper, Paper Plates, White Paint, Wax paper, Uncooked Macaroni Wheels, Cotton Balls, Rice, Green Food Coloring, Ziplock baggies
  
Monday: Q Tip Snowflakes
Tuesday: Paper plate Snowman
Wednesday: Footprint Penguin
Thursday: Snowman Stamping
Friday: Touch & Feel Winter Scene

Monday:

We made snowflakes out of Q-Tips and glue.  Nico helped me cut the Q-Tips into pieces, and then we glued them down.

 Sorry he has not pants...we are working on potty training, and he has to get to the bathroom fast sometimes!

 Nico had other ideas about where the Q-Tip should go.

 In the end, he only glued two Q-Tips down.  He didn't really like getting glue on his hands.

Tuesday:

We made paper plate snowmen using what we had around the house.

 Mine

  Nico's.

Wednesday:
 
We made a footprint penguin today.  First we traced Nico's foot and cut it out three times (2 black and 1 white).  We cut them out (hand over hand) then we glued them to construction paper.  We glued on on googley eyes.  Nico is pretty good about not using too much glue, so I let him be in charge of the glue bottle.  Then we used marker to draw on a nose and feet.  Lastly, Nico painted the "snow" all by himself using glitter paint and a sponge paintbrush.  

Thursday:

 On Thursday, we did snowman stamping with an old toilet paper roll.  Basically we just stamped circles on construction paper with paint.

When we were done, Nico wanted a paintbrush, so I let him paint for awhile.  Before we could finish the project, we had to let it dry.

Friday:

  On Friday we were busy so we skipped the Touch & Feel Winter scene and finished our snowman stamping instead.  We used crayons to add detail to the snowman.  Nico only wanted to use blue, which didn't work so well on blue paper, but he is the artist, so I left it up to him.  We'll try to get to the Touch & Feel Winter Scene next week, because it looks fun.  (By the way, we did the letter "O" with the snowman stamping since it seemed to go so well together!) 

Weekly Curriculum

Monday: Craft Stick Snowflakes
Tuesday: Marshmallow Snowmen
Wednesday: Paper bag Puppets
Thursday: Painting with Fruits and Vegetables
Friday: Playdoh Snakes and Balls

 Monday

 We glued popsicle sticks together and then decorated them with glitter paint and star stickers.  I helped with the gluing, but Nico did all the painting and sticker-ing.

Tuesday:

Sorry no pictures, you'll have to use your imagination.  We glued 3 marshmallows together.  Then we added mini pom pom earmuffs, sharpie eyes, mouth and buttons.  We used toothpicks for the arms and nose.  First we did one together (I showed him and he "helped").  Then I let him do his own.  Mostly, it was 2 marshmallows glued together with lots of toothpicks coming out of it.  Plus random dots from the marker.

Wednesday:

 We made paper bag puppets by gluing on googly eyes and a pom pom nose.  (Nico did all the gluing, I just helped a bit.  Then we measured out yarn hair and practiced cutting the hair.  I stapled the hair on.  Then he got to decorate them with markers.  We've actually be playing with these guys all weekend.  He loves to feed them stuff and sing and dance with them.

Thursday:

We did this at the library, but it would be super easy to do at home.  We painted a picture with various fruits and vegetables as our paintbrush.

Friday:

We practiced making snakes and balls out of play doh (I found play doh in the dollar aisle at Target).  We also stamped shapes with the tops of the containers and cookie cutters.

Letter Book:

 The other thing we've been working on each day is our letter book.  Each day we choose a letter.  Then we find pictures of the things in magazines, junk mail, etc and cut and glue it on a page. I do hand-over-hand to help him cut, and he does the glue solo (it gets messy). That day, I try to emphasize everything that starts with that letter.  Then we put them in a 3-ring binder and read the "book" each day.  We alternate Spanish & English each day.