Fly Swatter painting

My version of recycled egg carton flowers

I CUT THEM, THE KIDS PAINTED THEM, AND WE TURNED THEM INTO MAGNETS FOR MOTHER"S DAY!!! HERE THEY ARE ON THE FRIDGE

Juice box Popsicles

Freeze then cut in half with a knife!

Great unconventional finds at the Dollar Store!

The dollar store brings me great joy in my personal and professional life. I love to browse to see what unconventional items I can use for children’s activities. This month I thought I would share them with you!

The one item I think everyone should have is a dish tub or two. You can fill them with beans, salt, cornmeal…anything!  Add spoons, funnels, and containers for your children to explore with. You can put interesting objects of different texture and size in for babies to take in and out as well!!

Get some adult sized paintbrushes and or foam roller brushes. Give your child a bucket of water and send them outside to “paint”.

Get a pack of birthday candles for your little one to put into play dough- you will be surprised how long they will play with these!

Buy some tongs and cotton balls. Have children move cotton balls from one bowl to another with the tongs. They can also tong tissue, plastic eggs, sponges…anything. This activity is great for hand eye and fine motor skills.

Baby soap or regular soap can be so much fun for children to pump out and play in! Use the dish tubs to set up a “baby bath” with a plastic doll, or a dino bath with plastic animals. Has your child ever been able to use a bar of soap to the end?? Pick up a bar of soap too!

I always pick up big packs of sponges for myself and for the children. They love to “wash” things and squeeze soap in their tubs. I like that I can switch my dish sponges out often and not worry about the cost. Yu can cut them into different shpes and let them spongpaint too!

Buy some fake flowers and a vase or two so your child can make “flower arrangements”.

Have you ever given preschoolers some rope  a net? They love to make traps, leashes, knots. You can tie short pieces to trucks and or shoe boxes for babies to fill and pull.

Buy some packs of those little jewel marbles or rocks and see what they do with them. You can add an egg carton or little bowls for them to  take small treasures in and out of.

Process

My 2-3 year olds made this sculpture from recycled materials. We built it with recyclables, glued it together, then put paper mache over it. The children painted it then decorated their creation with little things we found in our art area.

Recycled sculpture

Art process versus craft

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/raising_young_artists/

Do you know the difference between a child's art process and doing a craft with a desired outcme?