Rainstick/ Paper Towel Rice Maracas

My son just loves music, we made these rice Maracas with paper towel tube. He loves going crazy with it, we call its making sweet music.

Supplies:
Paper towel tube (any other long paper tube)
Glue/Scissors/Duct tape
White paper sheet (color paper also works )
Brown paper to make caps or use juice bottle caps
Rice (other lentils or beans)
Crayons, markers and stickers to decorate

Trace the ends of the paper towel on a the brown paper or construction paper , make a bigger circle and cut to fit (cap) the paper towel ends. Cut and keep another cap for the other end. We used us juice bottle caps as they were perfect fit for the paper towels. Use glue to fix the cap, keep the other end open at this point.

Add rice and other dry lentils or beans into the tube. Fill it only 1/10 full for more effective sound.

Cover the paper towel tube with white paper sheet or color paper. Use the other paper cap or juice bottle cap to secure the rice inside.  Make sure you have the side nicely secured or you will have a big mess to clean.

Decorate the tube with Crayon, markers or stickers.

Tips:
Make more than one rainstick  one for each hand.
Teach kids simple rhythms or let the kids make their own music
Incorporate other music instruments(guitar, drums, flute) for your very own concert, truly special-enjoy

Egg Carton Caterpillar

Recycling at its best, and kids love this easy craft project. As always I made use of the things at home.

You can always get creative.

Supplies:
Egg cartoon -cardboard type not Styrofoam type
Scissors
Color green, yellow, red (kids can use washable paint too) 
Marker-Black or use wiggle eyes(googly eyes)
Glue
Ribbon or pipe cleaner

Start by cutting 6 cups from the egg cartoon , best if done by a adult be careful not to cut too close to the cups just trim them so they retain shape.

Color the outer-sides of the cartoon with washable paint or crayons, let the kids have fun and personalize their very own caterpillar. Anything from fullon green  to polka points, let the colors try.


Choose which ends should be the caterpillars head and make two holes close to the top section of the cartoon. I used pens, you can use knife or scissors. 

Cut the pipe cleaners or ribbons  to approx 5" long. Insert from the inner-sides of the caterpillar into the holes, pull the ribbons or pipe cleaners to same length antennae. If pipe cleaners are use to can curl the ends.

Glue eyes onto the caterpillar and make mouth with the marker, if wiggle eyes are not available make eyes with marker pens too. Your caterpillars are ready


Tips:
Straws are a great substitute too if ribbons or pipe cleaners are not available .
If a good idea to talk about different caterpillars to give kids some idea. Good idea also talk about thinge like what do they eat and where they live.

Helloo Mr. Sun

Oh Mr. Sun. Sun. Mr. golden sun. Please shine down on me.
Oh Mr. Sun. Sun. Mr. golden sun. Hiding behind a tree.
These little children are asking you. To please come out so we can play with you.
Oh Mr. Sun. Sun. Mr. golden sun. Please shine down on me.

Mr.Sun is my Son's Favorite Barney song. On this cold gloomy day we are missing the sunshine, so we decided to make our very own Mr. Sun. Its simple and has all things that makes kids happy.

Supplies:
Cardboard
Plain white paper
Crayons(yellow, red, orange)
Wiggle eyes
Color paper or foam paper (red/orange)
Glue
Scissors

Take a small cardboard  piece and stick the plain paper. Make a  sun shaped cut out, can be done by preschoolers themselves or by adults.

Color the sun  with bright colors, let the kids use their imagination. Attach wiggle eyes and cut color paper or form paper to make mouth.

Mr. Sun is ready, we place him on our window.

Tips:
Use black or color pens to make eyes and mouth if these supplies are not handy.
My son sings to the sun and we talk about the weather almost everyday. Its a simple way to teach kids about the  weather outside.

Tree of Hearts ( Valentine Tree)

This craft Idea is a twist really to the ever popular Valentine Tree. Keeping in mind the fast approaching Valentine's day we made this simple Valentine's Tree. Its a perfect craft project for little preschoolers who love hearts, crayons and Cheerios.

Supplies:
Cardboard
Crayons-green
Glue
Craft paper-preferably red/pink/white
Scissors
Some Cheerios

Cut the cardboard shaped as a tree and craft paper into different size hearts . Make all the cut outs before you sit with the kids specially if they are too young to use the scissors themselves.

Ask the kids to color the cardboard tree green, use crayons or paint.

Keep all the different hearts in a bowl and let the kids stick the hearts onto the tree.

Tips:
You can also use small form hearts and glitters.
Mostly let the kids have fun its Valentine's Day -spread the love and enjoy the moment with your kids