Tractor Paintin'

If there is one thing I have learned as a mommy, it's boys will be boys. At least he is painting with tractors not out trying to tip them! Hey, just for your information, we may live in the Deep South but we are not all rednecks down here!
He enjoyed this because it made cool patterns and designs in the paint. I tried to give him other cars and trucks with different wheels but he would not have it. 

Oh well, he's a tractor lovin' Southern boy at heart.

Materials- Card stock paper, acrylic paints, big flat lid, trucks, cars or tractors

Procedure-
1. Pour some paint onto the lid. Flatten it out with a brush or shake the lid around so the paint only gets on the tires and not high enough to get on the bottom of the vehicle.
2. Roll your tractor or car in the paint.
3. Make tracks on the paper. Switch directions or turn the paper to make different patterns. Also, change colors and watch them blend in some places.

Elephant T-Shirt for the Circus

So excited! My Daddy and Step-Mom bought us tickets to the circus for my birthday! Tonight is the night! Can't wait for Little Mister to enjoy his first Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Bash! He absolutely loves elephants so, we made a cool t-shirt to wear tonight!

Materials- Pre-washed white t-shirt, grey, black and white fabric paint, brushes

Procedure-

1. Place cardboard inside the shirt.

2. We painted Little Mister's hand grey and placed it on the shirt (fingers down for the legs).

3. Repaint the hand and repeat.

4. Paint the thumb black and press on each elephant for an ear. (We used my thumb)
5. Use the paint brush to make white dots for eyes and thin black wrinkle lines on the trunk (thumb).
6. Let dry flat for at least 4 hours. 

Splatter Painting with Toothbrushes

What can I say . . . this was quite possibly the messiest thing we have done so far! However, we enjoyed it. Little Mister did not get the desired effect from splattering the brush because he simply is not strong enough yet. He gave it a valet try and then the bristles met the paper!
Definitely will have to try this again at a later time!

Simply dip the toothbrush bristles in the paint, turn the bristles face up and run your finger over the bristles moving toward your body. ** Cover near by surfaces**

My muscles may be small now but one day I'll be a Mighty Mister!!

Stars and Stripes Painting

Something patriotic and fun for Independence day!  

Proud to be an American!

Materials- Red and blue acrylic paint, card stock, yarn, star shaped cookie cutter

Procedure-

1.  Cut the yarn slightly over the size of the paper.
2. Dip the yarn in blue paint and place on the paper to make several stripes.
3. Dip the star shape in red paint and stamp on the paper!

We made several and gave them away to some folks from church!

I'm a Rocket Man

I will teach my child to have respect for his country even though I may not agree with our current government officials. So many people have given their lives so we can be free to roam where we want, read what we want, do what we want and blog about what we want! God Bless America. Land that I love!

Materials- toilet paper roll, construction paper, glue, paint, brushes, yarn, stick, glitter stars

Procedure-
1. Paint toilet paper roll.
2. Glue glitter stars on the roll.
3. Glue pieces of yarn on the inside of the roll to hang down as streamers/flames.
4. Cut a piece of construction paper and roll into a funnel shape.
5. Glue the funnel to the top of the roll.
6. Attach a length of yarn to the inside of the funnel and the other end tie on the stick.
7. Run around and fly your rocket!

Happy Independence Day Y'all!

Pasta Fireworks

Little Mister has an aversion to very loud noises so, we will skip the fireworks display again this year and create our own fun! Oh! And by-the-way, God Bless America!

Materials- glue, glitter, wax paper, different kinds of uncooked pasta (We used spaghetti, egg noodles, elbow noodles and penne.)

Procedure-
1. Squeeze a big blob of glue for the center of the exploding firework onto the wax paper. (I doubled the wax paper and placed it on a big piece of cardboard so it would be easy to move when i placed it somewhere to dry.)
2. Sprinkle some glitter on the glue.
3. Place long spaghetti pieces into the glue to make the big WOW part of the explosion.
4. Add the other noodles in any way you like at the center.
5. Dab some glue on other parts of the noodles to add more sparkles!
6. Let dry on a flat. Ours took about 2 days!
7. Peel off the wax paper carefully. We took some pictures of ours against black paper.

Alternate activities- You can take outside after dark and hold it up while shining a flashlight at it! All those sparkles look really neat!

Pasta Patterns

While in the throws of making some fireworks from noodles, I noticed that Little Mister was pushing the pasta shapes around the table. I had to stop and take a closer look. He was arranging them into patterns. Well, immediately I grabbed some construction paper and made a crude pattern on it. Lets not waste any teachable moments! I placed the patterned paper in front of him, he looked at it and then me. I matched one on the paper and he was off. I was almost blinded by the light on top of his head as it went off! Amazing how kids can catch on so swiftly.

Objective- Notices Simple Patterns of Objects (MS Early Learning Guidelines for Infants and Toddlers: Mathematical Development 2.2.2)