Autumn Owls

During our autumn unit we learn all about owls! This year we decided to make fall colored owls. This was such a fun project (and makes for a very nice colorful display!). 

Materials:

2 large paper plates

1 small paper plate

Googly eyes

paint

hot glue (this is to make sure that everything stays together once you hang it up)

To start, I took the small paper plate and cut a small square out of the top (to help it look like the head of an owl). Then I took one of the large paper plates and cut it in half (to make the wings).

 Next we painted all of our pieces.

 Once the pieces were dry we decorated our owls. We have been working on patterns so we practiced making a pattern on the owl's body.

Once everything was dry we put it all together! We glued the wings on first (have the flat side facing out) and then glued on the head. We made a beak for our owls by cutting out a triangle from construction paper.

Afterwards, we named our owls and hung them up on our bulletin board and placed a few of the books that we had read about owls underneath. It makes such a great autumn display! 

Dinoweek!

During summer camp, we had dinoweek! We started dinoweek by learning about different types of dinosaurs. Our first project we did (combing science and art) was dinosaur footprints where we could compare the different footprints of the dinosaurs that we have. 

This was a great way to start the week and really got everyone excited about dinosaurs! Stay tuned for the rest of our dinoweek activities! 

Combining Science and Art!

Continuing with our science fun this summer we decided to combine one of our favorite science activities with art! We decided to do our baking soda and vinegar explosions on top of a piece of construction paper to see what would happen. First we placed a piece of paper in a container and covered it with a thin layer of baking soda (you do not need a lot).

 Next we mixed our vinegar with food coloring.

Then we used spoons to drip the vinegar on the baking soda. 

When we were done we pulled the paper out of the container to dry. The paper stayed in one piece. At first it was wet looking and then it dried out. You could see the colors where each reaction occurred. As it dried the colors were not a bright as when it was wet. We did have to shake of some baking soda when it dried but we have some fun art work now displayed! 

Check out my post about our colorful explosions during our rainbows/colors unit.

Scrapbook Paper Covered Clothes Pins!

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics to share my scrapbook covered clothes pins that I made!

I bought a pack of 50 clothes pins from Walmart and grabbed a few sheets of scrapbook paper from my supplies, mod podge and my craft knife. I started out by covering one side of the clothes pin with mod podge.

Next I laid the clothes pin down on the scrapbook paper.

lining up the clothes pins on the scrapbook paper

I gave the mod podge about 15 minutes to dry (some took a little longer. If it's not completely dry then it does not cut as well). Then I used my craft knife to cut around the edges of the clothes pin.

Ta da! I made 2 different sets. I did cover both sides of the clothes pin so that no matter what they get used for both sides are pretty :)

red/yellow/orange covered clothes pins

I love this scrapbook paper!

After making these I really want to try to make some glitter covered ones next to use for displays. While working on this project it gave me lots of ideas for fun clothes pins to make, such as math themed ones for my math displays and I need to get some beach/tropical themed scrapbook paper to make beachy ones too. I'll be sure to share any ones that I make in the future!

Don't forget to enter my 1 year blog anniversary giveaway! 

Fun Rainbow Craft!

During our rainbow and colors unit we made this cute rainbow craft! This pin inspired this craft project and I was impressed with how well my class was able to do this on their own. We did have a few rainbows that were a little squashed due to trying to glue down the edges but overall they did a great job.




I cut a piece of black construction paper in thirds for students to use as the base to glue on their rainbow strips. I cut the rainbow strips out for the students prior to starting the project so that the the sizes would work for making the rainbow. I cut the red paper first and then did each color about 1/2 inch shorter than the previous color.

To put it together you fold the edges and apply the glue so that the folded part (like a flap) is what you are gluing onto the black paper. You need to start with the purple (or whatever color you are using for the bottom layer of your rainbow).

I would recommend holding the flaps down for a moment to make sure that they stick. We did our flaps on top of each other as much as possible so that it was easier to make them stick on the paper. Once we had all of the layers on we did set something on a few of the edges to make sure that they would stay down.

finished rainbow

Our finished rainbows made a nice colorful display beneath our bulletin board showcasing where we had practiced writing our color words.

Colorful Mystery Word Art

We have started our science exploration for the summer! To start off with, we are focusing on colors and rainbows. Our first project is mystery words (and pictures) art. I premade a few sheets by writing sight words (using a white crayon) on white construction paper. I explained that I had written color words on the white paper using a white crayons. I asked the class how could we see what was on the paper? The students suggested using our "paint markers" since we knew from previous experience that the color from these markers would not stick to the crayon. Students could only color a part of the paper and had to guess what word/words was on their paper before they could color all of it to see if they were correct.

getting started

Afterwards a few of the students decided they wanted to draw mystery pictures for their friends to color. This was an interesting (and had a few frustrating moments) experience since they quickly realized they could not see what they were drawing.

one of the "mystery" pictures

rainbow

swirl

They did a great job though (once they figured out a few tricks). One student had a friend helping her and kept on having her friend put her finger on the paper so that she would know where she had just drawn. Another friend kept rubbing their fingers across the paper because they realized they could feel where they had drawn with the crayon.

This was a fun project. They enjoyed trying to guess the words on their paper and were laughing at their friends (sometimes crazy) guesses.