Why Re-Invent the Wheel: Crafts

I recently got this Paint Your Own Gnome kit at my favorite store, Target, of course.  Seriously, my love affair with that place is out of control.  This kit is only available in stores and it's only 5 smackers! I picked up one for my 2 1/2 year old niece as well.  My son and I painted this little friend, and when I say little I mean it.  I was all excited about it and the gnome is like 3 inches tall!  Oh well, it was still fun.  Maybe I should retract that, fun? He wanted to paint this little guy one way and I another.  He would start and I would frantically say "oh! why don't you let me help you with that.....' and snatch the little paintbrush before he could get a word in.  Ugh, I am so controlling.  I should have just let him go at it.  Oh well, in the end I did share the task with him and he looks pretty cute.  Plus, when I would add a little detail, my son would praise me for being such a good artist.  Ha. That's hilarious because stick people are hard for me to draw.  Another craft I picked up at Michaels the other day is a Makit & Bakit Suncatcher.  My sister and I made these like they were going out of style back in the 80's.  I can not wait to get started!  Needless to say, my son will not be invited.  I love him dearly, but if he mixes those little crystals I might faint.  

Cherry Blossoms

Today kicks off the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.  These trees are beautiful, but the make one hell of a mess.  We have a huge one in our front yard (pictured above), and every year I am so excited to see the fluffy pink blooms.  But then the rain comes and the petals stick to the soles of your shoes and get tracked into the house and if not swept up immediately stick the floor.  Nothing a little elbow grease can't handle, but most definitely irritating.
As far ads the festival in our Nation's Capital, our family has yet to participate. Pretty sad considering we have been in the D.C. Metro area for almost 10 years.  2011 will be the year.  I am insisting that we go and check it out.  I would like to see the blooms in their peak and here is the schedule for 2011.

Average Peak Bloom Date: April 4

2011 Peak Bloom Date Forecast: March 29 – April 1

2011 Blooming Period Forecast: March 26 – April 7

Oh, and festival food?  Woot! I can't seem to find any info about independent food vendors other than participating restaurants, but I hope there are some food carts along the way.  This lady needs snacks at consistent intervals, especially to deal with large crowds. 
Now I just have to convince my better half that this will be a great experience.......


**Also, I take back my Why-Reinvent the Wheel Wed. comment that I have no motivation to do anything cute, because this week we made Cherry Blossom Paintings with sequin flowers to kick off the Spring Season!  Check out my fine motor skills**

Why Re-Invent the Wheel

For Wednesday posts, I will tap into my bag of teaching ideas.  These ideas can be used in the school setting or at home.  Some I have thought of myself and some I have borrowed from others.  I have used them in my classroom and am sharing them with you to use, hence the title, Why Re-Invent the Wheel.  Over my past 11 years of teaching (ouch!) I have perfected being an underachiever and I am not ashamed.

This week we are talking about Fairy Tales.  Everyone loves a good Fairy Tale and almost everyone knows the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  This is the version I read today.  There are MANY versions!  We did a simple sort/size activity following the read aloud as follows:
Biggest to Smallest

Draw pictures of three bears using a stencil, going from biggest to smallest. Copy the pictures so that there are enough for each of the students in your group. If you don't have a stencil, simply draw different size bears.  Let them decorate each bear, and discuss the differences between them.Cut out the bears and place one set of bears on a surface everyone can see and label them “Small,” “Bigger,” and “Biggest.” Take three similar toys of different sizes, such as blocks or cars, and have students sort them beneath the picture appropriately.
You can take this one step further (to keep in a portfolio) and glue the bears on a large piece of construction paper in order from biggest to smallest.  Label the picture, "The Three Bears" and call it a day :).  

I like this activity because it uses other items to help children generalize the skill of sorting and awareness of size.  I also like the artistic element that children can create their own interpretations of Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear.    

*If you plan to complete this activity in one sitting allot at least 30 minutes, including reading the story.