Ariana's Handmade Valentine's

I love handmade valentine's. I knew that we would be making valentines for all of Ariana's friends instead of getting the store bought kind with characters on them. I also knew I didn't want to go too fancy. Pinterest can get a little crazy this time of year with mamas overdoing what should be a simple fun project for the kids. Don't get me wrong there are a lot of cute ideas out there, but some of them took too much parent involvement and I wanted something she could do as a weekend craft that would be cute and have a handmade touch.


We decided on something pretty simple. I had lots of different valentine patterned paper in my paper stash so I pulled out all the ones I could find and gave her a heart hole puncher and she went to town.

We cut some pink and white card stock (pink for the girls, white for the boys) into about 4x5 size and I rounded the corners. I helped her draw a heart in the center of her paper and she stamped "Happy Valentine's Day" in the center. Then we randomly glued on all those confetti hearts that she had cut out and finished off the whole thing with some red or gold glitter glue trim.

There are only 8 kids in her class, including her, so it wasn't too many to make. But she ended up making some for her teachers and us too, it was sweet. Making these valentines kept her entertained for a long time and we actually did it over the course of 2 days because gluing the hearts ended up being pretty time consuming.

On the back she stamped "love" (she loves stamps) and then wrote her name. Each valentine was personalized with the child's name on the front too.

We Love Kiwi Crate!

I posted about how much we love Kiwi Crate over on The Shopping Mama the other day.

Kiwi Crate is a great monthly craft box subscription for your kids. Ariana has been getting them for several months now and we really get excited when that little green box arrives in the mail.

For this box, one of the activities was a watercolor "under the sea" animals craft. The other was a sailboat and there was even a bonus activity! I made a list of 10 things I love about Kiwi Crate and shared it with TSM readers. I thought I would share my two favorite things about Kiwi Crate here too.

Top 2 things I really love about Kiwi Crate are:

1. A new box is delivered to my door monthly!
2. It encourages curiosity and creativity!

To read the 8 other things I love about kiwi crate, be sure to check out my Kiwi Crate review post.

Do you do Kiwi Crate? Would your child like something like this?

It makes a great gift too!

Constellation Craft For Kids

During our Spring Break road trip to Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg this year, we were in the car for a total of about 20 hours. That's a long time for a 4 year old to just sit.

I had to come different activities to keep her entertained. Of course I brought the busy book I made last year with a few updated pages and new coloring print offs.

But, my favorite little activity I created was this constellation craft that she could create in the car.

Constellation Craft

Supplies you need:

black construction paper

star stickers

white crayon

outlines of constellations (optional for older children)

I cut my black paper into 4 pieces to make them smaller and to stretch our black paper supply stash. 

With some of the papers I drew dots and let her connect them to make a constellation and then let her decorate her paper with the star stickers and drawings to make it a night sky picture.

With the others I drew a constellation outline (google was great for this before our trip) and she had to copy the constellation onto the black paper using stars and then draw lines with her white crayon to connect the star stickers.

The resulting constellations were these. We used fairly simple constellations: Leo, Pegasus, Orion, and the big and little dipper. She also practiced her handwriting at the bottom writing their names on each one. Then, we talked a little bit about space and stars and constellations in general. 

She loved this activity especially since she's told us numerous times that she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. She loves anything learning and space related.

This is her in her Nasa outfit that Daddy brought back from the Space and Air Museum from his recent trip to Washington DC.

This constellation craft could be used for a car trip, plane ride, add to a busy book, space camp, preschool, or make them into cards for family and friends. Make it your own! Have fun!

Paper Plate Spiderwebs {Kid Craft}

Last week we had a Halloween Party for our squadron. Since I'm part of the spouses group, I signed up to help plan it. We had food, games, costumes, crafts, and fun decorations. Along with bringing food and decorating for the party I also signed up to do a craft with the kids. I came up with these paper plate spider webs and the kids loved them!

These are great for young kids, whether it's for a Halloween party, preschool craft, or just for fun this weekend with your kids.

Supplies needed:

paper plates (simple cheap ones work great)

scissors

hole punch

yarn

bobby pins

plastic spiders

tape

crayons and stickers for decoration

This is a simple but cute project that kids from age 2 to 9 enjoyed!

Prep your plates before hand by cutting a circle in the middle of the plate. I used a big stencil to trace my circle and then used scissors to cut out the middle. Around the inside circle punch 12-14 holes. 

To make the spiderweb tape a long piece of yarn to the back of the plate and tie a bobby pin to the other side. The bobby pin isn't necessary but it helps the kids be able to sew the yarn through the holes. Have the kids criss cross the yarn from one side of the plate to the other to create the spiderweb. 

When they are done cut the yarn and tape it to the back of the plate to finish. Let them color or decorate the plate. There weren't any halloween stickers on base this year so we just decorated ours with drawings with crayons. Lastly, glue (or in my case clip) your spiders onto your web and you're done. If you want you can punch a hole in the top and tie a piece of string through it to hang up the spiderwebs.

 Here are some of the kids at the party doing their spiderwebs.

 Ariana finishing up her spiderweb.

 Me and Ariana at the Halloween party. I was a witch (which the kids loved) and Ariana was Captain America's Daughter "American Dream".

I hope you enjoy making these spiderwebs with your kids!

Watercolor Eggs

Beautiful and easy to make, these watercolor eggs are an activity everyone can enjoy. 

I can't believe it's only a week left until Easter. Seriously, Spring is flying by! If you're looking for a fun Easter activity that involves eggs, you can make these fun watercolor eggs. These were fun to do with my 3 year old, but older kids could be more creative with them. And I really enjoyed sitting on the patio with my coffee creating these little cuties.

For supplies you will need: watercolor paints (I just used the cheap kid ones), hard boiled eggs, water, paintbrush and watercolor pencils. I used General's Kimberly Watercolor Pencils since I already had those.

There are several ways to make designs. Play around with them to see which way you like the best. For some of my eggs, I drew simple designs on them and then painted watercolor over the top in the same color. I really liked the way this turned out. 

For other eggs, I painted them first and then before they were completely dry I drew on them with the pencils. This was fun too.

Remember they don't have to be perfect. I let some of my paints drip and run to create a pretty look.

Once your eggs are dry use them as table decorations are hid them for your kids to search for.

Fun for kids and adults alike.

 Have fun and happy Spring!

Ariana's Alphabet -- F

Note: Ariana's Alphabet was created out of my need for more structure and learning while playing and creating together with my 2 1/2 year old. Each week we will explore a new letter of the alphabet and incorporate different activities along the way that go with our letter of the week. See other letters we've done by clicking the Ariana's Alphabet label highlighted in blue at the bottom of this post.

We've been working on letter F lately. I'm finally taking some time to put this post together.  

F is for Fall.

We went to story time at the library and learned about Fall. She made a leaf suncatcher and sent it to Daddy.

F is for farm.

She colored and made a farm collage. We also went to a farm near Heidelberg over the weekend.

F is for frame.

She decorated picture frames with paint, stickers and glitter. We are sending these to family soon.

F is for finger paints and feathers.

We finger painted pictures and made a feather mask for Daddy to wear at Halloween.

F is for flamingo.

She colored a flamingo picture for Grammy. (I forgot to snap a picture of this)

F is for frog.

We read this cute frog book. We also enjoyed Count Down to Fall and Fancy Nancy.

What letter should be next W, H, P or Y?

I'm linking this post up with:

It's Playtime

Made By Little Hands Monday

Kid's Kaleidoscope Craft!

Ariana and I made this kaleidoscope for letter K week and as promised, I'm back to show you how you can make your own.

supplies:

empty Pringles can, with lid (that part is important)

paints and brushes

tissue paper

glue (Elmer's and super glue)

glitter (optional)

contact paper

You will also need a nail, hammer, and scissors.

Step 1: Paint the outside of your empty can. We sponged on a few bright colors. Let the can dry while you work on the other parts.

Step 2: Tear up different colored tissue paper. In a small cup or bowl mix together some Elmer's glue, little bit of water and glitter if you opted to use it. After I created this, I realized the glitter doesn't do much, but it's still fun and the kids love shaking some in!

Step 3: On the outside of the lid, paint on the glue and layer the scraps of tissue paper. Make it messy. Finish it off with another coat of glue.

Step 4: Cut 2 small squares of contact paper (larger than your lid). Lay one sheet stick side up and layer on scraps of tissue paper. Sandwich the tissue paper between the 2 pieces of contact paper. Trace a circle with your lid and cut it out. Place the contact paper circle onto the open end of your can. Glue it on. This is where I used the super glue. Elmer's glue won't hold it and it needs to be flush to the can so that you can put the lid on later.

Step 5: Once all the paint and glue is dry you're ready to assemble your kaleidoscope. Place the lid on top of the can. This will cover the contact paper and create two layers. You should be able to twist the lid.

Step 6: Lastly, using a small nail and hammer gently tap a hold in the bottom of the can for viewing.

And now you're ready to play with your kaleidoscope!

Ariana's Alphabet -- I

Note: Ariana's Alphabet was created out of my need for more structure and learning while playing and creating together with my 2 1/2 year old. Each week we will explore a new letter of the alphabet and incorporate different activities along the way that go with our letter of the week. See other letters we've done by clicking the Ariana's Alphabet label highlighted in blue at the bottom of this post.

This week was letter I and it worked out that it was the week before Independence Day! We had a busy week and didn't feel like we got as much done, but enjoyed it none the less.

I is for Itsy Bitsy Spider.

We made itsy bitsy spiders using pipe cleaners, bottle caps and googly eyes. It went with our "I" story this week and she loved reading it to her spider. We also sang the song all week long!

I hot glued pipe cleaners on the bottom of recycled bottle caps I'd been saving and then let Ariana glue googly eyes on them. They invaded our backyard. 

I is for Independence Day.

We celebrated Independence day by going to a carnival on base! Cotton candy, bumper cars, pony rides, ferris wheel, funnel cakes and more! We wanted to stay for fireworks but it doesn't start getting dusk until about 10 pm here so that didn't happen. Maybe next year.

I is for Ink Blots.

Using some watered down acrylic paint and cut up poster board, we made our own ink blots. A few drops of each color on the paper, fold it in half and when you open it up you have a pretty design. 

Ariana wanted to do this all day long. I cut up 2 large poster boards into about 16 pieces and she had a ball doing this! She would even tell me what each picture looked like. We had a tree, mask, bug, dog etc.

I is for ice cream.

We made homemade chocolate ice cream using this recipe we found online. We added mini chocolate chips to ours right before adding it to our ice cream churn. So yum! I think we should add mini marshmallows next time too!

I is for ice.

We had some left over ice from making our ice cream so we let her play with it. Using salt, food coloring, and some of the watered down paint we had left over from earlier in the week ink blot project,  she had a blast mixing and pouring and making ice soup haha!

I'm linking up with:
Made By Little Hands Monday
It's Playtime!