Thrifty Scissors

Friday, August 18, 2017

Colorful Crayon Resist Llamas

These colorful crayon pictures of llamas were made by an enthusiastic bunch of first graders at the school where I worked several years ago. After completing their pictures they washed them with thin watercolors; the results are stunning, don't you think?

How fibers from llamas is processed to make sweaters.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Caterpillar Finger Plays

This nursery finger play comes with pictures, hand motions and piano sheet music for early learning and kindergarten teachers.

Fuzzy little caterpillar,

Crawling, crawling on the ground!

Fuzzy little caterpillar,

Nowhere, nowhere to be found

Though we've looked and looked and hunted

Everywhere around!

When the little caterpillar

Found his furry coat too tight,

Then a snug cocoon he made him

Spun of silk so soft and light;

Rolled himself away within it--

Slept there day and night.

See how this cocoon is stirring!

Now a little head we spy--

What! Is this our caterpillar

Spreading gorgeous wings to dry?

Soon the free and happy creature

Flutters gayly by.

Sheet music to accompany the finger play.

Monday, August 14, 2017

How to make a paper pinwheel

Illustrations of pinwheels

No mechanical toy is more interesting to make, nor more interesting to watch in operation, than a miniature windmill. It is a very simple toy to construct, and the material for making one can usually be found at hand, which are two reasons why nearly every boy and girl at one time or another builds one.

The Paper Pin wheel shown in Fig. i is one of the best whirlers ever devised. A slight forward thrust of the stick handle upon which it is mounted starts it in motion, and when you run with the stick extended in front of you it whirls at a merry speed.

A piece of paper 8 or 10 inches square is needed for the pinwheel. Fold this piece of paper diagonally from corner to corner, both ways. Then open the paper, and with a pair of scissors cut along the diagonal creases, from the corners to within J inch of the center (Fig. 2). Next, fold corners A, B, C, and D over to the center, as shown in Fig. 3, run a pin through the corners and through the center of the sheet Fig. 2. - Diagram for Paper f paper, drive the point of this pin into the end of the stick handle, and the pinwheel will be completed.