Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Practice Shading An Owl

This owl is wide awake. Give him big yellow eyes and practice shading in all of his little feathers.
       Above is the "digital tracing," of the image. Students may look at the original sample below in order to practice shading techniques on top of the printed digital tracing. After a student learns shading techniques with a number 2 pencil, he or she may choose to try working with colored pencils or even watercolors in order to enhance the digital tracing above.


A jack-o-lantern maze

Find your way in and out of this spooky Jack-O-Latern maze!

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

A Safe Place For Trick-or-Treaters to Party

       This past weekend, all of the early learning center teachers and aids assembled at our school's elementary building and hosted the annual Halloween party for both our students and perspective students. Youngsters dressed up in costumes and teachers handed out treats while parent volunteers played games and crafted with kids in the gym.

Elementary students competed in a door decorating contest at our school. I'm not sure what the
winning class walked away with but it's probably safe to assume it
had something to do with food.

The door decorations served to create a festive environment for
trick-or-treaters touring the school

Monday, October 28, 2013

Laura's Life: A Comprehensive Internet Guide to The Little House Series

Laura and Almanzo Wilder pictured with their last home.
       Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, most notably the author of the Little House series of children's novels based on her childhood in a pioneer family. Her daughter Rose encouraged Laura in her writing and helped Laura edit and publish her novels. Read more...
       Little House on the Prairie is a media franchise that started with a series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder that were originally published between 1932 and 1943. Read more...
Rose Wilder Lane.
       Rose Wilder Lane (December 5, 1886 – October 30, 1968) was an American journalist, travel writer, novelist, and political theorist. She is noted—with Ayn Rand and Isabel Paterson—as one of the founding mothers of the American libertarian movement. Read more...
Caroline and Charles Ingalls. Replica cabin.
        Aside from American author Laura Ingalls Wilder's original Little House series, several series of books for juveniles, young adults and adults have also been published. These separate series are fictionalized accounts of the lives of Wilder's great-grandmother Martha Morse Tucker, grandmother Charlotte Tucker Quiner, mother Caroline Ingalls, daughter Rose Wilder Lane's childhood and teenage years and Wilder's own missing adult years. In addition, simplified versions of the original series have been published for younger children in chapter and picture book form. Read more ...
Lesson plans for teachers:
Take a little Field Trip:
Crafts & Activities Perfect for Laura's books:
Little House Lap Books:
Melissa Gilbert, child actress.
       Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon, Melissa Gilbert, and Karen Grassle, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show is an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books. Television producer and NBC executive Ed Friendly became aware of the story in the early 1970s. He asked Michael Landon to direct the pilot movie, who agreed on the condition that he could also play Charles Ingalls. Read more...
      Little House on the Prairie is a book musical adapted from the children's books, Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The creative team includes Rachel Sheinkin (book), Rachel Portman (music), Donna di Novelli (lyrics), and Francesca Zambello (director). The musical premiered in regional theatre at the Guthrie, Minneapolis, Minnesota, followed by a tour in 2009-2010 of the United States, starting at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. Read more...
       "The inspirational stories of Little House on The Prairie, one of the most beloved literary celebrations of pioneering America since Laura Ingalls Wilder published the first book of her classic series 75 years ago, take on a brand new frontier in this uplifting new musical. Melissa Gilbert, who we embraced as Laura for 10 years in the much-loved television series, is all grown up and stars as Ma. Through the magic of live theater, audiences will follow the Ingalls family journey westward to make a better life for their children. Recommended for the entire family, Little House on The Prairie, The Musical brings the joys and sorrows of family life during the settlement of the prairie to contemporary America. Families will identify with its life-affirming stories that celebrate the pioneering spirit and the core values on which this country was founded." Visit The Kansas City Starlight Theatre on YouTube

Friday, October 25, 2013

Creative Art Lessons Inspired by Books

Topic - Art and Literacey: Title of The Book and Author: Art Lesson and Teacher/Author: Books are listed in Alphabetical order omitting 'The' and 'A'.
  1. "A" Was Once An Apple Pie" by Suse Macdonald - Apple Pie Pocket for Teaching by Kathy Grimm *
  2. "Andrew Henry's Meadow" by Doris Burn - A Treehouse Collage by Kathy Grimm *
  3. "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorest - A Terrible Horrible Cursive Exercise! by Kathy Grimm *
  4. "The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse" by Eric Carle - Elephant Art Project by Patty Palmer  * The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Mark Warner
  5. "Blueberries For Sal" by Robert McCloskey - Blueberries For Sal by Art Teacher * Blueberries for Sal by Beth Gorden * We made blueberry pie in preschool by Teach Preschool * Potato Blueberry Stamps by little page turners *
  6. "The Bumpy Little Pumpkin" by Margery Cuyler - Paint, Cut and Paste Your Own Bumpy Little Pumpkins by Kathy Grimm *
  7. "The Boy Who Drew Birds" by Jacqueline Davis - Second grade has gone to the birds by Shannah *
  8. "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina -  "Hats" by ExploraStory *
  9. "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. - "Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom in my classroom" by Kathy Grimm * Chicka, Chika, Boom, Boom ... Happy Friday by Mrs. Steberger's First Grade * Coconut Tree Craft by No Time for Flash Cards *
  10. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" by Judi Barett - Cloudy With A Chance Of .... by Art Dish *
  11. "Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth" by Diane deGroat - Dogs Don't Make Art! by Katie Morris *
  12. "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" by Mo Willems - Don't let the pigeon drive the bus by Ashley * pigeon paintings *
  13. "The Dot and Ish" by Peter H. Reynolds - Guide for classrooms by Can (large pdf) *
  14. "Elmer's Special Day" by David McKee - Elmer's Day Parade by Kristin Bolster *
  15. "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf - Fiar: The Story of Ferdinand by Kristina *
  16. "Frog and Toad Are Friends" by Arnold Lobel -  Frogs, Toads and Pollywogs for Spring *
  17. "Galimoto" by Karen Lynn Williams - A Galimoto Art Lesson Plan by Kathy Grimm *
  18. "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein - The Giving Tree: A Lesson on Earth Day by Mama in the Kitchen *
  19. "Green" by Laura Vaccaro Seeger - green by Michelle Sterling *
  20. "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss - 10 Green Eggs and Ham Crafts *
  21. "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown - Goodnight Peep Diorama --Peeps Show IV by MaryLea*
  22. "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney - Guide by The Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's *
  23. "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Author Crockett Johnson - Harold and The Purple Crayon by KinderArt * Harold's Purple Crayon by Mrs. Goff * decoupaged frame *
  24. "If the Dinosaurs Came Back!" by Bernard Most - If dinosaurs came back art lesson by Kristin Bolster *
  25. "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Joffe Numeroff - More Mice by Sylvan Hollow Schoolhouse * If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Moose a Muffin or A Pig a Pancake Lesson Ideas by The Virtual Vine *
  26. "I Want My Hat Back" by Jon Klassen - Texture, emphasis, and anthropomorphism *
  27. “Knuffle Bunny Free” by Mo Willems - Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids by Jenn *
  28. "The Little Engine That Could" by Watty Piper - Kindergarten Shape Trains by Mrs. Weber * * Train Chalk Pastel Art Tutorial by Hodgepodge *
  29. "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert - Paint, Cut and Paste a Leafy River Scene by Kathy Grimm *
  30. "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch - Feelings - preschool lesson plans *
  31. "Madeline" by Ludwig Bemelmans - Madeline Chalk Pastel Fun *
  32. "Miss Nelson is Missing" by Harry Allard - Which Witch? by Joanna Davis   *
  33. "The Mitten" by Jan Brett - We did a Readers Theater of the story... by Mrs. Bell *
  34. "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh - Cotton Ball Easel Painting by MaryLea *
  35. "Possom and Wattle" by Bronwyn Bancroft - Bronwyn Bancroft Inspired Animals by Mary
  36. "The Pot That Juan Built" by Nancy Andrews-Goebel - Clay Slab People
  37. "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister - Craft an entire school of "Rainbow Fish from paper plates by Kathy Grimm * Rainbow Fish by tomato * Cupcake Liner Fish * Fish paper plate craft ****
  38. "Rechenka's Eggs" by Patricia Polacco - Oil pastel and watercolor Easter egg art by Buggy and Buddy
  39. "Sandy's Circus" by Tanya Lee Stone - Sandy's Circus *
  40. "Snowballs" by Lois Ehlert - Ice Cube Painting and Salt Paint Snowmen by Michelle * Snow People at Artsonia *
  41. "Snowflake Bentley" by Jacqueline Briggs Martin - 12 Six-Sided Snowflake Templates *
  42. "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats -  The Snowy Day Art Project *
  43. "Stellaluna" by Janell Cannon - Let's Talk About Bats by Dr. Inez Heath *
  44. "Stephen Biesty's Cross-sections Castle" by Stephen Biesty - Poppins Book Nook-Castle Craft *
  45. "Sylvie" by Jennifer Sattler - pink flamingos by Apex E Art *
  46. "Tar Beach" by Faith Ringgold - Quilted Dreams by Cynthia McGovern *
  47. "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Anderson - Cotton Balls and Fingerpaint by Jennifer Fischer *
  48. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle - Craft a Very Hungry Caterpillar by Kathy Grimm *
  49. "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak - clay and paint projects from Cheryl Hancock * Wild Things by Mrs Tannert * "Wild Thing" Watercolor Monster by Kathy Barbro *
Collections and Larger Listings:
Excellent Video About Illustrators who work in the Children's Literature Industry and Also About Books In General:
Follow my pinterest board, "Art Lessons Inspired by Children's Books"

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie and Turkey Graphics for Games and Number Books

Tiny Graphics for File Folder Games and Number Books.

Pumpkin graphics for file folder games and number books.

Pumpkin Pie graphics for file folder games and number books.

Turkey graphics for file folder games and number books.

Print and Play An Apple Themed Color Sort Game

An Apple Themed Color Sort Game
      Download and print out my apple sorting game for your early learning center or homeschool. If you have Microsoft Word, you can enlarge these bushels of apples before printing them. I've included one sheet of apple graphics for students to color or for teachers to print onto red, green and yellow papers here.
      After laminating the tiny printed apples on red, green and yellow papers, mix them together inside of a dark sack made of burlap or even a brown paper bag would suffice. Then lay the color printed bushels out onto a carpet and pass the bag of colored apples around a circle of very young students. Ask each child to take turns at pulling a little apple from the sack. The students should then match the color of their apples with the colors of the bushels as they go. This simple early learning game teaches them to distinguish between red, yellow and green.

Red bushel of apples.

Green bushel of apples.

Yellow bushel of apples.

Acorns, Apples and Corn Cob Graphics for Games and Number Books

Tiny Graphics for File Folder Games and Number Books.
Acorn graphics for file folder games and number books.

Apple Graphics for file folder games and number books.

Corn Cob Graphics for file folder games and number books.

"When The Frost Is On The Punkin"

When the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gooble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineas and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he toptoes on the fence,
O, it's then's the times a feller is a feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bare-headed, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin, and the fodder's in the shock.

By James Whitcomb Riley

      What a beauty; I just love this little fall poem and nostalgic picture of a child holding a massive pumpkin! Why not include it in your next fall school newsletter? Be sure to give this blog credit so that other teachers may find use the resources here.

The Turkey's Lament by King Gobbler


I wonder what I can have done
To merit all this trouble--
Shut up where I can have no fun
And bent until I'm double!

This morning all the folks rushed out
And chased me over fences
And here and there and round about
Until I lost my senses.

I ran toward the farmer's wife
And thought she would befriend me,
But even she--upon my life--
Did nothing to defend me!

Instead, she grabbed me by a foot
With no consideration,
And in this prison I was put
Without an explanation.

The farmer's sharpening an ax;
The children talk of "dressing."
Oh, my, I wish I knew the facts!
These rumors are depressing!

But all the future I can see
Looks very, very murky.
Just now I think I'd rather be
A chicken then a turkey.

Quality Mardi Gras Crafts, Activities & Recipes


Mardi Gras Crafts, Activities and Traditions:
  1. Mardi Gras coloring for kids from Crayon Palace blog
  2. Tragedy and Comedy Garland - I'll update this later folks
  3. Make a Mardi Gras Wreath - made with felt squares for a doll's house
  4. Making a Mardi Gras Wreath with Deco Mask and a DIY Mardi Gras Bead Chandelier
  5. Shoebox Float
  6. Craft an elegant Mardi Gras half mask
  7. Printable gems in color and gems kids can color on their own: emerald cut and crown cuts
  8. Miniature Mardi Gras Float from a Shoebox
  9. TP Roll Crafts of Kings: three versions
  10. Handprint Mask Craft
  11. Mardi Gras Feather Mask Craft
  12. Fun Family Crafts - Mardi Gras crafts for kids of all ages
  13. Mardi Gras paper bead craft for little ones
  14. Construction Paper Feather Fans  - the sample is miniature, but these may be made child size
  15. Draw Mardi Gras Performers
  16. Paper Plate Jester Craft
  17. Toilet Paper Roll Craft
  18. Jester Jumping Jacks  - print and color green, gold, or purple in Mardi Gras colors
  19. Pancake Day Activities
  20. Papier Mache Hats
  21. Making Masks From Recycled Materials
  22. How to make "no-bake'' King's Cakes for your dolls
  23. Craft captain's Mardi Gras caps for your doll's parade
  24. Sculpt oven bake clay pancakes for your doll's Shrove Tuesday
  25. Mardi Gras Bead Bracelets
  26. Craft a beaded charger plate for a Mardi Gras party
  27. Owl masks for Mardi Gras too!
  28. Easy-peasy last-minute angel wings (no sew)
  29. How to make Mardi Gras stick puppets for kids - 2 patterns
Mardi Gras Recipes & Sweets:
  1. Mardi Gras King's Cake - Make Your Own Colored Sugar!
  2. Mardi Gras Recipes from the Pocket Change Gourmet
  3. Mardi Gras Smoothies

      "Learn how to make this festive Mardi Gras cake. Do you know what king cake is? Made famous in New Orleans, king cake is the classic ring-shaped Mardi Gras cake made for "fat Tuesday" with a lucky trinket baked right into the bread. In this video, you'll learn how to make a king cake. With this simple step-by-step recipes, you can make a traditional, delicious, properly decorated king cake with a cream cheese filling. You'll see a great trick for making sure the dough maintains its ring shape while rising and baking and see how to finish the king cake with a sweet lemon glaze and festive sprinkles of traditional Mardi Gras colors—purple, yellow, and green. Long live the king cake!" from Allrecipes

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Cut & Paste Popped Corn On the Cob

      This simple little fall project is perfect for preschoolers. Teachers can download and print the templates that I have included below of a corn husk and cob. Transfer the patterns to heavy poster board to make stencils for young students to trace around. Select pale brown and yellow construction paper to create a corn cob like the one pictured on the right.
  • Give each student a number two soft lead pencil to trace around the stencils with.
  • Then they can cut out their husk and cob and paste the two together.
  • Next, give each child a small white glue bottle and a fist full of popped corn to attach onto their construction paper corn cob.
  • Let the project dry and pass around some additional popcorn for them to snack on!
Templates for a corn husk and a corn cob.

"This is a demo for the Farmer's Popcorn Cobs."

More Fun Projects and Poetry About Corn:

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Building Block Center

The building block center is essential in a pre-kindergarten classroom. 
Students recreate structural environments and explore concepts taught 
through math, geometry, and structural engineering in this center.
Why blocks are important for early learners to play with:

Monday, October 21, 2013

100 Creative Ways to Teach Numbers And Math Skills

Math And Art Integrated Studies:
  1. Mythical Creatures: Integrating Art and Math
  2. Number Portrait  
  3. Delauney Marker Drawing 
  4. Connect the Dot Geometry Designs
  5. How to Make Your Own Paper Polyhedra
  6. Bridging the Gap Between Math and Art (Slide Show)
  7. free mandala designs to print
  8. Paper-Plate Polyhedron (basic step-by-step tutorial)
  9. Parabolic Line Drawing Exercise
  10. Drawing Buildings from Deep Space Sparkle
  11. Perfect Percent Patchworks
  12. Fish Tessellation
  13. 6th Grade: Frank Stella Protractor Series
  14. An Exercise in Symmetry
  15. Painted Paper Geometry Designs (idea)
  16. Paper Towel Quilts - Teach Math!
  17. Op Art Like Vaserely
  18. Imbalance Contest Winners Announced!
  19. Notan Expanding the Square
  20. Paintings - Math Source
  21. Abstract Numbers
  22. 4th Grade: Circle Patterns (Rotational Symmetry)
  23. Area Exercise from mathactivities.net
  24. Prisms and Pyramids from mathactivities.net
  25. Circle Activity from mathactivities.net
  26. Reflections, Translations, and Rotations concept is a very ancient exercise in math used by art instructors for centuries: Art Exercises: , , , , , , ,
Math and Numbers For Early Learners Through Third Grade:
  1. Trace the numbers with your own matchbox cars here and here
  2. Clothespin Number Match Games: squares,
  3. Muffin Cup Counting Games: buttons,
  4. Teaching Addition With Popsicle Sticks
  5. Little Pumpkin and Jack-O-Lantern Number Books
  6. Using measuring cups to teach fractions
  7. Learning ordinal numbers
  8. Recognizing both written number words and number type: Egg carton game
  9. Division Mosaics by Math Fact Fun
  10. Number Hole Punch Games: no theme,
  11. Beach Ball Toss: Addition Game
  12. Craft Your Own Abacus
  13. Creative Counting With Pom Poms
  14. Number Matching Game
  15. Montessori-Inspired Greater Than Less Than Alligator Math
  16. Number Rings: A Cool Math Game
  17. Golf tees & Playdough math
  18. A car parking lot matching numbers game
  19. Water Balloon Number Target Practice
  20. Learning Coin Values with Games
  21. Both Addition Number Family Eggs and Build a Number
  22. Adding, number recognition and counting with fish themes
  23. Free Happy Frog Math
  24. Lego Addition and Subtraction Fun
  25. Number boards for counting rocks
  26. Montessori Ocean Math Activities at PreK + K Sharing
  27. Bowling Math Games: Quaker Oats cans,
  28. Telling Time With Sidewalk Chalk
  29. Stamp-n-Design time telling game
  30. Money Card Game
  31. Place Value Beads
  32. Dot Dabber Dice Game
  33. Fair not Fair Money Game!
  34. Place Value and Telling Time by Two Can Do It
  35. Planting a Numbers Garden
  36. Skip Counting: Counting by Fives with Turkey Hand Prints, Odds vs. Evens with cupcakes,
  37. How much does it weigh? and Measuring with Legos and What kids learn when baking
  38. Math Comparison Activities
  39. Fraction strips paper and wooden versions of the same game
  40. Teaching kids about money: educational money games for kids
  41. How to teach kids about money - by annuity.org
  42. Place Value and a Freebie
  43. Teaching Place Value With Marshmallows and Cereal
Early Learning Calendar Activities:
Logic Puzzles:
Excellent Math Education Web Pages: Elementary Grades
Art and Math Video:
  1. "The Art of Math" Project Entry Document
  2. The Beauty Mathematics: Math & Art
  3. String Art is Calculus
  4. DIY 3D Geometric Paper Sculpture
  5. Studio 360: Mathematical Art
  6. Mathematics & art
  7. Math in Art: Unique artistic renderings by mathematicians.
  8. Reclaiming DaVinci: Art, Visualization, Mathematics
  9. Drawing and visualizing math equations
  10. Harmonograph in action
  11. Sand Pendulum
  12. Headspace Spatial Robot Kinetic Sculpture
  13. Linkogram drawing machine
  14. Paul the robot drawing Patrick
  15. How to Make an Escher-esque Tessellation
  16. 3D Origami Rainbow Vase
The Classic Art Meets Math Art Project
"Here's a quick tutorial on making a funky tessellation art project with just a pencil, protractor, and a sheet of construction paper. This particular way of doing it utilizes an equilateral triangle so that your finished shape will tessellate on a rotation." by Honeypaw

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A Fall Leaf Craft for Two and Three Year Olds

      This simple fall leaf craft is perfect for two and three year old children. Parents or Day Care providers will need to first download and print the sweetgum template below. Cut out the template and trace it onto a black piece of construction paper. Then cut out the center of the leaf so that you will be able to adhere contact paper to the back of the leaf frame. Small children may then tear and stick yellow tissue papers to the tacky surface before an adult hangs their sweetgum leaf craft onto a window's surface.
The pictorial step-by-step procedure for cutting out the leaf frame.

The sweetgum template used in a simple fall craft.
Examples of the same craft process using pumpkins as a theme.

The Haunted Palace

The Haunted Palace
by Edgar Allan Poe

In the greenest of our valleys
   By good angels tenanted,
Once a fair and stately palace—
   Radiant palace—reared its head.
In the monarch Thought’s dominion,
   It stood there!
Never seraph spread a pinion
   Over fabric half so fair!

Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
   On its roof did float and flow
(This—all this—was in the olden
   Time long ago)
And every gentle air that dallied,
   In that sweet day,
Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
   A wingèd odor went away.

Wanderers in that happy valley,
   Through two luminous windows, saw
Spirits moving musically
   To a lute’s well-tunèd law,
Round about a throne where, sitting,
   Porphyrogene!
In state his glory well befitting,
   The ruler of the realm was seen.

And all with pearl and ruby glowing
   Was the fair palace door,
Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing
   And sparkling evermore,
A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
   Was but to sing,
In voices of surpassing beauty,
   The wit and wisdom of their king.

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
   Assailed the monarch’s high estate;
(Ah, let us mourn!—for never morrow
   Shall dawn upon him, desolate!)
And round about his home the glory
   That blushed and bloomed
Is but a dim-remembered story
   Of the old time entombed.

And travellers, now, within that valley,
   Through the red-litten windows see
Vast forms that move fantastically
   To a discordant melody;
While, like a ghastly rapid river,
   Through the pale door
A hideous throng rush out forever,
   And laugh—but smile no more. 

     "The Haunted Palace" is a 48-line poem was first released in the April 1839 issue of Nathan Brooks' American Museum magazine. It was eventually incorporated into "The Fall of the House of Usher" as a song written by Roderick Usher. Read more...