Thrifty Scissors

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

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.

pinwheel pattern

Decorate with pinwheels

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Thanksgiving Clip Art for Crafts

Enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving with your students using my clip art for personal crafts and classrooms. Read the Terms of Use before downloading.

A pastel drawing of a flocked turkey.

A native American teepee.

Vintage Indian travel doll

A pilgrim's hat, corn and pumpkin

Horn of plenty and text "Happy Thanksgiving"

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Spooky Clip Art for All Hallow's Eve

Teachers, parents and little ones may decorate their personal Halloween crafts and treats with this clip art by Kathy Grimm. Read the Terms of Use.

An owl seated on top of a jack-o-lantern, text "Whoo Whooo"

"Happy Halloween!" spider and web

A creepy jack-o-lantern

"MEOW" black cat and text

Thoroughly Irish Clip Art

Below are some Irish themed clip art for your classroom's St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Decorate worksheets, games, and craft projects with students too! This clip art is original to my site and copyrighted, Read the Terms of Use before downloading.

A ladies hat trimmed with a plaid bow and shamrocks.

A tiny leprechaun, barrel and potatoes.

The Irish flag and lucky shamrocks.

A happy leprechaun carries a sack of potatoes

A leprechaun dressed in a green suit smoking a lucky pipe.

Valentine Cuties Clip Art

Valentine flowers

These little Valentine doodles were made years ago by my mother for her classroom projects. They would be fun to print on sticker paper and cut out for your students' next Valentine card craft. The clip art is free only for personal crafts and classrooms. Do not include it in any other online collections.

Valentine lady bugs

Valentines and ribbons

Valentines in a vase

Heart and stems for a Valentine

Friday, August 4, 2017

Salt Lifting Some Sand Castles

Here you can see, third and fourth grade art students have added a bit of table salt to their wet watercolor paintings of sand castles; this is called salt lifting. Although the end product is unpredictable, it is a fun additional step to add to your young student's watercolor painting experiences. That last additional step will give their castles a bit of extra sandy grit.

Use ordinary table salt to add texture to

your watercolor paintings.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

The Mist and All

Click to enlarge and download.

The Mist and All by Dixie Willson

I like the fall,

The mist and all.

I like the night owl's

Lonely call--

And wailing sound

Of wind around.

I like the gray

November day,

And bare, dead boughs

That coldly sway

Against my pane.

I like the rain.

I like to sti

And laugh at it--

And tend

My cozy fire a bit.

I like the fall--

The mist and all--

Lincoln

Click to enlarge and download.

Lincoln by Nancy Byrd Turner

There was a boy of other days,

A quiet, awkward, earnest lad,

Who trudged long weary miles to get

A book on which his heart was set--

And then no candle had!

He was too poor to buy a lamp

But very wise in woodmen's ways.

He gathered seasoned bough and stem,

And crisping leaf, and kindled them

Into a ruddy blaze.

Then as he lay full length and read,

The firelight flickered on his face,

And etched his shadow on the gloom,

And made a picture in the room,

In that most humble place.

The hard years came, the hard years went,

But, gentle, brave, and strong of will,

He met them all. And when today

We see his pictured face we say,

"There's light upon it still."

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Paper Cutting & Silhouette Index

Examples of cut silhouette designs in paper from the collection below.

Papercutting is the art of cutting paper designs. The art has evolved uniquely all over the world to adopt to different cultural styles. Read more...

More Articles About The Art of Silhouetting:

Silhouette Artist Videos:

Paper Cut Artifacts to Illustrate Poems:

Patterns of Paper Cuts: Additional Motifs:

Insects or Bugs Index

Samples of insect artifacts in my collection below.

Is an insect useful or beautiful? No one could answer questions like these simply by saying "yes" or "no," because the class to which the name insects is applied includes thousands of different species and uncounted millions of individuals, of many degrees of usefulness, beauty and harmfulness. There is no other class in the animal kingdom, on land or in the sea which claims so many members as the class Insecta, as scientists designate it.

The Insect Coloring Pages from Crayon Palace

Insect Artifacts for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

Insect Artifacts from Easter Egg Crafts:

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Saint Valentine's Day Index

Examples of Valentine Activities in my collection below.

A saint of the Roman calendar, said to have been martyred in A.D. 306. The custom of choosing valentines on his day (February 14th) has been accidentally associated with his name. On the eve of Saint Valentine's day, young people of both genders used to meet, and each of the men drew from a number of names of the opposite sex. Each gentleman thus got a lady for his valentine, and he became the valentine of a lady, to whom he was bound to be faithful for a year. A similar custom prevailed in the Roman Luperealia, to which the modern custom has with probability, been traced. The day now celebrated by sending through the post, sentimental or ludicrous missives, specially prepared for the purpose.

Valentine Artifacts & Art for Enhancing Lesson Plans:

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