C is for Clipboards

These are some of my FAVORITE things to make. Needless to say, this is a craft that Tristan did not partake in, but it could be adapted for him! I am sure he could make something cute. Anyways, I just wanted to share!

I make these (and most things I make) using Mod Podge. You can get it at any craft store. They sell several versions, but for this, you just need to regular kind. It has an orange label. :)

                                



The front of a mini clipboard. Perfect for note and check lists!

                                                                           The back...

                                                                             Aloha!

                                                        The back of the full sized one.

C is for Colors!!!

There are so many things you can do with "colors" but Tristan is really enjoying paper and glue. Works for me! Budget friendly and gets the point across. I do hope to venture into some other things soons, but for now, we are happy.

I am proud of him for remembering the words and letters and sounds we have been talking about. I am so honored to be able to stay home to have these times with my little fella!






C is for colors...

C is for Canoe

Let me begin by saying that I thought this would be easy....it must not have been our day...

I cut out two matching "canoes" and punched holes along the bottom. Then we laced a fuzzy yarn trough the holes. I just used what I had close by but any string, yarn, twine  would work. The reason we struggled was beacuse of the yarn we used. Even with taping the end of it so it would go through the hole, it kept getting stuck.

Anyways, I am sure you can do much better than we did! Tristan liked that it had a pocket. We only laced the bottom so that the top would open up. If you dont care about the pocket then just use one canoe and lace around the whole thing.

More caterpillars...

I am finally able to post Tristan's caterpillars. After working with the shapes and colors, he said he wanted to make another one. We glued it on the paper that he took to practice cutting. ;)




 With this one, we talked alot about colors and shapes. I let him glue them how he wanted. You can see the globs of glue coming through the paper!! :)

This is the second one he wanted to make. It was actually nice because he started counting the circles and talking about the shape.








I wanted to paint the egg carton and turn that into a caterpillar but we ran out of time. We have been busy, busy, busy! Hopefully we will get to that next week. If you try it, be sure to use the egg cartons that are cardboard. Paint sticks to it MUCH better than the styrofoam ones.

C is for caboose

 Being a boy, Tristan loves trains. This past weekend my father-in-law took Tristan to a train yard. He loved watching the trains. He was bummed he did not get to see the caboose, though. He said the train was too long. :)

This week we made our own simple caboose for the letter C. The bean gluing is a hit here so we have beans everywhere! I think the biggest thing with learning letters is that they get to see it often and talk about it often. It is amazing how quickly young children pick things up if you just have a conversation! My husband came home from work and started asking our son about different words like apple, cat, boat etc... and asked him what letter they all start with. He got about 90 % of them right. I was floored! It just goes to show that learning is fun and kids thrive on the quality time we spend with them.

C is for caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my ALL TIME favorite books! Eric Carle is amazing! I think that this books leaves the door open for the imagination to make any kind of caterpillar craft. I hope the ideas below help!

Caterpillar on a Leaf
Cut a large leaf shape out of green construction paper. Glue eight penny-size pom poms in a row onto the leaf.

Caterpillar shaped C
For this activity, do the exact same thing as above, but when you have your child glue down the pom poms, have him/her glue them in the shape of the letter C.

Egg Carton Caterpillar
Cut a section of 4 egg cups from an egg carton. Paint and let dry. Draw on a face with black marker and attach a pipe cleaner for anetennas. I once saw an idea where a preschool teacher put wings on the caterpillar and put it in a paper bag (when the children weren't there) and told them that the caterpillar had made a cocoon. After a few days, she let the kids open the bags and see that their caterpillar had turned into a butterfly. It made a big impact on the kids.

Caterpillar Prints (using an apple or potato)
Cut a potato in half. Using the flat, round side, dip it into paint and make a print with it. Continue to make prints side by side until you have a long row or squiggle shaped line of circles side by side. Then draw legs, antenna, and a face!

It is C week! (song)

C Is For Cookie

(spoken)
Now what starts with the letter C?
Cookie starts with C
Let's think of other things
That starts with C
Oh, who cares about the other things?  
(sing)
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C
 
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C
 
(spoken)
Hey you know what?
A round cookie with one bite out of it
Looks like a C
A round donut with one bite out of it
Also looks like a C
But it is not as good as a cookie
Oh and the moon sometimes looks like a C
But you can't eat that, so

(sing)
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me, yeah!
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
C is for cookie, that's good enough for me
Oh, cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, yeah!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C, oh boy!
Cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C!