preschool

Spider Web Doily Art

October 16, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

_______

Arty spider webs are everywhere during this time of year, and doilies are an exquisite supply for creating web décor. These spider web doily art projects are color-infused with gorgeous seasonal hues using a crayon-resist painting technique.

_______

Spider Web Doily Art Supplies

_______

Gather the following supplies for this anything-but-creepy spider-themed art project:

paper doilies in a variety of sizes and shapes
watercolor tempera paint cakes
white crayon
pencil
ruler
paint brush
paint pot
scissors
spider figurine
glue gun
waterproof table cover

_______

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

Creating Spider Web Doily Art

To create beautiful watercolor doily art first cover an art table with a waterproof tablecloth.

Next, select a doily to use as a canvas for painting.

Then, use a pencil and ruler to draw faint straight lines that radiate from a focal point in the center of the doily. Draw over the white lines with a white crayon or any color. Add silky curved connecting lines with the crayon to complete the web.

Note: When offering this activity to early learners, you may wish to draw the webs on the doilies and have them paint over them.

_______

Afterward, set watercolor tempera cakes in the colors of your choice in a paint tray. I love the pink, purple, orange, and gold hues spotted on web décor on recent shopping trips and use these colors.

Fill a paint pot with water, wet the tempera cakes, and paint over the drawn spider web. Spread the color over the whole doily or up to the lacy edging.

Note: Liquid watercolors are a luminous alternative for this painting activity.

When the arty web is dry use a glue gun to add a spider figurine in a matching or contrasting color. Adhere the paper spider web to a contrasting cardstock paper hue if desired.

_______

If using a large round doily, it’s a nice look to cut out a section of the web to become your finished design.

_______

Variations of the Spider Web Doily Art

Round or rectangular craft doilies are easy to find, but heart doilies also work wonderfully as a canvas for a spider web art activity. In addition to being super lacy, they remind us to give spiders some much-needed love.

_______

Crochet doilies make perfect ready-made spider webs. Left unpainted, white or cream-colored ones look like natural webs. It is superbly satisfying to add color to them, as watercolor paints soak in very well. For a stunning look display a color-infused web and spider figurine on a mirror.

_______

More Spectacular Doily Art

In addition to providing the canvas for spider web doily art, use the exquisite paper shapes in a novel way for more painting fun. In the projects below, doilies are placed on paper, and the lacy cutouts are carefully filled with watercolor tempera paints. A beautiful design appears after the doily is lifted off.

_______

In this second project, the area above the doily is painted too. When the doily is removed, the design is so realistic it looks exactly like the paper doily.

_______

More Spider Activities

Spider Theme Activities

Green Huntsman Spider Activities

_______

[Read more…]

Ribbon and Cord Pumpkin Craft

October 1, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

_______

At this time of year, there are many beautiful, vibrant fall décor and craft supplies to view. A stroll through any craft or home décor store is a pure delight. A splendid bundle of sewing supplies spotted on one excursion inspired this easy-to-make ribbon and cord pumpkin craft. Download the free pumpkin pattern in this post to make craft preparation easier.

_______

Ribbon and Cord Pumpkin Craft Supplies

_______

The following supplies are used for this colorful autumn craft:

cardstock in green, gold, tan, and cream hues
fabric ribbon
rickrack trim
braided cord
pom pom fringe
craft ribbon
double-sided tape
white glue and glue gun
scissors and pencil

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

The Ribbon and Cord Pumpkin Craft

To make this textured fall pumpkin craft, start by selecting yarn, thin braided cord, sewing and craft ribbons, rickrack trim, and dainty pom pom fringe in the colors and patterns of your choice. Orange, tan, green, and brown hues are featured in mine.

Once your ribbon and cord hues are picked out, choose complementary cardstock and construction paper colors. Green, gold, cream, and tan are natural choices.

_______

Using white glue or a glue gun, affix varying colors and widths of the ribbon and cord in rows to a piece of sturdy paper. Make sure to leave a little bit of space around the edge of the cardstock. My design is made with craft supplies placed horizontally, but a vertical or diagonal placement would work wonderfully too.

Next, cut strips of double-sided tape and add one near each corner of the ribbon and cord-embellished paper. Add additional tape strips if needed.

_______

Then trace and cut out a pumpkin from the same-sized paper in another hue, leaving the border around the pumpkin shape uncut. Feel free to download this pumpkin pattern for the task.

_______

Pumpkin Craft PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

_______

Finally, gently position the paper with the pumpkin cut out on top.

_______

The ribbon and cord pumpkin craft is ready for display.

_______

Variations of the Pumpkin Craft

Little learners may find it easier to glue the ribbon and cord sewing supplies in a random design. The results would be equally interesting.

_______

_______

This craft uses a variety of colors and textures of sewing and crafting ribbons and cords. Feel free to use the supplies you have available for the craft. It would look equally stunning with only yarn colors or craft ribbon hues.

_______

_______

Thanksgiving Printables

Shop Thanksgiving printables in my Etsy shop “Skills N Smiles“:

_______

[Read more…]

Fall Pom Pom Tree Craft

September 29, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

_______

Fall is such a pretty time of year, and for many people, it is their favorite season. Aside from the leaves changing into gorgeous, radiant colors, the home décor is also stunning, and is super fun! The colors and décor of this fall season inspired the bat-topped fall pom pom tree craft.

_______

Fall Pom Pom Tree Craft Supplies

_______

Gather just the following few supplies for this soft and simple autumn tree craft:

pom poms in pink, melon, white, and purple hues
9-inch x 12-inch cardstock or construction paper
8 1/2 x 11-inch cream colored cardstock
white glue
glue gun
bat sticker
bat ring party favors
scissors and pencil

_______

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

The Fall Pom Pom Tree Craft

The design of this tree is a triangular Christmas tree shape. So it’s a little like creating a Christmas craft early. The tree base is cut from cream-colored cardstock.

Young children enjoy using special craft supplies such as pom poms and will love gluing them to the paper triangle base. The pom poms can be squished together or spread apart in a random design. White glue works well for this task. 34 pom poms are affixed to this crafted tree.

_______

A metallic gold sticker bat is the unexpected but delightful tree topper, tying into the fall theme wonderfully. A bat cut from paper adhered with glue would work fine too.

An optional addition is to glue bat ring party favors between the pom poms for even more flare.

_______

Finally, a tree trunk cut from gold foil tissue paper and the pom pom-decorated tree display nicely when glued on a 9-inch x 12-inch piece of colored construction paper.

_______

An alternate way to showcase the crafted tree is to cut a thin cylinder from a toilet paper roll and cut two slits opposite from each other. Gently slide the bottom of the fall pom pom tree in the slits. The tree stands up sturdily on a table or shelf.

_______

Pom poms in pink, purple, ochre, and white provide the color scheme for this seasonal tree craft. But the craft would look spectacular in any color scheme.

_______

Bat Theme Pretend Play

Bat Necklace Craft

Neon Finger Paint Tree Art

_______

More Fall Activities

Fall Tablescape Pretend Play

Fall Leaf Salad Spinner Art

Fall Scissor Skills Activities

_______

[Read more…]

Reptile Theme Playdough Tray

September 22, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

_______

Living in central Alberta, Canada, reptiles such as snakes and lizards are uncommon for us to see. Unless we visit the local zoo or have access to an animal presentation, we will likely never see one. So it is natural for little learners to be afraid of these creatures. Hands-on activities with reptile figurines help alleviate young children’s fears about snakes and lizards. In addition to offering these exotic animals in a sensory tray, they are interesting accessories to include in a reptile theme playdough tray.

_______

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

Reptile Theme Playdough Tray Supplies

The following supplies are included in this colorful, unique playdough invitation:

snake and lizard figurines
frog and insect figurines
snake, lizard, and frog playdough molds
rocks and stones
wood slices
refillable eggs
divided compartment serving tray

_______

The Reptile Theme Playdough Tray

To keep supplies neat, organized, and attractive, one of my go-to methods is to add them to a divided compartment serving tray.

_______

Although I include many homemade playdough recipes on this blog, I feature store-bought playdough in this modeling dough play invitation. Someone had donated a bunch of different colors to me, and since lizards and snakes come in all kinds of patterns and hues, this activity seemed like the perfect way to start using them.

Miniature snake and lizard figurines and playdough molds allow little learners to create creatures of their own from playdough, and make animal prints. Manipulating the little figurines exposes them to animals they may have a natural fear of.

_______

Thin wood slices and small rocks and stones in the tray are natural materials found in the habitats snakes and lizards live in.

Frog, insect, and spider figurines represent prey snakes and lizards eat.

Finally, the small refillable eggs are reminders that lizards and most snakes hatch from eggs.

_______

This reptile theme playdough tray is a perfect beginning activity for learning about snakes and lizards and is superb for working on color recognition, counting, eye-hand coordination, and hand and finger strength.

Adding pictures of real snakes and lizards for little learners to view would provide opportunities to discuss and make patterns and allow for more discussions about the colors these reptiles display.

_______

More Reptile Activities

Reptile Active World Tray

Reptile Theme Activities

Reptile Egg Science

Sea Turtle Theme Activities

Turtle Pond Sensory Bin

Turtle Christmas Craft

_______

More Themed Playdough Trays

White Lilacs and Black Playdough

Watermelon Playdough Tray

Circus Playdough Tray

_______

Glam Skeleton Playdough Tray

Gingerbread Playdough Tray

Candy Cane Playdough Tray

_______

Santa Claus Playdough Tray

Unicorn Playdough Tray

Scented Moon Playdough Tray

_______

[Read more…]

Bat Theme Pretend Play

August 29, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

_______

This bat theme pretend play setup is fun for little learners to explore, and it is bound to ignite their interest in these nocturnal flying animals.

_______

Bat Theme Pretend Play Center Supplies

A well-known saying is “There is a season for everything” and it’s as true for collecting educational supplies for little learners as in anything else. Late summer/early fall is the best time to gather supplies for a bat theme, and that’s when I picked up the ones featured in this post.

_______

In the batty pretend play setup are the following:

orange, green, purple, and black bead necklaces and rings
purple, orange, green, and black pom poms
bat-shaped silicone mold
bat-shaped cookie cutters
bat-themed glasses
reusable bat-shaped ice cubes
transparent bat decorations
miniature bat figurines
buffalo plaid decorative balls
bat-themed bowl
cookie pan
paper plates and bowls
cutlery
clear play cups

_______

Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

_______

The Bat Theme Pretend Play Center

Although this bat theme pretend play center is simpler than many of my play tablescapes, little learners will be eager to explore it. They will happily use the loose parts in creative, imaginative ways.

_______

The orange, green, purple, and black bead necklaces are cut into strips to make colorful “loose part” spaghetti. A preschooler suggested this idea while exploring a New Year’s pretend play setup. I loved it and have since used “bead necklace spaghetti” to enhance and color-coordinate with many of my pretend play centers.

Similar colored pom poms stored in a bat-shaped silicone mold make great meatballs.

Bat-shaped cookie cutters on a cookie pan suggest home-baked cookies.

Miniature bat-themed toys make small tasty pretend treats.

_______

Black and white buffalo-plaid decorative balls cut from garland display nicely in a bat-shaped bowl. Along with transparent bat decorations, they offer additional play food choices.

Bat-shaped reusable ice cubes keep pretend drinks cold in clear play cups or can be used as additional play food.

Bat-themed play glasses and toy rings add dress-up opportunities to the center.

White plates, bowls, and cutlery coordinate nicely with the bat-themed loose parts.