preschool

Washi Tape Christmas Pots

December 18, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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A few years ago, I purchased Christmas-themed washi tape, not yet knowing how I would use it. Craft ideas came and went, but the tape remained unused due to my busy schedule. After seeing a decorative pot in a home décor shop this past summer, I knew exactly how I would use the festive tape…in crafting washi tape Christmas pots!

With the addition of pine cone Christmas trees, the embellished pots display well on a shelf or fireplace mantle during the holiday season. And the craft is suitable for all ages, so why not get the whole family to make one!

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Christmas Pot Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies for this craft:

Christmas-themed washi tape
three-inch terracotta clay pots
scissors
large pine cone picks
glitter pom poms
small round beads
playdough
brown shredded paper
wire cutters
white glue or hot glue gun
glue paddles

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Creating the Washi Tape Christmas Pots

Steps to making washi tape Christmas-themed pots.

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Cut washi tape into small pieces. Stick the tape around each pot horizontally in rows. Or layer the washi tape vertically in a pattern.

Then decorated pine cone “Christmas trees” can be added to the pots:

Use wire cutters to snip the wire on each pine cone to a length that fits into the pot size of choice.

Add a ball of playdough to each pot, and stick in a pine cone pick. Then fill the pots with brown shredded paper.

Next, adhere the beads and pom poms to the pine cone trees with white glue or a hot glue gun.

Easy to make Christmas-themed washi tape pots.

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I feature two super-sized metallic gold pine cone picks, and a natural one. One of the gold pine cones is decorated with tiny red, green, and white beads, and the other is left as is. The natural pine cone is decorated with small glitter pom poms.

Little learners will enjoy getting in on decorating the pine cones and Christmas pots. They will especially love the chance to use tape in a craft project.

Craft these festive washi tape pots with a Christmas theme.

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Turtle Christmas Craft

December 18, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Adorable turtle Christmas paper craft inspired by the delightful picture book "Mossy" by author Jan Brett.

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This cheeky turtle Christmas craft is inspired by Jan Brett’s beautiful picture book titled “Mossy.” The colorful papercraft is easy to make, especially if you download the free printables below.

In the story, an eastern box turtle named Mossy is scooped up from a pond area and taken to a museum by biologist Dr. Carolina. Mossy is unique…she has a lush garden of moss and flowers growing on her shell due to the moist home she grew up in. At the museum, Mossy is given an impressive glass-encased place to live, and her carapace garden continues to grow. Many visitors come to view Mossy, and she makes the museum famous. But over time, Mossy grows very sad. She misses her pond home, and especially her new friend Scoot, who she had just met before being captured. Dr. Carolina’s niece Tory notices how sad Mossy gets. Eventually, a portrait of Mossy in her pond environment is made for the museum, and the garden-decorated turtle is released back to the same place where she was found.

Jan Brett’s artwork in the picture book is as exquisite as usual. And the illustrated borders on pages feature creatures and artifacts commonly found in museums, such as flowers, insects, butterflies, fossils, tree parts, algae, geodes, and feathers.

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Craft Supplies To Collect

Supplies to make a festive turtle Christmas paper craft inspired by the delightful picture book "Mossy" by author Jan Brett.

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Gather the following supplies for this festive turtle craft:

green, red, and pink cardstock paper in different shades
cream cardstock
mini self-adhesive gold pearls
glue stick
wiggly eye
felt pen
scissors

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Making The Turtle Christmas Craft

Festive turtle Christmas paper craft inspired by the delightful picture book "Mossy" by author Jan Brett.

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Cut Christmas-themed flowers and leaves from sturdy paper. Fade-resistant cardstock or construction paper is preferable, but any paper will work fine.

Cut a turtle from cream-colored cardstock.

Invite your little learner to paste flowers and leaves to the shell of the turtle using a glue stick. Mini adhesive gold pearls can be added to some of the flowers.

Download these patterns to use for the craft.

Turtle template for art and craft activities. — Turtle Template

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Turtle Craft PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Use this Christmas flower template for paper crafting. — Christmas Flower Template

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Christmas Flower PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Make this festive turtle Christmas paper craft inspired by the delightful picture book "Mossy" by author Jan Brett.

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Turtle Craft Extensions

Jenn Brett’s website is filled with activities and coloring sheets to go along with her picture books. A turtle pond coloring page goes with the book “Mossy,” and can be downloaded at janbrett.com.

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Related: Painted Turtle Art Activity

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[Read more…]

Easy S’Mores Bars

November 28, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This easy s’mores bars recipe comes from having forgotten to add wrapped round chocolates to October treat bags. Orange and purple don’t naturally transition into November activities, so I decided to use the chocolates in this melty dessert.

To add versatility to the recipe, I also feature chocolate coins and chocolates wrapped in Christmas style.

S’mores bars were originally classic campfire treats. Made indoors they can be enjoyed year-round. And little learners love to help make them!

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S’mores Bars Supplies To Collect

Just three ingredients are needed for this melty, tasty, indoor s'mores bars recipe.

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Gather the following ingredients and baking supplies:

toasted coconut marshmallows
coin-shaped chocolates
graham wafers or gluten-free crackers
parchment or wax paper
2 cookie sheet pans

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Making These Easy S’Mores Bars

Steps to make an easy sheet pan s'mores dessert recipe.

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Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the graham wafers onto two sheet pans lined with parchment or wax paper.

Place a toasted coconut marshmallow on top of each wafer on one pan. Set unwrapped chocolates on the wafers on the other pan.

Heat both pans in the oven for three to five minutes. Watch carefully as the square halves can easily be overbaked.

Sandwich wafers with chocolate together with marshmallow wafers and place on a dessert plate. Serve when slightly cooled.

Delicious s'mores bars recipe using just three ingredients.

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Stacked s'mores bars made with an easy, three-ingredient recipe.

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Variations Of This S’Mores Bars Recipe

My recipe features gluten-free graham crackers. Graham wafers are a traditional choice.

Regular or mini marshmallows can be substituted for toasted coconut ones.

Creamy Hershey’s chocolate bar squares can be used instead of wrapped chocolates. And why not experiment with one of Hershey’s festive flavors, such as “Strawberries ‘n’ Cream, “Birthday Cake”, or “Cookies ‘n’ Mint.”

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Seasonal Recipes

If you wish to go seasonal and are up for a bit more challenge, try one of these ingenious s’mores bars recipes:

Fall S’mores (Recipe at southernfatty.com)

Christmas S’mores (Recipe at darcyandbrian.com)

Snowman S’mores (Recipe at kitchenfunwithmythreesons.com)

Valentine’s Day S’mores (Recipe at prettyinpistachio.com)

Easter Peeps S’mores (Recipe at domesticsuperhero.com)

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Or surround this gooey, three-ingredient s’mores bars dessert with seasonal décor.

Make this easy, three-ingredient s'mores bars recipe that takes a classic campfire treat indoors. Serve surrounded by festive decor at Christmas time.

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Edible Playdough Pumpkins

November 21, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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These easy to create edible playdough pumpkins depict the lumpy, bumpy, warty pumpkins that add contrast and edginess in fall decorating projects.

Warty pumpkins can be caused by any of the following:

a mosaic virus
growing conditions that are too cold and wet
insects feeding on young pumpkins

The result is warts that appear to be under the shell.

But some pumpkin varieties are grown especially for their bumpy look. They are genetically engineered and have been cross-pollinated many times. In these pumpkins, the ornamental bumps appear on top of the surface.

Warty pumpkins are trending in fall decorating projects. They add ornamentation, contrast, and edginess in displays.

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Peach Edible Playdough Recipe

This easy-to-make, no-cook playdough recipe is perfect for fashioning these trending pumpkins. I previously featured it (minus the orange color) in a chocolate chip sea star sculpting activity.

Creating warty pumpkins is easy and fun with white chocolate chips and an edible, no-cook playdough recipe.

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Ingredients To Collect:

1 cup store-bought vanilla frosting
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup icing sugar
¼ teaspoon peach icing color

Mix and knead the frosting, cornstarch, and icing sugar in a bowl. Then knead in the food coloring until it is completely blended. If the playdough is a little sticky, knead in a bit more cornstarch. If the dough is dry, add a spoon or two of frosting. You can also increase the amount of icing color for a darker peach shade.

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Making The Edible Playdough Pumpkins

A warty pumpkin-themed playdough tray with taste-safe, edible dough.

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Set out white chocolate chips, playdough, and pumpkin cookie cutters on a tray. A pumpkin ice cube tray and gem pumpkins could be included for more play opportunities.

Give each little learner a rolling pin.

Invite your little charges to create lumpy, bumpy pumpkins with the soft, silky dough, adding the chocolate chips for ornamentation. You might want to wait till they are almost finished using the playdough before you let on that it is edible. It is super sweet!

Creating pumpkins with warts is easy and fun with white chocolate chips and an edible playdough recipe.

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Tip: Using peach icing color works super well for this recipe, as the color comes out nice and bright.

Sculpt a trendy, warty pumpkin with edible peach playdough.

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For more food coloring tips, check out chefmaster.com.

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If this post inspires you to consider adding warty pumpkins to your garden next spring, the appropriately named Gargoyle, Knucklehead, and Goosebumps are some popular varieties to grow.

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Thanksgiving Printables

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

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More Pumpkin-themed Activities

Eye Dropper Pumpkin Art

Pumpkin Painting Process Art

Pumpkin Tablescape Pretend Play

Set up this colorful pumpkin-themed pretend play center your early learners will love. Loose parts are the highlight of this hands-on dramatic play activity.

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Glow In The Dark Pumpkin Art

Pumpkin Playdough Activities

Pumpkin Color Activities

Crayon rubbings of spider webs on colored pumpkins. An all-ages art activity.

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Pet-Themed Playdough Tray

November 20, 2021 by Annette Kaminsky 1 Comment

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This fun-filled pet-themed playdough tray is bound to engage your little learners for a nice chunk of time. It will inspire meaningful conversations and imaginative play, and strengthen little fingers.

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Pet-Themed Playdough Tray Supplies

An inviting supply of cat and dog-themed playdough accessories. Links to three easy-to-make playdough recipes are included.

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Supplies in this playdough added, pet-themed loose parts tray:

cat and dog cookie cutters
cookie cutter bones
dog erasers
eraser bones
dog-themed buttons
miniature pet dish
lattice with bell cat toys

The supplies were gathered from a variety of places. The exquisite cookie cutters were purchased from a store with a generous baking supply section, and the jingly lattice balls and teeny tiny dog-themed buttons from dollar stores. The round dog erasers were salvaged from a book club promotion, and the miniature eraser bones came with a set of Valentine cards.

Super popular with my preschoolers, the dog and cat figurines were gathered from pet sets and a pet adoption game.

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Playdough Recipes

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Warm, earth-toned playdough colors work well with this pet-themed playdough tray.

My preschoolers used the loose parts with a red-orange pumpkin spice playdough, as it was still pretty fresh after our October pumpkin activities. Just to make sure the color was fit for this second topic, I did a quick online search for “orange cats,” and “orange dogs.” Lengthy lists of orange tabby felines and ginger canines came up, so I knew the spicy playdough could have a second life.

View my post “Pumpkin Playdough Activities“ for this aromatic recipe.

You could also offer a batch of my all-time favorite basic playdough or a tangy orange jello dough. And setting out all three hues would provide opportunities for creating patchwork pets, or patterned tabby cats.

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Pet-themed Playdough Play

Invite your early learners to make cookies, bury bones, and create textures and imprints with playdough and pet-themed loose parts.

Cat and dog playdough supplies that encourage creativity and imaginitive play.

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You could swap out or add additional supplies for pet-themed creation. Buttons for animal spots, cut pipe cleaners for whiskers, rope for collars, and wiggle eyes are some suggestions.

Can you think of other accessories to include in this tray? Leave a comment below.