preschool

Spooky Hands Craft

October 29, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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This shiny spooky hands craft is effortless to do and uses easy-to-gather materials. The supplies for this project can be found at your local grocery and dollar stores.

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Supplies To Collect

white corn syrup
orange, green, and purple food coloring
paint containers and brushes
spoons
spider-themed fake nails
skull-themed fake nails
polka dot fake nails
Q-Tips
spider gems
sturdy white paper
black permanent felt pen
scissors

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Taste safe corn syrup paint ingredients.

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Traced hands and supplies needed to make spider, skull, and skeleton hand-themed crafts.

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Making The Spooky Hands Craft

Using a permanent felt pen, help your early learners trace their hands on a sturdy piece of white paper. Stitches can be drawn on one of the hands. Assist with cutting the shapes out.

Together, mix a few drops of food coloring into containers of white corn syrup with spoons. A bit of yellow food coloring added to green makes it lighter and brighter. A few drops of yellow and red can be stirred to make orange. Combining red and blue makes purple.

Set out the paper hands, corn syrup paint, and paintbrushes. Invite your little learners to decorate each hand in one shiny color.

Add fake nails, Q-tips, and spiders. Let your little learners stick the loose parts into their tacky, painted hands.

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Supplies needed to create a green skeleton-themed painted hand.

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Supplies needed to create an orange, spider-themed hand.

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Supplies needed to create a purple spooky hand with stitches.

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Allow the sticky projects generous time to dry.

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Green painted hand, decorated with Q-tip bones and orange skull-themed nails.

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Orange painted hand, decorated with spiders and spider-themed nails.

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Purple painted hand with stitches drawn on and polka dot nails.

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Other paint colors and nail art can be used to take advantage of seasonal supplies and make the craft project your own.

This spooky hands craft is easy and fun…the perfect combination! Which hand theme is your favorite? Share in the comments section below.

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Spooky hand art using shiny, taste-safe paint and spider and skeleton-themed loose parts.

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Toilet Paper Roll Monsters

October 21, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky 1 Comment

Toilet paper roll monster craft and activities. Easy to make watercolor painted monsters to use with stacking blocks or a red split lentil-based sensory bin.

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For most of the year, there has been a plethora of recycled crafts and activities posted on blogs and social media, and toilet paper rolls have been a “hot” material for craft and sensory projects. Debuting in this post are spunky toilet paper roll monsters. They are so simple to make and can be used with toys or in sensory bins for imaginative play.

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Supplies To Collect

toilet paper rolls
black permanent felt pen
liquid watercolors or food coloring
paintbrush
napkin or paper towel
googly eyes in various sizes
scissors
glue stick
hot glue gun

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Making The Toilet Paper Roll Monsters

Invite your early learner to add a mouth and teeth to toilet paper rolls with a black permanent felt pen.

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Mouths and teeth drawing on paper roll monsters.

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Set out watercolor paints along with a paintbrush and napkin.

Liquid watercolors for painting toilet paper roll monsters.

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Encourage your little one to paint the cardboard rolls, dabbing the paintbrush on the napkin in between hues to remove excess water. The inside of the paper roll tops could be painted as well.

If a paper roll starts to come apart because of wetness, attach large paper clips to the loose parts. After the paint dries, use a glue gun to reassemble the tube.

Paper clips attached to a toilet paper roll that has come apart after being painted.

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When the toilet paper rolls are dry, ask your little learner to add googly eyes. Adhesive wiggle eyes are the easiest to attach. A glue stick or glue gun can be used to add non-adhesive eyes.

Toilet paper roll monsters ready to get their hair snipped and fashioned.

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Eyes can be drawn on the monsters with the permanent felt pen if craft eyes aren’t available to use.

Offer your early learner scissors to snip and style the top part of the paper rolls into “monster hair.”

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Toilet Paper Roll Monster Imaginative Play

These peppy monsters can be set out with a construction toy such as stacking blocks for your little learner to use in imaginative play.

Toilet paper roll monsters with stacking blocks ready for imaginative play.

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The monsters are the highlight of this red split lentil-based sensory bin your early learner will love sifting through. Included are loose parts and stacking blocks that double up as scoops.

Toilet paper roll monsters in a red split lentil-based sensory bin perfect for imaginary play.

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Which of these toilet paper roll monsters is your favorite? Share in the comments section below.

Toilet paper roll monsters on display on stacking blocks.

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Related: Monster-Themed Snacks

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Scented Playdough Activities

October 18, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

This two-ingredient playdough is super aromatic and has a unique consistency. It is easy and quick to make and inspires endless scented playdough activities.

Scented playdough activities with an easy to make, two-ingredient recipe. Three dough variations and six sensory play invitations are featured.

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Playdough Ingredients

The only ingredients needed are cornstarch and scented hair conditioner. Low-cost perfumed conditioners can be picked up at Dollar stores and local grocery stores. Food coloring is an optional third ingredient.

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Below are the supplies to collect for three scented playdough variations.

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Green Apple Playdough

One cup of green apple scented conditioner
Two cups cornstarch
Green food coloring (optional)

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Strawberry Playdough

One cup of strawberry-scented conditioner
Two cups cornstarch
Red food coloring (optional)

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Coconut Playdough

One cup of coconut-scented conditioner
Two cups cornstarch
Yellow food coloring (optional)

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Making The Scented Playdough

Mix one kind of scented conditioner and cornstarch together in a bowl, and knead them for further blending. Add a squeeze more conditioner if the dough is dry, or a tad more cornstarch if the dough is mushy. The soft playdough responds superbly to human touch.

Green apple playdough batch using two ingredients and optional food coloring. A dreamy, soft playdough that responds well to human touch.

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The dough will be a light pastel color. To produce a deeper hue, add a generous amount of food coloring to the batch.

Two-ingredient scented playdough with food coloring ready to knead in.

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Dreamy, two-ingredient scented playdough in three varieties.

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If using this playdough recipe more than once, add a little more conditioner and cornstarch and knead till you get a workable dough again.

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Scented Playdough Activities

Apple Themed Playdough Invitations

Offer the scented playdoughs, toothpicks, and apple tree leaves for your little learner to create apples.

Invitation to create apples with scented, two-ingredient playdough, toothpicks, and apple leaves.

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Apples created with scented, two-ingredient playdough, toothpicks, and apple leaves.

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Set out green apple playdough for your little one to explore along with apple cookie cutters, gems, leaves, a cutting board, and an ice cube tray.

Apple themed playdough invitation with apple cutting board, ice cube tray, cookie cutters, leaves, and gems.

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Related: Apple Theme Activities

Coconut Playdough Sun

Offer coconut playdough on a tray with golf tees, buttons, and gems. Invite your early learner to create a sun.

Invitation to play with coconut-scented, two-ingredient playdough and buttons, gems, and golf tees.

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A playdough sun created with coconut-scented, two-ingredient playdough and buttons, gems, and golf tees.

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Coconut Playdough Beach Scene

Put together a tray with coconut playdough and beach-themed loose parts. Let your little one freely manipulate the playdough and add accessories.

Invitation to explore scented, two-ingredient playdough with tropical-themed accessories.

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Surprise accessory: You may notice the snowmen cookie cutters on this tray. They have a special purpose which will be revealed in a future post.

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Bonus: The tropical fruit toothpicks add color to the playdough.

Tropical fruit toothpicks leave color on the scented, two-ingredient playdough.

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Playdough Ice Cream Cones

Set out all three kinds of playdough along with a scoop and real or plastic ice cream cones. Invite your little learner to add “ice cream” to the cones.

Invitation to create ice cream cones with scented, two-ingredient playdough and accessories.

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Ice cream cones created with scented, two-ingredient playdough and accessories.

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Green Apple Slime

Add additional green apple conditioner to the apple perfumed playdough to transform it into slime. Scoop the sludge into a bowl and set it out with a pumpkin and buttons. Allow your little one to explore the new consistency, and embellish the pumpkin with slime and buttons.

Invitation to explore scented conditioner slime and use it with buttons to decorate a pumpkin.

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These dreamy scented playdough activities are sure to be a hit with your little learner. Which activity is your favorite? Share below in the comments section.

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Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

October 12, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

A horse chestnut leaf featured in five easy to do art projects that are suitable for all ages.

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Horse chestnut tree leaves are sizable and showy and have that “wow” factor. They are deep green compound leaves with five to seven leaflets that live on a tree that is beautiful throughout the seasons. The palmate leaves are showcased along with large, spiked flowers in spring. They turn golden yellow in autumn and are accompanied by dramatic, prickly lime green fruits that are coverings for ultra-smooth nut-like seeds called conkers. The leaves are a spectacular subject for art. Featured in this post are five horse chestnut leaf art activities that are easy to do with your early learners.

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Horse chestnut tree flowers in spring. — Flowers in spring.

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Horse chestnut tree with fruit in autumn. — Leaves and fruit in autumn.

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Horse chestnut tree conkers on the left, and broken fruit casings on the right. — Conkers and empty fruit casings.

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Horse Chestnut Leaf Art Activities

Leaf Print

Set a horse chestnut leaf face down on a table with a paintbrush and tempera paint. Invite your child to paint the leaf, turn it over, and press it down on a sturdy piece of art paper.

Horse chestnut leaf paint print invitation.

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Have your little one rub all over the painted leaf carefully, and remove it from the paper.

Horse chestnut leaf paint print in a black and white color scheme.

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A blackish paint produces an unexpected, striking black and white color scheme.

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Leaf Dot Art

Invite your little learner to place a large horse chestnut leaf on a piece of paper, and decorate the area around it with dot markers.

Dot marker art with a horse chestnut leaf.

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Horse chestnut leaves are perfect for dot marker art.

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Removing the leaf reveals a white silhouette.

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Watercolor Resist Leaf

On a large, sturdy piece of paper, help your child trace around a horse chestnut leaf with a black pastel crayon. Carefully remove the leaf, and encourage your little one to add a midrib and veins to the leaflets. Offer a paintbrush and containers of liquid watercolors for painting the drawing. Food coloring hues mixed with small amounts of water can also be used.

Horse chestnut leaf watercolor resist art project set up.

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Horse chestnut leaf watercolor resist art project.

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View a video tutorial of this watercolor resist leaf art project.

Watercolor resist leaf art video tutorial.

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Crayon Relief Leaf

Ask your early learner to place the compound leaf under a piece of thin paper. Offer a selection of peeled crayons. Have your little one rub over the leaf with crayons held upright or laid flat.

A pastel rainbow color scheme adds softness to this art project.

Horse chestnut leaf rubbing with crayons.

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Foil Leaf Rubbing

Place a horse chestnut leaf face down on a table. Lay a slightly larger piece of aluminum foil over it. Help your child gently press the foil over and around the midribs, veins, petiole, and edges of the leaf.

Horse chestnut leaf aluminum foil rubbing set up.

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Horse chestnut leaf aluminum foil rubbing.

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If you are lucky enough to have a horse chestnut tree close to where you live, it can be fabulous to study and photograph throughout the seasons. And horse chestnut leaf art activities add ambiance to home or classroom decor from spring to autumn.

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Do you have a favorite horse chestnut leaf art activity or a preferred leaf for art? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below.

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Related: Fall Leaf Crown Paper Crafts

Make a gorgeous leaf crown craft with one of these leaf crown printables.

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Turkey Sensory Tubes

October 3, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Here are three quick and inviting turkey sensory tubes to put together for a Thanksgiving, fall, or farm theme. I used large water bottles with wide mouths purchased at a dollar store for these activities. Offer the tubes to little learners and have them “spot the turkeys.”

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Three "Spot The Turkey" sensory tubes. Split pea and lentil base, glitter water base, and craft material base sensory tube ideas.

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Split Pea And Lentil Based Sensory Tube

Split pea and lentil-based turkey sensory tube with turkey counters, and leaf, pumpkin, and apple gems.

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This calming turkey sensory tube features a red split lentil and yellow split pea base. Also included are:

red, orange, and yellow rubber turkey counters
pumpkin and apple gems
fall round and leaf gems

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Glitter Water Sensory Tube

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Water sprinkled with a little orange glitter is the base for this glitzy sensory tube. Red, orange, and yellow turkey counters and apple, pumpkin, leaf, and round gems complete the tube.

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Craft Supply And Gem Sensory Tube

Cardstock paper in an array of fall hues is the color guide for this cheery turkey sensory tube.

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The color guide for a Frozen 2 inspired sensory bin.

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Added to the tube are:

purple turkey counters
red, orange, and purple feathers and pompoms
gold, red, and orange foil leaves
pumpkin, apple, leaf, and round gems
green apple counters

Glitter water sensory tube with turkey counters, and leaf, pumpkin, diamond, and apple gems.

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The turkeys can be exchanged for Frozen II figurines to go along with the heartwarming storybook “We’ll Always Have Each Other” by John Edwards. Read about a Frozen II inspired sensory bin here:

Frozen II Inspired Sensory Bin

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Fall-colored loose parts are featured in these three turkey sensory tubes. But the color theme can be changed to fit any season the tubes are offered in.

Turkey math counters and fall-themed loose parts. — **Turkey Counters And Fall-Themed Loose Parts**

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What do you think?

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Thanksgiving Printables

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

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