Starry, Starry Night: Science Meets Art

We are still

carrying on with our Space Study,

so I thought studying

Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night"

seemed like an appropriate

cross-curricular connection...

We read a couple of beautiful fictional books

(Vincent's Colors and Emile)

to the kiddos about Vincent

which featured his art.

Then,

using the instructions I found HERE

over at 

The Crafty Classroom...

...the kiddos and I began our own versions of 

"Starry Night."

We used glue...

...Lots and lots...

...glue to create our outlines.

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After a good day and a half of dry time...

...I reviewed what 

"Starry Night" 

looks like with the kiddos

before they began coloring with our

oil pastels.

(I had to post the above pic that Jungle Girl took

since this scene-

me feeding the baby while teaching-

often happens during the week at our home...)

We had a great time coloring in our 

star-scapes...

(Even though sometimes deciding on what colors

to use was tough!)

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Here are our final masterpieces:

Yup-

I even created one-

it was a very relaxing thing to do!

What a COLORFUL way to link

art with science!

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I'll be linking this activity up with the following:

Science Sunday

Kids Get Arty!

Borrower Houses

A month or so ago,

Jungle Girl finished reading...

...The Borrowers

by

Mary Norton.

The movie,

The Secret World of Arietty,

is based on this book,

and my girls are both looking forward to 

seeing it-

WHEN it comes to the Dollar Theater...

SOOOOO,

as a culminating project 

for finishing the book,

and anticipating seeing the movie,

I let the girls create their own

Borrower Houses.

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 After the girls each picked out a 

shoebox in our 

Recycling Stash,

I let them go "shopping"...

...in my garage craft stash.

(Later, the girls also pulled out some items

from their Lalaloopsy collection,

which really blended well,

since the dolls and their items

have a home fashioned appearance...)

Then,

their imaginations did

the rest of the work...

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Here is a tour...

...through Baby Girl's house...

 This is the upstairs

living area,

(aka The Lid of the Shoebox)

which includes:

...a Bottle Cap Dining Set...

 ...and a kitchen corner.

A giant paper snowflake rug ties

everything together... ;0)

 The bottom level

of the shoebox house 

includes...

 ...Beaded Escape Ladders...

 ...Sticker Wallpaper...

...and a cozy bed,

with a comforter made out of 

and olde pair of jeans.

**************************************

Now,

onto a tour...

...of Jungle Girl's home.

 We will begin with her

outdoor landscaping,

which includes...

 ...a spool swing seat...

 ...and a bridge entry way.

In her bottom level lies...

 ...Sponge Beds and a Balloon Beanbag

for the children...

 ...and another Sponge Bed for the parents,

complete with a Matchbox Dresser.

 Upstairs is a great place for the

"Borrowers" to hang out...

 ...because there is plenty of

Popsicle Bench Seating...

 ...and a Bottle-cap Dining Room Set.

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I am so impressed...

...by my girlies' creativity!

Now, 

if I can just get them to clean up after

the "Borrowers" come and play

in their room...

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Check out more creative kiddo ideas

over at:

Kids Get Crafty,

It's Playtime,

stART,

and

Read Explore Learn.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving...

Yup,

I am writing this post

the night before Thanksgiving,

but we also read...

...the book this week.

It's adorable!  

A class of kiddos goes on a field trip to a

Turkey Farm,

and they liberate the turkeys by

sneaking them out underneath their shirts.

To go along with the story,

we had to make some our own turkeys.

I gave each of the kiddos one of these

$1 Turkey Flower Pot Kits.

You have to use your own glue to put the 

pieces together,

and after a few minutes of sticky

FRUSTRATION,

Jungle Girl suggested that we just

make the turkeys however we wanted.

I AGREED.

(GREAT suggestion, Jungle Girl!)

 I don't know why I get so 

"wrapped up" in making sure we

do our crafts 

EXACTLY like the model...

"Free Expression"

sure makes my kiddos happier...

 (and ME too!)

Now we have three new little gobblers

waiting to greet our guests

when they enter our home...

Gobble-tastic!

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Check out more fun art inspired by

stories by heading on over to

stART...

We Arrrrrr Pirates!

This week was our last Monday Fun class.
(*sigh*)
so what is a better way to send off the kiddos
than by talking about
Pirates...

Arrrrrrrrrr!

After reading...

...How I Became a Pirate to the kiddos,
(SUCH a fun story!)
I led the kiddos in making their own
mini Pirate ships.

The items we used to make the ships included:

Egg carton cups
Markers
Modeling clay
Toothpicks
Tape
Glue sticks
Pirate Sails Printable
(Cottage Industrialist has many other fun Pirate printables
for free you should check out by clicking HERE.)

First, the kiddos decorated their egg carton cups
with the markers.

Then the kiddos put a lump of clay
into the bottom of the cup.

Then the kiddos put the sails together with
the glue sticks and taped them onto the toothpicks.

Finally the kiddos put their flags into the clay,
and they were ready to set sail!

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After completing the ships...

...the kiddos dress up as Pirates...

...and Pirate Princesses...

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Now, they were ready... ...to play a Pirate game!

Using their ships as game pieces...

...the kiddos spent the rest of the class sailing
to seek their treasure
with the use of the game board
from THIS Pirate Preschool Lapbook...

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

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For more fun ideas to do with your little ones,
head on over to
Feed Me Books Friday,
Kids Get Crafty!,
It's Playtime,
Preschool Corner,
Read, Explore, Learn,
and
stART...