Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative
                    Love, Learn, Thrive
                                •Birth to Five•

Coffee Filter Butterfly

What you'll need:

·                         ½ black chenille stem

·                         Paper coffee filter

·                         Water color paints

·                         Paint brush

·                         Water

How to make it:

1.                      Flatten the coffee filter and place it on a plate or newspaper, the paint and water will soak through. Set aside on paper towels to dry.

2.                      Fold the chenille stem in half. Remember, you are only using half of a chenille stem to begin with.

3.                      Fold the coffee filter accordion style, in about ½" pleats.

4.                      Position the pleated coffee filter into the bent end of the chenille stem. Center the filter at the bend.

5.                      Twist the chenille stem around the filter to secure it in place.

6.                      Bend the tips of the chenille stems over about ¼" to create the antennae.

7.                      Fan out the butterfly wings.

8.                      If desired, hang with yarn or fishing line.

Ladybug Rocks

What you'll need:

·                         Smooth, round or oval rocks, washed and dried

·                         Acrylic craft paint in colors of our choice

·                         Black acrylic craft paint

·                         2 wiggle eyes for each ladybug

·                         Black Sharpie marker

·                         Acrylic matte sealer spray

·                         White craft glue (Tacky Glue)

How to make it:

1.                      Completely wash and dry all rocks.

2.                      Paint rocks in desired colors, allow to dry. Apply second and third coats if needed. Lighter colors will require more coats than darker shades.

3.                      Paint head on using black acrylic craft paint. There is no pattern needed, simply paint about ¼ of the rock black in the “front”.

4.                      Use a black Sharpie to draw a straight line down the center of the rock, starting at the center of the base of the “head”.

5.                      Dip the end of a large paint brush, or the eraser of a pencil, in black craft paint. Dot on the spots, reloading with paint after every dot.

6.                      Once the paint is dry, spray the rock(s) with acrylic sealer spray. Allow sealer to dry completely.

7.                      using white craft glue, attach wiggle eyes and let dry.

Pony Bead Rainbow

What you'll need:

·                         1 brick of styrofoam

·                         1 each purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red chenille stems

·                         15 purple pony beads

·                         18 blue pony beads

·                         23 green pony beads

·                         27 yellow pony beads

·                         32 orange pony beads

·                         36 red pony beads

·                         Bag of cotton balls

How to make it:

1.                      String pony beads onto chenille stems, matching the colors. (i.e. string green pony beads on green chenille, purple pony beads on purple chenille, etc)

2.                      Start with the purple beaded stem. Center the beads on the stem and trim the ends of the stem leaving about 2” on each end.

3.                      Find the center of the Styrofoam block and insert the two chenille ends into the brick, forming an arch. Hint: use one of the pieces of chenille that you cut off to create the holes first, pull them out then insert the beaded chenille into the hole.

4.                      Repeat step 3 for each beaded stem, in the rainbow sequence (next is blue, green, yellow, orange, and red).

5.                      Glue cotton balls all around the bottom of the rainbow to form clouds. Cover the Styrofoam brick with cotton balls.

6.                      When cotton balls and glue are dry, stretch and gently pull the cotton balls to cover any exposed Styrofoam edges.

MAKE A RAIN GAUGE

MATERIALS:

• clear jar
• ruler

PROCESS:

Put a jar outside in an open area before it starts raining.

After it stops raining, measure how many inches of rain are in the jar with your ruler.

*You can also use a jar to see how much water is in snow. Put an inch of snow in a jar, then bring it inside and let it melt. Heavy wet snow will have a lot more water in it than dry fluffy snow.

EXPLANATION:

You’ve just created your own rain gauge and can measure how much you received from the storm.

Rain Painting

1. Sprinkle a few drops of food coloring on a paper plate.

2. Get into rain gear and walk outdoors with the plate for about a minute and watch as artistic designs appear.

3. Next, for a batik effect, try drawing a white crayon design on a new plate. Then add some food coloring and head out.
 

Beautiful Butterfly Snack

Ingredients:

-Slice of bread

-Vegetable cream cheese

-cucumber stick

Procedure:

1.      Cut bread into triangles

2.      Spread cream cheese on bread

3.      Place cucumber in the middle of the plate, adding 2 of the bread triangles as the wings.

Honeycomb Hive

Materials:

-Beehive cut out of yellow tag board

-Honeycomb cereal

-Glue

-Yellow stamp pad

-Black marker

Procedure:

1.      Have child glue cereal inside the hive.

2.      Have child stamp finger prints around hive.

3.      Draw wings, strips, ect. on fingerprints to make them look like bee’s.

Fuzzy Caterpillars

Materials:

-Fuzzy pom poms in various colors and shapes

-Glue

-Green construction paper

-Scissors

Procedure:

1.      Cut leave shape out of green paper

2.      Have children glue pom poms onto leaf, making them look like caterpillars

Homemade Chalk

Materials:

-Toilet paper tubes

-Plaster of Paris

-Powdered Tempera paint

-Duct tape

-Wax Paper

-Water

Procedure:

1.      Cover one end of toilet paper tube with duct tape

2.      Roll a piece of wax paper and slip into tube

3.      Measure ¾ cup warm water into disposable container

4.      Sprinkle plaster in a little at a time till powder no longer dissolves

5.      Mix with a spoon and add 2-3 tablespoons of tempera paint

6.      Put mold tape side down on flat surface pour mixture into mold and let sit for a couple days to dry.

Onion Print Placemats

Materials:

-Large onion

-Kitchen knife

-Solid color cloth placemat

-Fabric paint

-Paint brush

-Scrap paper

Procedure:

1.      Cut onion in half and press half on paper towel to draw out any excess water.

2.      Brush paint onto onion and practice stamping on scrap paper

3.      After getting the procedure down, stamp onto place mats

4.      Allow paint to dry completely.