I'm the Map! - DIY Dora Map

This isn't really a tutorial - it's an example.  But it's pretty self-explanatory.  You can make one just from looking at the pictures.  I know you can.  SO - Saturday Charlotte and I took Ryan to the airport to fly to California.  I started talking to her about his trip, and about my trip (I'm joining him on Tuesday), and I decided we needed a visual aid.  Well, of course she looooves Dora -so we made a Map!
If you would like to make one too - here is what you will need:

felt: white, blue, black, red, green, and various other colors of your choice
hot glue gun - or fabric glue
cardstock
ribbon
printout of the US (or your country) - just find a pic on Google
printout of whatever states you would like to add - we did Tennessee, Florida, and California
picture of an airplane - either print one you can trace, or just freehand it

I simply cut a large white rectangle to be "the Map", then folded it over and rolled it up - so I could place the Map's face.  I cut out two blue triangles for his eyebrows, two white ovals (one larger than the other) and two black circles (one larger than the other) for the eyes.  Then I looked at a picture of the Map to draw his mouth - a large piece of black felt placed behind the red felt forms the outline.  You also need the little "chin line".  After I had cut out all of those pieces, I hot glued them on.

Then I opened the Map and cut out all of the geographical pieces.  Just hot glued those on too. Then I cut the airplane - one out of felt, one out of cardstock.  I also cut out those little windows - it looked bare without them.  Hot glued all of that together.

Lastly I glued one end of the ribbon to the back of the plane, and one end to the Map (I covered that end with a felt dot to make it look finished - which also turned out to look like the sun).  Ta da!  Charlotte's very own Dora Map to show where Mommy and Daddy are flying off to this week, and where Momma J is coming from to visit her.

Adios mi amigos!
jessica

Sheepishly Fun - kid's craft

Yesterday Charlotte had a friend over and we made these little sheep. 

They're pretty goofy looking, but they were fun to make and the girls love the fluffiness factor. 

Here's what you'll need to make your own:
*a plastic egg
*black pipe cleaner
*polyfil
*googly eyes
*glue
*hot glue gun - mommy or daddy use only!

 

Step 1:  Prepare all of the pipe cleaner pieces - do this before you call the kids, unless your kids are older and can do it themselves.  Cut one piece of pipecleaner in half.  Fold both of the ends to the middle and twist.

This piece will be the sheep ears.  Lay it on the smaller side of the egg like this:

Then close the egg.  You will have to work with it, but it WILL close.

 

Put a little piece of tape across the seam so that it will stay closed.  

Take the other half of the pipecleaner and twist it to make the face.  Bend it in half:

Then bend one side out and loop it back to the center.

Repeat with the other side and bend the ends to keep it in place. 

Lastly make four little loops for the legs, and one tiny loop for the tail.

Step 2:  Okay - now it's the kid's turn.  Squirt some glue onto a plate and let them use their fingers (or a paintbrush) to smear it all over the egg.

Then take the fluff, and stick it all over the egg.  

Yes this is really messy and you will have fluff all over your hands (and maybe in your hair).

 Set those aside to dry.

Step 3:  On the faces, squeeze some glue onto the loops and stick the googly eyes on.

Let that dry too.

Step 4:  Once all of those pieces are dry - the adult should heat up the hot glue gun.  

Put a dab on his bum and stick the tail on.  

Then attach the legs in the same way.  

Once that glue has dried, you may need to do a little shearing, especially around the ears.  

Then your little sheep is ready to play :)

oh for crying out loud - how cute is that little guy?!

happy crafting!

jessica

What's under your mushroom?

It would be a great teaching tool or

you could make it at a party like we will!  

Here is what you will need:

 Two paper plates - one red, one white

A Brad (you can buy fun ones at Michaels!)

Double-sided tape or glue

These printables

Crayons or colored pencils

Stickers, if you wish

White paper

Scissors

Permanent Marker

Begin by cutting out 1/3 of the red paper plate 

(I don't think mine is exactly a 1/3, but just eyeball it). 

Next color the caterpillar and butterfly.

Cut those out and tape them to the plate, in the 2/3rds that will be covered by the red - I put the caterpillar in the left 1/3 and the butterfly in the right 1/3.  Attach the red plate to the white plate with the brad - push the brad through the red and white plate, right in the center, and unfold it in the back.

Next, write "Who is hiding under the toadstool?" in the bottom 1/3 with a permanent marker -

it will probably need to be right in the middle of the 1/3 -

you don't want it to show when you spin the top. 

Turn the red part clockwise, to reveal the caterpillar.  

I wrote "A caterpillar who turns into a..." in the margin of the white plate.

Turn the red part clockwise again to reveal the butterfly.  

I wrote "beautiful butterfly" in the margin of the white plate.

Turn it back to the starting position.

Lastly, decorate the red part of the toadstool.  You can cut different sized spots out of white cardstock and put little stickers on - really anything you think would make it look enchanted - there you go!  A fun AND educational project centering around a mushroom.

Have fun!

Grocery Store Game

Lately trips to the grocery store with Charlotte have been especially challenging.  In an attempt to make the trip fun for her, and to make it educational, I came up with this
Grocery Store Game:

Simply print out this page and bring it along on your next trip.  Give your little one a crayon and have them search for each item on the page - circling it when they find it.  If you want to get really fancy, you could laminate it and use dry erase marker - that way it would be reusable.  (By the way, I got all of that food clipart for free from this site.) Do any of you have other tricks you use at the grocery store?