When I grow up... Fortune Teller Fun with Preschoolers! (And a book list)

Did you ever fold fortune tellers as a kid?  With no set nap times and a new baby, I've been trying to find easy ways to have fun with my older son.  Recently I introduced him to fortune tellers and he totally dug them!  We made them to predict what he would be when he grew up.   He doodled the different jobs that he'd like to do and then we colored and folded the fortune tellers together!

When I Grow Up... Fortune Teller Fun with Preschoolers!   

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Easy and Spooky Shrunken Apple Heads!

Do Halloween crafts rock your world?  Yes!?  Awesome.  They totally rock mine too.  Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  Costumes, magic, candy, gross things, spooky things—I love it all!

Tomorrow is the first day of October and I’m trying to squeeze in as many Halloween crafts as I can before the month is over.   Today I’m sharing a really neat Halloween activity that also doubles as a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activity too.  We’re making shrunken apple heads! 

Super Easy and Spooky Shrunken Apple Heads

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(Ha! My husband was weirded out my this little guy, but I think he’s just adorable.  Look at that toothy grin!)

Easiest cardboard Rainmakers ever!

Recently my son and I have been talking a lot about the weather.  We're currently in the middle of a horrible drought in Southern California so we desperately need rain.  Since we always have a ton of cardboard rolls lying around (which we LUUURVE using for cardboard roll crafts), we recently made a rainmaker together.  Set-up was simple and it was a snap to put it together.

Here's how we did it!

Shake! Shake!  Make Your Own Rainmaker with Kids!

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Make a Water Xylophone and start exploring Sound with kids!

Today we're doing another super easy Preschool STEAM activity!  Chuck and I recently explored sound by making our very own......

DIY Water Xylophone!

Make Your Own "Exploding" Chocolate Candy

I'm not a candy eater.  But for today's post... I made an exception.  Today is Friday, which means that it's a  Kids STEAM Activity day!  In honor of the fourth of July, we made some chocolate candy that explodes and pops in your mouth!

Yup. You read that right.  While eating these exploding chocolate treats, you'll definitely feel tiny fourth of July fireworks popping in your mouth.  Curious?  Read on!

How to Make "Exploding" Chocolate Candy!

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Let's Make Easy and Colorful Magnetic Sculptures!

Magnets are such fun things to explore!  For me, there's nothing cooler than feeling that invisible magnetic force pull or push two items together.  Today we're exploring magnetism and the connection between art and science with this really easy Magnetic Sculpture Activity!  

Kids STEAM Activity:   Making Magnetic Sculptures!

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Make Fun and Colorful Number Chart Sticker Math Art

When I was a kid, I loved learning about patterns.  There was something super thrilling about being able to predict what came next.  Today I'm sharing a colorful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) Activity that combines my love of patterns, color, and math!  We're making some groovy Number Chart Art!  This activity is the perfect way for kids to practice number recognition, pattern-making, multiplication, addition, and subtraction... while making some beautiful artwork too!

Let's make Number Chart Art! 

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Calder-Inspired Sculptures (and our 20+ favorite art books!)

As a child I really loved Alexander Calder's sculptures.  Whimsical and colorful, they let me see that art can be fun too!  Today I'm sharing a really simple paper sculpture project inspired by Calder's large scale metal ones.  They take only minutes to whip up and certainly would also make for fun scissor practice with younger kids as well!

Kids Calder-Inspired Art Sculptures  

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Build a Funicular Train

Did you know there were such things as funicular trains?  I learned about them from a train book that my son and I read together.  Apparently these trains are used to move people up and down steep cliffs. Two cars are attached via a cable and one car moves up the mountain as another moves down.  Now of course, you know me.... I just had to try making a funicular train for our lego minifigures.... especially after we enjoyed playing with our cardboard conveyor belt so much!

Let's Build a Funicular Train!

Kid Science: Studying Bird Beaks

Now that it's spring, I feel a severe kick in the bum to start doing more nature and science themed activities with Chuck.   There's something really cool about seeing blossoms, birds, bees, and bugs (whoa- bs!) all around.  We recently visited our nearby natural history museum and Chuck spent quite a bit of time playing with a bird beak activity.  It was so simple and fun that I had to share it here!

Kid Science:  Studying Bird Beaks with Kids

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5 Flower + Plant Activities for Preschoolers!

Spring is here! Spring is here!  In honor of this lovely season, here are 5 flower and plant activities that are just perfect for preschoolers!

5 Preschool Flower + Plant Activities

How to Fold and Cut Origami Stars

Lately I've just been digging Origami projects.  There's just something so relaxing about folding paper to create lovely things.    For today's post I wanted to share a recent origami project- these folded and cut origami stars.  They are really, really beautiful and of course, super simple to make!  (I'm an origami newbie, so if I say it's easy... it's totally doable!)

How to Fold and Cut Origami Stars

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So keep reading to see how I made them.

Oh yeah.  Guess what?  I took the plunge and actually shot videos of me folding the paper and explaining my process.  I know, I know.  Video is a completely new medium to me and I still have a lot of kinks to work out (like how to make things brighter!)  But, I think the videos explain the process better than the photos.  So I've included them in the post.

Painted Tin Can Succulent Pots

Spring has sprung!  Are you enjoying all the lovely blooms popping up around your neighborhood? In honor of Spring, today's Creative Preschool theme is.... plants!  So I wanted to share how we painted and repotted these tin can succulents.

Because this is part of the Preschool Collaborators Series, there are links at the bottom of the post to 4 other bloggers' great ideas for teaching preschoolers about flowers and plants!  (So scroll down to the bottom of the post to check those out!)

How to Repot Succulents in Painted Tin Cans 

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How to make a Conveyor Belt

Does your child like machines?  Then you'll love today's quick craft.  It's a super simple milk carton conveyor belt!

Make a Conveyor Belt

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Origami Artwork With Kids

Ever have just a crazy, crazy, week?  I'm sure you have... and last week was mine.  Chuck was sick the entire week and hubby had to work late hours.  So at night I found myself trying to relax by catching up on my favorite shows (currently Brooklyn 99) and folding origami.  Yup.  I'll hopefully have some cool origami projects  (like these origami black cat, origami jack-o-lantern, and origami vampire lips) to show you in the next couple of weeks.

I'm not an origami ninja.  A lot of times projects just don't turn out quite how I imagined.  Lines aren't folded correctly and have to be refolded (again and again).  When imperfect projects are finally finished, it always seems like a shame to toss out the paper.  So I thought to myself, "Why not turn my old origami projects into art?"  And that's how this idea was born!

Make Origami Artwork with Kids

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5 Preschool Pi Day Activities

Ok.  Pi day is coming up this Saturday.  Are you ready to celebrate it with some fun activities?   Last year I came up with 3 Pi Day Activities for elementary aged children, like making Pi Day Bracelets and making 2 Types of Pi Inspired Artwork!  This year I thought it would be a fun challenge to try to introduce Pi Day to my Preschooler.

Pi Day celebrates Pi, the mathematical constant that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter.  Pi's digits stretch infinitely long, never repeat, and seem to be random.  I really wanted to share my love for math with my 3 year old.  So here are 5 Preschool Pi Day Activities that are fun, easy to set up, and great opportunities for some hands on learning!

5 Preschool Pi Day Activities

10 Ocean Crafts and Activities

This week's Creative Preschool Collaborator's theme is Oceans and Fish!  I was excited to tackle the theme because Chuck LOVES going to the beach and playing in the ocean.   So keep reading for some ocean themed storybook ideas, 10 preschool ocean crafts/activities, AND 4 other kid blogger's creative Ocean themed activities!

10 Ocean Crafts and Activties

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Easy Spinning Top Marker Art

Recently Chuck's been interested in making things with me again. (Phew.  I thought our dry spell would never be over!)  He seems to enjoy using materials in different ways (like this rainy day process art activity).  So I thought it would be fun to combine a toy with an art item to make it more fun for him.  Tada... here's our spinner marker top!

Easy Spinning Top Marker Art!

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This activity is just so cool because it combines science and art.  You can actually track the motion of the spinning "top."  (Just wait till you see the cool spirals it makes!  Wow.)

Maple Syrup Candy + Craft Fail book review!

Now that the weather is a bit chillier, I thought it would be fun to do more fall and winter crafts and activities.  I loved reading the Little House on the Prairie series as a child and always wanted to try doing the things Laura did.  Last year, we made homemade butter from heavy cream.  This year, we tried our hand at making homemade maple syrup candy!

Let's Make Homemade Maple Syrup Candy!

(using snow-- ooh la la)

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Rainy Day Process Art

We got rain!  We got rain!  Whoopie!  This was a pretty big deal here in SoCal because we've been in the middle of a drought for a looooong time. Since I love trying easy art projects with Chuck, we took advantage of the rain and collaborated with Mother Nature to create some beautiful rainy day process art.

Let's Make Rainy Day Process Art!

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This was a really fun and easy art project.  I really enjoyed it because we didn't concern ourselves so much with the final product.  Instead, we just really enjoyed making art together and then watching Mother Nature add her bit too.

Here's how we made our rainy day process art!