Sparkly and Googly Eyed No-Carve Pumpkins

Are you feeling the Fall vibes?  Ready to do some easy pumpkin crafts?  If your little guy or gal isn't quite ready for carving pumpkins, then today's no-carve pumpkin option is for you!  Check out these sparkly and googly eyed no-carve pumpkins!

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DIY Cardboard Cash Register

Does your child love going to the grocery store? 

 Does his/her face light up at the prospect of pressing buttons?  

Then today's craft is perfect for you!

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Awhile back I was looking around at getting a cash registertoy for Chuck.  He loves watching the cashier scan our groceries, so it was a perfect toy to encourage imaginary play at home.  After looking around online I then got to wondering.  Could I make my own toy?  And that's how this craft was born.

This DIY cardboard cash register has pressable buttons, a sliding money drawer, a faux credit card scanner, and a changeable money display!  Yup.  Cool right?  It's just right for little hands who love to push, press, pick, and pull.  It's also a great way for kids to practice their math skills too!

Interest piqued?  You can see the full tutorial on Handmade Charlotte!

Happy making. :)  

40+ Projects that combine STEM with Art!

Seems like everyone's talking about the importance of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) these days. And hey, I get it.  We live in a highly technological world that's rapidly advancing in all sorts of new ways.   We want our kids to be be creative and adaptive problem solvers.

But maybe you're like me and you deeply love arts and crafts.  They're your jam.  And maybe you're unsure how to dive into all this STEAM goodness.  Hey, I get that too.  Hopefully today's post will help.  In this post I sharing over 40 ideas for arts and craft projects that also happen to incorporate STEM ideas.  Yup.  Here are some of my favorite artsy crafty posts...which also happen to have a little STEAM-y oomph to them!

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Amazing 3D Paper Christmas Star Ornaments

What?  Thanksgiving isn't even here and we're already talking about Christmas Crafts?  Ok, you've got me.  I'm jumping the gun with this super neat folded Christmas star ornament.  But, I had to share because this week we'll be launching our new STEAM KIDS Christmas books.  Woot woot!  I'll be sharing more about those books later on this week.  Today I'm giving you a sneak peak of one of cool projects included.  These 3D paper stars are super fun to color in and such a neat way to craft this holiday season!

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3 Easy Preschool Robot Art Ideas

Does your child love robots?  My preschooler loves them!  We regularly speak in robot voice and robot dance around the house. So today I'm adding to our growing list of Preschool crafts and activities with these 3 easy robot art ideas!

3 Easy Preschool Robot Art Ideas

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today I'm going to celebrate my Chinese heritage two ways: 

Crapty DIY geometric straw ornament

To my highschool geometry teacher:
You were right.
Triangles are really cool.
This crapt is for you.

I think geometric forms are beautiful.  Using the directions I found here and here, this week I tried to diy my own geometric ornament out of straws.

Materials:
- stirrers <-- crapt!
- scissors
- ruler
- string
- Elmer's glue

Directions:
(1) Cut your stirrers into 12 two-inch segments.
(2) Cut yourself a piece of string that's two arm lengths long.
(3) String four segments onto the string.
(4) Push the segments to the end of the string. Create a square with the straws and tie a double knot to hold the straws in place.  (Note:  Don't tie the straws too tightly together, otherwise your straws will split under the pressure. I saw this happen with my first attempt.)

(5) String two straws onto your string and then tie those straws down across from your previous knot.

(6)  String two more straws and then tie them across from your previous knot.   (At this point you should be tying a knot over the first knot you made in step 3.)

We're going to now tie more straws onto the figure, but this time we'll tie them in the middle of the figure, between each of the pairs of straws.  So, you'll have to cut your string.

I made a small loop to hang the ornament from at this point. But you could create the loop elsewhere too.

(7)  Tie a double knot in the between two straws in the middle of your figure.

(8) String a straw and then make a knot between another set of two straws.

(Note: The most difficult part about making this ornament was making sure I tied the knot in the right place.  I found it helped if I mostly tied the knot over a straw and then slid the knot into place between the straws.)

(9) Repeat step 8 with with three other straws.  Double knot at the end and cut string.  Add a drop of Elmer's glue if you're worried about the final knot coming undone.  If you don't like the colors of your stirrers, you can also spray paint the ornaments whatever color you want.

Voila!  Enjoy your ornament and make your math teachers proud.

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.)

Admire the beauty!

My hubby recently showed me a book of different math proofs performed through pictures.  That's right, no words or numbers needed.  Who knew it could be done?  Here's one that I sat pondering awhile. Then, eureka! I got it.  And now I tell you, dear reader, admire the beauty! 

Sum of Cubes:   (Solomon W. Golomb)
1³+ 2³+ 3³+…+ n³ = (1 + 2 + 3 + …+ n)²

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!)

10 Easy Chapter Books about Friendship

Have you ever read the Frog and Toad series?  Our family loves reading about the sweet relationship and adventures shared between those two friends. Inspired by our love for Frog an Toad, I've created this new booklist showcasing other easy reads that also share stories about the silly and sweet relationship between friends. Hopefully, you'll find some new favorite books here as well!

Books for Kids who Love Frog and Toad

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