Friday, February 6, 2009

Heart Paintings

I finally figured out how to change the settings on the camera back to JPEG and color settings! Now I know for next time. Deb called yesterday through Skype and Ethan loved playing "letter" games with her. I got these pictures while they were playing. She would hold up a letter in ASL and Ethan had to guess what it was.


He would scream the answer... I wonder how loud it was through the speakers of her computer. Cause it was deafening on this end. Super cute, though.

I think this was letter "G."

Today's craft was Heart Paintings. I pre-cut a heart out of white paper and dug out my heart cookie cutter from my collection. {If you don't have any cookie cutters you for sure need to go to Goodwill or garage sales and look for them! I use them almost everyday. I have been making the cutest sandwiches lately - little rabbit, cat, and horse ones are my favorite.} We then used red and pink paint to stamp our paper. I use recycled lids for our paint trays. I also laid down a shower curtain liner for our painting tarp. It makes for the easiest clean up! Plus my kitchen table is made from one piece of real wood and doesn't have a protective coating on it so... I really don't want to paint on it.



The tarp gives Ethan lots of room on the floor to create! Next time I will have paper already out so that if he wants to experience more I am more prepared. This morning I had to run and go get it quickly. He was sliding his hands on the paint enjoying the sensory. Very cool!


* Sensory Experiences are very important to develop young. Most learners are kinetic and need to touch things to help them learn best. I use to have preschoolers that had never touched paint because it was "messy." Let them get messy... just be prepared ahead of time to make it easier for you! I had rags with soap and water ready for clean up. Have a bucket of soap and water to add all the supplies when you're done. Also, add a squirt of soap to your paint to make clean up oh so much easier. It is easier for clean up to have a painting smock. If you don't have one it is easy to make one with a recycled athletic t-shirt.

I made this one for the preschool class I was teaching for Family Camp last summer. You just cut down the sides and at the seam on the top. I cut strips of fabric for the ties and used no-sew tape to attach them to the top and sides. You can also decorate it how you like; we just used our Bible verse for the lesson with an iron-on transfer. Well... now you have some craft ideas to do with your kids this weekend! Have fun!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jen, what a fantastic activity. I was extremely impressed on how you covered the bases in terms of clean up (chaos is something some teachers shy away from). They forget, what you already realize, that you need to anticipate troublespots to avoid them. Wonderful kinesthetic learning tool. BTW-got the copy of the article in USPS mail 2day. Wonderful!-Jeff