Sorting by Color

I just mentioned to Katie, that we've been working on learning colors. So I thought I'd share a really simple sorting activity we've been doing. I found a package of little heart erasers in the dollar spot at Target. They're all the same shape and size so they're perfect for beginning sorting, as there is only one attribute that your child has to sort by, in this case color.

I used some paper scraps to cut little squares in matching colors. Then I gave them all to ER. She really likes it and can sort them by color already, we're still working on naming each one's color as she puts them in the right pile. The last time she made me laugh, as she's discovered a shortcut, and has been putting down more than one eraser at a time.

This is a great activity you can recreate throughout the year with different thematic manipulatives to keep the activity new and fresh. When I was teaching I loved browsing Dollar Stores for all sorts of little things to sort that tied in with my classroom's current theme. As they got proficient at sorting by one attribute, I'd add items that had more attributes to sort by and part of the activity would be having the students tell me how they chose to sort. For example, a Halloween time I put out holiday erasers in a variety of designs, they could sort by color, shape, design, etc.

Oriental Trading is a great resouce for a lot of little things you can use as manipulatives for sorting and counting activities, especially if you want them in bulk for a good price. They also have a Hands on Fun catalog full of teaching supplies also at discount prices when you compare them to teaching supply stores. Both have individually wrapped craft kits that are great for parties and are good activities for all those parent volunteers to do at a station during a classroom party.

Mommy and Me Valentine Making

Yesterday we started a mother daughter joint crafting project. One of ER's very favorite things to do is to paint. She'd paint all day if I'd let her and she gets so into it. It's really fun to watch how excited she is. At this stage, art is more about the experience and not the end product, meaning she isn't trying to paint a picture of a specific object.

So we talk about what color she's using, what direction she's painting such as up and down or left and right. I use this mainly as a language activity, or that's my excuse since I am constantly talking to her. Sometimes I think other people in stores wonder why I am talking to her so much or if I am talking to myself before they notice her.

We've been working a lot on colors right now, a concept she hasn't grasped yet. She can kind of sort by color, but she doesn't have carry over from one day to the next color names.Anyway, yesterday we started painting pictures using red, pink, and purple. I gave her the first sheet and one color. When she'd painted all over that page, I picked it up and gave her a second sheet of paper. Then I gave her back the first sheet with a second color and so on. This helped prevent the colors from becoming all blended in together as the colors had some time to dry in between coats.
After they dried I cut them out into pieces. I measured the fronts of my premade cards, get these when they are on sale at major crafts store in packages of 50 with envelopes. It saves you a lot of hassle and waste as you don't have to cut down cardstock to make the cards or hunt for envelopes that fit. I used my paper edgers by Fiskars in Clouds, it's tricky getting the corners rounded. I'm getting better at it but am by no means good at it.
I'm now in the process of attaching them to the front of the cards. First I added some pattern paper scraps, if these look familiar I used them on yesterday's post for the matchbook mini notebooks. Then glue sticked on ER's artwork. I wrote the message with a pen on it, then went over the lines with a paper piercer, a sharp needle would work too for that. Piercing the design makes it easier to backstitch. You don't have to punch the needle through everytime, which could lead to tears. Place an old mouse pad underneath your card to protect your work surface and fingers! The red heart is a chipboard heart by Making Memories and the white felt heart is left over from making the felt cookies. Remember those, so glad I saved those scraps; knew they'd come in handy for something!
Here's another version, it's on a cute little photo holder I couldn't resist from Target. I just love strawberries on everything! I had enough pieces of ER's work to make a few Thank You cards too. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures, but the embroidery thread matches the light aqua blue in the ribbon perfectly and the ribbon also the exact shade purple as the card and paint on it. The colors coordinate better in person.I can't remember what blog I saw this idea (if it's you please let me know - I left you a comment on your post about it) but someone was recycling their kids art into thank you cards, brilliant I thought. I've also seen on a couple of blogs, the of backstitching words or simple pictures onto the front of cards. So I combined the two and the end result are these cards. I think they're pretty darn cute, and she's already telling me, "I maked that," I think the Grandmas will love them.

PS: Make and Takes has several embroidery card patterns for a variety of season. I can't get the direct link to work right now, but search under card patterns. When I was a teaching, I'd have loved to get a set of the apple cards! Just a thought for all of you looking for teacher gift ideas.

No Sew Felt Clutch and Stationary Set

I found the neatest idea at Inspire Me Crafts for No Sew Felt Clutches. They are so cute and so easy to make. No sewing machine required, just your trusty hot glue gun. They're the perfect size for little favor bags. I made three in a snap for the Valentine's themed playdate I'm hosting this month. TyAnne has got all the instructions on her site, so go check it out and then start making one to match every outfit your little princess has!

I loved how TyAnne's looked, but made some modifications so I wouldn't have to make yet another trip to the craft store and improvised with what I had on hand. Since I didn't have thick enough ribbon, I glued on a strip of felt and layered the thinner ribbon I had over it. I also used a flower die cut from Sizzix instead of adding a bow. Then I added a bow on the handle. Don't know how long it'll stay put, may have to put some stitches in to hold it, isn't it pretty darn cute? See told ya'!
One little tip I did learn from making these is how to glue the ribbon handle onto the felt. It's kind of hard to see on the picture above, but the bottom portion is folded up and already hot glued into place. Cut slits and insert ribbon. Adjust the ribbon so there's a nice loop for the handle; glue the sides of the ribbon down to the inside of the bag just like above. Cover the top portion of the inside with felt to add some contrast and so it'll look nicer. I used pink felt for that. I had already bought some Valentine pencils and pencil toppers that are also mini stampers from the dollar spot at Target (I super big ♥ Tar-jay). Add to that some stickers leftover from my teacher's horde, every K teacher knows kids will do almost anything for a sticker on the way out the door, add a matchbook inspired mini notebook...voila, a little stationary kit all girly and cute in a matching bag. I can barely contain myself, it's so sweet!
The mini notebooks were very easy to make. Once again I rummaged through my paper scraps, all neatly filed by color - can't tell you how much that helps, and pulled out some Valentine patterned paper scraps from last year's layout along with some plain white and pink sheets of cardstock. Made the matchboook out of the patterned paper and then figured out how big to cut the cardstock scraps for the pages. A few hole punches, ribbon, and a sticker later, I had a pile of these little lovelies. Each is about 3.5X3 inches, has 10 pages, and are just the right size for the girls to use their stampers in.