Animaplates Blog http://animaplates.com/blog A blog for teachers and educators Sat, 12 May 2012 02:48:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Say it with flowers… egg carton flowers http://animaplates.com/blog/say-it-with-flowers-egg-carton-flowers http://animaplates.com/blog/say-it-with-flowers-egg-carton-flowers#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 02:47:41 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=224 Did you know that Mother’s Day is the busiest day for telephone exchanges all over the world?  More calls are made on Mother’s Day than on any other day of the year.  The day’s call volume even exceeds by 8 % that on New Year’s Day.

But what makes mothers happier? A telephone call? A card? Flowers? I believe the biggest impression is left by little gifts that children make themselves.

So how about a flower made from an egg carton and a piple cleaner. Even younger kids can make this pretty project and with older ones it will really bring out their artistry.

 

 

 

You can make one flower and plant it in a pot, as I show in my free video “A flower for Mom”.

But if you get carried away by your art (as happened to me), you can make a whole bouquet that will never wilt.

If you do this project, leave a comment below and let me know how it went!

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/say-it-with-flowers-egg-carton-flowers/feed 0 Animaplates at the AFESEO forum http://animaplates.com/blog/animaplates-at-the-afeseo-annual-forum http://animaplates.com/blog/animaplates-at-the-afeseo-annual-forum#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 02:30:21 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=213 Animaplates had a big booth at the annual provincial forum of AFESEO, an association of early childhood educators. This conference took place on May 5th. During the intermissions, many participants came to see our booth, which was decorated with the new Animaplates look.

As in previous years, this was a marvelous opportunity for me to speak with early chidhood professionals, to better understand their challenges and to tell them about all the resources that are available on the Animaplates web site.

In addition to memberships, we sold “kits” which contain the printed project guide as well as all the supplies needed to make the project: paper plates, paint, styrofoam ball or other accessories, depending on the project.

 

 

That’s me, posing for a picture with the witch’s hat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many visitors were fascinated by the Pirate Ship.

 

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/animaplates-at-the-afeseo-annual-forum/feed 0 Make your own brooch http://animaplates.com/blog/make-your-own-brooch http://animaplates.com/blog/make-your-own-brooch#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 01:32:00 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=199 Periodically I am drawn to jig-saw puzzles. When puzzle fever hits me, I make one or two complete puzzles, down to the last piece. That makes me so proud that I would like to frame them. I have never actually framed a finished puzzle, but maybe this helps you understand why I don’t like to get rid of a puzzle.

So, when a jig-saw puzzle is incomplete, when a piece is missing, that is a real problem.  I don’t want to throw it out, but I don’t really feel motivated to do it anymore since I know in advance that it will never again be really finished.

Lately, I found a solution to this dilemma. I use the pieces of an incomplete puzzle to make art projects. Have a look at the pretty brooches I made from pieces of a jig-saw puzzle:

Brooches made from jig-saw puzzle pieces

These little gems are beautiful gifs for Mother’s Day or any other occasion. Children can easily make them and they are not expensive since you can decorate them with just about anything pretty.

I made a video to show how I went about making these brooches:

This really is a project where everyone can express their creativity. Try it and tell me how it worked out!

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/make-your-own-brooch/feed 0 Activities for Earth Day http://animaplates.com/blog/activities-for-earth-day http://animaplates.com/blog/activities-for-earth-day#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:51:00 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=179 It is important to make children aware of the importance of environmental issues and a very good way to achieve this is through concrete activities that they can participate in. An art activity can be an opportunity for a relaxed discussion and learning will often be more effective in this way because the children are captivated by the object that they are creating. And that doesn’t apply only to art activities but also to other projects like recipes.

Here are two fun activities for Earth Day that are free and sure to be a success with your child or your students.

Make your own globe is a free Animaplates project that is also featured in a video. You learn a lot about the Earth when you are making a scale model of it. You study the shape of the continents and you realize that oceans cover a very big part of the surface.  It truly is a “blue planet”.
“Earth pudding” is a delicious and fun to make recipe. After eating this dessert, you can wash the cups and reuse them to plant real seeds and observe how they grow.
P.S. Did you know that the first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970, and that it was inspired by an environmental catastrophe (a well blowout off the coast of California, almost as bad as the Deep Water Horizon accident in 2010)?From the beginning, Earth Day was intended as an educational activity, and that seems just as necessary today…
]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/activities-for-earth-day/feed 0 Big decorations for tiny hands http://animaplates.com/blog/big-decorations-for-tiny-hands http://animaplates.com/blog/big-decorations-for-tiny-hands#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 18:57:28 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=173 Decorating Easter eggs can be a challenge for young children because they have not yet fully developed their fine motor skills. Painting on a slippery curvy surface requires a bit of practice and one does not always have the time to help young children paint Easter eggs.

One solution is to make giant eggs with paper plates. The big surface of the paper plates is easier to paint and requires less precision than real eggs.  I did this project with a group of children and it was a big success. When the paint had dried, we hung the large decorated eggs with strings from the ceiling. It looked very festive.

These decorations are of course also great for adults. If you want to quickly decorate a large number of eggs, use the stencil painting technique that I show in my video on making giant eggs.

Did you know why Easter is celebrated with eggs? I always thought that it had something to do with the renewal of Nature, but I found an article that offers another explanation: apparently there was a time when eggs were forbidden during lent. Since the hens did not stop laying eggs during that time, farmers were left with a large quantity of eggs at Easter. So Easter was a good time to eat all those eggs.

Resources:

Video: How to make giant Easter eggs

Why do we have eggs at Easter?

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/big-decorations-for-tiny-hands/feed 0 How to make an Easter Tree http://animaplates.com/blog/how-to-make-an-easter-tree http://animaplates.com/blog/how-to-make-an-easter-tree#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:34:01 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=156 In certain countries, it is a tradition for Easter to decorate a shrub or a tree with painted eggs. But why use real eggs when you can make them yourself using egg cartons?  Paper eggs are a lot lighter and easier to manipulate by children’s hands. They are easier to paint and quite resistant to breakage. Moreover, you can keep them for next year if you want.

This is a nice project to do as a family, as you get ready for Easter. The children will be very proud to see “their” eggs in the beautiful tree that everyone admires on Easter Sunday.

It is also an ideal project to make with a class at school. Making a Spring Tree is teamwork, and every child gets to contribute his or her creative originality by decorating the eggs in their own special way.

This free video shows you in detail how to make an Easter Tree.

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/how-to-make-an-easter-tree/feed 1 A Nest for Easter http://animaplates.com/blog/a-nest-for-easter http://animaplates.com/blog/a-nest-for-easter#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:10:33 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=149 Winter is coming to an end, the weather warms up and soon, the birds will build nests to lay their eggs and brood. Did you know that the nest is not always built by the female bird? With some species, the male takes care of that and with others, it’s a shared responsability.  A bit like with us humans, maybe…

The tradition of eating eggs at Easter probably originates with the celebration of new life symbolized by bird eggs. I don’t know how we got from there to chocolate eggs, but it sure was a great idea!

Making a little bird nest as a craft project is an activity much loved by children. For older kids, it will be an opprotunity to learn about birds and their reproduction. For the little ones, it is a project that is within their reach and that they can decorate to their liking. You’ll find free instructions here.

For Easter, you can fill the nest with chocolate eggs and it will look very pretty on your breakfast table.

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/a-nest-for-easter/feed 0 The hen with the chocolate eggs http://animaplates.com/blog/the-hen-with-the-chocolate-eggs http://animaplates.com/blog/the-hen-with-the-chocolate-eggs#comments Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:34:56 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=143 In some countries, legend has it that Easter eggs are brought by bunnies.  But did you ever ask yourself the question: who lays those famous Easter eggs?  It’s time to give credit to the hen for her work!

The little Animaplates hen is a nice project to do with your children in anticipation of Easter.  On Easter Sunday, the bunnies can put their chocolate eggs in the nest under the little hen.  Can you imagine the wonder in the kids’ eyes when they discover that their hen laid chocolate eggs overnight!  The project makes a nice table decoration that displays the artistic prowess of your children.

Whether at home or at school, this art project can be integrated with a lesson about farm animals.  The children will discover that there are all kinds of chickens with different colours and they will be able to express their creativity.  When painting the hen and the nest, the children can learn different painting techniques using special brushes or a sponge to add texture to the colour.

Nest

Nest

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/the-hen-with-the-chocolate-eggs/feed 0 Maracas http://animaplates.com/blog/maracas http://animaplates.com/blog/maracas#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:09:13 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=136 Yesterday, I gave a workshop for a group of 5-year-olds. They made and decorated their own maraca. They were going to use it in a musical activity. This was a perfect example of integrating visual arts with other topics, in this case music.

For the children, however, it was first and foremost a creative activity that they liked a lot. We first painted the bowls and the handle. Each child chose the colour they wanted and when they had finished painting the base coat, they could apply gilded accents with a sponge.

After that, we divided the group in two and each sub-group in turn assembled their maracas, filling them with seeds to make music.

References:

Available on Amazon:

]]> http://animaplates.com/blog/maracas/feed 1 The geese are back http://animaplates.com/blog/the-geese-are-back http://animaplates.com/blog/the-geese-are-back#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:21:36 +0000 artiztix http://animaplates.com/blog/?p=131 Winter is unusually mild and it already feels like spring. Apparently the Canada Geese think that as well. I have heard several flocks fly over, towards the North.

When you talk about bird migrations with your students, making a Canada Goose with paper plates can be a very exciting project, especially for grades 4 to 6. I have found that by integrating science with visual arts, you can reach more students, because kids often have very different learning styles.

For this project you can ask the students to observe pictures and create their own representation. To get you started, see the Animaplates Canada Goose project.

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