Sunsets are such a beautiful picture of color and we often stop to enjoy those moments of nature.  But, what is a sunset?  This simple experiment can help explain this gorgeous mixture of colors in the sky to children.

First ask the question, what is a sunset?

*This could be in a science journal.  Older children can write their answers and younger  children can draw.  Keeping a science journal is not just for the classroom, it can be a great way to document and cherish your child’s thoughts, writing and learning as they grow.

Then, “We are going to make our own sunsets in a glass of milky water.”

You will need:

Glass of water (beaker if you have it)

Milk

Flashlight

Spoon

Experiment:

1. Shine the flashlight through the glass of plain water. Ask, “What does it look like?”  (It looks white, like the sun when it is high in the sky.)

2. Pour a little milk into the glass of water and stir gently until it turns slightly white.  Have the children talk about what is happening.

3.  Ask what will happen when you flash the flashlight through the glass this time? then, Shine the flashlight through the water glass again. Observe, take notes and discuss what they see.  The light looks orange-red, just like the setting sun.

Explain: Particles of milk in the water cut out some of the colors in the light coming from the flashlight. Only the orange and red rays get through.  It is just like the dawn and dusk that we see with the real sun.  When the sun is low in the sky (morning and evening) its light passes through more air than at other times of the day. Tiny particles in the air stop a lot of the sun’s light.  The red and the orange light gets through.

If you are using a science journal (or writing this as a group on a board) write the question will adding milk change the light coming through?  Write your hypothesis and discuss as a group. If there are younger children or children that like to draw they can draw the experiment as it happens.  It would look like a step by step illustration. Complete the experiment and draw a conclusion.  After the results, have each child write if their hypothesis (or guess) was true.  Using this process even with the little ones drawing gets them acquainted with the scientific method.

This beautiful art project looks great on your little girl’s wall after it is all dry!  The art project is perfect for birthday parties, groups like girl scouts and as a class project during spring or Mother’s Day. Oh, and how about the grandma who has everything, a precious gift this would be to hang on her wall.

I started my shopping early to utilize coupons and watch for sales, especially on the canvas.  At any craft or art supply store you can get plain canvas wraps. I used the 11×14 for our project, but it would be beautiful on a larger canvas if you have the space.  The loose flowers were a hunt. If you have a Joann’s or craft store carrying silk flowers they may give you the flower heads that have fallen off and will be thrown away anyway. It is worth asking.  A friend of mine had a manager at Michael’s tell her no, and even said they would still be throwing them away (and mind you this was for Girl Scouts.) On the other side, Joann’s collected them and had a bag ready for pick up.  If this is not an option, buy them on sale and pull off yourself.

You will need:

canvas

glue (all-purpose like Elmers)

sponge brush (any thing to spread glue)

acrylic paint (any color)

paintbrush (I used popsicle sticks)

loose flowers/petals

First:

Prepare area with paper/cloth and write name on back.

Second:

Pour generous amount of glue and spread with sponge brush over whole canvas.

Third:

Choose paint color and spread in any design, using paintbrush or sticks.

Fourth: Add flowers and press into glue.  (The flowers need to be cut close.)

Last: Allow to dry for a day or longer if paint and glue were heavily applied.

Need a quick and simple activity for the children or classroom?  This no-cook recipe is simple and perfect for creative children. It can also be used as a learning tool and game.  Give each child a portion of the dough and have them make formations appropriate for their age.  For example, “make two spheres, form a line that is three inches long,” or “make a smiley face!”  I use this recipe as a last minute activity when we are going to be home inside or having a play date.

NO-COOK MODELING DOUGH

2 Cups flour

1 cup salt

water

tempera paint powder

Mix ingredients, adding water to make the dough pliable.  Not too much it will be too sticky.

The dough can air dry to harden or can be baked at 300 degrees for an hour.  The time may depend on the thickness of the creation.

This is a simple version and easy for children to make!  I have done this using my favorite sugar cookie recipe instead of the store bought and it was wonderful.

Stained Glass Easter Cookies

 Cut cookies from a tube of refrigerated sugar cookie dough and roll out slightly. With a butter knife, have children cut the shape of a cross out of the middle of the cookie. Place on a cookie sheet and fill the cutout with any type of finely crushed clear hard candy (i.e. butterscotch, root beer etc.) and bake. The results really do look like stained glass!

Designing and making snowflakes involves many important  concepts at all ages.  Beyond being fun, children experience shapes, motor skills, following directions, creativity, symmetry and spatial skills.  I was shocked at how many students in my fifth grade class volunteered to help  make snowflakes for a bulletin board, they loved it.  I thought that they would be “over” that!

With my younger children I demonstrate how to make a large snowflake and then they decorate it.  Then, they attempt their own allowing them to explore and discover the world of shapes and symmetry. Please note that the “snowflakes” are truly unique and may not look anything like a snowflake.

A FEW “FLAKEY” IDEAS:

3D Snowflake: For older children and adults, I found this site that teaches “How to Make a 3D Paper Snowflake.”

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake

Read A Biography:  Snowflake Bentley stated  “Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind.”   He photographed the first snow crystal and shared that no two snowflakes were the same.

Symmetry: Look for symmetry in nature starting with butterflies, bugs, leaves and bee-hives. For older children,  you may ask them if snowflakes are symmetrical in nature. (The answer is sometimes, the most common snowflakes are not symmetrical.)

The Life of a Snowflake:  This site is for older students to follow the life and growth of a snowflake. Fascinating!

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm

An easy to make and fun to read activity. You will need a ring, any size, hole punch and paper (index cards, sentence strips, or cut card stock.) Write words appropriate for your child’s reading level on each paper, punch a hole in each corner, put onto the ring and you have an instant activity that can even be used in the car!

This ring is for beginning readers and holds the high frequency words. I add one or two each time.

Word ideas for beginning readers: High frequency words (the, is, was etc.), word families (cat, hat, mat, rat), names of friends or family, colors, numbers (one, two), compound words (pancake, sunrise) and any words from a story they may be reading.

Fluent Readers: Vocabulary or spelling words from school, states and capitals, countries, most common misspelled words (believe, definitely, restaurant) and any dates they may need to remember.

The link below will take you to a list of commonly misspelled words.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/misspelled.html

Making a frame for dad is fun and simple and makes a great father’s day gift.

What you will need:

• Small wooden frame
• Acrylic paint
• Washers and bolts
• Permanent adhesive glue like GemTac
• Photograph

Remove glass from frame. Paint frame solid color and let it dry.
Use permanent adhesive glue to decorate outside of frame with nuts and washers. Let dry completely.
Insert the photo and the glass into the frame.

Tips:
Nuts and bolts can found at hardware store or maybe leftovers from the tool box.
This frame can be made to fit dad’s interests. For example, use tees and markers instead to make a golf frame.

I found this frame for one dollar at Michaels, but there is not a piece of glass in it. They also have wooden pieces painted or not painted in different shapes such as baseball gloves and bats, fish, etc. (These range from 59-99 cents.) So, this can be made for any theme and it is inexpensive. A great project for a group of children in a class or social group such as boy scouts.

Father’s Day is a fun day to show your dad (and husband) how much you love and appreciate him. Here are a few homemade gifts to show your love!

Dad’s Pen Holder

What you will need:

• Empty container, shorter than a pen
• Construction paper
• Scissors glue and markers

Measure a rectangle piece of paper by rolling the container one full circle around on the construction paper. Cut out the rectangle.
Glue the rectangle on the container.

Cut out shapes, or use stickers to decorate. Older children can cut out tie shapes and decorate to look like dad’s ties.

Now dad had a place at home or at work to keep all of his pens handy!
I O U Book

Make an I owe You book or coupon book.

What you will need:

• Index cards or construction paper about the same size
• Hole punch
• Yarn or ribbon
• markers, pens or crayons

Think of the things you can do to help your dad. For example, “IOU an afternoon of pulling weeds with you,” or “IOU one week of taking out the trash.”

Punch two holes in one of the covers. Trace the holes on each page or IOU and the other cover so the holes will line up. Punch the holes. Put yarn or ribbon through the holes and tie in a bow.

Dad can use these coupons whenever he wishes and he will appreciate the thoughtful and helpful gift!

Foot Print

What you will need:

• Construction paper
• Hole punch
• Yarn
• Markers or crayons and a pen
• Scissors

First, trace child’s footprint on the construction paper, then cut around it a much larger shoe (Dad’s pretend footprint) then cut out. The card will be in the shape of the larger footprint. On the card either write or glue the printed version of the following poem on the footprint.

Here is my little footprint
One day it will fit your shoe
I watch what you are doing
Because Daddy I want to be like you.

*Another version is to glue the larger footprint on a large colored construction paper. Punch out three pair of holes like a shoe, and use yarn to lace it up like a shoe. Place the poem next to it.

Hand Print Poem For Dad

Use paint on tiny little hands to make a hand print on a piece of construction paper. You can use a large piece of paper to laminate and make into a place mat. Next to the hand print, glue on a poem. You can print out the poem below (or your make your own poem.)

Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.

But every day I’m growing -
I’ll be grown some day
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.

So here’s a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.

Think round and round for this fast and fun party!

Stop Lights
Frost graham crackers or other rectangular-shaped cookies with yellow icing. Add red, green, and yellow M&Ms to make stop light snacks. This was abig hit at our four-year olds party.

Tortilla Roll Ups or “Wheels”

I took out the seasoning and green chiles for the chlidren.

2 8oz. pkgs cream cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
black olives, chopped
green chiles, chopped
shredded cheese
package of large flour tortillas
Allow cream cheese to soften. Combine first five ingredients and spread on tortillas. Roll up and chill.
Slice into 1 inch rolls and serve with salsa.

*You can add thinly sliced deli meat such as ham or turkey to your tortilla roll ups.

Sandwiches

Use a car cookie cutter to cut out sandwiches and serve. Peanut butter and jelly work well. Another option is to buy wheat and white bread and cut out the car shape and swap the cut outs. The wheat cut out would be placed in the white bread and vice versa.

Pasta

Wheel Pasta – Use the type of pasta that looks like wheels and serve plain, with butter, mac and cheese style, or just add into your favorite pasta salad recipe.
Cake

Bake a sheet cake, and frost it white. Use black gel frosting to draw a road around the cake. Place small toy cars on the road as cake toppers. In addition, you can purchase miniature road signs to add to the cake.

Click on picture below to buy race car cake mold and decorating ideas.

Cars – The Movie

Jello

Use a round object (e.g. a cookie/biscuit cutter or the top of a glass) to cut out green, yellow, and red “Stop Light” Jell-O Jigglers.

Dress-up

As each child enters the party welcome them with a cowboy hat and bandana or animal nose to wear.

Piggy Race

Blow up pink balloons and tie curled pink ribbons on the end. With a permanent marker make the face, or you can glue on foam or paper noses etc. For little ones, have them swat the balloon across the yard or room with a fly swatter. For older ones, divide into two groups and set up like a relay. Have them swat piggies around a certain point and back.

Duck Pond

Number the ducks 1,2 or 3 on the bottom with a permanent marker. If you only have two different prizes then only number 1 and 2′s on the bottom. Fill up a baby pool or large tub with few inches of water and place floating ducks in pond. Of course, watch children around any amount of open water!

How to Play:
Children pick a duck and look for the number on the bottom.
Children win the prize that corresponds to the number on the duck.

Have some toys that are considered “safer” for young children such as mini beach balls, sand molds or even small packages of fish crackers that you can have on hand to pass to younger children.

Hay Find

You will need hay, make it into a big haystack with lots of toys mixed in, I ordered plastic farm animals, bouncy balls and other toys. Have each child design a bag when you first come to party or just give bags to collect toys. I had the youngest children start first.

Hay Rides

Use a wagon or wheelbarrow with hay in it to pull children around yard or if you have a tractor, you can do the real thing.

Petting Zoo

We had to hire a company which also had options for pony rides. Be sure the petting zoo owner has access to water and shade for the animals. Also, don’t forget to verify that the petting zoo has current business insurance – ask for the phone number to the insurance company to make sure their coverage is up to date. If you live in an area where your neighbors may have pigs or horses then you are lucky.

Other Ideas:

Duck, duck, goose, blow bubbles, farm animal art projects, ring toss, parachute, musical chairs to country music, etc.