Armadillos

This is our final project for the state of Texas.  We really enjoyed learning about this state.  There is so much to learn about, and so many fun things to explore.

C, R, and I enjoyed two books about armadillos.   

 (C did not want his picture taken, can you tell?)

Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett is about a young armadillo in Texas who wanders away from his mother and brothers because he thinks he has spotted a red armadillo.  That "red armadillo" is actually a pair of cowgirl boots on the feet of a young girl heading to the rodeo.  The armadillo has quite the adventure while trying to talk to his new "friend".  If you don't know already, armadillos don't have very good vision!

The second book is Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller.  Groundhog gets the flu right before Groundhog Day and decides to look for a substitute to fill in for him on the big day.  Many animals audition, but most have some trouble doing the job right.  Finally, an armadillo on vacation visiting her cousin Badger comes along and offers to get the job done right.  She fills in perfectly, sees her shadow, and tells Groundhog that winter will be sticking around for a while.  Groundhog was a bit upset that spring would not be coming early, but then Armadillo invites Groundhog to go home to Texas where the weather is already spring-like. 

After reading these books, C and R made their own armadillos.  First, cut an oval out of corrugated cardboard.  You have to make sure the ripples go across the short width of the oval.  Then peel off the cardboard to expose the corrugated ripples.

Now you have the armadillo's body.  Glue the oval on to a piece of paper and draw a head, legs, and a tail.  Finally, draw the setting in the background.

That is a cowgirl boot with a blue bandanna sticking out of it (C was inspired by the illustrations in Jan Brett's book) behind C's armadillo.  He also drew a few bluebonnets in the background.

This is a great tactile project!  It's also a great way to finish up the state of Texas.  We'll miss you Texas!

For more book/art projects, check out stArt at A Mommy's Adventures.

Love is in the Air

I think it is so cute how excited my children get about Valentine's Day.  I only planned one Valentine's Day craft, but my children had other ideas.  We have been making a lot of hearts around here.  This valentine was all C's idea.  He was getting ready for bed one night and ran to find me and tell me that his hands made a heart shape and he wanted to use paint to make hand print hearts.  The next day we were all ready to make them, but C changed his mind.  I'm not surprised.  He doesn't like paint on his hands.  R was willing and able though.

She doesn't mind a little paint on her hands.  We had a lot of trouble trying to position her hands just right on paper to make them look like a heart.  We went through a lot of paint and paper with our efforts.  We finally got one that was close enough.

I drew a heart around her hands.  Then she took a bath!

This week we are enjoying a few great books about love:

• Porcupining, A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler  (this is my personal favorite of the week and it is a fun read any time of year so definitely look for it at your library)
• Henry in Love by Peter McCarty
• The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
• The Story of Valentine's Day by Nancy J. Skarmeas (this is a great book to explain to young children why we celebrate Valentine's Day)
• The Best Thing about Valentines by Eleanor Hudson
• My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

You can find all of these books on my Shelfari on the left sidebar of my blog.

Sweet Hearts

We made some sweet hearts yesterday.  My inspiration for these was the Mickey Mouse marshmallow crispy treats from Disney World.  The ears are dipped in chocolate and they look so cute.  My children loved those treats when we were there.  To make these, I followed the directions on the Rice Krispies box to make Rice Krispies treats and then cut them with a heart shaped cookie cutter.  I melted chocolate following the directions on the package and then C and R added sprinkles and candy.  They look great and taste better!

Notice the chocolate on R's chin!

YUM!

Bepuzzle Your Valentine

Before Christmas, we made Rudolph magnets out of puzzle pieces.  I recommended saving puzzle pieces for crafts, and a few people asked me to post more puzzle piece craft ideas.  I finally have one.  I have seen puzzle piece frames made with craft sticks, but I thought it would be cute to make a heart shaped frame with puzzle pieces for Valentine's Day.

First, paint the back of your puzzle pieces with red or pink paint.  We used acrylic paint.

Next, cut out a heart shape from a piece of cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil.

Hot glue your dry puzzle pieces around the perimeter of the heart.  I recommend that you take a minute to figure out where you want your pieces before you start gluing.

Attach a photo (or a few photos) to the center of your heart, and stick a magnet on the back. Here's another tip - always keep those free magnets; I use them for crafts.  I just hot glue them to the back of whatever I want to turn into a magnet.  You can cut them to whatever size you need.  For this heart, I used two business card sized magnets.  They work great.

Here is our finished Valentine on our refrigerator:

A Jam Session at Papa and Grandma's House

We had breakfast at Papa and Grandma's house this morning.  After breakfast, there was a little jam session.  Papa and C played the accordion and R played the harmonica. 

After playing some fantastic music, C and R enjoyed some arts and crafts time with Grandma M. 

They love Crayola Color-Filz.  C and R have made these a few times and they enjoy the process, as well as the final result. 

Right before we left, Papa broke out his harmonica and joined R for an impromptu duet.  

It was a great morning!

The Children's Museum

Yesterday, we spent the morning at a children's museum.  Here are a few highlights from our visit:

Doesn't this fun house mirror make me look so attractive?  

 

We got there right when the museum opened and had the place to ourselves for a while.  We had a great time.

Pecos Bill

I love tall tales.  This weekend, we watched Disney's cartoon version of Pecos Bill.  I just wanted to send out a big thank you to Ticia from Adventures in Mommydom.  She recommended that we watch this tall tale as part of our Texas studies.  I'm so glad she did.  We enjoyed every minute.  Thanks Ticia!