Storytime ~ Teach Kids to Weave a Web of Wonder with Storytelling Curriculum Ideas

Storytime Woes?

Have you ever tried it with a room full of little people under the age of two?  What a fun experience, it takes a roomful of parents to keep everyone on target.  And, a room full of early elementary age children isn't much easier, if you're lucky they might stay on their squares, but keeping everyone silent at the same time is nearly a feat of wizardry.

What Not to Wear: Encouraging Self Expression: What's She Wearing Today: Mayhem Fashion

Encourage Self Expression to Create Self-Esteem

Mandy Mayhem, Fashionista Extraordinaire. She is one of a kind. We let her wear whatever she wants, wherever she wants. There are some misses, but way more hits! Allowing her to pick her own clothes and letting her know we accept her choices encourages self-esteem. Enjoy!

Outfit:
Layers of Ruffles paired with Cowboy Boots (Wal-mart Special) and a Magician's Hat (Reminds me of Slash). Never leave the house without a purse accessory. Today, the teddy bear backpack.



And yes, she almost always picks her own outfits.

I refuse to let grown-up stereotypes or 'you have to do this' or personal insecurities stifle her creativity. Life is too short to be boring. Live a little.





  

Purple witch skirt over dark, denim jeans.

Even in this one, her favorite tie-dyed onesie.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the many trips to the grocery when Clifford, The Big Red Dog, or Bob the Builder's friend, Wendy, or a Kitty or a Dalmatian in footie PJ's escorted me to the grocery store.

Creative outlets are important around here, ya know.

Tinkerbell Backpack.

  

Foam cowboy hat, Tinkerbell backpack, pink sundress (too short), 
knee-length skirt, pink monkey rubber boots.

So, wherever you go, strike a pose and never, ever, stifle your child's creativity. It's the stuff of superstars. A real superstar needs a supportive network to thrive.

Green Disney socks with plastic ballet flats.

Recommended Reading:


Innovative Interventions in Child and Adolescent Mental Health*


Building a Chicken Coop in a Tutu

How to make Mardi Gras Mask Parakeet Activity (Shrove Tuesday)

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday whatever you call it, it spells fun! 

Here is how to make a Parakeet Bird Mask craft for kids of all ages (preschoolers love the feathers). Have a parade with these phineas and african art mask and Shrove Tuesday activities. Enjoy!

When is Mardi Gras?

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

Make a Mardi Gras Mask Parrot Parakeet Feathers.

Mardi Gras mask for kids.

History of Mardi Gras for School Lesson

Well, pickle biscuits! That nose is a half-mask from Oriental Trading Company. I can't find it anywhere now. It came in an assortment of animals noses including: dog, elephant, duck, parakeet, and cat. I got a dozen for less than $5. You might check the Dollar Tree.

You will need:

1 Bag of Feathers (Dollar Tree)
1 Plastic Beak Nose/Mask
1 Plastic Half Mask
Glue Stick or Glue Gun

Masks for Mardi Gras Crafts.

For the bird mask above, I used a heavy duty glue stick with a large dose of patience. Glue the Nose on first and then plan the feather design by laying them out before gluing. Stick feathers up under the mask and tuck the tips under the plume of the other feathers. 

The masks above are available for less than $1 each on Amazon.com. Click the link below the image to purchase.

Mickey Mouse Mardi Gras Animated Cartoon from jucoolimages.com

Recommended Reading:

How to Make Mardi Gras Masks*

Fun Fat Tuesday Activities and Crafts














ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Is there a Doctor in the House? Make a Doctor Costume for Halloween

DIY: Make a Doctor Costume for Halloween

Kids love to play dress up, here's a fun idea for a doctor Halloween costume. Or make it a nurse, a prince, a vampire, or a kitty...

Every free Friday in the summertime, you'll find me at yard sales on a quest for the perfect costumes. My mouth waters when I see outgrown, handmade Halloween costumes. I love it when I stumble upon an old football jersey or prom dress.

On the first week of November, I'm hitting clearance sales at Wal-mart and the party stores, looking for a great deal on a shiny, new costume to fill my trunk.

Kids love to dig through the trunk and try-on the clothes, transporting themselves into a fairy-tale world full of fun. I lug the trunk to drama clubs, preschool classes, and summer camps.

Anything can be a costume. A fuzzy, red towel hemmed at the end with a shiny, gold ribbon makes a robe fit for a King. An old, prom dress is the prefect princess dress.

I scour thrift stores for fun new finds. My kids love to dress like Daddy.  He wears navy pants and a periwinkle shirt as a mechanic. Occasionally he throws on a pair of overalls. Once, at a Salvation Army, I found a denim, Sean John jumpsuit. SCORE. My son was thrilled!  He tossed it over his navy dress pants and blue shirt and we headed to the shop to help Daddy at work.

Dress up is a fantastic activity to teach creativity and learn through role playing.  We've got some scrubs that make a great role-playing costume but they aren't so good for playing a doctor or surgeon in a production for the local retirement home.  It's cute watching the little one with their pants pulled up to their eyeballs and trying not to trip over the dress length shirt, but can we take him seriously as an actor?

A kid-size pair of soft, cotton scrubs makes the perfect costume for your little up and coming Oscar winner or the perfect gift for kiddos whose parents have careers in medicine.

Costumes: Kids Scrubs for Pretend Play and Dress Up.

Recommended Reading:

Face Painting Ideas Book

The Costume Book

How to make a Counting Sheep costume for Halloween

How to make a sheep costume for Halloween

Guest post written by Liz Hughes

It's always a struggle to come up with a good group Halloween costume theme for me and my roommates. In the years past we went as the three blind mice and then the Spice Girls. But this year I decided that I just wanted to go as something that would include an outfit that is comfortable and warm.

I started looking online for some ideas about what I could convince my friends to dress up as and I came up with the idea to dress up as counting sheep.

Making a sheep costume has been pretty easy. I bought some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I can't decided if I want to bother putting cotton batting or balls on it to make it look better. But I might just stick a number on the costume. I think my roommates are glad that I chose something that's so comfortable and easy to pull off, especially in comparison to the Spice Girls! I think that they'll never forgive me for that idea after they had to walk around in platform shoes and short skirts on a cold Halloween night.

What I did for Christmas: Nativity Play and Easy No Sew Costumes

How to Make Easy, No Sew Nativity Costumes

We made our no sew costumes from the choir robes for our production of the Nativity play at church. Mary, Joseph, three Wise Men, the angels, and the burrow all wore easy, no sew costumes that are easy to make. Enjoy!

Nativity Scene with no sew choir robes for Mary and Joseph.
Little burrow is wearing brown hoodie with ears and tail attached with hot glue.

We made the costumes with what we had on hand,so we used choir robes, altar gowns, hoodies, and pillow cases.

Easy no sew Joseph and Mary costumes from choir robes.

Head coverings are made by wrapping pillow cases (no sew).

The setting was magical. Mayhem wore her fanciest dress.

Nativity Angels no sew choir robe costumes with Christmas garland accents.

The miracle of Jesus must have played a hand. The kids did a fantastic job acting out the nativity play, despite only one performance with the entire cast. The little angels are wearing altar gowns adorned with Christmas garland. Poster board wings are also decorated with gold garland and attached with white ribbon arm straps looped thru two slits in the wing like a backpack strap.

What we do in real life: Outreach to Senior Citizen's Homes. Kids join our Drama Club or take a class and then we present it to real-life audiences spreading a message of  'Good Cheer' all thru the year.

Recommended:

Princess Pirate Costume

Perry the Platypus Costume

How to Make a Gingerbread House

Stained Glass Cookie Ornaments

The Donkey in the Living Room Nativity Set: A Tradition that 
Celebrates the True Meaning of Christmas*

Christmas Is... by Gail Gibbons*











ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)