KCC Kids Make Native American Art and Crafts in honor of the Wampanoag Indians contribution to Thanksgiving

Studying Native American Art and Crafts? 

Get crafty with Alex Toys and celebrate the Wampanoag Indians.  Without them, we'd have nothing to celebrate. Here are companion activities for your lessons on Native American History.

Native American Footprint Headband Craft

Mayhem wanted to go outside and collect stones and leaves in her pouch like a real  hunter-gather. "Indian Dress" paper grocery bag tutorial.

What a fun word, Wampanoag. Here is a site with fun facts about the Wampanoag. We learned some Wampanoags are from Natick, Massachusetts where the Daddy was born.


Wampanoags today  See the real Mayflower here. See our version here.  Daddy is not Native American, but Mommy is related to Pocahontas about five different ways- her Indians are known as the Powhatan or Virginia Algonquian. One day, we'll write a post about this relationship.

Tie Dye Fashion Groovy Tote Kit from Alex Toys ~ Fun way to learn about dyeing clothing.

Alex Toys has great products for your Thanksgiving celebration or to help teach Native American ways and honor their contribution to our country in the classroom.

I wanted to teach dyeing with the Tie Dye Fashion Groovy Kit and teach weaving with their Native American Loom, but the projects seemed a bit daunting for a six year old, eight year old, and an OCD Mom. So, I kept  putting it off. 

We'll do that post next week. We can do it tomorrow. It just has to be done by Thanksgiving...

The Tie Dye kit by Alex Toys is awesome, super easy, and nearly mess free ~ we did most of it in a tub in the kitchen sink.

Soaking items to dye before tying off with rubber bands and twist ties.

Knotting off patterns with bands included in the kit and recycled bread bag twist ties.

Projects ready to dye. The included, Groovy Tote and some of our old, stained t-shirts.

I've done some tie-dyeing in the past, but this was so much easier. Although, the kit was for one tote bag we had enough dye to dye several things. I wish we had prepped more items. We decided to use some of the dye to make super messy, water color paintings in the sink.

Leave lots of white space for better contrast and to keep colors from bleeding together.

This is our only mess! How great is that?

Squirting dye on paper and blending with plastic spoon.

Secure your items in plastic bags for 24 hours.

Patience is a virtue. Enclose in plastic bags for 24 hours to set the dye, remove bands, lay flat to dry for another 24 hours, and then wash and dry.

The bag was included in the kit and we did three shirts and several paintings.
All bottles are still half full! This would be great for a birthday party or classroom. 

Tie Dye Paper Art  ~ Less Squeeze is Best

Tie Dye Paper Art ~ Learning Phase

The loom? Oh my the loom, it was far too daunting for this post. See our weaving experiences in Jake's Journey in Art ~  Home-school Weaving. 

Native American Fruit - Persimmons

Weaving is tedious work that takes time. Imagine if you were a Native American making clothing to keep warm.

Popsicle Stick Indian Craft for Preschoolers

Next month, celebrate the spirit of giving with Santa's Elves of Indy as we collect, wrap, and donate gifts for those needing a little extra help this Christmas season.

AlexToys.com donated these toys for our unbiased review.
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Cute Monster Paperbag Puppets: Video, Monster Trouble: First in our KCC Kid's Creative Play Series for Kids

Make your own paper bag monster puppets for Halloween

In honor of my favorite holiday (Halloween) we explore Monsters. Special thanks to Alex Toys for providing the crafts and toys in this post. These Paper Bag Monster Puppets came in a kit but you could make your own with construction paper shapes and lunch or colorful party bags. Play a Monster Game too.

 Paper Bag Monster Puppets are fun for a 
Preschool or Toddler Birthday Party.

More Paperbag Puppets for Teaching (Presidents)

Creative Play allows children to forget about stress and school work and let their imaginations run wild. 

I'm a huge fan! The Play Connection, Inc. offers many opportunities through our Sensory Messy Classes, Costumes/Puppets and Kiddie Play Productions.

First, we made Paper Bag Monster Puppets. The kits includes 5 colorful paper bags but with the leftover supplies you can make even more with white or brown paper lunch sacks.

Paperbag Monster Puppets.

After monster making, we went on a CREATIVE PLAY adventure and filmed it for you! The monster in the video is wearing the Face Paint Kit by Alex Toys and his weapons of choice are the Connect a Giant Monster discs. 

We hope you'll join us over the next few weeks as I find my inner videographer and the kiddos explore their improvisational skills in our first video production, The KCC Kids Creative Play Series Videos. 

The KCC Detective Agency presents MONSTER TROUBLE.



Find the Undercover Spy Gear here. After tracking monsters, you can get some much needed target practice when you clean up in the bath with this Screaming Monster Tub Target.

Monster Bath Tub Toys.

Each month, we'll go on a fun adventure and share it with you. Stay tuned next month for our tribute to Thanksgiving and the Wampanoag Indians.

We'd love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future KCC adventures? Do you want to join in the fun? Leave a comment below or subscribe to our posts.

Recommended Reading:

Monster Toilet Paper Roll Cardboard Tubes

Birthday Party Game Kids Love

Monster Birthday Book by Boynton

Recycled Scrap Paper Craft Rainbow Fish Theme for Preschool

Recycled Rainbow Fish Paper Craft and Companion Story Ideas

If you are teaching children how to care for fish, this Rainbow Fish recycled paper craft is an easy, fun aquarium activity to make.

Visit the Manatee Viewing Center in Florida

The story: Rainbow Fish is different and the other fish aren't very nice until they get to know him in all his glittery glory. Did you know he wrote a second story, 'Rainbow Fish to the Rescue'?  We have some fun, preschool companion book activities for both here. Rainbow Fish is the perfect theme for preschool curriculum.

Marcus Fister's Rainbow Fish. Fun theme for preschool.

Scrap Paper Rainbow Fish Craft for preschool.

We made this fish from our scrap paper box. You can photocopy a picture of Rainbow Fish to use as a pattern. Tip: Use Wrapping Paper scraps to make a sparkly Rainbow Fish Craft.

Recommended Reading:

Aquarium Craft Activities

Fishing Activity

Rainbow Fish to the Rescue!

Paint with Spaghetti

Make a Fun Paper Hat for Hat Day, a Parade, or Caps for Sale

Paper Birthday Party Hat Ideas for School Hat Day: Caps for Sale

Make your own fun caps for your elementary school hat day, a birthday party activity, or to celebrate with a Saint Patrick's Day Parade. You could even use them as a companion project for the book Caps for Sale. Enjoy!

Make a silly hat for a birthday party or 

a leprechaun wig for a parade from construction paper.

Make a construction paper hat base by following the Daisy Head Mayzie Hat instructions. Then, cut strips of paper, curl the ends around a pencil, and glue or tape to cover the paper hat band with silly hair. Ta da! Now, you've got a fun hat for a parade or school hat day.

Caps for Sale book.

We adapted this book for a mini-drama camp and had so much fun pretending to be sneaky monkeys! 


Companion printables for Caps for Sale:


 Classroom Printables for Caps for Sale 

Caps for Sale Printables for Pre K from Royal Baloo


Recommended Reading:

Caps for Sale*

How to Make a Chef's Hat

Crazy Saint Patrick's Day Parade Hat 












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! :)

Scrappy Leprechaun Shamrock Stick Puppet Saint Patrick Day Craft Preschool Activity

Easy Leprechaun Stick Puppet

Grab a box of scrap paper, some knick-knacks, and pipecleaners, and create this Leprechaun stick puppet or use him as a magical bookmark for Saint Patrick Day. He's made of mostly recycled items. So, pull out the scrap box and Enjoy!

This silly leprechaun is all scrap. Just add a stick to make a fun puppet or go big and make a mask to hold over your face during a St. Patrick's Day Parade around the hallways of Preschool. After the parade, he serves double duty as a bookmark for your favorite leprechaun story.

Easy Leprechaun Stick Puppet.

Plan ahead by cutting the scraps into triangles, circles, half-moons, trapezoids, and shamrocks for a quick Shape Lesson for preschoolers.



Recommended:


More St. Patrick's Day 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! :)

Pineapple Valentine Day Craft Idea for Kids Classroom Box

Make this Easy, Valentine Day Classroom Craft Idea for Kids from a 2-Liter Plastic Bottle: Recycle!

For this, classroom Valentine Box, we transformed a 2-Liter plastic bottle. Use this Pineapple Under the Sea for a Spongebob Theme Party or Valentine's Day classroom craft. Enjoy!

2- Liter Plastic Bottle Pineapple Classroom Valentine.

 Valentine Day Craft Idea for Kids Classroom.

The requirements for his classroom Valentine mailbox called for a shoebox.  Mommy's idea of using a 2-Liter bottle was extremely unsettling for Jake, but he thought the end result was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Looking for Pineapple Recipes or Clipart?

Sure, there was a little crying and a lot of pouting as he made his point. Apparently, the teacher's flyer had made it clear the project was to be no smaller than a shoebox.  And, "Mommy a shoebox is the perfect size; you just cut a slot in the top and glue on some hearts!" (Said in deplorable frustration.)  

Got a stickler for the rules? You might like Jake's Journey in Art.

Mommy did not have a shoebox to spare nor the extra cash to buy a new pair of shoes just for the coveted box. The cereal box, briefcase-looking mailboxes on Pinterest were tantalizing, but I wanted something different.

"Why can't we cut a slot out of a bottle and glue hearts on it or make it a rocket or something?" 

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Do you hear that? It is the sound of Jake jumping up and down on the kitchen floor in desperate refusal. "We'll talk about it later, Jake." And with that, we were off to purchase Classroom Valentines.

One box of Spongebob exchange cards later, and Jake decided said detested bottle would make an awesome Pineapple. Genius.

How to Make a Pineapple Valentine Box

We cut a slit in the middle of the bottle to represent a window, cut wavy, one-inch strips from brown paper lunch sacks, and covered it with glitter. Then, Jake took a toilet tube, cut green leaves from construction paper, glued them to the tube, and stuck it on top of the bottle. Foamy stickers spell his name just above the window and a construction paper heart glued to the end of a straw decorates Spongebob's house for the Valentine holiday.



Recommended Reading:

Easy Classy Valentine 

SpongeBob's Secret Valentine *

Pig Valentine Idea










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! :)

8 Easy Snowman Crafts fun for Kids they make perfect winter preschool activities

I love Snowman Crafts, what could be more fun for kids?

Snowmen make perfect winter preschool activities with their simple shape structure. There are so many fun Pinterest Winter Snowman Crafts and Activities for Preschool. I've been collecting snowmen over on Pinterest. Here's a list of my favorite winter snowmen crafts for you. Enjoy!

1. From The Educator's Spin On It Snowman Candy Bars

Great Teacher Gift.

2.  From Hands on as We Grow  Magnetic Snowman for Fridge

Magnetic Foamies make a happy Snowman.

3.  From Free and Fun Christmas Doughnut Snowmen

Powdered Doughnut Snowmen.

We made these in our program, one to eat, and a kit to give as a gift in holiday baggies.

4. From The Iowa Farmer's Wife  Snowman Lunch

5.  From Easy Preschool Crafts for Kids Snowman Paper Bag

Happy Snowman.



6.  From It's Gravy Baby Marshmallow Snowman for Preschoolers

Mini-Marshmallow Snow Friend.

7. From Kids Creative Chaos Peanut Snowman Pin or Magnet

8. From TLC Paper Plate Snowman Spiral

Okay 9... I found another.

From The Craft Room

Needlepoint snowmen.

Recommended Reading:

Sneezy the Snowman*

Little Snowman: Finger Puppet Book *

Snowball Soup by Mercer Mayer*









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! :)