Farm Craft Fun with The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

Make a Papercraft Barn for "The Big Red Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown 

This is a fun way to teach children about farm animals. Here is a simple craft for Preschool Curriculum: Make your own Big Red Barn and Silo with a paper envelope and cardboard toilet roll tube. Enjoy!

Farm Craft Fun with The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown.

We made this project in our Messy Class. What better way to make a mess than red paint?

Here's a Cute Farm Cow and Barn Coloring Page

Big Red Barn Preschool Papercraft.

How to Make a Big Red Barn Paper Craft

You will need:

Greeting Card Envelope
Cardboard Toilet Paper Tube
Paint (Make your own Edible Recipe Here or Water Color Paints)
Cardboard Egg Cartoon
Markers
Construction Paper or Magazine
Glue (Make Edible Paste Recipe Here)
Margaret Wise Brown's The Big Red Barn Book

Perfect preschool Farm Book: The Big Red Barn.

Step one: SENSORY SKILLS

Open the flap on your envelope so it points to the ceiling when standing as pictured.

Step two: SENSORY SKILLS

Paint your envelope red or your favorite barn color. (Remember it is important to let little ones make choices.) Paint your Cardboard tube to match.

Cut out and Paint one egg carton cup with a contrasting color.

Step three: FINE MOTOR SKILLS: CUTTING 

While the paint is drying use construction paper or pictures from magazines to cut out animal shapes. You can trace the animals in the story on white paper and use them as shape templates for your littles to trace. Also, cut out barn doors.

Step four: SENSORY SKILLS

If you make your own edible glue this is a super fun, sensory experience. Paste doors onto barn as pictured. Attach Egg Cup to Cardboard Tube (SILO) and attach silo to envelope. You might want to add a piece of folded tape to secure the silo.

Step five: CREATIVE PLAY SKILLS 
This is my favorite part! Place your animal shapes in the envelope, read the story, and remove the animals making animal sounds as they appear in the story. 

Find a fun Snack for Goodnight Moon.


Recommended Reading:

Books about Farms for Kids: Little Blue Truck Board Book*

Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown*

Margaret Wise Brown Ideas from Mommy and Me Book Club.*


Tip: Our Favorite Edible Paint Recipe is MILK PAINT.








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! :)

Plan a Ladybug Picnic Party & Learn about the Ladybug Life Cycle too!

A Ladybug Picnic Party is a Fun Way to learn about the Ladybug Life Cycle

Spring and Summer are the perfect time to throw a Ladybug picnic or Ladybug theme birthday party! We love to sneak in educational elements whenever possible, so we've come up with some fun Ladybug activities and added an educational one too. Learning about the Ladybug's life cycle is fun - Scroll down to find more Ladybug learning activities from Teaching Mama. Enjoy!

Plan a Ladybug Picnic Party and Learn about the ladybug Life cycle.

Online, you will find lots of different Ladybug tic tac toe games. Some are made of construction paper, others use painted rocks, blocks of wood, or even sticks.

Collect walnut shells and paint them like ladybugs and bumble bees
for Tic Tac Toe and Checkers games.

We enjoy taking hikes around our property. It is like our very own nature park. So, on a recent hike, we collected broken Walnut shells to paint like Ladybugs and Bumble Bees in honor of the book, Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy!

These are so cute and perfect to leave sitting out for an impromptu game of Ladybug Tic Tac Toe or Checkers. 

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy Party.  Want your own? Let us know in the comments.

Just store your bugs in a woven basket, and leave them sitting on a table or bench as an invitation to play. We tossed in sidewalk chalk, so that kids can make a board anywhere they want! Sticks make a perfect natural Tic Tac Toe board.

Make and play Ladybug Tic Tac Toe and Checkers.

Playing games are a great way to build friendships and teach about compromise too! Read the book, LADYBUG GIRL AND THE BUMBLEBEE BOY, the theme is “friendship and compromise.” 

In the story, Lulu and her dog Bingo meet up with Sam on the playground and want to play together. Sam likes the sandbox but Lulu thinks the monkey bars are better. They just can’t agree…until Lulu asks, “Have you ever played Ladybug Girl?” Quickly, Sam becomes the brave Bumblebee Boy, and he and Lulu, a.k.a Ladybug Girl, are superheroes who save the playground from scary monsters and mean robots. New friends want to join their game too, and soon the Bug Squad is formed with Ladybug Girl, Bumblebee Boy, Dragonfly Girl, and Butterfly Girl using their imaginations to keep the playground safe.

Gather walnut shells, paint, and brushes to make a Ladybug Tic Tac Toe game.

Paint walnut red to make a ladybug.

Paint walnut yellow to make a bumblebee.

Hop over to Teaching Mama to print a ladybug life cycle printable activity the kids can make at the party!

Ladybug life cycle printable available at TeachingMama.org

This is one of my all time favorite Sesame Street Videos: Ladybug Picnic.

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter to win Ladybug Girl items for your own party!


Recommended:

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy*

Things to do with Walnuts

Paper Ladybug Tic Tac Toe Valentine

Frog Birthday Party Ideas 

Egg Carton Ants Art Craft

How to Make Egg Carton Ants Craft

We love to make something from nothing! Perhaps, one of the first recycled craft projects (just behind the milk carton house) was the egg carton ants art craft. These cute little ants are fun for preschoolers to make, but they also work fine motor skills. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your egg cartons and get ready to make some ants. We've added a few more ant art ideas, so keep scrolling and Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

Ten Easy Sensory Play Activities for Children

Easy Sensory Play Activities for Kids

Squishy, slimy, cold, hot, ooey, and gooey are a just few good words to describe Sensory Play Activities which help children of all sorts, but especially those with Sensory Processing Disorders. Enjoy!

Sensory Play Based Learning Activities.

Splat! Release your inner Pollack:
Put on an old shirt, attach old white sheets to the walls and floors and get splatting. Don't be worried if it takes your child a while to warm up to the idea. Let them watch you or other kids enjoying the activity; before you know it your child will ease into the action. Some kids just like to watch. Their eyes are processing!


Wet! Release your inner Monet:

Play with your Food and Paint it with Milk Paint.

Milk paint on Toast. It is fun to eat!

Pound! Pretend You're a Chef:

Bake some Homemade Pizzas or Dough-nuts ~Donuts then pound, roll, and flatten. Even everyday family activities can be sensory play.

Pound a pretzel.

Baking is the oldest form of sensory play.

Slimy! Sensory Egg Sparkly:

Decorate them, crack them, and eat them. This is a virtually mess-free way to decorate eggs for those who have issues getting their hands dirty. Try to touch the eggs and compare and contrast the un-decorated egg versus the one with sparkle. How does it feel?

Decorating Eggs is a Sensory Activity.

Bump! Baby Boppers:

It's like Sumo Suits and Bumper Cars all rolled into one.

Bounce into your buddy or roll around on the ground- bet you 

can't get up by yourself! We got these at orientaltrading.com 

Bumper Rings.

Cold! Shaving Cream:
Shaving Cream, Food Coloring, and the Great Outdoors what could be better? I know, Cool Whip and Food Coloring. It works great as Sidewalk Paint too.

We made a shaving cream cake in our Messy Play Class for preschoolers.

Blow! Marshmallow Sensory Fun: Squishy, Soft, Suck in through a straw, Hold, Drop into a cup. Times Up ~ Most in Cup Wins.

Squish! Sensory Spaghetti with Edible Paint

Sensory Spaghetti Play Ideas

Think! Creative Play:  

Gone Fishin' with Rainbow Fish

and Ziploc Aquarium Squishy.

Pretend to fish with Pool Noodles.

Packing peanuts are fun, but please be careful and never leave a child unattended. They are a choking hazard and if left alone, a child could suffocate in a large pile.

Tickle! Packing Peanuts:
More fun than a ball pit. Play in them or make a Snowy Craft.

Bearded with Shaving Cream Fun.

Recommended Reading:

What is Sensory Play?

Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book)*

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! :)

Jake's Journey in Art: Homeschool Printmaking Lesson with Foam Trays and Pencils

Homeschool Art Lesson in Printmaking

Jake's journey in art focuses on REUSE. Make your own prints with foam trays in this fun Printmaking lesson. This homeschool art lesson requires only a few supplies making it perfect for homeschool. Enjoy!

Animal Prints with Foam Trays Piggy Art.

What fun! This is an incredibly easy way to teach the art of printmaking to young children. The assignment required choosing an animal to draw and first drawing it on paper by looking at the image upside down. If you draw an image upside down, you tend to focus less on the end product and more on each individual line. 

The idea is to make drawing perfectly less overwhelming, when turned right side up, it magically becomes a great drawing!

Printmaking Lesson: Messy Craft with Paint and Prints.

Hmm... Great theory. Jake drew his pig by copying the image with the right-side up, then he proceeded to complain profusely about how everyone's drawings were better than his. It took a great deal of coaxing to get him to draw the picture upside down. He felt it was a waste of time and "stupid". 

The battle ensued, he tried it, and the results were similar. That's good news and good news, I think. The good news is he tried it, saw it worked, and wasn't stupid, and the good news is he draws pretty good either way.

You will need: 
Foam Trays, Pencil, White Paper, and Acrylic Paint.

First, draw a picture of an animal on a piece of paper. Remember, if you are looking at an image, turn it upside down and draw it upside down first. Now, turn your image around, and check out your handi-work. This is practice.

The next step is to "draw" the image onto a foam tray. Make sure to press down hard to make a deep indentation into the foam. Now, cut the edges off your foam tray so it is a flat surface. It needs to be completely flat to make the print.

Lightly paint your foam image. You can use one color or several. Make a practice print on paper to remove some of the excess paint.

Then, carefully place your foam tray paint side down onto a clean sheet of paper. Press firmly, but do not move the tray or the image will smear. With a finger or hand on each end of the tray, carefully lift it from the paper to reveal your beautiful print. Wipe the tray clean, and experiment with new colors. 

Once they started making prints they didn't want to stop!

Tip:  The best prints are the ones made as the paint is starting to wear off the tray. This is a great way to make holiday or birthday cards. You can also cut them out and frame them as Christmas gifts.

Recommended Reading:

How to make a Phineas Mask

Kids Creative Chaos Cooks: Kitchen Kids Series: Holiday Recipes*

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! :)

Painting with Gourds and Mini-Pumpkins Craft = Happy Accident

Paint with pumpkins and gourds: A fun, Fall Thanksgiving Craft for Kids

This is a happy accident! We used our pumpkins and gourds as stampers and rollers. We painted them in different colors and then pressed and rolled them onto paper. The kid's had a blast! When we were ready to clean up, I noticed the paint had dried onto the squash. It was so beautiful that I tossed them in a basket and called them a Thanksgiving Centerpiece! You might also like this Acorn Squash Recipe.

Painted Mini-pumpkins and Gourds centerpiece for Thanksgiving.

Look at these lovely squash.

The kids painted with pumpkins and gourds resulting in a beautiful bi-product.

Rolling Pumpkin Art with edible paint.

Grab some paint or make your own with cornstarch, food coloring, and water.
Roll or press the squash in the paint.
Roll it across the paper or use it like a rubber stamp.

Results:

Beautiful works of contemporary art, frame worthy.

Make your own beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece basket.

Happy accident?  A  lovely centerpiece basket full of colorful fall vegetables.

Recommended Reading:

Totline Busy Bees Fall Fun for Two's and Three's

Ten Apples Up On Top!

Fall Crafts for Toddlers to Make

Edible Paint Craft: Kissing Hand Preschooler Sensory Art

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is the perfect Story for the First Day of School

This story is so sweet, a little tale about Mama and Baby Raccoon. Mama kisses her baby's hand before he heads for his first day of school. We've made a companion craft for preschoolers with a Sensory Play appeal that uses our special recipe for edible paint.

The Kissing Hand with Craft for Preschool and Kindergarten.

Chester Raccoon's Mom reassures him he will enjoy school. She takes his hand, gives it a kiss and tells him to touch his cheek when he needs a kiss. He gives his Mommy a kissing hand too. And, we've made one for you to share with your little ones.

How to Make an Edible Handprint for The Kissing Hand Book

Vanilla Jell-O Pudding Cups

Gel Food Coloring

Strawberry Gel Pie Filling

Sugar Sprinkles

And lotsa love...

Edible Paint Recipes

The Kissing Hand book.

Look, it's a craft. It's a dessert!  It's crafty, edible art!

This hand-print is 100% Edible and Yummy too.  Jell-O Pudding Cups make the perfect finger paint, just add a little gel food coloring. We let the kiddos mix in red and blue for a fun color mixing experiment, then we got some gooey, strawberry pie gel, plopped it in the middle to show where to kiss, and then added purple sugar sprinkles on top.  

It smells and tastes great and after six weeks this one still looks the same (no nasty rotting) so pin it on your fridge or better yet, frame it!

Recommended Reading:

The Kissing Hand

One Tricky Monkey

Plan an Indy 500 Race Theme for a Kid's Birthday Party or Special School Activity

Indy 500 Theme Race Party with Cardboard Racecars

The Play Connection, Inc. (my alter ego) did lots of fun preschool activities that are great for a birthday party or for kids' outdoor pe games. Due to the proximity of Indianapolis, an Indy 500 racing theme is always popular in May. Plan Indy 500 kid activities for a fun field day at school, and make your own race cars from cardboard boxes. Enjoy!

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.*

Indy 500 Activities for Kids.

Use recycled household items as props- 
including a plastic milk jug for a gas can.

Ideas on how to plan an Indy 500 Race Birthday Party: 

• Purchase inexpensive, large, black buckets to use in a pit stop race game. 
• Recycle a milk jug, paint it black with spray paint or acrylics, and use duct tape or paint to spell out G-A-S.
•  Turn a milk crate upside down to use as a Winner's Circle.
• Hang a race banner (we got ours at the Dollar Tree).
• Make 9 colored race flags for a realistic race experience.

Trick out your cardboard car with paper plate wheels or 
fancy, cardboard fan wheels.

Wondering 'what do the flags mean or stand for in the Indy 500 race'?  

• Green means go! Of course, you already knew that! Just like shouting "Green Light", the green flag is waved to signal the start of the race. It is also used to for restarts after a caution flag.
• Yellow flag signals caution for a hazard. It could be an accident, debris, rain, maybe a silly goose got loose on the track. The pace car hops on the track to lead the other cars in safety. When we play Red Light, Green Light, we use yellow to signal walk very slowly.
• Red flag STOP! Do not pass go, do not collect $100 dollars. A red light means freeze in your tracks. It is for accident or rain conditions.  Head straight to the pits or stay parked. No repairs, tire changes, or gassing up allowed. In other words, no fair cheating!
• Red flag with a yellow "X" means the pits are closed to all vehicles.
• Black flag means a penalty to a car on the track. Don't break the rules! It's also used for mechanical failures.
• Black flag with a white "X" black-flag penalty.  Your car isn't keeping score anymore.
• Blue flag or blue flag with yellow diagonal stripe Get out of the way, slow poke, a faster driver is about to pass. We use a blue light in our game to signal to turn around and walk backward toward the finish line.
• White flag the end is near! It's the FINAL lap.
• Checkered flag  Hooray! We have a winner. This flag means the race is over.

For our race car game of Red Light, Green Light, we purchased dowel rods and squares of fabric from Joann's Fabrics. To attach, rub glue on the dowel, wrap one end of fabric around the dowel, and staple as close to the stick as possible.

Lay out aluminum foil, tissue paper, paper plates, and colored duct tape.  
Let the kids' diy imagination run wild.

On your mark, get set, go! Mark off a track with chalk, tape, or use cornstarch paint in the grass. Get your flags ready to wave. Have parents or helpers use a stopwatch to track each child's time. No need to compete against others. Race around several times for your best lap. Now the fun begins!

On your mark, get set, let the games begin!

How to Play Pretend Pit Stop

Get parents and teachers involved with the fun. Before the game begins, designate a pit crew for each "driver". 

During a caution flag, have everyone pull into the pits. One member of the crew must run around the car 4 times checking pretending to check tires. 

Another crew member will take the pre-filled milk "Gas" jug (water) and pour it into the black bucket. 

Then, the crew members must use a funnel to re-fill the jug. Have the driver time the crew for even more giggles. When all the water is gone, the drivers can take off again.

Measure the water in the jugs to see which pit crew wins a prize. Just pour it back into the buckets, and see which one retained the most water (gas).

A game of Red Light, Green Light is fun around the track too.


Recommended Reading:

Things to do in Indiana: Indy 500 Race Activities for Kids

Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race* 

Hot Air Balloon Glow at the Indy 500

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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! :)

Peanut Snowman Fridge Magnets or Holiday Pins

How to make a Snowman from a Peanut

These little snowman peanuts are buttons for your shirt. Think- lapel pin. This is an easy craft for preschoolers and teens love it too. You can make it edible with icing in place of paint, but don't eat the shell either way. If you paint the peanut black, you can make a penguin pin. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

7 Creative New Year's Crafts and Activities for Kids fun for boys and girls

7 Easy New Year Activities for Kids for Boys and Girls

These 7 New Year's Crafts are creative and easy enough for little ones to do. The anticipation of the suprise package and the enjoyment of the other activities will help make it the best new year's ever. Enjoy!

 New Year's Crafts and Activities for Kids.

Click the titles for How to Make New Year's Crafts for Kids.

Festive Rocket Popper Blaster

Rocket Popper Activity for Children.

Fill this with confetti or feathers.  Ours is filled with colorful, recycled silk flowers from a craft lei project. Perfect for New Years, VBS, or, a Fourth of July Party.

Silver Surprise Package

Midnight Care Package New Year Activity.

We used a tiny jewelry box.  Tag reads, "Do not open until Midnight - 12/31/12". Fill this with a fun gift for the kiddos or make it a Midnight Care Package by filling it with a noise maker/kazoo, a pair of silly glasses, and a party hat.

Ring in the New Year Bell

Make a bell from a paper cup.

Recycle a paper cup, plastic spoon, holiday ornament or that jingle bell necklace into a fun kid-crafted bell noisemaker for the year-end celebration.

Snow Globe or Eye Spy New Year's Time Capsule Ornament

7 New Year's Decorations.

A clear glass or plastic ornament makes a fun party favor.

New Year's Necklace/Medallion

New Year Medallion a recycled Christmas decoration.

Paint an old, plastic holiday ornament with sparkles and the New Year date.  Insert a shiny ribbon or string and you've got a fun, memento.  Boy's like to wear necklaces too so this is a fun project they can personalize anyway they want.

Easy, Sparkly Ornaments to Deck the Halls

Transform Christmas Balls to sparkly New Year Decorations.

Give that Gold or Silver ball ornament new life.  Add a sparkly, spiraled pipe-cleaner to hang and paint with glitter glue.  We added a gold leaf from an old, holiday decoration to give it a little whimsy.

Fun Ball Drop Whirly-Gig Silent Spin Drum

Fun New Year activity for kids. 
Craft a whirly-gig with preschoolers.

Popsicle sticks and styrofoam make for fun!  Paint a styrofoam ball of any size, paint any color you like (be patient paint takes forever to dry on styrofoam).  Add glitter.  Pop in the stick and decorate to your hearts content.  We added a silver pipe-cleaner and silver, star garland to hang.  Add feathers and spin in your hands like a spin drum or hang upside down in the doorway as a festive replacement for mistletoe.  The kiddos can pretend to let the ball drop if you attach a long string over a hanger.

Tip:  Add tiny pieces of mirror (Find sticky back pieces at Craft Stores) to a styrofoam ball to make a Disco Ball decoration.


Recommended Reading:

P. Bear's New Year's Party: A Counting Book*

The Night Before New Year's*


Grafix 9-Inch-by-12-Inch Adhesive Backed Film Silver, 3-Pack*

More New Year's Craft and Activities






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! :)