14 Circle Time Activities and Ideas for Preschoolers

Preschool Circle Time is for Group Lessons, Games, and Interaction

Running out of ideas for Preschool Circle Time? Every preschool program needs circle time for group interaction. This is a time to build structure into the program, so the children know what to expect each day. It is great to offer circle time at least twice a day- once in the morning, and once just before time to go home. These ideas will help build a sense of togetherness, (community) a time for sharing, and a fun learning environment for the kids. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Elementary Circle Time Games, Activities, and Ideas for Preschoolers and Toddlers.

 14 Ideas and Activities for Circle Time

1.  Dance Freeze - Play some music or sing a song. Everyone dances willy nilly. Suddenly, stop the song, but don't sing to the end of a verse, that is too predictable. Everyone must freeze in their position. Is one leg up? Are they doing the worm? If they move, they must sit frozen in that spot, criss-cross applesauce and wait to see who can freeze the longest. No blinking or twitching allowed.

50 SIMPLE GROUP GAMES for CIRCLE TIME

2.  Bug in a Rug - This is an oldie, but a goodie. Everyone sits in the circle. Before you begin to play, explain EXACTLY how the game works. Grab a blanket or a big beach towel. Now, pick one child to leave the room or wear a fun blindfold. Teacher picks a student. Shh! Just point at the child, grab their hand and take them away from the group. Now, point at another child and then to the "rug". Hide the child under the "rug." Bring the other preschooler back. Can they guess who is missing? 

3. Pass the Movement - I played this for years with preschoolers and school-age children in summer camps, but I didn't give it a name. I found the name at Preksharing Blog. She says it is adapted from a book published in 2011, but we used to do this years ago in summer camp and afterschool programs. Just goes to show, great minds think alike! It is simple to play. Teacher starts with a movement. Perhaps, you wave your hand in the air. Now, the person sitting to your right must wave their hand and add a movement like wiggling their nose. The next person to the right, does those movements and adds one of their own. It is a "WAVE" of different movements.

4. Shake the Sillies Out - Need a game to get kids' moving?  Find some Dragon Tunes from the cartoon, Dragon Tales, and every morning, "Shake the Sillies Out"! Just play the song, and follow the instructions. Kids love this one!

5. Circle Time Collaborative Painting - I like the idea of painting circles in collaboration like the one from Art Project Girl in the link. You know, where Teach lays out a big sheet of paper and painting supplies and everyone paints concentric circles? What if we do it as a part of Circle Time? Pass the painting, and make a PROGRESSIVE PAINTING. 

This idea teaches patience. Everyone must wait their turn. It builds excitement too. Lay out a large painting tarp, sit the children in a circle on the tarp, give each child a cup of paint and a brush. No painting unless it is your turn. To make it less frustrating, pass two large poster boards around starting at opposite ends. Children are allowed to paint only 1 circle or shape of their choice per turn. While they are painting, teacher shares an art lesson on shapes!

Collaborative Concentric Circle Painting from Art Project Girl.

6. Click, Clack, Moo Story Starter - You know the story about the unhappy cows in the barn? They have a typewriter. They are making demands. An electric blanket would be nice. What else might the farm animals want from the farmer? 

Click Clack Moo Story Starter Circle Time Game.

Play a Circle Time Game where each child is given an animal. Before the game, print out cards with farm animal pictures on one side and their name on the other. Each child draws a card from a hat. Give this example to the kids: What does the (insert animal here) pig want? "Dear Farmer Brown, the barn is smelly. Please send air fresheners." Have each child come up with their own idea for what the animal on the card might want from the farmer.

7. Animal Movement Game - Take the game above one step further. Get the kids moving like the animals. Ask, "What does a pig say?" Now, "How does a pig move?" The children take turns walking around the circle like the animal on their cards. 

8. Quiet Mouse, Still Mouse - When Circle Time is done, keep children in a circle to release them to the next preschool activity. The teacher explains, the child who sits as quiet as a mouse (the quietest) get to line up first. Continue until everyone (or almost everyone, I don't like to single out those who can't sit still or quiet) is in line.

9. Calendar Time -  Sing "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday Friday, Saturday. Suunday, Munday... TUUESday" Emphasize the current day of the week. Sing the song and then check the calendar. Who can find today on the calendar? Here's another days of the week song sung to the Addam's Family theme. 

10. Alphabet Shopping - Using the first letter of each child's name, pretend to go shopping for an item that begins with that letter. For example, “Jake will buy a jump rope.” Go around the circle until everyone has had a turn. This helps with letter recognition. For more ideas like this visit Early Childhood News.

11. Talking Stick - Bring in a cane, or recycle a cardboard wrapping paper tube. The kids can help decorate the "Talking Stick" with Washi or Duct Tape, Glitter, or Feathers. During Circle Time, grab the stick. Now, explain to the group that this is a talking stick. Only the person who holds it may speak. This is a great tool to use for Show and Tell or other situations where children take turns sharing. More lessons in patience and turn taking.

12. Birthday Day of the Week Bags - PreK Pages Blog has a fun idea for Day of the Week Bags. Make a brown paper bag for each day of the week. Give it a colorful label, and fill it with the names of classmates who have birthdays on this day or other special things that happen on this day of THIS week.

   13. Pictures with Facial Expressions - Hold up magazine pictures of facial expressions. Ask, "What is this person feeling." Have the children take turns making the face. After you play this game, have the kids draw themselves like this emotion art lesson.

14. Play Duck, Duck, Goose? - This old standby might be boring to you, but it is likely new to the toddlers and preschoolers in your class. Change it up each day. After they get the hang of the game, add a creative play element by acting it out. Have the kids act and walk like the animal as they toddle around. Walk and Talk like the animal. For older or school-age children, change the theme to pig, pig, cow or ghost, ghost, vampire.

Recommended Reading:

50 Easy Group Games for Preschoolers

Rugs for Circle Time

Circle Time Handbook with Reproducible Pages

Teen Group Games for Camp

Preschool Circle Time Activities

Chicken Art Project for Preschool

Preschool Circle Time Songs

Nature Based Circle Time Activity

How to Play Four Corners Group Activity

Follow us on Instagram for more fun ideas every day!

15 Slumber Party Games and Activities for Teen Girls: Best Sleepover Ever

15 Fun for Teen Girls Activities: A Sleepover, Slumber Birthday Party

A teenage girl sleepover party with fun games, activities, and swag bags is the best slumber party ever! Don't just read these titles and think, been there done that. We've added a little twist to each birthday party activity.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.
UPDATED for 2020 with BONUS BIRTHDAY ACTIVITIES.

Slumber Party Sleepover Games and Activities for Teen Girls.

1. Balloon Charades. Grabs some stationary and write down ideas for Charades. What are charades? How do you play charades? You know, when you act something out, pull on your ear for "sounds like", put two fingers in the air to signify two words, but you never speak. Yeah, that game. So, fold the paper up into skinny rectangles, slide it inside a balloon, blow it up, and use it as a party decoration. When you are ready to play charades give each guest a balloon. Have her pop it - sitting on it is the most fun, read it, and act it out for the other guests to guess. Super Fun!

Yeah, you can do this with "Truth or Dare" too, but oh how I loathe Truth or Dare. Shouldn't it be called "Humiliation or Bullying?"



Bonus Activity: Giant Cupcake Balloon for Party
Want a cool photo op for your social media? Make this Balloon Cupcake with your friends and then use it as a backdrop for your photos! Click here: How to Make Giant Cupcake from Balloons!

2. Sleeping Bag Switch. For this game, each girl brings a sleeping bag or sleeping pad to the party. To start the game, the girls unroll their bags and lay them out on the floor. Then, one girl goes out of the room and the remaining girls pick someone else's bag to hide in. The girl then returns and tries to guess who is who or who is where. You can also have only two girls switch, and see if she can tell who switched. Fun times!

5 Fun Ideas for Teen Birthday Party

3. Crazy Makeovers. Time to pull out the make up, and let the girls give each other makeovers. No peeking until it is done. The beautician can choose to make a crazy makeover or a beautiful, glamorous one. The girl getting the makeup has to guess which type of makeover she got before the big reveal. 

Fun Things to Make at Home

4. Spin the Nail Polish Bottle. Each girl takes a turn picking out a color and spinning the bottle. This works best on a table. Who ever the bottle points to when it finishes spinning paints a nail with that color. Then, she chooses the next color to spin. When everyone has 10 nails painted, take a picture and share them with your friends on Instagram. Make sure you have lots of color choices!

Choose a variety of colors for Nail Polish Spin the Bottle game.

5. Make your Own Glitter Body Scrub. Find small jars that seal tightly, fine glitter, (white is nice) coconut oil, (a wonderful moisturizer for the scrub) scented extract, and sugar or coarse salt. Sugar is best. Salt is great for exfoliating, but bad if it gets in your eyes. Choose an extract: Peppermint, Almond (my favorite) Coconut, or Vanilla. Add a few drops of extract to the sugar and glitter to make a paste. Now you have your own moisturizer and exfoliator. When purchasing coconut oil you want this kind, extra virgin coconut oil.

Coconut Oil for Glitter Scrub.

6. Dress Up Divas. Go to a thrift shop and find evening gowns or formal wear and fancy heels the girls can use to dress up. Place the gowns in a large bag. Before you let the girls see the gowns, have them make blindfolds that double as beauty masks. Once everyone is blindfolded, have them choose a dress by touch alone. After they model the dresses, they can trade and have a fashion show or make up a reality show. Don't forget a full-length mirror.

For a blindfold or sleeping mask tutorial visit Henry Happened blog.

7. Pillowcase Decorating Activity. Purchase pillowcases to decorate. Grab fabric makers, tacky glue, and ribbon. You can also find fun, iron on transfers to embellish. If you plan in advance, you can decorate a large gift bag for each guest. Load it up with all that Birthday Party Swag! 

Birthday Party Activities for Teen Girls

8. Pillow Fight. A classic game. As part of the swag bag items, create mini-pillows. You can often find little pillows at the dollar store or use travel pillows. Decorate them as mentioned above. When it is time for bed, be a cool party host. Tell the girls to grab their mini-pillows. On your mark, set, pillow fight! Just watch out for the lamps! You're going to need a big full-body pillow for this pillow fight!

Bonus Activity: Easy Colorful Cupcake Frosting
Make this easy, colorful cupcake icing and decorate cakes or cookies with your friends! Share on Instagram or other social media with #cupcaketime Get the recipe here: Easy Cupcake Frosting.

9. Flip Flop Decorating Activity. Find out the Flip Flop shoe sizes of each guest before the party. Get some yarn, baubles, Sharpie Markers, and cloth scraps. Decorate to your heart's desire. Toss them in that swag bag to take home.

Printable Dorm Supply Checklist

10. Cup Stacking. When you are buying party supplies, get some extra cups for the party guests to stack. Take turns to see who can get the most cups stacked in a minute or who has the most creative tower. Even better, everyone can start at the same time. This makes it more nerve wracking and chaotic! Hey, don't knock my tower down!

Minute to Win it Games for a Birthday Party.

11. Minute to Win it Games. Imagine the possibilities! Just like cup stacking, come up with several activities that can be completed in one minute. Everyone grab one of those cups. Set it in the middle of a table, grab a Ping Pong ball, and with only one bounce allowed, bounce the ball into the cup. Hurry! The clock is ticking. Tick Tock. You can also use the a cup to fill a bucket with water (use a colorful sand pail). 

Bonus Activity: Toothpaste Slime

Trick your friends with this toothpaste slime. You'll need 1 C. Blue Hair Gel, 1/2 C. Cornstarch, Water, Super Fine White Glitter.

Slowly add water to 1/3 C. Cornstarch by the spoonful, stir until all is mixed well and becomes pour-able. Then, slowly stir cornstarch mixture into the hair gel. When it all has a thick toothpaste consistency, sprinkle in the super fine glitter. Voila! You have fake toothpaste. See if you can trick your parents with it. Of course, this toothpaste slime isn’t edible!! 

Did you know real toothpaste isn’t edible either? You should always spit it out after brushing. Don’t forget to brush your teeth with real toothpaste every morning (even at a slumber party!) 

Parents,  if you’ve got one of those kids, who doesn’t like to go to the dentist, ABC Children’s Dentistry offers more valuable tips to help you and your child when it comes to oral hygiene. Dental hygiene is something that should be taught at an early age. Why not make it fun?  Here’s a neat sensory toothpaste activity for preschoolers by Still Playing School.

12. Dance Off. Time for the girls to get their dance moves on and have fun. This is great to play after the Dress up Diva game. She who dances the longest wins. Ha! You thought it was a game of skill. Nope. It is a game of "get them tired so they don't put your panties in the freezer!"  Sweet Dreams. What's that? You're dreaming of popsicles?

13. Board Games. Don't think "bored" games. These board games are fun because each girl makes her own game to play or collaborate on one super, cool game. Cereal boxes, paper plates, and the white side of the wrapping paper are great ways to make a board. Paper plates make game spinners. Old, recycled business cards make excellent playing cards or game cards. Stickers are fun too. Fold paper and cut it into a cube pattern to make your own dice. Still boring? Take those balloons and fill them with game topics. For example, "Make a game about Rock Stars" or "Make a Mall Shopping Card Game" or "Make a game of questions." Let your imaginations run wild. This can be especially fun for preteens and tweens.

Cool Games for Holiday Parties

14. Classic Board Games. Find out who your moguls are when you pull out the Monopoly game or start up the giggles with Trouble. But that's boring, right? Pass around a basket of accessories. Think grandma glasses, nerd spectacles, giant clip-on earrings, men's ties, satin gloves, and cowboy hats. Now, play those games in character with silly accents.

15. Slurpin' for Worms. Gummy Worm Game Grab a bag of gummi worms or gummi bears and a can of whipped cream. Place the worms on a paper plate and cover them with the cream. It should look like a fake pie, you know, the kind you get in the face? Yeah, you might want to wear a raincoat for this one, and Mom might want to lay down a painting drop cloth. Players must keep their hands behind their backs at all times. Dive in. This is a great game for "Minute to Win It" too. Who can slurp up the most worms? Who can eat the most?

Recommended Reading:

Outdoor Beach Theme Party

Happy Birthday Mad Libs

Group Games for Tweens and Teens

Teen Camp Songs

Balloons for Your Party

Minecraft Birthday Party Activities

Marshmallow Party Games and Activities

Throw a Birthday Party for Teen Girls with these 5 Fun Ideas

5 Fun Birthday Party Ideas for Teenage Girls

Are you all out of fresh ideas for a Girls' Teen Birthday Party? We searched Pinterest and found some fun ideas that your teen daughter will love. It isn't a party without games, favors, and a fun theme! 

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

These kids played soccer with our giant volleyball. Grab a net, a truck load of sand, and turn your backyard into a beach volleyball court!

We found this very stylish Volleyball theme party idea at Kara's Party Ideas. I particularly like the chocolate fuel candy bars!

Throw a volleyball theme party for your daughter
like this one from Kara's Party Ideas.

Volleyball! With this party theme, make sure you schedule time to play a game of their favorite sport, but change it up a notch with giant, inflatable volleyballs. If you're really cool, and really want to impress, truck in a load of sand! Change the sport for an athletic teen boy's birthday party theme.

Afterward, chill out with volleyball cupcakes and healthy (or not so healthy snacks). It is a birthday party, you can take a little break!

Sports and Volleyball cupcakes from Cake Central.

Beach or Pool Party! I know, it has been done before. Really a pool party? But, you can make it your own! You've got leftover sand from last year's volleyball party, so use it! Bring on the sandals and fruity mocktails. Give the girls colorful beach towels in your daughter's favorite beach party colors. To make it extra spectacular, make sand castle cupcakes like these from Confections of a Sugarholic blog.

Sandcastle cupcake from Confections of a Sugarholic.

Give each girl a party favor - fill a sand pail with girly goodies and treats! You can also make some permanent moon sand style castles as a fun birthday party activity for teens.

Use sand from your vacation to make a permanent keepsake sandcastle memento.

Glamping! Oh the fun that the girls can have while camping! S'mores, bonfire, and ghost stories in luxury.  Set up a nail painting tent, a food tent, and a movie tent! The girl's can travel from glamorous tent to glamorous tent. Add a fuzzy rug in each tent and gather your beautician to do their hairs and nails, then visit the food tent and place an order. Let Dad in on the act, he can be a fancy concierge/delivery boy (make him wear a tux). 

We Heart Parties has this beautiful party food setup with an owl theme.
Don't let those hoots scare you when you are sleeping in the tent!

A Night on the Red Carpet! Have the guests wear prom-style party dresses for this Oscar party theme birthday. Roll out a "red carpet" leading to your front door, for party favors the girls can create Oscar sculptures, then practice their thank you speech at a mic stand as their friends present them with a handmade Oscar. Celebrate with a golden slice of birthday cake. For more Oscar Party Ideas visit DesignDazzle.com

Spa! Bring on the sliced cucumbers, body scrubs, nail polish, sleeping masks, and special fruit water. Did you know you can add glow sticks to clear nail polish to make them glow-in-the-dark?

Glow-in-the-dark nail polish.

Spa Fruit Water Recipe 

1 orange

1 lemon

3 to 4 strawberries.

Slice the fruits and put in water. 

Chill for a couple of hours prior to serving.

Recommended Reading:

Slumber Party Wars

The Best Christmas Party Ever

Minecraft: Sit down at your Crafting Table and Custom Paint these Cube Man Action Figures

Kids are Obsessed with the Game Minecraft: Make Your Own Block Cube Action Figures with Balsa Wood

So many things to craft, so little time. Your kids will enjoy this Minecraft style cube activity. Make your own Minecraft Figure with Balsa wood scraps you can find at Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Find the How to Tutorial below or send us an email, and we'll send you a handmade kit for $2.50 plus shipping. Scroll to the bottom for Minecraft party snacks and free Minecraft printables. Enjoy!

Make your own Minecraft style cube man from Balsa wood.

Please note the word handmade, no two are exactly alike, and you may want to sand your cube man before painting him. I bet you'll want to call him Steve! 

You must have a Paypal account to place an order. 

Email: lora@theplayconnection.com  Subject: Cube Man

How to make your own Minecraft style puzzle.

Minecraft style Balsa wood cube man puzzle kit. Feel free to call him Steve.

How to Make your own Minecraft style Cube Man Block Puzzle

First, you will need to purchase some Balsa wood. Amazon offers this grab bag Balsa Wood Economy Scrap Bag. These are similar to what we used to make our block puzzles. 

The pieces aren't perfect. You will need to carve the shapes as pictured above and then sand the shapes. 

We used dowels at the joints to make a permanent connection. Balsa is easy to cut and trim. You don't need fancy wood carving tools, a simple X-ACTO knife will do. Once sanded and glued, it is time to paint your Minecraft style action figure. Just like in the Minecraft game, you can let your creativity run wild only now you are working at a real crafting table and making lasting memories.


Royal Baloo has Free Minecraft Printables and this very cool Minecraft Creeper Paper Mache activity.

Minecraft Creeper Easter Eggs

Party Punch for a Minecraft Birthday or Afterschool Theme

Edible Minecraft Party Snacks

Minecraft Party Ideas

Recommended Reading:

Minecraft: Redstone Handbook: An Official Mojang Book*

Amazing Minecraft Secrets You Never Knew About*

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! :)

Teaching Kids to Deal with Stress can be as Easy as Coloring

Michelle from lifeismylemonade.blogspot.com is guest posting again today. The stress of school and work is getting to me! This is only our second year of homeschooling a gifted fourth grader and a dyslexic, hyper, frustrated second grader. (I resemble all of those remarks) I just started a new online venture. So, it makes me laugh when Michelle asks, 

Are you overworked and stressed out? 

De-stress with a little coloring session with the kids.

That's a big fat Y-E-S! Thankfully she has some reminders for me about how truly simple it can be to chill out. Unless you are like Jake... 

Since school has started, all we seem to do now is run, but it only takes a few minutes to treat yourself to a stress break. When my daughter needs a stress reliever, I often suggest drawing as a way for her to relieve her tension. How simple is that? The eco-friendly, Green Rainbow Revolution has several great products to help you along the path of de-stressing. Surf through the eco-friendly items and treat yourself to a much deserved break. My favorite-hmm that’s hard to decide between the colored pencils and the pastels.

What is your favorite medium?

This is one of the happier chores we have to squeeze into our busy schedule

My daughter and her friends choose colored pencils as their medium of choice. It’s a great way for them to relax from the drama of school and be creative. If you sit down to color with your younger kids they are more likely to share things about their day. Ask them to draw a picture of their favorite and least favorite parts of the day. When you join in the fun with them it is a great way to open the lines of communication and bond over a good creative session.  

Let your inner child loose. There's nothing more important than play.

How about a pink flamingo pencil drawing like this one from Lexi Murphy.

Have fun chatting with your children while you draw, color, and let the conversation flow. You never know what you might find out while creating your works of art. During one of the creativity gatherings the girls opened up, and I found out about their favorite teachers and least favorite. I also found out that they like to create characters. So, no matter what age you are, art supplies will come in handy on a stressful day.  

No kids-not a problem! Host an arty party for your friends. Even if you have a moment where the creativity is not flowing; there are fun kits to help you de-stress. You can play art class instead of painting nails or selling catalog products! Bring some whimsy back into your life and laugh, just like you did when you were a kid. Anyway, I’m off to see what doodles the girls created today. Will it be a caricature of the crush of the week doodled on their school sketchbook? Or maybe it will be their latest fashion designs done with those pastels to create the correct shading. And, who doesn't have fun getting messy while blending? Okay, well, maybe not everyone, but this girl at heart loves to get messy while doing a little pastel blending.

Happy Creating and De-stressing!
Sign up for our free newsletter! 
--> 

Sensory Play: Art Develops Critical Thinking, Reasoning, and Fine Motor Skills

Creative Outlets like Art and Dramatic Play Stimulate Children's Brains with Reasoning, Critical Thinking, and Advancing Fine Motor Skills

Art is creativity in action. Creating and playing with art supplies is stimulating to our brains. Our imagination takes over while art helps develop critical thinking and fine motor skills. Everyone can play and learn with art, regardless of their socioeconomic status or level of education. Read on to learn!

Easy Edible Easter Crafts: Things to Do with Marshmallow Peeps

Cute Edible Craft Things to do with Marshmallow Peeps for Easter

Who doesn't love Peeps? Well, besides me. I don't like the tingly feeling on my tongue, but Peeps are oh so cute and perfect for preschoolers crafts. I found these 8 adorable things to do with marshmallow Peeps. Did you know they even have an entire store dedicated to these cuties? You can make all of these Edible Peeps Crafts at home with your kids.

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

I was inspired to surf for recipe ideas for easy edible Easter crafts after visiting an old-fashioned candy store selling chocolate covered Peeps. Everything in the store was decorated in pastels for Easter and the store windows were straight out of Wonka's factory. The Peeps from Your Home Based Mom pictured below are similar.

Decorative Peeps Dirt Pudding Cups for Place Setting

Things to do with Peeps for Easter

Chocolate Covered Peep Chicks Recipe from Your Homebased Mom.

An M and M's Peep casserole! 


Yes, we're gonna try this Peep's Casserole from The Party-Animal Blog.

Did you know you can make a chocolate Peeps casserole? This one from The Party Animal-Blog looks fantastic even to me. I'm going to try to make the recipe for Easter this year.

The Soccer Mom has an awesome, adorable Peeps Cupcake recipe. Check it out!

Peeps Easter Cupcakes from Soccer Mom.

Painting with Peeps is the perfect activity for preschool kids. This one from It Mom is super cute, but I'd do it with edible paint. We have lots of different recipes here just search in the browse us bar for "edible paint."

Painting with Peeps from It Mom Blog.

Inspire Me Crafts offers up "dressed up" Peeps dipped in chocolate and looking like a bunny bride and groom. Wouldn't they be cute wedding party favors for a spring bridal shower? Pair them with the Peeps topiary below for a fun, spring theme bridal shower.

Make S'mores with Peeps like Electic Recipes did.

Peeps Smore's is an easy, fun edible craft for kids. They can construct them and you can pop them in the microwave. This idea came from Electic Recipes.

Peeps Crafts for Easter from CraftsnCoffee.com

Finally, this home decor idea for Easter is perfect for a kid's party. The Peep's Topiary from CraftsnCoffee is easy to make with kids. 

What are you crafting up this Easter? You better hurry, if you are wondering when is Easter this year? Easter is April 16, 2017.

Recommended Reading:

Peep, Peep, I Love You! (Lift-the-Flaps)

Easter Story - Give a Mouse

How to paint like Eric Carle Homeschool Art Project Collage

How to Paint like Eric Carle Lesson for Kids

Don't you just love the illustrations of Eric Carle in children's books? Did you ever wonder how to paint like Eric Carle? This Homeschool Art Project takes some time, but it is worth the effort. Enjoy!

Use different household items to achieve varying patterns. I love how the piece of cardboard makes a herringbone pattern when crossed. The side of a paint brush looks like animal tracks. We even used the end of our paint brush to make stipple patterns. The dirty, wadded up paper towel made a glorious pink, green, and black impressionist style.

Jake traced this on our light table 
and then cut his patterned papers to illustrate.

We cut 8 1/2 x 11 white paper into quarter
 and each child painted in each technique.



This is salt painting.

We made 16 different patterns with our paint.

Mayhem made 3D Elements in this
Eric Carle style illustration focusing on Giraffes.

Jake doesn't like to draw so we cut images out of coloring books, traced them and filled them in with bits of our pattern painting projects. Mayhem used a coloring book image but chose to draw many of her own designs. These techniques also work fine motor skills.

Homeschool Art Lesson: How to paint like Eric Carle

You will need watercolor or tempera paint, brushes, paper towels, salt, cardboard scraps, tissue paper, art paper, sponges, plastic bags, and  imagination.

Cut a piece of art paper into fourths. (We used several sheets as it was so much fun!)

Experiment with different painting techniques:

1. Salt Painting - paint with a color, sprinkle salt over it, allow to dry for a sparkly texture.
2. Stipple - use the end of a paintbrush to make dots.
3. Animal Tracks - flatten the brush on the paper to make tracks.
4. Tissue Paper - wet and use it to paint or glue a collage of colors onto your sheet.
5. Toilet Tube - use like a roller or hold upright and stamp circles or hearts with the end.
6. Sponge - cut a sponge into small shapes and blot on paper.
7. Paper Towel - use your dirty paper towel and blot on paper for a fun print.
8. Cardboard Edge - use the edge of the cardboard to make straight lines.
9. Plastic Bag - Tie a bread bag in a knot or wear it like a glove and dab it paint.

 

Let your paintings dry overnight (at least an hour.) Draw or trace your favorite animals, lay out your design on paper, take your squares, and cut them up to fill in the pictures (think puzzle pieces.) See the example above for ideas.

How to Salt Paint

Jake complained about how horrible his turtle looked. Of course, I think it looks awesome. He enjoyed tracing the turtle. The idea of it looking perfect is very important to him. Flowing, organic art makes him crazy. As a gifted child, he needs and thrives on structure. 

Without structure, all chaos breaks loose. Perfectionism is an artist's worst enemy. Mayhem, on the other hand, sits down and lets her art tell her where it wants to go. Great artist come in both styles. We're working on Jake's rigid issues in Jake's Journey in Art. We'd love for you to join us!


Recommended Reading:

Eric Carle Favorite Animal

The Nonsense Show Book Review and Surrealist Art Ideas

The Art of Eric Carle